The beet floats in the water. All the secrets of proper cooking beets

". Beets are one of the components of salads, such as vinaigrette or "fur coat", beetroot and many other dishes are prepared from it. However, it takes more time to cook than other vegetables. But what if there is no required amount of time? We present to your attention the secrets: how to quickly cook whole beets and more.

How much time is needed

The time to cook the beets until fully cooked varies from 10 minutes to 2 hours and depends on the size of the vegetable, its variety, the presence of salt in the water and the method of preparation chosen. So, for example, a flattened beet with a thin skin of a small Bordeaux variety will cook much faster than a large root crop of other varieties.

How to Minimize Boiling Time for Whole Beets

How to cook large beets quickly? If you do not have enough time, and you need to boil the beets, use the following recommendations.

Boil beets in a pan quickly

Way 1

• Place the washed root crop in a saucepan, cover with cold water, put on medium heat and cook for about 20 minutes. DO NOT SALT! Firstly, it is practically useless, and secondly, salt will make the vegetable more solid, thereby increasing the cooking time.
• Then drain the water and place the roots under cold water (preferably running) for a few minutes. After such a manipulation, due to a sharp change in temperature, the beets will “reach” to full readiness.

Way 2

• Significantly speeds up the process of adding cold water during cooking. Put the beets in cold water and put on a slow fire. When the water boils, add a small amount of cold water to stop it from boiling for a while. Then bring to a boil again and repeat the procedure. So cook until fully cooked.

Method 3: Microwave or Oven Cooking

• Pierce the washed beets with a knife (fork, toothpick) in several places.
• We pack it in a plastic bag or special dishes and set it for 10 minutes at a power of 800 watts.
• In the oven, beets of medium size at a temperature of 200 degrees are baked for 25-30 minutes.

Determine readiness

In order to determine the readiness of a vegetable, simply pierce the root crop with a sharp object. If the knife (fork, toothpick) easily entered it and the beets inside are soft, then the mission was a success.

Save color

How to cook red beets quickly?

• Boil the beets along with the tails and peel, without violating the integrity of the "shell".
• In order to preserve the color of the root during long-term cooking, add 2 teaspoons of table vinegar, lemon or sugar to 3 liters of water.
• If the beetroot was cooking for a vinaigrette and you don't want it to color the rest of the vegetables red, just drizzle the diced beetroot with any vegetable oil.

  Other ways to boil beets quickly

Method 1. Steam cooking

• Cut the washed and peeled root crop into cubes or straws.
• Place the chopped vegetable in the steamer. Ready time - 20 minutes.

Beets have been known all over the world for a long time, and at first only tops were eaten. Today, along with the root crop, it allows you to enrich the body with vitamins, iodine, and iron. However, you can save all the benefits and taste of a vegetable only by preparing it correctly.

Features of vegetable culture

Beet is an annual, rarely biennial plant of the amaranth family. Both the ripening root crop of a burgundy-red hue and young green leaves with a reddish border along wavy edges are used for food.

There are 3 main types of crops - table, sugar and fodder. They eat canteen, which can be of several varieties. For cooking or baking, many people prefer to use the Bordeaux variety, which is characterized by medium, slightly flattened roots of a rich burgundy hue.

The vegetable contains tocopherol (vitamin E), B vitamins, vitamin P and PP, as well as iodine, iron and zinc. Beets are low-calorie vegetables, the nutritional value per 100 g is 40 kcal. The main part of the composition falls on water and carbohydrates, proteins and fats are presented in small quantities. In addition to carbohydrates, beets are also high in sugars, fructose and glucose.

The high content of iron, as well as a substance called betaine (it is this that causes the bright shade of the vegetable), has a beneficial effect on the circulatory and vascular systems. Beet helps to increase the level of hemoglobin, which, in turn, improves the nutrition of organs and tissues. Betaine in combination with vitamin P makes the vascular walls stronger and more elastic, improves the absorption of vitamin B.

This vegetable is especially useful for people suffering from anemia, it is the prevention of the development of atherosclerosis, varicose veins, heart attack. Possessing the ability to increase pressure, the root crop helps hypertensive patients to normalize and stabilize pressure.

Due to the antioxidant properties of beets, it is recommended for liver diseases, helps to eliminate toxins and toxins from the body. The bactericidal effect of the root crop makes its use effective in the treatment of external injuries, long-healing wounds, and abrasions. Taking beetroot juice orally is one of the measures to treat gastritis and ulcers.

