[eroica27]

everytime I have had beets they taste like dirt. I mean this in the most literal way possible. Beets are very nutritional, but canned or fresh, every beet I have had tastes just like the good earth from which it sprang. I don't have this problem with any other root vegetable, just beets. any tips?

[nelie]

Beets are very 'earthy'. If you don't like earthy tastes, then you may never like beets.

One of my favorite includes shredded fresh beets. I don't have the exact recipe but if you shred a beet or 2, an apple, maybe some carrots, then add some grated ginger, red wine vinegar, fresh cracked pepper and sea salt, it is so good! It is a bit less earthy but it will still have somewhat of an earthy taste.

[maryblu]

I don't mean to get so *personal, but here's the deal: I hated beets. HATED beets. I remember at age 25, vehemently hating beets. I remember saying I didn't even *trust ppl who liked beets.

I have no idea why I kept trying them, but all I can tell you now, at 50 *mumble*mumble*mumble something, I love beets..love beets..cooked and hot, pickled cold..on the salad bar..*love beets...oven roasted with walnuts and goat cheese..omg....grow them in my garden, and I don't waste garden space that could be growin' flowers on veggies not worth my time and effort. I love beets!

Keep trying them..oh,and if you get any great ideas on how to get me to *love broccoli...send them my way...*laffin' ..for the record, chickies, I *do choke it down..a wonder food, after all..and I grow broccoli sprouts..a much bedda option

[kaplods]

I always hated beets and thought they tasted like dirt too. Then in my mid-twenties I was helping my mom with a garage sale and we each ordered Greek Salads from Little Caesars for lunch (beet slices, onion, and feta cheese topped the salad). While we were eating, my Mom reaches over and stabs one of the beet slices on my salad, and I protested the salad tresspassing, and she said

"You don't like beets."


"They're still my beets, and you should let me decide whether or not I want them before taking them off my plate" I said (and then felt I had to eat them, or at least one to save face).

And I decided that beets still tasted like dirt, but in a good way. On the salad, they were really good. And I've liked them ever since (except if they're pickled with too much spice).


One of the least "beety" tasting ways I use beets, is in a beef-vegetable soup. I just add a can of diced beets (or canned whole beets and chop myself), including the canning liquid to my favorite beef vegetable soup - beef, cabbage, celery, onion, diced tomato, and potato (and any other veggie I feel like adding, such as green beans, turnips, parsnips, kohlrabi).


Mmmm, yummy (the beets lose their color in the soup, which is kind of funny. The soup turns dark red/brown, but the beets become a bleached swirly pink/magenta).

[BillBlueEyes]

Originally Posted by kaplods

And I decided that beets still tasted like dirt, but in a good way.

Now that's that way I've felt since I re-tasted beets on my journey over the last four years. They're wonderful. Just gotta adjust to the taste of dirt, LOL.

[Ilene]

I love beets and I must try the shredded beet salad I've never had them that way...

[saef]

It's very, very cold outside, and I just rode a train home, daydreaming about the movie "Dr. Zhivago" & the trains crossing the Russian snowdrifts. And I was thinking that tomorrow, I'm going to make borscht, since I like to make a good soup on Sundays.

Send your unwanted beets my way.

[AR4life]

Interesting, the beets I grow taste like sugar, we all love them

[kaplods]

I would describe the taste of beets as 10 parts sugar to 1 part dirt.

[Metal Chick]

I loved dirt when I was a kid! I ate it all the time.

Really.

I need to try me some beets...

[marigrace]

Might sound weird but..Roasted and mixed with oranges or grapefruit in a salad with balsamic dressing...so good...

[babygrant]

My kids LOVE roasted beets. You just peel, cut into wedges, toss them with a tablespoon of olive oil, put on a baking sheet, and bake at about 425 for 20-25 minutes. You can flip halfway through, but I don't.

I did make beet salad with carmelized sweet onion the other day. Kids gagged on it because of all the different textures, but DH and I loved it.

[raebeaR]

I adore beets, too, and it's the dirt taste that makes them magnificent, IMVHO!!! I only like them raw, however. My favorite beet salad: Shred beets, drizzle with a splash of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tiny bit of honey, then salt and pepper to taste. Serve over fresh arugula with a bit of goat cheese crumbled over. It's the ultimate dirt salad -- da BEST!!!!!!

[ennay]

Add me to the camp of "used to hate beets" and now love them. Although some of it is I just have a better source of beets, fresh beets and very small. I like them best roasted with salt, pepper and EVOO and then let grow cold. I then toss them in salad. I eat a serving hot out of the oven, but most I put in the fridge and the longer they sit the better they get. When they are very young and fresh I just scrub them and eat them peel and all.

I also like them shredded over salad.

[Tomato]

I LOVE beets and I think they taste just fine. I usually just peel them and dice them into small cubes. They are really good with lemon-y dressing, I usually use the lemon poppy seed salad dressing from President's Choice but I don't have a problem eating raw beets without anything on them. I would also recommend, when doing the shredded salad, to finely grate some horseradish and add it to it. Sprinkle some lemon juice on it and mix.
I often have an apple+carrot salad with horseradish sprinkled with lemon or lime juice. I love to use a tart apple to offset the sweetness of the carrot (Granny Smith or similar).
And, back to the beets - try yellow and red beets together - the colours are so radiant - don't forget we eat with our eyes, too!