more on beets

responding to a comment on my previous post on beets (ohmygosh, someone is actually READING my blog!!) i'll share a little more about beets!
i grew up eating beets and i cook them the same way my mother did. trim off all but 1" of the greens, cut off the roots, and boil for about 50 minutes. the peel slips off very nicely. we ate them with butter and salt - it is fabulous!!
pickling is one way to cook up a bunch of beets at once and then sit back for weeks and just enjoy them bite by bite without having to sit over a hot stove every time. my recipe is simple, right off epicurious.com
i also really like a recipe for Chilled Beet Borscht from mollie katzen's moosewood cookbook. grate the beets, add salt, lemon juice, honey, black pepper, dill, a cucumber (peeled, seeded and grated) and a couple scallions (whites and greens). mix them all together, add some buttermilk and enjoy! it is a refreshing summer salad - and pretty in pink! i noticed that she has a few other beet recipes on her website - i love her recipes. she cooks really healthy and always from scratch so you get a real time estimate for preparing the recipe (which she always includes). she also has loads of suggestions for optional additions which is a nice way to make the dish unique each time.