Possessing dietary fiber, beets stimulate intestinal motility, improving digestion, accelerating metabolism. It has been proven that regular consumption of this vegetable is one of the preventive measures against bowel cancer.

With caution, you should eat beets for diabetes, hypotension, gastritis and ulcers, characterized by low acidity, for osteoporosis, diarrhea and urolithiasis.

How to choose a root vegetable?

For cooking, you should choose young soft root crops, then the finished dish will turn out to be softer, more tender. It is better not to use too large root crops, they will be dry and fibrous. Too large an acquired vegetable may well turn out to be fodder, and not table. The best option is medium beets with a red-burgundy thin skin without signs of damage and decay.

If possible, buy beets with tops. The latter will help to understand how fresh and young the root crop is, and in addition, fresh tops can also be used in cooking.

How long to cook?

The cooking time of the root crop depends on its size and cooking method. Small root vegetables are boiled for 40-60 minutes, and if cut into pieces - no more than half an hour. However, in the latter case, they can lose color, and at the same time become tasteless.

The larger the root crop, the longer it takes to cook. Small ones are cooked for about 50 minutes, medium ones - an hour and a half, large ones - up to two or more hours. The time is indicated for cooking the root crop as a whole, when cutting it into pieces, the cooking time is reduced, but its beneficial properties practically disappear.

An important point: the cooking time should be counted from the moment of boiling. The fire should be moderate, although it is allowed to make it maximum until the water boils.

Traditionally, beets are boiled in water, which takes about an hour. You can shorten this process to 20-30 minutes, but, unfortunately, to the detriment of the usefulness of the vegetable, it will lose ascorbic acid.

The root crop is baked a little faster - about 40 minutes for medium beets. However, even with this method, vitamin C and some others are destroyed.

To reduce the cooking time, some "helpers" in the kitchen - a microwave oven and a pressure cooker - allow. The first allows you to cook a vegetable as quickly as possible - in 8-20 minutes. In a pressure cooker, beets are cooked for 8-10 minutes, but the device cannot be opened immediately after the specified time. You should wait another 10 minutes, which increases the total cooking time.

Cooking in a slow cooker in time is not much different from the same process on the stove or in the oven. In a bowl of water, beets are boiled for at least an hour, for a couple - a little less (50-60 minutes), in baking mode, as in an oven - 50-60 minutes.

You can find out about the readiness of the root crop using a fork or a toothpick. Fully boiled or baked, it will pierce well. However, you should not check the vegetable too often - from numerous punctures it becomes colorless and tasteless.

When cooking in a saucepan, cover it with a lid. This will reduce the cooking time and reduce the loss of useful components. In addition, the characteristic odor will spread indoors to a lesser extent. Another method to shorten the cooking time is to add butter to the boiling water. It will take a little - 2-3 tablespoons.

Ways

Preparing the root crop for cooking involves washing it thoroughly. But it is not recommended to clean the root crop in its raw form, it will lose its bright shade. If the beets are still peeled, a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice added to the water during cooking will help maintain its intense color. By the way, the same method can also be used if you need to preserve the shade of an unpeeled root crop.

There are several ways to cook beets, differing in cooking time, technology, inventory and equipment used. One of the simplest is traditional cooking in a saucepan over a fire. However, there are several options here as well.

Beets should be washed, put in a large pot or cast iron, pour cold water so that it completely hides the vegetable, and put on maximum heat. As soon as the water boils, the intensity of the fire should be reduced and the root crop should be left to languish for 2-3 hours.

This method takes a lot of time, but allows you to almost completely preserve the beneficial components of the beets.

The next method is similar to the first, but you need to pour the vegetable with boiling water, to which 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil are added. In this case, the cooking time will be reduced to 60 minutes.

The third cooking method is usually used by professional chefs. It involves boiling the root crop over high heat with the addition of vegetable oil (a couple of spoons) for half an hour. After the specified time, the vegetable is taken out of boiling water, poured with ice water and left in it for 10 minutes. With this method, beets cook the fastest, but vitamin C from its composition is completely lost.

You can use a microwave oven to roast beets. First you need to wash it, dry it slightly and wrap it in baking paper. The cooking time will be 35-40 minutes with a unit power of at least 800 watts.

