Greetings! Proper heat treatment of any product affects not only its taste qualities, but also on beneficial properties. This is especially true for vegetables, so information on how to cook beets and how long to cook them until tender should interest you.
Are there any benefits to cooking beets?
There is a myth that heat treatment of foods destroys their vitamin and mineral complex, although this is absolutely not true!
Boiled beets are used in many healthy food dishes. This root vegetable is especially popular in the post-Soviet countries, because it is one of the most affordable food products, and it is also very healthy!
Of course, this vegetable crop can also be eaten, but it is used mainly for medicinal purposes.
In salads and appetizers, the root vegetable is used boiled, and with proper cooking of beets, we can preserve the maximum amount of its beneficial substances.
Our information is about how long to cook this vegetable so that it does not lose color and cooks faster!
How to quickly boil beets
The method of boiling red beets affects not only the cooking time, but also depends on the size of the root crop and its age.
You can quickly cook root vegetables (including carrots) that are small and young, but it is recommended to boil large beets and carrots in the microwave or bake them in foil in the oven.
Method No. 1
All professional chefs know this secret. Using this method, the root vegetable is cooked for about 20 minutes! The whole secret is that a sharp temperature change accelerates the process of softening plant fibers. That's physics!
We take medium-sized root vegetables, put them in a saucepan, fill it with boiling water and put it on high heat without covering it with a lid. The water should cover the vegetables with a layer of at least 8 cm - otherwise, it will quickly boil away, and the root vegetables will not have time to cook.
After 15 minutes of vigorous boiling, drain the water from the pan and place it along with the vegetables under a stream of very cold water.
Soak the boiled product in ice water for 5-10 minutes, making sure that the water remains ice-cold (ice cubes will help). Ready! You can make a salad!
Method number 2
How many minutes does it take to cook beets using this method? Read on!
Pour boiling water over the root vegetables, keep them on medium heat for 30 minutes from the moment they boil again, drain the water and immediately place the pan with the product under a stream of ice water for 15 minutes.
If the tap water is not cold enough, stock up on ice cubes. In general, according to this recipe, beets are cooked for 45-50 minutes, taking into account the cooling time.
To prevent the beets from losing color, pour 1 tbsp into the boiling water. fresh lemon juice, or 1 tsp. sugar, or 1 tsp. vinegar.
How to cook delicious beets for vinaigrette or salad
Method number 1: in the oven
To cook beets so that they do not lose color and are tasty, we will turn to a proven method - the oven! It turns out tasty and not troublesome.
- Preheat the oven, set 190 degrees. Wash the beetroot thoroughly, do not cut off the tail and leaf rosette. Our task is to prevent juice from leaking out through any cuts.
- Wrap the root vegetable tightly in foil and bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetable. Large beets should be baked for 35 minutes, small ones - 20 minutes.
- Unwrap and place in a saucepan with cold water until cool. If you have time, you can leave it in the oven until it cools completely.
Cooking vegetables in this way allows you not only to preserve their bright, beautiful color, but also most of the vitamins, organic acids and mineral compounds.
The bright beet color of the vegetable looks great not only in vinaigrettes, but any salad will look very beautiful.
Red boiled beets should not stain other salad components, but how to achieve this? Very simple! After cutting the vegetable into cubes or any other way, sprinkle the cutting with vegetable oil and mix.
The oil envelops the beet pieces, trapping the juice inside. You end up with a very colorful vinaigrette or other vegetable salad!
Method number 2: in the microwave
Microwave oven owners should not have any problems boiling vegetables.
- We take a medium-sized root vegetable, wash it thoroughly with a brush, but leave the tail and leaf rosette, as we advised in the recipe for baking vegetables in the oven.
- But to cook in the microwave, we must still break the integrity of the skin, otherwise the root vegetable may explode from the internal water pressure in the vegetable. That's why we use toothpicks to make deep holes in vegetables.
- We wrap it in a plastic bag (to keep the inner chamber of the oven clean), put the bag in a special bowl for microwaves and boil the vegetable at a power of 800 kW for 10 minutes. During cooking, turn the vegetable over to the other side once.
