Chioggia Beets
When I was young I really hated vegetables. I have way too many memories of hiding vegetables in my shoes after being given the standard dinner time ultimatum, “You can’t get up from this table until you finish everything on your plate.” Yes, after a few years of therapy, I can now admit that I was a vegetable smuggler.
As an adult, I can’t get enough vegetables. And as a gardener, I love trying to grow different types of veggies. And when I saw these cool looking Chioggia Beets in a seed catalog, I knew I had to try them.
Chioggia Beets are an Italian Heirloom beet that has red and white rings inside of them. Slices will look like a bullseye and who doesn’t want a bullseye in their salad? Often when I’m eating a salad, I say to myself, “I wish that I had something to shoot this carrot at.” Chioggia Beets were the answer that I was looking for. Plus as a added bonus you can add the beet greens to the salad too.
As far as taste goes, this beet has a more smooth, mild flavor to it. Besides slicing them up in a salad, my favorite way to eat beets is roasted. Cut them into bite sized pieces, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and pepper, dried basil and garlic and let them roast for about an hour at 400 degrees. Yum! A lot of people like to roast them with rosemary but I’m not a big rosemary fan. But if that’s your thing, then give it a try.
Definitely going to grow these beets again this year. And this time I’m going to plant them in a few different batches about two weeks apart so that I spread out the harvest.
Handling most beets will make it look like you murdered someone. Your hands get all red and suspicious looking. As a reformed vegetable smuggler, I don’t want to draw too much attention to myself. But since these Chioggia Beets are only half red, there’s only half the mess. So I only look half guilty. Which is always a good thing.