In a similar way, you can bake the root crop in the oven, setting the temperature in it to 200 degrees. Contrary to popular belief, beets completely lose vitamin C when baked.

Roasting beets makes them sweeter, so this option is usually used for salads.

The microwave oven allows you to cook beets in another way, while taking this record-breaking short amount of time. With a device power of 1000 W or more, it takes 8-10 minutes to cook medium-sized beets. If a less powerful microwave is used, the time is doubled.

Washed beets should be put in a glass dish. Larger vegetables - in the middle, small ones - at the edges. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of water into a plate, it should be at the bottom of the dish. Then put the bowl in the microwave, closing it with a glass or special microwave lid.

Instead of a plate and lid, you can use a plastic bag, tightly tying it. When the root crop is cooked, it must be removed from the oven and left to cool at room conditions. It will taste the same as cooked in a saucepan over a fire.

You can cook beets in a slow cooker for a couple. The prepared root crop must be put in a special container for steaming, and filled with water into the bowl. Install the unit, close it with a lid and turn on the steam cooking mode.

As a rule, most programs in this mode automatically set the cooking time to 40 minutes. It will be enough, although the exact time depends on the model of the multicooker. After the specified time, you should check the readiness of the beets, if necessary, hold over the steam a little more. In this case, be sure to make sure that there is enough water in the bowl.

With the help of a slow cooker, you can cook beets in the classic way - in water. However, using a slow cooker offers several advantages - there is no need to adjust the intensity of the fire and there is no risk that the water will “run away”, flooding the stove.

So, for cooking in a slow cooker, the root crop should be washed, you can shorten the tail a little. Put it in a bowl, add cold water to the maximum mark and set the “Cooking”, “Stew” or “Soup” mode. The duration of the process is an hour. After a while, you should check the root crop, if necessary, put it to cook for another 10-30 minutes.

Young vegetables with a high moisture content and juices are best baked. If you have a multicooker, this can be done right in it. The prepared root crop must be placed in foil, previously lubricated with vegetable oil. If you are baking several vegetables at the same time, then each must be wrapped separately. In this form, the root crop is placed in the multicooker bowl and cooked in the baking mode for 60 minutes.

A pressure cooker will also prove useful for cooking vegetables. It needs to be washed, cleaned with a brush and laid on the bottom of the pressure cooker, add water and set the “Cooking” mode. For medium-sized root crops, 10 minutes is enough, for those that are larger - 15 minutes. After the specified time, the beets should be kept in the pressure cooker for another 10 minutes so that the pressure drops and the unit can be opened.

If a double boiler is used to cook the root crop, it will take about half an hour. After washing, it is lowered into the unit, water is poured into a special compartment and a timer is set.

The following methods allow you to get delicious boiled beets and quickly prepare them for further use:

• You need to finish cooking with cold water, which will then allow you to quickly remove the skin from the root crop.
• When cooking beets, you need to control the water level - it should completely cover the vegetable. Add hot or boiling liquid as needed.
• The vegetable does not require the addition of salt during cooking, moreover, salting makes the root crop hard and causes an increase in its cooking time.
• If you do not like the smell that appears when boiling beets, you can get rid of it by throwing a bread crust into the water while boiling.
• If you are cutting beetroot into a vinaigrette, drizzle the cut pieces with vegetable oil. Due to this, other components of the dish will not be stained.

• Prolonged contact of the peeled vegetable with air should not be allowed, this will cause the destruction of vitamin C in its composition.
• The decoction remaining after boiling the root crop is used as a delicate laxative and diuretic. To improve the taste, you can add lemon juice, ginger and cinnamon to it.
• Young beet tops contain 2-2.5 times more vitamins than the vegetable itself. It should be added to salads, cook cabbage soup with beet tops.
• The shelf life of boiled vegetables is 2 days in the refrigerator. On the third day, it begins to dry out, lose its useful components, and its use in food is not recommended.

What to cook from boiled vegetables?

beetroot

• 3-4 medium-sized boiled beets;
• 3-4 potatoes;
• 1.5 l of broth;
• 2 tablespoons of table vinegar;
• salt, black pepper, herbs, spices - to taste.