How long should beets be cooked if the microwave oven is of lower power?
There is only one piece of advice: look in the instructions for your device. As a rule, no more than 20 minutes! Also take into account the size of the vegetable - large beets take longer to cook.
How to cook boiled beets the traditional way
How to properly boil root vegetables (and carrots too) for salad so that they retain all the important nutrients?
- Wash the beets and carrots well with a brush, do not cut off any parts of the root vegetables, place them in a saucepan and fill them with cold water to a level of 5 cm above.
- Turn on big fire and wait for the water to boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 15 minutes. Take out the carrots and put them in ice water. Cook the beets for another 20 minutes over medium heat and then until done over low heat. Check readiness with a knife or toothpick. The point should go in easily.
- Drain the water in which the product was cooked and fill it with ice water. After cooling, clean and crumble to suit your needs.
Always try to use the temperature difference technique when you cook vegetables! Firstly, in this case they retain their color and fiber structure, and secondly, they are very easy to clean!
Beets are a favorite root vegetable with a bright color and pleasant taste. Most often it is served boiled, added to salads, and made into vegetable smoothies. The taste and vitamin composition of the vegetable depend on the method and time of preparation. How to properly cook beets in a saucepan to preserve their beneficial properties and color?
Whole in the pan
It is best to cook the beets whole. This way it will remain juicy and bright.
Preparation:
- Select small tubers with thin burgundy skin.
- Wash the vegetables thoroughly, leaving the bottom of the tops and roots.
- Place in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
- Place on the stove and once boiling, turn the heat to medium.
- Add 1-2 tbsp to the water. l. vegetable oil.
- Cooking time – from 2 to 3 hours.
- Pour boiling water over the tubers.
- Place the pan on the fire.
- Turn off the stove half an hour after boiling.
- Drain the boiling water and place the hot root vegetables under running cold water.
- Wait 15 minutes: the temperature difference will quickly bring the root vegetable to readiness.
- The whole process lasts 40–50 minutes.
If you only have 20–30 minutes, the following method will help you quickly cook beets:
- Pour boiling water over the tubers until they are covered by 8 cm.
- Place the pan over high heat, do not cover it with a lid.
- Cook for 15–20 minutes without reducing heat.
- Drain the boiling water and soak the vegetables in ice water for 5-10 minutes.
The disadvantage of this recipe is that when it is used, the vitamin C in the tubers is destroyed.
The next method takes longer, but it prevents the breakdown of nutrients:
- Fill the beets with cold water 5 cm above its level.
- Place the pan over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium.
- After 30–40 minutes, set the heat to minimum and cook the root vegetable until cooked.
Finish the cooking process by infusing the boiled beets in cold water. This makes the peel easier to remove.
Cooking in pieces
Sliced beets cook quickly. This method is relevant when preparing salads.
- Peel the root vegetable, chop into cubes or strips.
- Pour water into a saucepan, bring to a boil and add a small amount of lemon juice or acid.
- Place the beets in a bowl.
- When everything comes to a boil, set the heat to low.
- Open the lid a little.
- Cook the vegetables until tender for half an hour.
You can quickly cook beets for salad by first cutting them into cubes.
How to cook in a bag
If you don't like the smell of cooking beets, use a bag.
Cooking method:
- Place the root vegetable in a plastic bag, release the air and seal tightly.
- Place in a saucepan with cold or warm water. The liquid should cover the tubers by 5 cm.
- Set the heat to maximum, and once it boils, reduce to low.
- Cover the pan a little.
- Cook for an hour.
Some housewives are suspicious of this method. It is believed that polyethylene can release harmful substances when heated.
How to preserve color when cooking
For cooking beautiful dish It is important to cook beets correctly so that they retain their color.
- try not to damage or cut the tubers during the cleaning process;
- do not allow strong boiling during cooking;
- add 1 tsp to water. sugar, 0.5 tsp. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
How long to cook
Beets can be cooked from 20 minutes to 3 hours.
The following factors influence the time:
- cooking method;
- beet size;
- age: young vegetables cook faster than old ones.
Long cooking is due to high content fiber in root vegetables.
