Beetroot is a product not only very widespread in our latitudes, but also extremely useful due to its high fiber content, a whole set of trace elements and vitamins (A, B, C), as well as organic acids and amino acids. It is used as a remedy for a hangover, improves the endocrine system and kidneys, is useful in diets and is necessary for pregnant women. Another interesting property of this root crop is its particular resistance to heat treatment. It is known that in the preparation of vegetables and fruits lose most of all useful components. The statement is true, but not for beets. A comparison of fresh vegetable with boiled shows that the difference in performance is insignificant. It is this property that makes the root crop an indispensable source of vitamins, especially in the cold season.
What beets to choose for cooking
The range in today's markets and in stores is quite wide, but sometimes you can see fodder beet mixed with dining room, sluggish or spoiled root vegetables on sale. It is no secret that poor quality raw materials can spoil any dish.
To avoid this, we must adhere to three rules for choosing a vegetable:
- Beetroot is medium size and smaller. Giant roots can be only in fodder varieties.
- Dark burgundy color is also a good sign. Even an unripe table variety has an amaranth color. But the pinkish color is a clear sign of a tasteless vegetable.
- The skin should be smooth, smooth and free from damage. Remember: even minor damage to a product becomes a site of entry for bacteria.
Check out the best beet varieties.
Classic cooking recipe
The traditional way of boiling vegetables, regardless of their type, is often the same:
- Product wash. We can clean, we can cook in the peel.
- Put in a saucepan with cold water and set on medium heat.
- After the water boils, reduce the heat and cook for several hours until cooked. Care must be taken that water always covers vegetables.
Important! Whatever method you choose, be sure to put beets in cold water at the end. Among other things, it will then allow to remove the peel easily and quickly.The only difference in cooking beets - a long cooking process, about 3 hours on fire. By the way, if you place the vegetable in the already boiling water, the cooking time will be reduced to 1 hour due to the temperature difference.
How to quickly cook beets
We offer you a recipe for even faster decoction, which takes less than half an hour.
- Wash vegetables, tails are not cut.
- Put them in a pot of boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Quickly transfer the vegetables to another container with cold water and leave there for 10 minutes. Done!
Learn how to grow beets in the open field by seedling, and what is the difference between sugar beet and fodder beet.
However, there is a way to cook a vegetable even faster:
- We wash and clean the root crop and fill it with water 3-4 fingers above the beet.
- We put on a strong fire and bring to a boil. Pan all the time should be under the open lid.
- About 15 minutes we boil on high heat.
- After that, put in a container and set under a stream of cold water for 10 minutes.
Video: how to cook beets quickly
Did you know? Adding different ingredients in the cooking process, we can get a different effect. So, adding 1/2 tsp. vinegar in the pot, the beets will retain their beautiful burgundy color and do not stain all the dishes in the cooking process. The same effect will have on the product lemon juice and sugar. As for salt, salt does not affect the taste of the future dish because it evaporates in the process. But harder root will do what can be both a plus and a minus, depending on its purpose.
How to cook beets in the microwave
The sequence of actions is as follows:
- My vegetable. As for skinning, the choice is yours, it can be both.
- We pierce the root crop with a fork in different places for better penetration of microwaves.
- Put the beets in a baking sleeve or a regular plastic bag and put them in the oven.
- With an oven power of 800 watts, the baking time is about 10 minutes.
In this method, water is not used, since microwaves can penetrate deep into the product without additional funds. You can bake not only in the microwave, but also in a conventional oven. The sequence of actions differs from the previous recipe only in that the bag or sleeve should not be used. Baking time in the oven - about half an hour at 200 ° C. Keep in mind that baking both in the first and second recipe gives a sweeter taste than during cooking or frying, however, vitamin C evaporates almost completely.
Video: how to cook beets in the microwave
How to cook beets in a slow cooker
If you stand at the stove for hours - the prospect is not for you, a slow cooker will come to the rescue. The method is good also by the fact that with the help of this kitchen assistant you can not only boil, but also bake or stew beets.
