Beets - the head of everything, or how to cook beets correctly? All the secrets of proper cooking beets

Red beets are an autumn vegetable, a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. It has a magnificent color - from pinkish to dark purple. Taste characteristics and shade depend on the variety of the beautiful vegetable, but the benefits of its consumption are undeniable.

With all the advantages and excellent taste characteristics, only experienced housewives they know how and how much to cook beets until cooked, so that they retain all the vitamins, color, remain elastic and tasty.

The easiest way to boil beets

How to cook beets in a saucepan so that it takes a minimum amount of time? To do this, take only 3 components:

• Water - 5 l;
• Vegetable oil - 50 ml;
• Ice - as needed.
• Beets - 3 large pieces.

1. Pour water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Pour the oil into the boiling liquid.
3. Put the washed beets (in the skin).
4. Exactly half an hour later, the boiling water is drained.
5. A hot vegetable is sent to ice.

If oil is not added to the water, it will evaporate very quickly. In this combination, the evaporation process is much slower, in addition, after sharp drop temperatures, the skin is easily removed from the vegetable. This is the easiest way to cook beets quickly.

How to cook red beets for vinaigrette?

Vinaigrette is a tasty and healthy autumn-winter salad that absolutely all children and adults love. However, not every housewife knows how to cook beetroot for salad so that it is sweet and elastic, while retaining all beneficial features and colored the vinaigrette in a unique, pinkish color. To do this, take the following components:

• Water - from 3 to 5 liters;
• Lemon juice or 9% vinegar - 2 tablespoons;
• Sugar - 2 tablespoons
• Beets - 1-2 pcs.

The cooking method is simple:

1. Pour cold water into a deep saucepan.
2. Add lemon juice (vinegar) and sugar to it.
3. Put the candle.
4. Turn on medium fire.
5. Cover the pot with a lid.
6. Detect 2 hours and cook the vegetable.
7. Check readiness by piercing the beets with a match. If it easily pierces the skin and enters the pulp, turn off the heat, drain the boiling water and pour the root crop cold water.

Several useful tips how to cook fresh beets

In order for the vitamins to be fully preserved, it is advisable to first cook the vegetable over high heat, after boiling, switching to a weak one. How long to cook beets in this mode? It is enough to simmer it under a closed lid for up to 4 hours.

1. To reduce the cooking time of a vegetable, after boiling water, pour a tablespoon of salt into the pan, let the solution boil again, only then put beets, a tablespoon of sugar and the same amount of 9% vinegar.
2. There are a great many recipes for cooking beets with photos, but you don’t need to be a chef for this. For example, to remove the characteristic beet smell, it is enough to put a crust of rye bread in boiling water with a root crop half an hour before cooking. Agree, simple and useful.
3. You can store boiled beets for no more than 2 days. Even in the refrigerator and unpurified, it loses ascorbic acid and many trace elements over this period of time.
4. If raw beets have lost moisture, become shriveled and dry, they must be scalded with boiling water, then put in a warm liquid for an hour so that the vegetable becomes elastic and attractive again.

There are many ways to cook beets. You can bake it in the oven, on the grill, in the microwave or in a slow cooker. It is enough to carefully read the recipes.

It would seem that among all the culinary tricks and secrets, cooking vegetables does not require any special knowledge and is subject even to completely ignorant, novice housewives. Not everything, however, is so simple, for example, how to cook beets for a vinaigrette or bright, with a rich, flawless color, borscht or a characteristic beetroot? So that the proper crunch is present, both elasticity and vitamins are preserved.

If beets should be boiled for cooking on its basis or as an additional ingredient in a salad: a traditional vinaigrette, with apples, with garlic and sauce, with herbs and aromatic olive oil, for everyone’s favorite herring under a fur coat, etc., you need to get a bright vegetable , a certain hardness. Hard enough (vinaigrette) or, on the contrary, soft (fur coat). The most common typical mistakes when cooking beets are stiffness, heterogeneity of structure, and pallor. Then how to cook beets correctly in order to avoid them? Should:

Water should slightly cover vegetables, at the same time you need to monitor the water level, and add periodically cold water, since the vegetables must always be completely in the water.

When boiling several root vegetables, they should be approximately the same shape and weight.

Beet tails cannot be trimmed.

It is preferable to select undamaged root crops, clean them well before cooking from contamination, rinse.

The most optimal form of beets for cooking whole (not for soups) is cylindrical, elongated, rich red, sweet.

Cook should be on low heat, avoid boiling, under the lid.

