Few things make a tastier and more colorful addition to a salad than pickled beets. The earthy sweetness of the beets is balanced by the tang of the vinegar...yum! Add some tender greens, slices of avocado, a few crumbles of feta cheese, and some balsamic vinaigrette, and you're in business. Or top some whole-grain crackers with a smear of goat cheese and a single slice of garnet-colored beet, and you have a tasty snack. I love pickled beets so much that I try to keep a big jar of them in the fridge at all times. They're easy to make, and even if you don't devour them as quickly as I do, they keep well enough that you can make big batches. Here's how it's done:
Step one: cook your beets. You have several options here, none of them difficult. It's best to cook them whole, and make sure they're about the same size, so they get done around the same time. You can boil or steam them (or
pressure cook them), but I usually prefer roasting. Crank up the oven to 400 degrees or so, wrap each washed but unpeeled beet in foil or put them together in a foil-covered baking pan. If you use a pan, you can add a little water (a quarter inch or so) to help them steam a little more quickly. Depending on their size, it will take them about 45 minutes or so to cook. You'll know they're done when you can easily pierce them with a sharp knife.
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| The light pink ones are Chiogga variety, the deep red ones Detroit Dark Red. |
Step two: peel and chop the beets. Once the beets are cool enough to handle, slip of the skins with your fingers. If they are a little stubborn, you can help them along with a paring knife. It's more fun to use your fingers, though, because then your hands will temporarily turn pink. Chop the beets into whatever size or shape you like. Sometimes I do quarter-inch-thick slices, other times half-inch dice. Put them into a glass jar with a sealable lid. Mason jars work really well. For three medium-sized beets, you will want a quart-sized jar.
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| Doesn't get much prettier than this! |
Step three: make the pickling liquid. For each pound of beets, you'll want about a cup of pickling liquid, just enough to cover the beets in the jar. The proportions are 1 part water, 1 part vinegar, and 1/2 part sugar. Heat the water and sugar until the sugar dissolves (the microwave is handy for this), then add the vinegar and pour it over the jar of beets. I usually use apple cider vinegar, but you could use other kinds if you prefer. And feel free to adjust the proportions. I sometimes use more vinegar if I want a little more tang, or less sugar if the beets are already super sweet. Just remember that it's the vinegar and sugar that help to keep the beets from spoiling, so if you make the liquid too watery, they won't keep as long in the fridge. You can also add spices to the liquid. Cinnamon sticks, whole cloves or allspice, even peppercorns are good. Feel free to experiment! The longer the beets sit in the spiced liquid, the more spicy flavor they will absorb.
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| Resist the urge to store them in a sunny window. |
So that's it! Keep them in the fridge with the lid tightly sealed, and dip into the jar whenever you feel the urge for a little bit of nature's most colorful candy. They should keep for a few weeks.