- Before cooking, wash the beets thoroughly, but do not peel or cut off the root.
- Do not add salt to the water during cooking. This slows down the cooking of the root vegetable. It also becomes tough and may lose its taste.
- To neutralize the odor during cooking, add a crust of bread to the pan.
- Check readiness with a fork: it should easily enter the vegetable.
- Cut the boiled beets for the vinaigrette separately and season with vegetable oil. This will prevent other vegetables from turning their color.
- Do not store peeled raw vegetables: vitamin C is destroyed when exposed to air.
- If the tubers are dry, do not throw them away. First, scald with boiling water, add water, wait until they swell, and set to cook.
Depending on desired result and the amount of free time, you can cook beets from half an hour to 2–3 hours. From the suggested recipes and recommendations, choose the best way to prepare this healthy and tasty root vegetable.
Boiled beets are not a very appetizing vegetable. But in many dishes, boiled beet plays a key role, and without it the taste and aroma would be completely inexpressive. And no the best way enrich salad, soup or other healthy dish How to quickly cook beet and adding it to the main ingredients. The only problem is that by cooking beet quickly, you can easily deprive it of its beneficial properties and turn it into a vegetable “dummy”, suitable only as a source of fiber. Even the color of boiled beet is lost and becomes dirty brown instead of rich burgundy.
Cooking beet for a long time is also not an option: it’s a waste of time, and I don’t want to turn the kitchen into a steam room. And now it’s time to remember modern kitchen appliances, which greatly facilitate many culinary processes, including cooking beet. We don’t know what options you have, so just in case, we’ll tell you how to quickly cook beet in a microwave, slow cooker, pressure cooker and double boiler. Although you can quickly cook beets the old-fashioned way, in a saucepan, if you follow some subtleties. Using the same rules, you can quickly cook beet, carrots and other root vegetables.
Beet cooking time. Composition, properties and features of preparation of beets
Buryak was included in the human diet long before our era, and the root crop and beet tops were valued and used for food almost equally. Beet leaves - light dietary the product is like any greens, and the underground part of the vegetable has much greater nutritional and energy value. This is true for all varieties of beets, table, sugar and fodder, including the common red beet, which is prepared at home: 
Raw beets could be called more useful than boiled ones, if not for one feature. Boiled beet is better absorbed by the body, especially with a sensitive digestive system. To completely boil the beet in water until soft, it will take at least an hour at active boiling. During this time, most vitamins will be destroyed. To reduce the loss of vitamins, beet is boiled in its peel, without even removing the base of the stems and roots. In this simple way you can preserve the benefits, taste and color of boiled beet.
How to properly and quickly cook beet in a saucepan?
The speed of cooking beet on the stove depends on the proper preparation of the vegetables. Try to buy small beets so that all the beets are approximately the same in weight. This will allow you to cook beet in 20-40 minutes instead of a full hour. Use a light saucepan and cold unsalted water: 
- Wash the beet with running water and scrub with a brush to remove the slightest dirt. But do not use a knife, do not cut off the peel and even the eyes, in order to keep the skin as intact as possible and not create holes for leakage beet juice.
- Place the washed beets in a saucepan and add cold water to completely cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce it and cook the beet under the lid for another 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, immediately pour out all the boiling water, and fill the beets in the pan with as cold water as possible. Leave the boiled beet in cold water for 10-15 minutes, then pierce it with a fork or the tip of a knife to check its softness.
How to quickly cook beet in the microwave?
The microwave oven is great for quickly cooking beet. Microwaved beets are sweeter, brighter, and more reminiscent of baked vegetables than boiled ones.
- Choose medium-sized beets, and if there are none, cut large ones into equal pieces. Be sure to wash the beets and then pierce the skins with a fork in several places to prevent them from bursting when heated in the oven.
- You can cook beet in the microwave in a special bowl or bag for baking in a microwave oven - the result will be approximately the same. In the first case, pour a tablespoon of water into the bottom of the dish and cover with a lid, but in the second, no water is needed.
- Cook small vegetables or pieces in the microwave separately, in small portions, so that they are distributed either around the perimeter of the round stand, or all in the center. This requirement is due to the uneven distribution of microwaves inside the oven.