You can check the softness and readiness traditionally - with a knife, a toothpick (pierce). As a rule, the beets are definitely ready, if the root crop slides off the knife on its own, it is not necessary to shake it. Just don't do it every four minutes. Ideally, check the readiness once. Otherwise, the root crop will be completely exhausted, the juice will flow out, the brightness and integrity will be lost. You should calmly, without disturbing, cook the beets for 40 minutes, after which you can check for readiness if the fruits are small or a slightly harsh, crispy structure is required.

Salting water for cooking beets is not worth it, firstly, it is practically useless, and secondly, it can somewhat affect the taste of the vegetable.

Often there is a need to preserve color, how to cook bright and beautiful beets? To preserve the color, boiled water can be acidified or sweetened. Add a couple of tablespoons of table vinegar or lemon juice, or sugar per 3 liters of one liquid (excluding the volume of vegetables). Suitable and lemon acid or sour kvass.

There are no strict requirements for the material of the dishes, however, it should be understood that the decoction turns out to be coloring and saturated. However, it is not recommended to cook in metal utensils. There are requirements for the size, the smaller the useless volume of the container, the better. Ideally, a couple of cm should remain from the surface of the liquid to the lid.

When cooking beets, there is a somewhat specific smell, it is easy to get rid of it by putting a bread crust in the pan.

In order for the finished beets to be easily and quickly cleaned, after cooking, rinse them or dip them for 8-10 minutes in cold water. The vegetable is cooked separately from the rest, and the sliced ​​​​prepared beet slices / cubes are smeared with any vegetable oil in order to preserve the color and not stain the rest of the salad ingredients.

If you want to cook beets very quickly, you can also boil chopped peeled root vegetables. fast? The main thing is a minimum of water, a small container, a closed lid. Enough 15 minutes. After boiling, you should definitely add a spoonful of vinegar and mix - the color will be restored. For salads, beets can also be boiled / baked, stewed, baked in a conventional oven.

In cooking, beets are an indispensable vegetable for preparing salads, first courses, drinks and desserts. Each method of cooking beetroot depends on what kind of dish and how you cook it. Beets are boiled in water (in a slow cooker or saucepan), steamed in a double boiler or baked in a microwave or oven. Ready beets are cleaned, cut into strips or grated, and then added to the dish. Exist quick ways cooking beets, when raw peeled fruits are cut into cubes or strips and cooked in crushed form. Also, to prepare borscht or beetroot, you can grate peeled raw beets and stew with vinegar or lemon, and then add to the soup.

Cooking time for beets

In a saucepan: 30-40 minutes.
In a slow cooker: 35-40 minutes.
In a steamer: 1 hour.
In the oven: 30-40 minutes.
In the microwave: 10-12 minutes.
In a slow cooker in pieces: 15 minutes.

Cooking methods

How to Peel Beets Before Cooking

Soak the beets in cold water first, and then wash them thoroughly under running water with a brush.

Separate the tubers from the tops, because. tubers and beet tops are always prepared separately.

How to cook beetroot in a pot

1. Beets must be washed well under running water, without cleaning or removing the tails - only the leaves of the tops are removed.

2. Place in a saucepan, pour cold water so that the tubers are completely covered, put to boil.
3. Beets are cooked for an average of 30-40 minutes. You can check the readiness by piercing the vegetable with a fork - the finished beets are soft in the center.
4. Drain the water, clean the finished beets hot - under running cold water, or before cleaning, place in a saucepan with cold water for 10 minutes. Then clean by removing the skin.

How to cook beets in a slow cooker

We choose fruits of medium size, as well as for cooking in a saucepan.
We wash the beets, separate the tops, place them in the multicooker bowl, fill with water.
We cook the vegetable in the "Baking" mode. The cooking time of beets in a slow cooker is 35-40 minutes. For large beets, the time is increased to one hour.
You can bake beets in a slow cooker, as in this recipe: “Beetroot caviar in a slow cooker”

How to bake beets in the oven

Beets can be baked in the oven by wrapping them in foil or placing them in a baking bag. Cook for approximately 30 minutes at a temperature of 190-200 degrees. The time depends on the size of the beets and the individual characteristics of your oven.

1. Wash the beets, separate the tops.
2. Wrap the tubers in foil or place in a baking bag.
3. Put on a baking sheet.
4. Bake beets in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius.
5. Baking time: 30-40 minutes.
6. Open the foil or bag, let the vegetable cool.
7. Peel off the skin.

