BEETS!

I find beets to be some of the most consistently underrated vegetables. Come on! Beets are awesome! They do not have to be pickled beets in a jar (although I also love those, and need to make some); they can be fresh and earth-tasting and perfect. Get a bunch of beets and eat them!

Two ways to eat beets:

I. Awesome sandwich of beet and cheese.

boiled/peeled beets
cream cheese/goat cheese if you're feeling all fancy
nice softish sandwichy greens such as arugula or spinach
good bread such as sourdough
lots of black pepper and some salt
fresh flatleaf parsley
(plus some extra grating cheese if you're low on the cream variety)

Oh yeah!

Get out some pieces of bread and toast them to your liking. My liking: barely toasted at all, but still warm and a tiny bit golden if necessary. Remember: toasted bread rips the hell out of your mouth when you try to eat it in sandwich form!

Spread a bunch of delicious, delicious cheese all over your bread. Add a few leaves of nice tasty greens.

Slice your beets up and arrange them onto the bread. I layered my greens in between the slices of beets, because I was feeling all fancy. Not fancy enough to go to the store and get goat cheese, though!

Bedeck your sandwich with copious pepper, a little salt, and a handful of torn parsley. I guess you could add a little drizzle of olive oil if you felt Extra fancy.

Eat it!

I had some sauvignon blanc and an apricot and felt well satisfied with my lot in life.


II. Awesome salad containing beets.

boiled/peeled beets
good crispy salad greens, possibly including beet greens!
a hardboiled egg per person (optional; sub toasted nuts)
lots of black pepper and some salt
fresh flatleaf parsley
a good vinaigrette

Oh man. This is really, really easy and really, really good.

Wash and dry your lettuce and other greens. We really need to get a salad spinner one of these days, especially now that we no longer have a back door out of which I can spin my dishtowel filled with freshly washed greens. Or maybe we just need a back door again. It's all good.

Cut your lettuce into nice salady pieces and put them on a plate; maybe toss them with a little dressing. Cut your beets into appropriate chunks and arrange them all over the lettuce. Quarter a hard boiled egg and disseminate it as well.

Bedeck your salad with copious black pepper, a little salt, a handful of torn parsley, and your vinaigrette. Now eat it!

I think I may also have had sauvignon blanc with this one. This seems plausible. Dry white wine plus sweet beets equals bliss. Do it.