Read also about how beets are useful.
The most useful way is steaming:
- My vegetables, but do not clean and do not cut the tails.
- Fill the pot with water. From above we put a grate for steaming.
- We put vegetables on the grid. It is important to pick up root crops of the most similar size so that everything boils smoothly. If not, the largest vegetables can be cut into 2-3 pieces to reduce the size.
- We need the mode - "Steam". If there is no such one, "Cooking" or "Soup" will do. Cooking time - 30-40 minutes.
- Open the slow cooker and check the readiness of vegetables with a fork. If necessary, re-enable mode for 15-20 minutes.
You can also cook roasted beets with the use of a slow cooker and root vegetables:
- Wash vegetables and put in a slow cooker in the peel and with tails. It is tastier and healthier to bake the whole product, but you can cut it to speed up the process.
- Run the "Baking" mode and cook vegetables 40-60 minutes. Remember that the younger the root crop, the faster it is prepared.
- Upon completion, check the readiness with a fork and, if necessary, start the process again for another 5-10 minutes.
Video: how to cook beets in a multicooker
Important! If you cut the roots, do not forget to add a little vinegar so that everything does not turn red.
How to cook beets for a couple
One of the most gentle and vitamin-saving ways to prepare a product is to boil it for a couple. The recipe is not only useful, but also simple:
- My, clean and chop the root.
- Put the sliced product in a steamer and cook for 20 minutes.
How to cook vegetables for vinaigrette
One of the favorite recipes in our latitudes - salad vinaigrette. Its preparation itself is quite simple, but there are several nuances.
Ingredients (6-8 servings):
- 400 g of beets,
- 400 g potatoes
- 300 g carrots,
- 200 g salted cucumbers,
- 150 g onions,
- 1 can of canned peas,
- vegetable oil and salt to taste.
Recipe:
- The first step is to start cooking beets, because even the fastest option still takes more time than other products. For vinaigrette beets can boil or bake.
- Boil potatoes (about 30 minutes) and carrots (15-20 minutes). Remember that these root crops need different times, so cook them separately or put carrots later.
- Root vegetables cool, peel and cut into cubes. Also cut into cubes pickled cucumbers and onions.
- We put everything in one container, add peas, salt and butter and mix thoroughly. Done!
Did you know? Beetroot - one of the most common foods in the world and eat it from time immemorial. However, before people began to eat root vegetables, for a long time only tops were considered edible. It is worth emphasizing that it is in the leaves of this vegetable that the loading dose of vitamins is contained, so that this ancestral gastronomic habit should not be abandoned at all.Remember that there are many variations of the well-known salad. So, some cook a vinaigrette without peas or onions, with sauerkraut, instead of butter use mayonnaise. Whatever option you like, you should know some recommendations from professionals. So, you can put in the salad not boiled, but baked beets. Together with sour-salted cucumbers and / or cabbage, such a dish will have a pleasant sweet-sour flavor. To make a salad multicoloredrather than completely red, you can use two methods. First of all, in the process of cooking you can add a little vinegar to the pan, it retains the color inside the product. Another option is to cut such a colored product after the remaining products, put in a separate container and mix with a small amount of vegetable oil.
Make beet juice, caviar, and freeze and dry the beets for the winter.It envelops the beet cubes and prevents the flow of juice. With boiling carrots and potatoes usually does not arise difficulties. If you boil the whole potato, you can avoid cooking it by piercing each one with a knife or fork. These small tricks will help to create a truly flawless salad.
Important! With all the range of useful substances, there are some side effects with excessive use of the product. Fructose and glucose levels can be harmful for people with type 2 diabetes. Do not lean on this vegetable and patients with osteoporosis, as the beet prevents the absorption of calcium by the body. The third limitation imposes oxalic acid in the composition, which is undesirable in case of kidney diseases, in particular in urolithiasis.As you can see, there are many ways to cook beets, and it is not necessary to spend half a day on this. Do not miss the opportunity to enrich the body with such a set of trace elements, how different this product.