Beet Greens

The other day my good friend let me harvest whatever I could get my hands on in her garden. It was awesome. I can't wait until her peppers and tomatoes ripen up. We're already planning a canning party. Yes, I did say canning party and I'm pretty excited about it.  I know it might sound dorky and I'd have to agree and say it kinda does, but it fits into my becoming completely domesticated lifestyle and I love it. 

Some of my loot from Jenn's garden

In my venture of domestication and homesteading, I'm trying new things in the kitchen. Like, Beet Greens. I didn't want to waste any of the veggies I harvested, so I cut the tops off my beets and got to cooking.  Check out these greens

I love the bright, vibrant color of these greens. They were really easy to cook with and only required minimal prep. 

First you just wash, then separate the stems from the leaves and lay greens out to dry. Of course, if you have a salad spinner you could use that and they would dry faster. However, you don't have to have the greens completely dry before cooking. 

The rest of my veggies for dinner

Here's how I made my greens

I started with melting butter in a medium size sauce pan, then added half of a white onion, coarsely chopped. Just sweat the onions out for about 2-3 minutes and then add the stems of the beet greens. Cook the stems for 5-7 minutes until they become tender and bright shiny red in color.  Toss in the leaves and season with sea salt and fresh black pepper.  Cook leaves for 6-8 minutes or until wilted down to your liking. I also used a splash of apple cider vinegar and homemade chicken broth because that's what I do with collards and chard and I thought it would taste good. Turns out that was a good idea, they tasted great. 

Finished product. The stems of the beet greens turn everything a pretty ruby red color. 

These were delicious. I was pleasantly suprised and will definitely be making these again.