Red and Black

In the last post I touched on the cycle of a turkey. Today I focus on the life of a beet.

Beets, along with celeriac and radishes are the few vegetables I have problems with finding uses. I can make a soup with celeriac or a salad with radishes, but I wish not to eat these dishes frequently. It’s the sad truth and yet CSA farmers tend to pack in the beets come storage crop season.

I loved beets the first three weeks of winter, but enough is enough! The demand for beets at this point during winter is practically non-existent in this house, but CSA shares are commitments. After much internal debate over the recently unbearable earthy flavor, I needed to make beet chocolate cake. It is the only solution for me to enjoy beets again this winter.

As I made the cake, I thought of the natural cycles involved with my food. The farmer decided last year to purchase a healthy amount of beet seeds as beet plants are favorable for farmers.  They grow quickly and yield both green tops and the bulbous root. Most likely, the beets were planted and harvest within six weeks and then placed in storage last November. My beets sat in a dark storage for months, only seeing light for a moment each week when the farmer opens the door to get this weeks’ share of storage crops. Finally, in early January the farmer looks in his storage and wants all of those red-devil roots off his property! The CSA shareholders receive even more beets. The next day, I pick up my share open the bag and laugh at the abundance of yet more beets.

The beets sit in my fridge for a few weeks until I decide to mix with chocolate to make a cake.

When you combine the two, along with oil, eggs, sugar, baking soda and flour you get a highly bearable version of beets. There is nothing quite like using veggies in dessert!

Oh and to complete to cycle, the beets are processed in my body, I compost the peels for use in the garden, and I give up on creating further exciting stories about beets.