Peel and grate the boiled beets on a medium grater, then stew in a pan with the addition of vinegar for 3-4 minutes. Put the broth on the fire, bring to a boil and throw in the peeled and diced potatoes. Boil it for 5-7 minutes, then add beets, salt, spices, herbs. Cook until boiling and then a couple more minutes.

Serve beetroot soup with sour cream.

beetroot sauce

To prepare the dish you need:

• 4 beets baked in the oven;
• 3-4 cloves of garlic;
• 3 cm piece of fresh ginger;
• thyme leaves;
• 150 ml cream;
• vegetable oil for frying.

Peel all ingredients and pass through a meat grinder. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan, warm it up a little and put thyme leaves. After they give their flavor to the oil, remove them from the pan. Pour in the cream and bring to a boil, then add the spicy beet mass. Mix everything thoroughly, bring to a boil again and then simmer for another 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Beets for garnish

For cooking you need:

• boiled beets;
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and vegetable (olive) oil;
• a pinch (at the tip of a knife) of dried marjoram;
• salt and black ground pepper to taste.

Peel the boiled beets and cut into slices or cubes. Pour over the oil-vinegar mixture, salt and pepper, and lastly sprinkle with marjoram.

Classic vinaigrette

For cooking you need:

• 1-2 small boiled beets;
• 1-2 carrots;
• 2 pickles;
• 150 g fresh or pickled sauerkraut;
• 1 onion;
• salt pepper;
• 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Wash the beets, carrots and potatoes, brush off the dried earth with a brush and boil until tender. Cool and peel, then cut into small cubes.

Peel the onion and chop finely. Cut the cucumbers into cubes, chop the cabbage and knead a little with your hands. Mix all the ingredients, salt, pepper, season with oil.

Roasted vegetable vinaigrette

To prepare the dish you need:

• 2 beets;
• 4 potatoes;
• 2 carrots;
• a can of canned peas;
• 2 teaspoons of mustard;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 1 onion;
• 5 tablespoons of olive (can be replaced with vegetable) oil;
• 2 teaspoons of wine vinegar;
• 1 teaspoon of honey;
• salt pepper.

Peel potatoes with carrots, cut into cubes and bake on a greased baking sheet until tender. Beets are also sent to the oven, after washing and wrapping in foil. Please note that carrots and potatoes will need to be taken out of the oven much earlier than beets. On average, they take 15-17 minutes to bake.

While the vegetables are cooking, you can make the dressing. To do this, mix honey, oil and mustard, add crushed or finely grated garlic, salt and pepper. Cut the onion into rings, half rings or quarters and marinate in vinegar for a quarter of an hour.

Put the prepared carrots and potatoes in a salad bowl, add the baked and peeled, sliced ​​beets, pickled onions and green peas to them. Pour in the resulting dressing.

Herring under a fur coat

Ingredients:

• 1 fat slightly salted herring;
• 3 potatoes;
• 2 medium beets, pre-boiled;
• 2 carrots;
• 1 onion;
• egg yolks to decorate the salad;
• mayonnaise.

First of all, you need to boil the washed potatoes and carrots. At this time, you can take up the fish - divide it in half, remove the bones and skin, finely chop the resulting fillet.

At the bottom of the plate you need to lay out pieces of fish and cover them with a layer of chopped onions. It is recommended to pre-soak it in water for 5 minutes. Put mayonnaise on top of the onion and spread it. You should get a thin mayonnaise layer.

Cool the boiled potatoes, peel and cut into cubes. Put them on top of the previous layer, on top - a mayonnaise mesh. You can make it by pouring mayonnaise into a confectionery syringe, and in the absence of one, into a regular plastic bag with a corner cut off. The mesh does not need to be smeared.

Peel the boiled carrots, grate and lay on top of the mesh on the salad, do the same on the carrot layer. The last layer will be peeled and grated beets, which are completely covered with mayonnaise. Egg yolks are usually used for decoration. You can supplement them with greens, roses rolled from strips of carrots or beets. Iwashi can be used instead of herring.

Correctly cooking beets for vinaigrette or salad, at first glance, is not difficult, but, nevertheless, this question worries both beginners and fairly experienced housewives from time to time. Today we will try to thoroughly understand this issue, and my step-by-step recipe with a photo will become a visual aid for novice kitchen hostesses.

First of all, let's talk about choosing a root crop for cooking.