Fast Cooking Methods

Beets in the microwave

Washed fruits are pierced in several places, placed in a special dish for a microwave oven or a food bag. Cook in the microwave for 10-12 minutes at a power of 800 watts.

Quick beets in a slow cooker

You can quickly cook beets in a slow cooker - after cutting into pieces or straws. To do this, the beets must be peeled and chopped.

Pour vegetable oil into the multicooker bowl, add beets, mix well and cook in the "Baking" mode for 15 minutes.
Such beets can be added to a salad, borscht, or beetroot caviar can be prepared from it.

Beetroot Dishes - Recipes

Beets have firmly entered our diet, and without it it is simply impossible to imagine our daily and festive menu.
In cooking, beets are used to prepare cold appetizers and salads, and not only from the rhizome, but also from the tops. It is difficult to imagine borscht or beetroot soup, botvinnik or beetroot okroshka without beets, not to mention vinaigrette or the famous and healthy salad"Brush". Beets are used to make healthy and tasty drinks, and even desserts and sweets.

* A simple raw beetroot salad.
It is very useful to prepare salads from raw beets, because it is in raw beets that all vitamins and nutrients are stored. So, we bought, washed and dried beets. Peel a few tubers and grate them on a coarse grater or on a grater for Korean carrots. Cook only as much as you can eat in one sitting because, even if stored in the refrigerator, the beetroot dish loses all of its magical properties.
Grate 200 g beets and mix with 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice.
Add a pinch of red hot pepper. A few coriander seeds ground in a mortar, salt to taste and season olive oil, add 1 tbsp. l. green finely chopped onion.

* Boiled beets with olive oil and lemon.
A very popular appetizer in Greece, which is served with grilled or char-grilled dishes. oily fish Dorada or Semge.
Cook 200 g of unpeeled beet tubers and beet tops in a slow cooker in the "Steam" mode. The tops will cook much faster than the tubers, so we will get it in about 15 minutes. We check the readiness of the tubers by piercing them with a fork, which enters the finished tuber easily and gently. We clean the hot tubers, cut into circles and beautifully put on a dish. Nearby you need to spread the tops, pour 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil and 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice, sprinkle with oregano to taste.

* Beet caviar with walnuts and prunes.
Beetroot tubers (200 g) wrap with foil and place in the oven. Bake, peel the prepared beets and grate on a fine (carrot) grater, you can pierce with a blender.
Finely chop an onion and lightly fry in two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Dried and very soft prunes 5-6 pcs. cut in small pieces. Chop dried nuts with a knife. Mix it all together and season lemon juice 2 tbsp. l., adding a little ground coriander in a mortar, salt and black pepper to taste.

* See also other beetroot recipes:
Beet salad with banana sauce
Snack cake "Beetroot"
Vinaigrette in the microwave
Very simple cheese, egg and beetroot salad
Cold beetroot on yogurt
Salad "Bite off the tongue"
matrimonial beetroot
Vinaigrette "One-two and done"

Making salads and appetizers
Beet chips rose
Beet juice is excellent natural dye and is used in the preparation of desserts and pastries: cookies "Colorful strawberries"

Useful properties of beets

Beets are a valuable food product that contains vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates, magnesium, potassium, iron, etc., as well as organic acids and dyes. It is a true food source of copper, iron, phosphorus and vitamin C. Its leaves contain a lot of vitamin A, and the presence of folic acid in beets promotes the formation of new cells and rejuvenates the body. Vitamin "B 9" prevents heart disease, because it is responsible for the production of hemoglobin by the body. The presence of pectin in beets helps to remove salt from the body. heavy metals and radiation, lowers cholesterol.
Despite the sugar content in the beet, it is recommended for people suffering from obesity and fluid retention. Well cleanses the liver and kidneys, stimulates the brain, lowers arterial pressure, but at the same time, beets are not recommended for people with a weak stomach and high acidity.
Red beets rich beneficial substances important and needed by all of us. She helps women critical days, and cope with menopause, in men it stimulates sexual and muscle activity, and for children it is a source of vitamins, iron and iodine.

Energy value of beets

Energy value per 100 gr. fresh beets 43 kcal 180 kJ.
Proteins - 1.6 gr., Fats - 0.2 gr., Carbohydrates - 9.6 gr. - including sugar 6.8 gr.