- Turn on the microwave at a power of 800-850 W for 15 minutes. After this, check the softness of the beet and, if you need to continue cooking, turn the root vegetables over and turn on the oven for another five minutes.
How to quickly cook beet in a slow cooker?
Cooked in a slow cooker, beets remain tasty, healthy and beautifully colored, suitable for salads and snacks:
- Medium-sized beets can be cooked whole, after thoroughly washing them first. After washing, it is advisable to peel large beets and cut them into small cubes.
- Place the whole beets in the multicooker bowl and turn on the appliance in the “Baking” mode for 40 minutes.
- Place the chopped beets in a multicooker bowl and fill with water. Cook in the “Cooking” mode for 15-20 minutes.
How to cook beet correctly? Useful tips about cooking beet
Cooking beets quickly does not always mean correctly, but combining these conditions is quite possible. The recommendations concern not only the cooking process itself, but also the selection and preparation of beetroot for cooking:
- Choose Bordeaux variety of beet for cooking. It is easily distinguished by its characteristic slightly flattened shape, rich color and small, neat roots.
- The salt in the water in which the beet is cooked will make the vegetables tasteless and hard. If you want to add salt to the dish, do it at the stage of combining the ingredients, when you add the already cooked beet.
- To preserve the beautiful ruby color of boiled beet, add freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 large lemon per 3 liters of water), table vinegar (1 tablespoon per 3 liters) or a pinch of granulated sugar to the water.
Beetroot, or beetroot, as it is popularly called, serves as a good base for soups, is used as a side dish, and adds flavor and color to elegant salads. To meet your expectations and make the beet dish appetizing, you need to know a few subtleties, how to cook it correctly and how long it will take.
How to choose good beets
If vegetables need to be cooked whole, they should be approximately the same size. Then they will be completely ready at the same time and will not disappoint with a raw center.
If possible, it is better to check the thickness of the skin. In juicy and ripe fruits it is tender and thin. Root vegetables should be dry, dark, without splashes of green.
Wrinkled, limp beet cannot be used raw, nor can it be cooked for vinaigrette or any other dish.
Cook beets in a saucepan for vinaigrette
Vinaigrette is a popular dish in which boiled beet is used. Traditionally it is boiled in a saucepan. Without knowing how much time this will take, you can ruin the color and taste of the root vegetable and, accordingly, the future dish.
For vinaigrette, it is better to choose medium-sized beetroot. They need to be washed well under running water and placed in a pan. The dish should be large enough to completely cover the vegetables with water. Approximate cooking time:
- large beetroots - about 2 hours
- average - approximately 1.5 hours
- small fruits - 1 hour is enough
The readiness of the product can be easily checked using a knife, which should freely pierce the entire root vegetable. To make the vinaigrette bright rich color, into the water experienced housewives add table vinegar at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 1 liter of water.
Advice! Beets have to be cooked in the same pan, since the walls of the pan acquire a characteristic coating that is difficult to clean. The beet can be placed in a bag, tied well and placed in water. After cooking, the bag with root vegetables should be filled with cold water to cool. The pan will always be clean!
Subtleties of cooking beets in different kitchen appliances
The abundance of kitchen appliances sometimes leads to confusion as to how many hours or minutes it takes to cook vegetables in them. There are different options that you can take into account:
- In a pressure cooker, beet can be cooked whole or cut into strips. How long should it be cooked? different options? Whole root vegetables will cook for 30 to 40 minutes. It all depends on the size. Cut into strips - only 20 minutes.
- To get a cooked product from the microwave, you need to wash the fruits well, make multiple punctures with a knitting needle and set them to maximum power. In 10 minutes the beets will be completely ready.
- In a double boiler, whole beetroot should be cooked for about 50 minutes. Cooking time can be reduced to half an hour if the washed and peeled root vegetable is cut into strips.
- And if you have a multicooker, how long should you cook the beets in it? Medium-sized root vegetables will be ready in 40 minutes, large ones in an hour, and diced ones in just 15 minutes. In all cases, the multicooker is set to the “Baking” mode.