The shape of the beet can be any: cylindrical or round. This has no effect on the final result. The main thing, when cooking several vegetables, is to take them approximately the same size.

About the size. Small and medium beets cook the fastest. Cooking time 30-40 minutes. If there is a large root crop in the bins, then it will be boiled in a saucepan for about 1.5-2 hours. Some housewives recommend cutting large beets into pieces, but this will lead to a large loss of water-soluble vitamins. To more quickly cook such a large root crop as a whole, you can add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the water. Water with oil will be heated to a higher temperature, which will speed up the cooking process.

How to cook whole beets in a pan quickly and correctly

We start cooking by thoroughly washing the beets under the tap. To clean the roots of dirt as much as possible, you can walk on them with a brush without damaging the peel.

We put the vegetables in a saucepan.

Fill with cold water. Some pour boiling water over the beets, but with this method of cooking, the root crop initially warms up unevenly and the inside threatens to remain unboiled. Also, I met cooks who advise adding acetic acid to the pan when cooking beets so that the color of the vegetable does not boil out. I boil beets in water without additives, as I believe that any acid delays the readiness of vegetables. The color of the root cooked in the peel, practically remains unchanged.

Since I have small beetroots, after the water boils, I mark the time - 30 minutes. After this time, I will begin to conduct the first checks on the beets for readiness. By the way, it is very important under a tightly closed lid. This will preserve the maximum amount of vitamins in them. Therefore, try to adjust the fire of the stove in such a way that the water boils moderately, but does not try to run out of the pan.

Well, half an hour has passed. I choose the largest of the three root crops and pierce it with a sharp knife. The blade went in without effort, so it's time to drain the water. If the knife enters with difficulty, then cooking should be extended for another 10 minutes, and then, repeat the test again.

Drain the boiling water, holding the beets with a lid. Pour cold water into the pot immediately. It is important to create as large a temperature difference as possible, so I add a few extra ice cubes to the bowl.

After 15 minutes, when the vegetables have completely cooled, take them out of the water.

For the preparation of vinaigrette or other salads, peel the root vegetables. It is quite easy to remove, in some places even without the use of a knife.

If you plan to use boiled beets not immediately, then it is better to clean the skin immediately before using the root crop.

Boiled beets can be used to prepare various dishes, such as, for example, or other healthy and tasty ones.

Beetroot is a tasty and healthy root crop that contains a large amount of valuable and nutritious substances: these are B vitamins, antioxidants, magnesium, potassium, silicon, and zinc. O It contains a large amount of iron and iodine, only garlic and seaweed have a greater amount of these substances. Beetroot improves the functioning of the heart, blood vessels, endocrine system, increases resistance to many diseases. Its taste is at its best: housewives use the root crop to prepare salads and other dishes. How to quickly cook beets, we will now tell.

How to cook large beets in a pan

Some housewives do not like beets for their large size: it will take a long time to cook it - it will take 1.5-2 hours. But there are several ways to speed up the process. We are ready to reveal the secret of how to quickly cook beets and give some recommendations on how to reduce the cooking time in the usual way, on the stove.

We cook beets in the traditional way.

Before cooking, you need to choose suitable vegetables: if you need to cook them quickly, choose a small and medium-sized root vegetable. Its skin should be thin, the shape should be oblong.

1. Rinse the beets well and cut into pieces, the tail does not need to be removed before cooking. Choose a saucepan so that the vegetable is completely immersed in water.
2. After collecting a full pot of water, put it on the stove.
3. As soon as the water boils, lower the product into the water, and reduce the heat.
4. Boil the vegetable for about an hour. If the water boils away, add some boiling water to the pot. So that during long-term cooking, the beets do not lose their ruby ​​​​color, add lemon juice to boiling water at the rate of 1 tbsp. spoon per liter of liquid.
5. To check the degree of readiness of a vegetable, pierce it with any sharp object. If the fruit is soft, then cooking is complete.
6. Drain boiling water. Do not cool the vegetable by immersing it in water - let it cool in the air. This will preserve the maximum of useful substances.

1. Rinse the vegetable without removing the tail.
2. Heat water to boiling point. Choose a container for cooking so that the root crop is completely immersed in it.
3. After boiling, immerse the vegetable, cook over low heat for half an hour.
4. Then the water must be drained and the product cooled by dipping it in cold water or putting it in the refrigerator.
5. After 15 minutes, the beets will be completely ready.