Beet varieties

All types of beet originated from wild, which grows in India and on Far East. The most common and known to us types of beets: sugar, fodder and ordinary, are quite unpretentious, grow and are found everywhere except Antarctica. We're talking about beetroot, which we use to prepare our dishes, we buy in stores and at the bazaar, as well as grow on our own summer cottages. So, beetroot has many varieties: Ataman, Bordeaux, Detroit Cadet, Captain, Aelita, Cylinder, Commander, Cadet and Red Ball. The most popular and loved, for its rich burgundy color and sugar content Bordeaux beet variety.

Selection, purchase, processing, storage

When buying beets, try to choose tubers that are medium and uniform in size, thin skinned, and deep burgundy in color.
If the beets are with tops, do not rush to throw away the tops - it can be used to make salad, borscht and beetroot.
Separate the tubers from the tops, dry thoroughly if you do not use the beets immediately. Tubers are best stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator in special containers for vegetables or in a dry and dark cool place. The tops can be frozen and placed in a food bag to freeze.

Interesting Facts
So that the beetroot cut for mixed salads does not stain the rest of the ingredients, you need to add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to it and let it stand for several minutes.
In the old days in the Mediterranean, only beet leaves were eaten, and the roots were used only for medicinal purposes.

Hello, friends! Today we will learn how to properly cook beets quickly and tasty in order to preserve the maximum of useful components in beets. We will learn how to choose the right beets and discuss 6 ways to cook beets, their advantages and disadvantages.

How to choose the right beets.

There are 3 types of beetroot: table red beetroot, fodder beetroot (for livestock feed), sugar beetroot (white in section) used for sugar production.

The table red beet, which we will consider today, has many varieties, they differ in health value.

The most valuable beet for health is maroon in the context, without white streaks, not big size, a little more chicken egg. If the beets are large, larger than the size of a fist, then it can be suspected that they were grown with an artificial excess of fertilizers. It takes more time to cook a large root crop, and if it is cut during cooking, then some of the nutrients are washed out.

Beets without white circles in the context are healthier

We choose beets that are firm, not sluggish. Sluggish beets have already lost a lot of their nutritional qualities.

First, the beets must be washed thoroughly with a brush or wire wool. You need to wash with gloves so as not to damage and preserve the beautiful.

When peeling beets upper part, where the tops grew from, must be cut off, it can accumulate nitrates.

Beetroot is a unique vegetable, because during heat treatment it retains almost all of its trace elements and vitamins, i.e. heat-treated beets are just as healthy and healing as raw beets.

To preserve the healthfulness of beets, remember the rule: do not heat the oven above 180 degrees when baking beets, otherwise the most valuable substance is destroyed - betaine, which saves from obesity and liver problems, as well as vitamin C.

Ways to cook red beets

We will choose such methods of cooking red beets that will preserve the beets in all their healing properties.

Depending on the size of the beets, it takes 1-1.5 hours to boil the beets.

If you follow the secrets of cooking, the healthiness of cooked beets will increase.

Secrets of boiling beets in water:

Secret 1. We boil water, add salt, let it boil for 5 minutes and only then lay the beets. What is achieved by this? The usefulness of boiled beets improves, as oxygen, which binds nutrients, is removed from boiling water.

Secret 2. If the root crops are small, it is enough to boil them for 30 minutes, and then unload them into a pot of cold water. When the water becomes warm, it is necessary to replace it with cold water and soak the boiled root crops in it for about 5 minutes. The beets become soft. Do not keep beets in water for a long time, so as not to wash out the beneficial substances

Secret 3. We cook the root crops under the lid, this will protect them from the harmful effects of light and air.

1. Steamed beets.

Steamed beets

For steaming beets, use a double boiler, but if it is not there yet, then it does not matter: put a colander in the pan, put the washed, unpeeled root vegetables in it and cover with a lid. When steamed, unpeeled root crops retain significantly more nutrients than when cooked in water. It is not necessary to trim the tips and tails of the beets.
Advantages of steam cooking:
1. Vitamins and microelements are stored in significantly more than when boiling in water

The steaming time is shorter than when boiling in water. Small beets should be boiled for 15 minutes, and then put in cold water for 5 minutes.

1. Cooking beets in the microwave.

Cooking beets in the microwave

Beets are pricked in several places with a fork, placed in a bag (preferably in a baking sleeve, now they are widely sold in supermarkets, for example, in Pyaterochka) and tied. Turn on the microwave power of 800 watts for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the beets are soft and the microwave stays clean. If your microwave has less power, then the cooking time is proportionally increased.

Attention: Do not burn yourself with hot steam when opening the package!
However, the taste of beets cooked in the microwave is different from those cooked in the steam or oven.