Note! With any cooking method, you also need to know how much water is needed so that the beets cook evenly. It should completely cover the root vegetables throughout the cooking time. During boiling, the water evaporates rapidly, so you will have to add it regularly until the vegetables are completely cooked.
- It is correct to boil fruits in unsalted water. There are several reasons for this. Salt water hardens the product. If you salt the water during cooking, the salt will still evaporate and will not be noticeable. This is due to the sweetness of the root vegetable itself. That is why vegetables are salted already in the finished dish.
- Buryaks are always placed in cold water. This helps preserve maximum quantity vitamins
- The finished product should be removed from boiling water and doused with ice water. This will make it easier to remove the skin.
- To ensure that the beet retains its color during cooking, you can add not only vinegar, but also lemon juice to the water.
- No matter how long you cook the beets, the musty smell in the kitchen will be annoying. To avoid this problem, you can add a crust of rye bread to a container with boiling water and root vegetables.
- A decoction of beetroot is used to prepare first courses, and also as a diuretic.
If there are no contraindications for eating beet, then it can be used in a diet menu for weight loss. Its energy value is only 44 kcal per 100 grams of product. Bright fruits are also suitable for cooking baby puree. beets, rich in vitamins and microelements, can be safely included in daily diet for the whole family.
Beetroot has been known all over the world for quite a long time, and at first only the tops were eaten. Today, along with root vegetables, it allows you to enrich the body with vitamins, iodine, and iron. However, you can preserve all the benefits and taste of a vegetable only by preparing it correctly.
Features of vegetable crops
Beetroot is an annual, or less often biennial, plant of the amaranth family. Both the ripening burgundy-red root vegetable and the young green leaves with a reddish border along the wavy edges are eaten.
There are 3 main types of crops - table, sugar and fodder. The food used is canteen, which can be of several varieties. For boiling or baking, many people prefer to use the Bordeaux variety, characterized by medium-sized, slightly flattened root vegetables 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 is 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 (this is what determines the bright color of the vegetable), has a beneficial effect on the circulatory and vascular systems. Beets help increase hemoglobin levels, which, in turn, improves the nutrition of organs and tissues. Betaine in combination with vitamin P makes vascular walls stronger and more elastic, improves the absorption of vitamin B.
This vegetable is especially useful for people suffering from anemia; it prevents the development of atherosclerosis, varicose veins, and heart attack. Having the ability to increase blood pressure, the root vegetable helps hypertensive patients normalize and stabilize blood pressure.
Due to the antioxidant properties of beets, it is recommended for liver diseases and helps eliminate toxins and waste from the body. The bactericidal effect of the root vegetable makes its use effective in the treatment of external injuries, long-healing wounds, and abrasions. Taking beetroot juice orally is one of the measures for treating gastritis and ulcers.
Possessing dietary fiber, beets stimulate intestinal motility, improving digestion and accelerating metabolism. It has been proven that regular consumption of this vegetable is one of the preventive measures against intestinal cancer.
Beets should be eaten with caution diabetes mellitus, hypotension, gastritis and ulcers characterized by low acidity, osteoporosis, diarrhea and urolithiasis.
How to choose a root vegetable?
For cooking, you should choose young soft root vegetables, then ready dish It will turn out softer and more tender. It is better not to use root vegetables that are too large; they will turn out dry and fibrous. A vegetable purchased that is too large may well turn out to be fodder and not table food. The best option is medium beets with red-burgundy thin skin without signs of damage or rotting.
If possible, purchase beets with tops. The latter will help you understand how fresh and young the root vegetable is, and in addition, fresh tops can also be used in cooking.
How long to cook?
The cooking time for the root vegetable depends on its size and cooking method. Small root vegetables are cooked for 40-60 minutes, and if cut into pieces - no more than half an hour. However, in the latter case they may lose color and at the same time become tasteless.
The larger the root vegetable, the longer it takes to cook. Small ones cook for about 50 minutes, medium ones – an hour and a half, large ones – up to two or more hours. The time indicated is for cooking the whole root vegetable; when cutting it into pieces, the cooking time is reduced, but its beneficial properties practically disappear.
