Whatever vegetables need using, onions, beets, beef, beef stock, lots of garlic and dill, paprika and bay leaf--you can roast the beets or not, chop or shred them, make a side batch of beet water to add back in to the stock for additional color at the end....

Or maybe you just dislike beets! It's okay.

They have a very strong flavor which some people do not like.

Have you tried them roasted? Very easy: Get some beets. Trim off the tops, leaving a small amount of stem. Scrub under running water. Dry. Rub with olive or canola oil. Heat oven to very hot, around 425 F. Line roasting pan with foil to help with clean-up. Put beets in pan. Put pan in oven. Roast until you can easily insert a sharp knife. Let cool just enough to handle, then peel and eat.

If you don't mind the mess, you can peel them before roasting, but your hands will be stained red.

This method of cooking also works well with a mix of root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and beets. Red, white, orange: pretty as well as yummy.

Also: Try small beets as opposed to large ones. They're sweeter and milder in flavor.

For a handful of delicious ways to prepare beets, search out a copy of Greens Glorious Greens! by Johnna Albi and Catherine Walthers. I'm particularly fond of their recipe for Balsamic Beets and Beet Greens.

Edited to add: Here's a link to the recipe on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=4Cn-zovYl0IC&dq=Albi+%22Greens+Glorious+Greens!%22&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=g7FVTKD9EsH-8Aaa07CwBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CC8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Edited at 2010-08-01 05:44 pm (UTC)

There is never enough garlic, ever. Well, I don't really want garlic icecream, but short of that, there can never be too much garlic :P