1. Roast the beets in the oven.

• A common method of roasting beets in foil.

Wrap the beets in foil and put them on a baking sheet in the oven.

Each prepared root crop is wrapped in two layers of foil, with the matte side facing the beets, and baked on a baking sheet.

The advantage of roasting beets in foil:

Beets are tastier than boiled.
Its color remains richer.
Beets are baked quickly - in 30-40 minutes.
The baking sheet stays pristine clean, the oven too, less hassle with cooking.

The disadvantage of the method of baking beets in foil:

Food foil is made from aluminum, and aluminum tends to accumulate in the body. The association of Alzheimer's disease with an increased content of aluminum in the body has been proven.

It is possible that our average body can cope with a small amount of aluminum, but people with weak kidneys can be severely affected by aluminum. Scientists have proven the connection between the accumulation of aluminum in the body with the weakening of the growth of brain cells, with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

And how trustingly and thoughtlessly young people drink drinks from aluminum cans! How blindly people trust their health to beverage manufacturers!

Have you noticed that Alzheimer's disease has become more common? This disease is called the disease of industrialization.

Therefore, I threw away all aluminum spoons, saucepans and try not to use food aluminum foil, especially since there is an alternative, namely:

• Roasting beets in a roasting sleeve.

We bake beets in the oven in a baking sleeve

The best way is to roast beets in a roasting sleeve. The roasting sleeve is not afraid high temperature up to 230 degrees Celsius, does not emit harmful substances, it can be reused, it is environmentally friendly. When baking beets, the sleeve can not be pierced. The sleeve must be cut to the size of the baking sheet with a margin for the lapel and wrap the edges without even tying them. We place the sleeve with root crops on a baking sheet and put in a preheated oven. The baking sheet stays perfectly clean after baking. Beets are very tasty and healthy.

If we want to make a vinaigrette, put several sleeves with potatoes, beets and carrots in one baking sheet and bake all together. They are not dyed.

1. Results.

Today we reviewed:

• How to choose the right beets.

• How to cook beetroot - 5 ways to cook beetroot.

• We learned the rules of heat treatment of beets to preserve the maximum of useful substances.
• We learned how the beet readiness time differs when different ways cooking.

• We learned that the most environmentally friendly way to preserve nutrients is to roast beets in the oven in a roasting sleeve.

Beets are one of the most healthy vegetables, which preserves our health: cleanses the blood, saturates us with useful substances and heals the body. Therefore, it must be present in our diet every day.

Next time we will look at various recipes beetroot dishes so that it never gets bored.

Sources:

Your cook

We cook red beets correctly

At first glance, it seems that cooking vegetables for a side dish or salad is not at all difficult. Throw them into the water and bring to readiness. But this rule does not apply to all products. Beetroot, or, as it is also called, beetroot, is rather capricious. May undercook, turn white, lose taste.

To prevent this from happening, follow simple rules:

• To preserve the maximum benefit and beauty of the vegetable, beets are boiled whole.
• Before cooking, the vegetable should be thoroughly washed with a brush, while neither the top nor the tail is cut off.
• The root crop is placed in cold water, which should be quite a lot, brought to a boil, then boiled over low heat for about an hour.
• How much to cook red beets in time will depend on the variety, size and age of the fruit. The larger and older, the longer, up to 3 hours. When cooking for a long time, do not forget to pour hot water into the pan.
• To speed up the preparation of large root crops, it is necessary to lower them into ice water 30 minutes after boiling. The heat will go from the edges to the center, and the vegetable will cook quickly.
• To prevent the beetroot from discoloring during cooking, add a little table vinegar or lemon juice to the water.

Boiled beets are an excellent side dish and component of salads. So that it does not stain other products, you can grease a little vegetable oil chopped root.

Ways to cook red beets

In addition to the standard cooking in a saucepan, there are other ways heat treatment beets. If desired, you can use kitchen appliances or an oven.

1. In order not to dirty the pan, the red root crop is boiled in a baking bag. This method is no different from the one described above.
2. You can cook root vegetables in a slow cooker. They must first be pierced through in several places with a culinary needle or thin knife. Cooking time - 30 minutes at maximum power.
3. It will turn out very tasty if the beetroot is baked in the oven. The fruits must be thoroughly washed and wrapped in foil, then put in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Do not unwrap while foil is hot.
4. It is good to steam medium-sized root crops for a couple, otherwise it will take too much time.

You can choose any method of heat treatment. With each taste of the finished product will be slightly different.