November 03, 2009
Beets were introduced into China from Babylonia around the ninth century. However unlike other food items of New World origin such as potatoes, tomatoes, peanuts and chilies, which Portuguese traders ...
Other Names: Sugar Beet, Beetroot, 甜菜 (Chinese), البنجر (Arabic), Beterraba (Portuguese), Betteraves (French), Remolacha (Spanish) All Translations
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just-making-noise: “Soup Speciality of the Day: Classic Beet Soup”
November 17, 2009
Ok, honestly... beets have been on my "cringe" list for a LONG time. I don't particularly enjoy the strong earthy flavor, but I usually make myself eat or drink ...
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Wikipedia
The beet (''Beta vulgaris'') is a plant in the amaranth family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is probably the red root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet. However, other cultivated varieties include the leaf vegetables chard and spinach beet, as well as the root vegetables sugar beet, which is important in the production of table sugar, and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivated varieties fall into the subspecies ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', while ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''maritima'', commonly known as the sea beet, is the wild ancestor of these and is found throughout the Mediterranean, the Atlantic coast of Europe, the Near East, and India. A second wild subspecies, ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''adanensis'', occurs from Greece to Syria. The beet has a long history of cultivation stretching back to the second millennium BC. The plant was probably domesticated somewhere along the Mediterranean, whence it was later spread to Babylonia by the 8th century BC and as far east as China by 850 AD. Available evidence, such as that provided by Aristotle and Theophrastus suggests that the leafy varieties of the beet were grown primarily for most of its history, though these lost much of their popularity much later following the introduction of spinach. The beet became highly commercially important in 19th century Europe following the development of the sugar beet in Germany and the discovery that sucrose could be extracted from them, providing an alternative to tropical sugar cane. It remains a widely cultivated commercial crop for producing table sugar. ''Beta vulgaris'' is a herbaceous biennial or rarely perennial plant with leafy stems growing to 1–2 m tall. The leaves are heart-shaped, 5–20 cm long on wild plants (often much larger in cultivated plants). The flowers are produced in dense spikes, each flower very small, 3–5 mm diameter, green or tinged reddish, with five petals; they are wind-pollinated. The fruit is a cluster of hard nutlets.
Substitutes: canned beats, beefsteak tomatoes
[edit] About Beet
The Beet is a fleshy root vegetable, used for food and the making of sugar. Beets are hard and crunchy when raw, but become soft and smooth when cooked.
Beets come in different varieties which range in color from white, yellow and multicolored to the more popular maroon colored ones. This fleshy root vegetable is high in dietary fiber, Vitamin C, manganese, copper and potassium making it a very nutritious food. Though Beets are high in sugar and sweet to taste, they are also very low in calories.
Beets can be grated and used raw in salads, pickled, or cooked and used with other vegetables.
Want to know if this food is in season near you? Download the Locavore iPhone app for produce seasonality information!
Recipes With Beet
Fresh Horseradish With Beets
Beet, Horseradish, Salt, Sugar, White Vinegar
Beet, Horseradish, Salt, Sugar, White Vinegar
Molded Borsch
Beet, Gelatin, Green Onion, Lemon Juice, Sour Cream
Beet, Gelatin, Green Onion, Lemon Juice, Sour Cream
Hippie's Delight
Beet, Granola, Nutritional Yeast, Soybeans
Beet, Granola, Nutritional Yeast, Soybeans
Gifilte Fish From A Jar
Beet, Carrot, Onion, Pepper, Salt
Beet, Carrot, Onion, Pepper, Salt
Roasted Beets
Beet, Black Pepper, Olive Oil, Salt
Beet, Black Pepper, Olive Oil, Salt
