I pickle beets in either slices or whole. I use a sweet pickle brine for them. The ones smaller than golf balls are pickled whole, and the larger ones are sliced and have slices of onions added as well.

I roast whole beets in the oven (with a small amount of water and covered with foil). I slip off the skins and slice them. All I serve them with is a small amount of butter - very small amount.

I have also steamed the beets, but it is a lot of work to dice them and then they steam for up to 30 minutes, depending on how old they are. They are not as reliably soft if I steam vs. roast them.

Nancy

We like to peel beets, dice, microwave until soft, then fry in olive oil or butter until they brown a bit.

I did not think I liked beets when I started growing them. I did not even know that one could eat the leaves! I love the greens, but also the roots eaten raw. I harvest them small, grate them or slice them thinly, then marinade in balsamic, salt and pepper, sometimes a little honey, depending on the rest of the salad. I add it to salads greens and like it this way. I do taste differences and my favorites are the golden beets, but they seem not to grow as easily as the Detroit reds.

Last year I grew turnips for the first time before I ever tasted one. I really enjoyed the leaves (greens) but not the roots. I have used them in soups (just a few) but decided not to grow them again, since I also like radishes and the radish greens are very similar to me in taste to turnip greens (just less abundant).

I really wasn't all that fond of turnips until I tried them roasted until the edges start to brown and caramelize. It really changes their taste. Sometimes the skins can be a bit bitter though.

Turnip greens are very high in calcium as are the roots but the greens are of course even better.

There are turnip varieties that are really good for the greens, perhaps a good seven top turnip variety would be a better choice for you Cabrita?

I've canned up most of our beets so we can have some small doses of them throughout the year. (most of the year is too hot for beets to do well here.)

A friend got me started on turnips, and we only use them one way: mashed in potatoes. When you boil potatoes for mashing, add some turnips peeled and chunked the same way. Mash them together with butter, salt and pepper and just a bit of milk, just like always. You can use as much as 50-50 ratio if you really like turnips, but the stronger the mix, the more you have to like turnips. We use about 2 potatoes to 1 turnip. Don't try this if the turnips are strong from heat.

cabrita, I have the same issue with the golden beets, I don't have nearly as good luck with them as I do the Detroit Dark Reds.

I love beets. I like them pickled and steamed and roasted and sliced very thin and fried into chips. I like them diced and I like them in Harvard Beets. I just like them, and I like the greens too.

Like gran2, I like turnips mashed with potatoes, and I like turnips just by themselves, mashed with butter and salt and pepper. I also slice them thinly and deep fry them for chips, like the beets, and I add them to soup. I sometimes use them as a substitute for rutabaga when I make pasties.

Lucky you, all those turnips and beets.

Annie

My DH will not eat either beets or turnips. I can shred the turnip and use in the base for soup and he'll eat without knowing. He doesn't like vegs.

I don't do turnips (bad experience as a child).
I only eat pickled beets.
I will eat unpickled if served to me, but not by choice.
I am no help.

:-(

Deanna

I've been doing a lot of mixed roasted winter root vegetables this season, usually a mix of carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, onions, celeriac, and even winter radishes, both Asian types (Daikon, Korean green and white long type, round Chinese types)and European type (Long black spanish). I would certainly throw beets into that mix if I had any raw ones, but all I have are canned, pickled beets, which wouldn't taste good roasted.

I usually pre-cook these in the microwave for about 10 minutes until fairly soft, then roast with some oil, herb seasoning mix, and black pepper, I often throw a little apple cider in there as well, to add flavor and sugars to promote carmelization.

The radishes, by the way, are pretty much indistinguishable from the turnips once roasted, same texture, same flavor.

Dennis
SE Michigan

Borsch. My grandmother used both the beets and the beet greens, cucumbers, scallions, or onions, fresh dill and beef broth as a base. Its served cold. My dad used to add sour cream to it, but I don't like it that way. With slices of sour rye bread and you're in a happy mood..

We are like Dennis, we like a mix of root crops roasted. I especially like to do that when I have a pork roast. I put roast and veggies and some good fresh herbs (usually Italian Parsley, Thyme and a little Rosemary) all in an oven bag - a one dish meal that is so good and cleanup is so easy. Sometimes we even toss in an apple or two.

I eat the turnip greens fresh and I also can them. I pressure cook the roots until tender and feed them to the chickens as a winter food supplement. I prefer to grow the type of turnips that make mostly greens and a small root.

Turnips are OK - in soups, but as I don't grow them, we don't eat them.

The Detroit red beets grow well. When I do have some, I make a soup with chicken broth base and freeze it. I noted, however, that the celery and other veggies in the soup become mushy when frozen/thawed. I like to call it "borscht" but perhaps that is not quite up to the reputation of that recipe. The flavor, however, is great and especially with an added dollop of sour cream.

Next time I make it, I will remove the other veggies before freezing and perhaps add some Clear-Jel to the soup after thawing and re-heating. Otherwise, it's great with a nice piece of "old world type" breads - perhaps with Parmeasan cheese added.

Bejay

VEGETABLE VINE
10 pounds vegetable of your choice: beets, parnips, carrots, or turnips
1 pound of raisins
3 lemons cut up
8 pounds of sugar
1 package of powdered dry yeast
Boil vegetable until tender. Add enough additional water to juice to make 2 gallons. Now add the above ingredients. To fix yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and pour over the vegetable mix. Pour into a crock and cover with cheesecloth and let it sit for 3 weeks. Strain and bottle.
This is from Jerry Baker's FAST, EASY VEGETABLE GARDEN 1985. I have no idea how this tastes. If anyone else has tasted this vegetable wine, or simmilar, please post and let me know. Sorry Ken, with 8 pounds of sugar, this won't work for you. Regards Jim in So. Calif.