Important point: 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 reduce this process to 20-30 minutes, but, unfortunately, to the detriment of the usefulness of the vegetable, it will lose ascorbic acid.
The root vegetable is baked a little faster - about 40 minutes for medium beets. However, this method also destroys vitamin C and some others.
Some kitchen “helpers” – a microwave oven and a pressure cooker – allow you to reduce cooking time. The first allows you to cook vegetables 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 total time cooking.
Cooking in a slow cooker is not much different in time from the same process on the stove or in the oven. The beets are boiled in a bowl of water for at least an hour, steamed - a little less (50-60 minutes), in baking mode, as in the oven - 50-60 minutes.
You can check whether the root vegetable is ready by using a fork or toothpick. Fully cooked 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 pan, 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 into the room to a lesser extent. Another method to reduce cooking time is to add butter to boiling water. You will need a little of it - 2-3 tablespoons.
Methods
Preparing a root vegetable for cooking involves washing it thoroughly. But it is not recommended to peel the root vegetable raw; it will lose its bright shade. If the beets are peeled, a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice added to the water during cooking will help preserve their intense color. By the way, the same method can also be used if you need to preserve the shade of an unpeeled root vegetable.
There are several ways to cook beets, differing in cooking time, technology, tools and equipment used. One of the simplest is traditional cooking in a pan over a fire. However, there are several options here too.
The beets need to be washed, put in large saucepan 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 vegetable should be left to simmer 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 boiling water over the vegetable, to which 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil have been 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 vegetable over high heat with the addition of vegetable oil (a couple of spoons) for half an hour. After the specified time, the vegetable is removed from boiling water, poured with ice water and left in it for 10 minutes. With this method, beets are cooked the fastest, but vitamin C is completely lost from its composition.
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 W.
In a similar way, you can bake the root vegetable in the oven, setting the temperature in it to 200 degrees. Contrary to popular belief, beets completely lose vitamin C when roasted.
Roasting beets makes them sweeter, so this option is usually used for salads.
A microwave oven allows you to cook beets in another way, and it will take a record 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 will increase by 2 times.
The washed beets should be placed in glassware. Larger vegetables are in the middle, smaller ones are on the edges. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of water into a plate; it should end up at the bottom of the dish. Then place the bowl in the microwave, covering it with a glass or special microwave lid.
Instead of a plate and lid, you can use a plastic bag, sealing it tightly. When the root vegetable is cooked, it must be removed from the stove and left to cool in room conditions. It will taste the same as when cooked in a pan over a fire.
You can steam beets in a slow cooker. The prepared root vegetable should be placed in a special container for steaming, and the bowl should be filled with water. Install the unit, close it with the lid and turn on the steaming mode.
As a rule, most programs in this mode automatically set the cooking time to 40 minutes. It will be enough though exact time depends on the multicooker model. After the specified time has passed, you should check the readiness of the beets and, if necessary, hold them over the steam for a little longer. In this case, be sure to make sure there is enough water in the bowl.
Using a multicooker, you can cook beets according to classical way- in the water. However, using a multicooker provides several advantages - you do not need to adjust the intensity of the fire and there is no risk that water will “run away”, flooding the stove.
So, to cook in a slow cooker, the root vegetable should be washed, and you can shorten the tail a little. Place it in a bowl, add cold water to the maximum mark and set the “Cooking”, “Stewing” or “Soup” mode. The duration of the process is an hour. After a while, you should check the root vegetable and, if necessary, let it cook for another 10-30 minutes.
Young vegetables with a high content of moisture and juices are best baked. If you have a multicooker, you can do this right in it. The prepared root vegetable must be placed in foil, previously greased with vegetable oil. If you are baking several vegetables at the same time, then each one needs to be wrapped separately. In this form, the root vegetable is placed in the multicooker bowl and cooked in baking mode for 60 minutes.
A pressure cooker will also be useful for cooking vegetables. It needs to be washed, cleaned with a brush and placed on the bottom of the pressure cooker, add water and set the “Cooking” mode. For medium-sized root vegetables, 10 minutes is enough, for larger ones – 15 minutes. After the specified time, the beets should be kept in the pressure cooker for another 10 minutes so that the pressure subsides and the unit can be opened.
