Anyone got any exciting ways to serve beetroot????? Have roasted in a little water, and they have been delish, but would like to try other ways too. We don't like pickled b/roots.

We have had them, still warm, with a little salt and some goats cheese, as recommended by Nigel Slater - they were yummy, but daughter ain't so keen.

Roasted in olive oil with thyme, or boiled and served with cheese sauce - both yummy.

boiled then served just warm chopped up in a salad with feta cheese and broad beans (with the skins taken off) and parsley. Could also add new potatoes. Delicious...

Tigger, when you roast your beetroots, do you take the skin off first??? Or peel them after roasting?

I try to expose as little of the beetroot flesh as possible because it bleeds. Try carefully topping and tailing them and scrubbing over with a nailbrush, then you can roast and eat the whole thing without skinning

Somewhere I have a recipe for Beetroot Dip, which is very nice. If interested, I will see if I can find it for you.

Last night I put raw, grated beetroot into our usual green salad. Wash it in a sieve once grated, strained and dried in kitchen towel. Great for colour and didn't turn the lettuce red.

The other thing we do is boil it up, grate it and freeze it in appropriate portions for use as a hot veg in winter. Freezes brilliantly!

Have you tried Borsch (beetroot soup? Delicious hot or cold and will freeze very well. Also I have made a beetroot risotto which was nice and very colourful. I have also heard of a recipie for chocolate beetroot cake, but haven't tried it myself . . . . yet.

Tara

I do as Chantal says ('cos I've learnt my lesson) unless they're very mucky, when I peel them. As long as you don't mind pink hands and pink oil, it's fine.

Some ideas :

Beetroot gratin (beware, alarming colour) - Sophie Grigson "Taste of the times", I think.
Beetroot curry - Madhur Jaffery's book from the old BBC series
Beetroot / walnut dip - Madhur Jaffery's world vegetarian book.
Beetroot and venison casserole. I think it was in Good Food
magazine, but you can't go far wrong by guessing !

You could try a very traditional Polish recipe - it sounds a little bizarre, but don't knock it till you've tried it!
Coarsely grate some boiled beetroot and then layer in a wide dish with as close as you can get to a 'sprinkling' of horseradish sauce. Do this in layers till your beetroot is all used up. Leave in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight) to let the flavours mingle.
If you're really masochistic, you can grate your own fresh horseradish root and season the beetroot as you go along, adding a little wine vinegar, but the ready made sauce works well. This is really good with most salads, but try it with warm/room temp grilled trout. Sublime.

225g / 8 oz self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mixed spice
250g/9 oz beetroot, cooked and grated
225 ml/ 71/2 fl oz sunflower oil
225g/ 8 oz caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
85g/ 3oz sultanas

METHOD

Preheat oven to 175c/350f or gas 4
Grease 2 450g/l lb loaf tins
Sift together flour, baking powder and mixed spices.
Stir in beetroot
Mix oil, sugar and eggs together
Add to flour and beetroot mix together with sultanas
Pile into tins and bake for 45 mins
Allow to cool in tin then turn out on to wire rack to cool completely.

Eat within 3 days or freeze. Delicious.

I also have choc. beetroot cake if anyone wants it.

Beryl.
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This a great with ice cream or pour over sticky toffee pudding. Don't count the calories

Cut one pound of beetroot into tiny cubes. Simmer with 8 ounzes of sugar (more if you are sweet toothed). Half pint of orange juice and 4 tablespoons of honey, for about an hour or until it's thick.

Beryl.

My first mother-in-laws recipe.

In a large sweet jar, pack as many peeled beetroot as you can. Cover with water. Lay a slice of bread on top. Leave to stand for about a week-10 days until the bread has gone mouldy. The beetroot will be all soft too.

Strain through a fine seive. Discard the pulp
Use just the liquid adding half and half quanities to chicken stock.

Heat through and add noodles or pasta shapes. or a swirl of cream.

We tend to enjoy ours quite simply, serving them freshly cooked with egg and bacon for breakast.
But has anybody else noticed that too much beetroot tends to have a rather laxative effect in the bathroom department ??

Yes Primrose, beetroot certainly does that all right.
Keeps the system 'free' and it is also a very good diuretic.

Beryl.