One of the nicest things about shopping at the farmer’s market is that you see the produce in its natural state. There is no way you could transport beets and other root vegetables with the greens still intact. They would rot over the thousands of miles it takes for them to be delivered. Heaven forbid should there still be any soil on a fruit or veggie in the supermarket! By the time we see them, they are the de-stemmed, triple-washed, gleaming, little, over-sanitized specimens, we expect them to be. You’d never guess that they had been grown in dirt.
Unfortunately, we miss out on the greens. Beet greens, like all greens, are high in fiber. They also contain significant amounts of vitamins K, C and A. Best of all, they are tasty! Some people find them bitter. I honestly don’t. Compared to kale, they are almost sweet… but not quite. I would say they have a fresh, green, earthy flavor. Beet greens are excellent sautéed. They can be added to soups and stews or served raw in salad. I enjoy adding beet greens to my autumn smoothies.
Autumn Apple and Beet Green Smoothie
One Cup of Almond Milk
One Apple (cored and cut in a few pieces)
Handful of Beet Greens
Handful of Kale
One Banana
A few drops of lemon juice
Two Tablespoons of Chia Seeds
Throw all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Drink immediately. (I have begun to add the chia seeds after I pour it into a glass. Little suckers get stuck to the side of the blender if you aren’t careful!)
Do you eat the greens that come with your root vegetables? Would you? Please leave me a reply. I would love to hear from you.
Many Blessings,
Cynthia
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I do! Just sauteed up some kohlrabi and turnip greens last night
Beautiful Barbara! That sounds delish!
I can’t eat vitamin K. Stinks. Blood thinner I’m on. Vitamin K clots blood. So anything with K i can’t do. Very small amounts. But i like shopping for fruit at farmers market. Fun fun. Apple festival here we come. Lol
That’s a bummer but like you wrote: plenty of good produce this time of year, cauliflower, squash, corn, potatoes and tomatoes. 🙂
Great idea about adding to a smoothie, I never thought of that. I do use beet greens in a sauté with olive oil & garlic. And I recently got some radishes at the farmers market – the long ones that are kind of mild (red & white) with the greens. There wasn’t much to it – but I did a quick sauté with them & they were very tasty.
Thanks Jodi! 🙂 I roasted beets and radishes together the other day. So good! The sweetness of the beets and the peppery-ness of the radishes. Veggie heaven!
Honestly, I don’t usually use the greens. I’ve been looking to up my smoothie game though, as in switch out my usual spinach or kale so I’ll have to give this a try!
Fabulous; Let me know how it works for you. You can always throw them in a stir fry or salad too!