How to cook beets in the microwave

In this way, the vegetable is cooked the fastest. No pot, no stove, no water needed. No need to watch the boil, turn down the fire. A beetroot cooked in a microwave oven looks no different from a vegetable cooked on the stove.

1. Thoroughly wash the beets from dirt.
2. Use a knife or fork to make deep cuts in it.
3. Put the beets in a special container for cooking in the microwave. If this device is not available, any banana plastic bag will do. After packing, the package must be tightly tied.
4. Set the power on the kitchen appliance to 800-900 W, and the timer for 10 minutes.
5. In this way, the product is cooked in just 10 minutes. If the device is not too powerful, you just need to increase the cooking time.

How to quickly cook beets and carrots for vinaigrette

Accelerated cooking in the traditional way

1. Put water on the stove and bring it to a boil.
2. Rinse food well.
3. After boiling, immerse the root vegetables in the pan.
4. After 25-30 minutes, pull out the carrots, and after another 5-10 minutes, the beets.
5. Immediately after extracting the ingredients for the vinaigrette, cool them under cold running water or by placing them in the freezer.
6. In a quarter of an hour, carrots and beets will be ready.

Fast Cooking in the Microwave

1. Wash the roots well.
2. Make small cuts, place in plastic bags. You cannot cut and cut the ingredients before cooking in order to speed up the cooking process.
3. Set the microwave power control to 800 W and the cook time control to 10 minutes.
4. If the food is still damp, turn on the microwave for a few more minutes. The readiness of the products is checked by the “poke method”: you need to pierce them with a fork or knife. If they are already soft, then they are cooked.

Features of cooking beets in a slow cooker

A lot of housewives have already managed to acquire such a device as a multicooker. Using a multicooker allows you to reduce cooking time, improve the taste of dishes, make the cooking process easy and convenient. Beets are traditionally used to prepare dishes such as vinaigrette, borscht. In addition to these dishes, beets are part of some Mediterranean salads.

How to Boil Delicious Beetroot Quickly Using the Steam Cooking Mode

When using a slow cooker, the cooking time for beets will be only half an hour. The steamed product will please with its taste - it will retain all juices, vitamins and microelements. We highly recommend steaming vegetables for vinaigrette and other salads.

1. Pour water into the device, put the fruit directly into the bowl, do not use the grate.
2. Set the timer for half an hour, turn on the device.

We use the "Baking / baking" mode

1. Wash the root crop. Cut off the tail, it is impossible to violate the integrity of its skin.
2. Set the timer for an hour, turn on the device.
3. Root vegetables cooked in this mode are used as an ingredient in Mediterranean salads.

We use the "Cooking", "Soup" mode

1. Wash the root crop. Cut off the tail, it is impossible to violate the integrity of its skin.
2. Pour water into the device, lay the fruit.
3. Root vegetables cooked in this mode are used as an ingredient for borscht.

We use the "Extinguishing" mode

1. Wash the root crop. Cut off the tail, it is impossible to violate the integrity of its skin.
2. Pour water into the device, lay the fruit.
3. Set the timer for 45 minutes, turn on the device.
4. Root vegetables cooked in this mode have an excellent taste and are used as an independent dish.

We told you about the different ways of cooking beets. If you use our tips, it will definitely turn out delicious. The choice of the root crop itself is also of great importance: shops and private traders sometimes offer fodder beets for sale. Carefully choose a root crop and then the result of labor will surely please you! Shoot the whole cooking process on photos and videos, and post it on the Internet - let other housewives learn how to cook!

Beetroot is a healthy, but difficult to prepare product. Often, beginners fail to properly cook the root crop so that it becomes soft, but retains an elastic structure and does not turn into gruel. How to choose a tasty and sweet vegetable? How long to boil the workpiece so that it does not remain too hard and tough? What to add to the water for cooking to improve the taste of beets? And how to speed up the preparation of the root crop, but retain all the beneficial properties?

Perfect taste and quality

For salads, stews and first courses, small and medium vegetables are used. If the beet is too large and round, then it belongs to the fodder type. Such root crops are unsweetened and bland, boil for a long time and contain fewer vitamins than table options.

The basis for vinaigrette is carefully examined. Instances with rot, green dots and pale skin are not worth buying. The right beet has a uniform, rich red or burgundy hue. Which varieties taste better? Round or oblong and flattened? Second. They are juicier and sweeter.

