Free Food

I am not a thrifty person. But something deep within me dislikes throwing away what I trim off food as I cook. I sometimes get downright cranky about it. So, I often try to find a way to use, say, the liquid in which I've reconstituted dried mushrooms or the central stalk from a head of broccoli. Doing things like this feels like I'm eating free food - and there's no seasoning quite like free.

Today, I bought a half dozen beets (for a secret plan that may or may not actually happen) and decided that I just didn't want to throw the tops away. After looking at a few recipes on the web, this is what I did.


Cranky Bob's Beet Tops 

Makes 2-3 cups.

1/2 dozen beets
1/2 cup sliced onion (approx)  (Note: quite a bit more would have been fine.)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup (approx) oil (I used part olive, part canola)
Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt and pepper


1. I trimmed the tops off six beets and set the beets aside for another dish.
2. I cut the stalks where the leaf began and carefully washed the leaves and dried them in the salad spinner. .
3. I cut the stalks into one-to-two-inch pieces and carefully washed them and dried them in the salad spinner.
4. Heated my biggest frying pan and added the oil.
5. When the oil was hot I added the onion and the beet stalks and added salt and pepper.
6. I cooked the stalks, stirring frequently, until they were somewhat softened, 5 to 10 minutes.
7. I added the garlic, lemon zest, and greens. I added more salt and pepper.
8. When the greens were tender (like cooked spinach) I added the lemon juice, put the lid on, and turned off the gas burner. (If using electric, move it off the heat.) The goal is to steam the veg in the lemon juice a bit.
9. Add more salt if needed and serve hot.

I think it's delicious. The stalks weren't completely softened, so there's a nice variety of texture. It's garlic-y and lemony. I won't hesitate to make this again.