Beet Greens
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Thin out young beet plants, keeping the roots with the leaves.
Examine and discard any infested leaves.
Wash the greens thoroughly in several waters.
Cook and finish
Place in a pot and cover with boiling water.
Add ½ teaspoon of salt for every two quarts of greens.
Boil rapidly for about 30 minutes until tender.
Drain the water, chop the greens coarsely, and season with butter and salt.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Young beet greens
- The leaves are the main food; long boiling softens their fibres until they become tender.
- Butter
- Melts over the hot chopped greens, adding richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Boil rapidly for about 30 minutes until tender. A rapid, full boil keeps the water hot enough to break down the tough leaf fibres evenly. Under-cooked greens stay fibrous and bitter, so test for tenderness before draining.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.