While we’re at home from our San Francisco Food Tour of North Beach\Little Italy and Chinatown, I really like using root vegetables, such as beets. An easy way prepare beets is to either steam or in boiling water. Most of the time, I end up boiling the beets in water. After filling a large pan with water, I like to add a splash of white vinegar along with some salt. I like to boil them until a knife easily goes through, usually about 45 to an hour. After draining the beets, you can either let them cool or run them under water they are cool. At that point, you can easily remove the skin with paring knife, along with the root ends. They can stain everything, so be careful to do that in the sink. After that, you can either slice or cube them for use in salads, with a sauce, or however you like.
On our San Francisco Food Tours, many of our stops like to roast the beet instead of boiling them. That usually takes about 40-60 minutes at about 400 degrees. If you want to steam them, that usually takes about thirty minutes. You can use the beet greens in a similar way that you might use kale. As they are a little bitter, I usually steam or sauté them, then serve them with some olive oil to balance out the flavors.