If you use a double boiler to cook the root vegetable, 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.
Get delicious boiled beets and quickly prepare it for further use using the following methods:
- You need to finish cooking with cold water, which will then allow you to quickly remove the skin from the root vegetable.
- When cooking beets, you need to control the water level - it should completely cover the vegetable. If necessary, add hot or boiling liquid.
- The vegetable does not require the addition of salt when cooking; moreover, salting makes the root vegetable hard and causes an increase in its cooking time.
- If you don’t like the smell that appears when cooking beets, you can get rid of it by throwing the bread crust into water while boiling.
- If you are cutting beets for vinaigrette, then drizzle the cut pieces with vegetable oil. Thanks to this, other components of the dish will not be colored.
- You should not allow the peeled vegetable to come into contact with air for a long time, as this will cause the destruction of vitamin C in its composition.
- The decoction remaining after boiling the root vegetable is used as a gentle 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, cooked 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 and lose its beneficial components; eating it is not recommended.
What to cook from boiled vegetables?
Beetroot
- 3-4 boiled medium-sized beets;
- 3-4 potatoes;
- 1.5 liters of broth;
- 2 tablespoons table vinegar;
- salt, black pepper, herbs, spices - to taste.
Boiled beets peel and grate on a medium grater, then simmer in a frying pan with vinegar for 3-4 minutes. Put the broth on the fire, bring to a boil and add the peeled and diced potatoes into it. Boil it for 5-7 minutes, then add beets, salt, spices, and herbs. Cook until boiling and then a couple more minutes.
Serve beet 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, heat it a little and add thyme leaves. After they give off their aroma to the oil, remove them from the pan. Pour in the cream and bring to a boil, then add the spicy beetroot mixture. Mix everything thoroughly, bring to a boil again and simmer for another 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Beets for garnish
To prepare you need:
- boiled beets;
- 2 tablespoons each of balsamic vinegar and vegetable (olive) oil;
- a pinch (on the tip of a knife) of dried marjoram;
- salt and black ground pepper to taste.
Peel the cooked beets and cut into slices or cubes. Pour in the oil-vinegar mixture, salt and pepper, and lastly, sprinkle with marjoram.
Classic vinaigrette
To prepare you need:
- 1-2 small boiled beets;
- 1-2 carrots;
- 2 pickled cucumbers;
- 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 soil 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 mash a little with your hands. Mix all 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 mustard;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 1 onion;
- 5 tablespoons of olive oil (can be replaced with vegetable oil);
- 2 teaspoons wine vinegar;
- 1 teaspoon honey;
- salt, pepper
Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut into cubes and bake on a greased baking sheet until cooked. Also place the beets in the oven, after washing them and wrapping them in foil. Please note that carrots and potatoes will need to be removed from the oven much earlier than the beets. On average, it takes 15-17 minutes to bake them.
While the vegetables are cooking, you can make the dressing. To do this, you need to mix honey, butter and mustard, add pressed 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.
Place the finished carrots and potatoes in a salad bowl, add baked and peeled, cut into pieces beets, pickled onions and green peas. Pour in the resulting dressing.
Herring under a fur coat
Ingredients:
- 1 fatty lightly salted herring;
- 3 potatoes;
- 2 medium beets, pre-boiled;
- 2 carrots;
- 1 onion;
- egg yolks for salad decoration;
- mayonnaise.
First of all, you need to cook the washed potatoes and carrots. At this time, you can take care of the fish - divide it in half, remove the bones and skin, and finely chop the resulting fillet.
Place pieces of fish on the bottom of the plate and cover them with a layer of chopped onions. It is recommended to first soak it in water for 5 minutes. Place 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. Place them on top of the previous layer, with a mayonnaise mesh on top. You can make it by pouring mayonnaise into a pastry syringe, or, if you don’t have one, into a regular plastic bag with a corner cut off. There is no need to smear the mesh.
Peel the boiled carrots, grate them and place them on top of the mesh on the salad; make a similar one on the carrot layer. The last layer will be a layer of peeled and grated beets, which is 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. Instead of herring, you can use iwashi.