Raw beets are sweet

It is only fitting to being with something trivial that I bet many have not tried: RAW beets. I grew up with canned beets and hated them passionately. I think this is where the beets adventure stops for most of the first world. We eat beets as adults because some article mentioned beets were healthy, and we all know that healthy and tasty do not go together. So we eat some beets and attempt to feel good about ourselves.

When I learned about slow roasting and caramelization, I was receptive to learning that roasted beets are delicious, that they become very sweet. Maybe at some point later I'll tackle roasted beets with nuts and feta cheese, and an appropriate smothering of butter. A dish that can convert a hard-core beet hater.

Today, however, we go a degree simpler. I hesitated when I read somewhere that one can make a salad from grated beets. After all, beets contain beet juice, and the idea of spraying the unwashable blood-like red liquid all over the place lack appeal. I also expected raw beets to taste like cardboard. Or like canned beets. They had to, there was no caramelization.

My assumptions called to be validated on a very regular basis. Our CSA, the most excellent Live Earth Farm, insists on supplying us with a bunch of beets pretty much weekly. At least that is true during the winter. It takes an hour or more to roast beets, so that made me wonder about the flavor or the lack of flavor of a raw beet. I was a convert immediately after consuming my first slice. It was mildly sweet, and there was no beet flavor that I learned to loathe during my younger days. Surely no cardboard. I promptly gave a raw beets salad a try, and it stayed in my repertoire. Jasna kept educating me that each meal should contain some raw food to temper one's metabolism. Clearly the beets cause lobbied the effective person.

This is how easy this is: Take some super fresh beets and peel them. I find a paring knife suitable for the task. A vegetable peeler works as well. Then grate the beets in a bowl. Do use a bowl to collect the juice and make sure that you don't loose your composure when your hands turn bright red. It will wash off, but do avoid touching your clothes, or that pretty white dish cloth. After you have washed your hands, add a pinch of salt, some olive oil, and some balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. Toss. Serve in bowls, garnish with either something green like parlsey, chives, or chopped green onion. Or with something white like grated parmesan or crumbled feta. Or don't bother garnishing. I do recommend plating in the kitchen. Remember the potent red juice...

Where are the quantities, you ask! Well, all is flexible, and I surely don't measure. Taste as you go and you'll see what you like. For example, I don't like my salads very acidic, and Jasna does. Both of us are right, clearly. Moreover, tasting and adjusting is the only way you'll develop your palate and figure out how to adjust your dishes.

Confession: I like to use pumpkin seed oil in this salad. My uncle and my parents grow extra pumpkins so that Jasna and I can take some of the very finest pumpkin seed oil with us. It is total green gold. The super pricey stuff that claims to be 100% pumpkin seed oil is shamefully inferior to the real thing, so I'd avoid that purchase.

Equipment note: Microplane graters are the one and only kind one should ever use. Not only is Microplane a Canadian invention, it is the only kind of grater that works. The beets are pretty hard, so I use my box grater that I acquired years ago in BBB. This is the model closest to mine. I wonder whether a grating disk on the food processor could handle a beet. This clearly calls for an experiment.