I have two buckets full of swiss chard and a bucket of baby beets, what can I make with them other than salads?
You can of course pickle the beet.. This is a really yummy recipe... Pickled Beetroot.. Up to 2kg fresh beetroot 1 ½ litres vinegar - either malt vinegar or wine vinegar, depending on your preference 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns About 10 whole cloves 1 bay leaf (dried 100g Sugar (optional Method Chop the stalks off the beetroot, leaving an inch at the end. Scrub the beetroot gently to remove any mud, but taking care not to damage the skin. Wrap them in foil and bake at 180 degrees C for up to 2 hours, until they are tender. While the beetroot is baking, make the vinegar mixture: Put the vinegar, coriander, cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf in a large pan Bring to the boil for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and cover the pan. Leave the flavours to infuse for about 2 hours. Drain before using. Note: if you prefer sweet pickled beetroot, add 250g sugar to the vinegar before heating. Stir well to make sure the sugar has dissolved. If the skins were thick, you can peel the beetroot - it's up to you. Wear gloves, if peeling, or it'll take ages for your finger nails to return to their usual colour! Slice the beetroot into 1/2 cm slices. Put the slices into sterilised jars. Wash the jars in hot, soapy water and rinse well Put upside down in an oven at 100 degrees C for 20 minutes Allow to cool slightly and then fill whilst still warm Use a vinegar-resistant lid (i.e. plastic-coated, so no metal comes into contact with the vinegar, or this would corrode and ruin the pickle) Bring the vinegar mixture to the boil and then fill the jars. Seal the jars with an airtight, vinegar resistant lid. Leave for a few weeks before eating. Gently shake the jars every week or so, to allow the flavours to infuse. , Best of all you can juice it...! Beetroot is a good source of vitamin A, manganese and potassium.. Beetroot Juice 2 medium Beetroots or say 6-8 baby beets 2 Carrots 1 Lemon 3 Apples 2 inches of root Ginger (peeled) This juice recipe tastes and looks fantastic, careful not to spill it though as it will be highly visible on any pale coloured carpet!. Peel the Beetroot and carrots (if organic then just wash thoroughly) then top and tail the Carrots and Beet. Peel the Lemon (leaving the pith on) and wash the apples. The Beetroot gives this juice the most vivid purple colouring and it really does look good. The lemon and ginger give a great tangy uplift to the drink which counteracts the 'over sweetness' of the beetroot and carrot. Beetroot is a great blood cleanser as it is contains good levels of Iron. The increased ability of the blood to carry oxygen benefits all tissues. This combined with the sugar content of Beetroot and Carrot juice and the stimulating effects of Ginger all combine to make this a great energy giving drink.. I have also done this chutneyrecipe.. Spiced Beetroot Chutney.. Ingredients for 2 medium sized jars: 300g (10oz) of whole cooked beetroot cut into 5 - 6mm dice. Ours were boiled for 45 minutes in water, see here for instructions. 150g (5oz) onions, peeled and chopped 120g (4.5oz) cooking apples, peeled and chopped into approx. 5mm cubes 40g (1.5oz) demerara sugar 1 pinch of dried ginger, about 1/4 of a teaspoon, if you have fresh ginger, you could try 1 teaspoonful of this very finely chopped and crushed instead 80ml of malt vinegar. Red wine vinegar may be used as an alternative with possible beneficial results. 1 teaspoon (5ml) of salt Optional, these ingredients will give a slightly stronger and sourer flavour: 1 large clove of garlic, extremely finely chopped or totally crushed. 2 tablespoons (30ml) of lemon juice. Method: This recipe needs to be cooked in a stainless steel or other non-corroding type of pan with a well fitting lid. Aluminium types are best avoided as the acid content is quite high. Mix all the ingredients together into the saucepan making sure that there is at least 1" (2.5cm) of space at the top for froth and/or bubbles. Bring to a strong boil whilst stirring regularly. Stir continually at first to dissolve the sugar. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally. Whilst simmering, prepare the jars. We use empty, clean jam jars that have the ant-tamper vacuum "dimple" type of lid. The lid and jar must be thoroughly washed and rinsed. We sterilise the jars in the oven at 120 degrees C. for 30 minutes and pour boiling water over the inside of the lid, dry thoroughly whilst hot and keep clean until used. When the chutney is cooked, pour carefully into the jars, seal with the lid immediately and allow to cool. We used a jam funnel (i.e. one with a wide neck) to assist in getting the chutney into the jars. When cool, check that the lid seal is good. This chutney should keep well unopened for months but once opened, keep it in the fridge. Note that, as with all pickles and chutneys, there is a possibility that the inside of the lid may become discoloured. If this happens, check the chutney before use and use immediately... .:thmb: Hope they help..
:thmb: I have not tried this recipe but my friend has... He says it is yummy... Chard Pesto Ingredients Use as a pasta sauce, or add at the last minute to give extra flavour to a stew. 1 knob butter 2 tbsp of olive oil 2 cloves of garlic Bunch of Swiss chard (about 300g) - any variety Handful (about 50g) pine nuts 100g fresh parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated Handful of fresh coriander leaves Method Wash the chard thoroughly and shake to dry. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the olive oil. Peel and chop the garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Chop the chard stems and add them to the pan. Stir and then cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Roughly chop the chard leaves and add them to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes. Toast the pine nuts for a couple of minutes (either under a pre-heated grill or in a dry pan) Turn off the heat under the chard. Add the coriander leaves, pine nuts and parmesan. Puree the mixture until it looks like pesto. :wink: Once picked Chard does not keep long so this is a good way of using it without wasting too much..... :wink: Sounds yummy too I don't think you would know the difference....!
Thankyou very much MF-the chard pesto sounds experimental but definitely worth having a good go at. I have the ingredients for everything else, I'll be cooking tomoorow then. Again thank you.
Chard makes a great frittata, stalks and all Also good for Sag Aloo Baby Beetroot is wonderful baked in foil - far to nice to smother in vinegar!!
The beets are delicious roasted with olive oil and rosemary - yum. Borscht (a beetroot soup - can serve cold) is delicious on a hot day as well. If you use a potatoe peeler on them to get really thin slices, they make great crisps - even better if you also do them with parsnips, sweet potatoes and jerusalem artichoke - season as you wish! Darn....had to edit again - just remembered River Cottage has a great recipe for beetroot chocolate cake - we made it and it is to die for - really moist