Late spring and early summer are the season of young vegetables. The counters at this time are full of juicy colors, among which it is difficult not to notice young beets, especially if it is sold together with juicy tops. Unfortunately, many housewives immediately cut and throw out the leaves, not understanding at all how useful they are and how many delicious dishes can be prepared from them.
Beneficial features
The first question that the housewives often ask is: “Why bother with beet tops?” Scientists gave the answer to this question a long time ago, proving that the leaves of this plant contain no less useful substances than root crops. Beet tops are rich in ascorbic and folic acids, vitamins of groups B and P, such microelements as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iodine. Vitamin C in the leaves is many times more than in the root crop.
Dishes from this vegetable are useful for people with heart and thyroid problems, patients with diabetes mellitus and anemia. Scientists noted the huge content of substances that suppress the growth of cancer cells, so oncologists recommend that patients always include beet tops in their diet. What to cook from this vegetable depends on the culinary preferences of the person. But the abundance of recipes allows absolutely everyone to find something to their liking.
Role in world culinary
In many countries of the world, dishes are prepared from succulent beet leaves. In Russia, borsch is cooked from it, in America they cook stews, Georgians love phali, and Armenians wrap stuffed meat and cereals in beetroot leaves, like in cabbage rolls. Beet tops, the recipes of which have been passed down from generation to generation, are famous in almost all parts of the world. Want to try to cook a national Russian dish or overseas delicacy in your own kitchen? Go for it! A few simple recipes will help with this.
Borscht
Let's start with borsch. For its preparation you will need a pound of young beets along with leaves, 4 potatoes, 2 small young zucchini, 3 ripe tomatoes, carrots and onions. In addition, we will prepare frying oil for frying and a little vinegar. And to give the dish a flavor, we’ll use seasonings. Which - you decide. Any favorite spices will do. Well, you can’t do without sour cream, it is used when serving.
This dish is lean, it is suitable for vegetarians and those who follow a diet. But it is perfectly acceptable to cook it with meat, and chopped lard to add to the roasting.
Let's start cooking by chopping the ingredients. Beetroot, cut into small slices, is the first to go to our future borscht. Potato cubes follow. While vegetables are boiled, fry onions, carrots, tomatoes and zucchini in oil, add a little vinegar and simmer. As soon as the vegetables are soft, we overload the frying in the pan and send the tops sliced into strips there. Cook for another 15 minutes, add spices and salt. And when the borsch is cooked, he needs to insist - for this it is best to wrap the pan with a towel and leave it on the stove off for at least 30 minutes.
Love sharper? Feel free to add pepper and crushed garlic to the borscht!
Beetroot pie
The birthplace of this recipe is Karachay-Cherkessia. To make a pie, we need such products:
- flour - 200 g;
- homemade soft cheese (feta cheese, suluguni) - 170 g;
- onion feathers;
- beet tops - a bunch;
- salt.
Wash raw leaves and cut into smaller ones, add cheese and onions to them, mix thoroughly. Knead dough from flour, salt and water. Roll out a few circles to fit the pan. Now we form pies: put a layer of dough on a greased pan, distribute the filling on top. We will bake in the oven. Pie with beet tops is served to the table, cut into pieces.
Stew
A very popular product for cooking vegetable stew is beet tops. The recipes for this dish are complemented by ingredients such as potatoes, peppers, legumes, spinach, carrots, cauliflower and more. Let's try to cook stew in one of the most common ways. To do this, take a large bunch of tops, onions, several ripe bell peppers (preferably multi-colored), oil, herbs and seasonings. Now fry the chopped vegetables separately, transfer to a saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Before serving, season with garlic and seasonings.
Vegetarian cutlets
Such a dish can please not only those who observe strict fasting or do not eat meat for any other belief. Beetroot cutlets can be a wonderful ... side dish! They go well with smoked bacon and bacon, fried sausages, salted lard, ham. You can also serve them as an independent dish, for example, with sauce or adjika. This dish turns out to be very juicy and aromatic, and you won’t immediately say that it is based on beet tops. What to cook for cutlets and how to serve them is up to you. So let's get started.
Beet leaves (large bunch) are washed and cut into smaller ones. We drive in a raw egg, sprinkle with flour. The amount of flour and eggs depends on the juiciness of greens, and on its quantity. The result should be a dense mass that allows the formation of cutlets. They need to be fried in hot oil.
Soup
This vegetable is often used for cooking first courses. Let’s try, for example, to cook soup with beet tops. To do this, cook a light chicken broth, add finely chopped potatoes, grated carrots and fried onions in it. When the vegetables are cooked, put the tops, cut into thin long strips, into the broth. Boiled eggs are also very suitable for this recipe; quail eggs look especially impressive on plates. To this soup you can serve croutons or crackers.
Vitamin Salad
Recipes with beet tops do not always involve heat treatment. Salads from fresh leaves that store a maximum of vitamins and minerals are also very popular. The only effect of heat is a second immersion in boiling water, which is necessary for the tops to become soft. The leaves of beets in salads are great for cucumbers, radishes and radishes, cabbage, watercress, spinach, lettuce, and herbs. You can add boiled eggs, fried nuts, olives, flaxseed or sesame seeds. A completely unusual taste gives scalded raisins to such salads.
For refueling, vegetable oil seasoned with fruit vinegar, lemon or pomegranate juice is often used. Sour cream or mayonnaise are also great.
Dolma
In the East, the word "dolma" refers to any dish consisting of a vegetable base stuffed with a mixture of rice and meat. And the usual bell peppers with minced meat, cabbage rolls in grape leaves, and even eggplant boats are considered variants of dolma recipes. Of course, among the variety there was a place for the version with beet tops.
For the preparation of phali, young beet leaves with cut legs are used. There is no strict recipe for the preparation of the filling (as, by the way, for the whole dish). To make minced meat, beef, lamb, pork or poultry meat, as well as their mixture, are used. Finely chopped or grated onions are definitely added. In the East, it is customary to put very little rice in the filling, not more than a quarter in volume.
The dolma wrapped in leaves is pre-fried in a pan, baked in the oven until half-cooked, or immediately placed in a large cauldron. To prepare the gravy, a mixture of fried vegetables (carrots, onions, garlic) seasoned with tomato can be used.
Dolma is served on a large dish, along with gravy.