Beets make winter almost bearable. Their sweet flavor, sturdy texture, and striking color bring a little life into a mostly bleak–vegetable and weather-wise–season. I like them for another reason- their leaves. I am a fool for any kind of green: chard, kale, collards, broccoli rabe- you name it. But beet green make me feel something I don’t often feel- thrifty. When you buy a bunch of beets, it’s almost like getting the greens for free. Granted, much of the time the greens on supermarket beets are a little worse for wear, but wait for a fresh shipment to come in or poke around a little to find leaves with the least damage and pick up a bunch.
The anchovies are optional, but highly desirable.Here’s how I deal with beets/greens 99% of the time: Cut the stems off the beets, leaving about 1 inch of the stem attached to the beet. Scrub the beets very well. Using heavy duty aluminum foil or a double thickness of regular foil, wrap the beets up in a loose packet, leaving the top of the packet open a little so steam can escape. Put the packet of beets on a baking sheet in a preheated 400F oven until the biggest beets are tender when poked with a small knife. This will take somewhere around 1 1/2 hours, depending on your beets. Take them out and let them cool. Cookbooks will tell you to “slip off the skins.” but that’s only half accurate. There is always one part of the skin that stubbornly refuses to slip off. Scraping or peeling that stubborn part with a paring knife is your best bet. The beets are now ready to eat.
As for the leaves, hold each leaf in one hand while you pull off the stem. Some of the thick stem from the bottom of the leaf should come with the main part of the stem as you pull, if not, cut it out with a paring knife. Trim off any wilted or black parts. Wash the leaves in plenty of cold water, changing the water if necessary (beets and their leaves can be pretty muddy/gritty). Leave the greens whole if you would like to saute them on their own or mixed with other greens, or cut them into thin strips for dishes like Angel Hair with Beet Greens. For strips, stack several leaves one atop the other and roll them up tightly. Cut the roll crosswise into strips as thick or thin as you like.
The stems are edible too, but not even I’m feeling that thrifty this winter.
Angel Hair with Beet Greens
The Beet Paradox, as I call it, is this: While the average bunch of beets yields enough beet root for two people to share as a salad or side dish, it only yields enough greens for one person to enjoy. Here is a simple and thoroughly delicious way to take advantage of that single serving of greens.
Makes 1 serving
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 to 2 anchovy fillets, optional
Pinch crushed red pepper
Greens from 1 bunch of beets, trimmed, washed and cut into thin strips
2 ounces angel hair pasta *
Finely shredded pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
Heat a pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and shake the pan just until the garlic starts to turn color, add the anchovies and red pepper. When the garlic is very light brown, add the greens and toss in the oil until wilted and bright green, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat to very low.
Stir the pasta into the boiling water. Cook, stirring, until the pasta is tender, but still has a little bite- no more than 2 minutes. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of pasta water to the pan with the beet greens.
Drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the sauce. Turn the heat to medium and bring the sauce to a boil. The beet greens will clump up, break apart the clumps with a fork or tongs and toss the pasta around in the pan to distribute the greens throughout. When all is well mixed and heated through, Scrape the pasta into a bowl and top with grated cheese.
* To approximate 2 ounces of angel hair without a scale, use this simple trick: Gather enough angel hair pasta into a fairly tight bundle and stand it on its end. a two-ounce bunch of angel hair pasta will cover the surface of a dime.
Angel Hair with Beet Greens