Checking the taste of the workpiece is simple: remove the peel from one vegetable or cut it in half. If the color of the pulp is bright and saturated, the root crop will make an ideal salad. Pale beets tend to be bland and tasteless, like grass.

It is impossible to cook a workpiece with a damaged peel. But what to do with the control instance? Use to make freshly squeezed juice. Or cut into strips and fall asleep in a double boiler or slow cooker. The vegetable will soften in 20-25 minutes. The workpiece can be added to a diet salad or interrupted with a blender with vegetable oil and salt. It will turn out a dietary snack, however, with a minimum amount of vitamin C, because ascorbic acid evaporates during steam treatment.

Preparing vegetables

The beet billet is washed under a tap. The peel is gently sanded with a soft brush to wash off the adhering earth, but not damage the top layer. Root crops are not cleaned before cooking. The washed blanks are placed in a saucepan and brought to readiness.

Fast way

How to save an hour and a half and get a soft, juicy vegetable that peels off in seconds? Take advantage of the secrets of professional chefs. It will take only two ingredients: boiling water and 40–60 ml of vegetable oil. Plus a large saucepan and a bowl of ice.

About 4-5 liters of water are taken for 2-3 medium root crops. If there is a lot of liquid and little food, the moisture evaporates quickly and heats up more. First, oil is poured into the boiling base. Stir, and after 3-5 minutes put the beets. They mark for half an hour, drain the liquid, and throw the hot roots into the ice.

The pulp due to temperature changes remains elastic, but not too hard. And the peel peels off and is easily removed even without a knife. The method has only one disadvantage. Ascorbic acid evaporates due to a sharp change in temperature. But in boiled beets, iron, potassium, beta-carotene and calcium remain.

Variant for vinaigrette

In order for the root crop to retain its rich color, it is placed not in hot, but in cold water. And add freshly squeezed lemon juice or table vinegar. Acid retains vitamins and coloring substances contained in beet pulp. For 3-5 liters of liquid, 30-40 ml of the additive will be needed. And in order for the vegetables to remain sweetish, water for cooking is filled with 1-2 tbsp. l. Sahara.

Washed beets are placed in a saucepan and put on maximum heat. When the liquid base boils, note 2 hours. The container must be covered with a lid to raise the temperature of the water and speed up the preparation of root crops. A match is stuck into the workpiece. If it enters easily, remove the pan. Beets can be poured with cold water so that the peel is behind the pulp, but this is not a prerequisite.

If you want vegetables to become sweet without sugar and honey, then they need to be baked. First, bring to half-cooked in boiling water. Then take it out and put it on paper towels for 5-10 minutes to absorb moisture. Half-baked root crops are transferred to foil or a baking sleeve, sent to the oven. Choose a temperature from 190 to 250 degrees. The preparation will take from 30 to 40 minutes. Old beets take longer to cook, while young ones take longer.

1. To preserve the vitamins, the vegetables are brought to a boil at maximum heat, and then switched to the minimum temperature. The product languishes from 3 to 4 hours, always under the lid.
2. Salt can shorten the cooking time. Add 25-35 g of seasoning to boiling water, stir for 5 minutes. The spice purifies water from oxygen, due to which trace elements evaporate. Beets are placed in a salted boiling base. But so that it does not lose its sweetish aftertaste, sugar and a little vinegar are added.
3. Black or rye bread can remove the characteristic beet smell. The crust is placed in a boiling base 30–40 minutes before the root vegetables are ready.
4. Boiled vegetables are stored only under the lid, no longer than 2 days. They quickly lose ascorbic acid and beneficial properties.
5. If the beetroot has become dry and shriveled, it is not necessary to throw it away. The workpiece is poured over with boiling water, and then placed in warm water so that the product swells.
6. The broth left after boiling the root crop can not be poured out, but used as a laxative and diuretic. Just add a pinch of cinnamon or a few tablespoons of lemon juice to the drink.

Beets are prepared in various ways: in a saucepan, oven, double boiler and even microwave. The main thing is not to cut off the tails and peel when cooking, so that the workpiece does not lose vitamins and color. And dip the hot root crop in cold water or ice. Then the color of the product will be saturated, and the peel will easily separate from the pulp.

Video: how to cook beets quickly