I love beets with their own greens. I’ve made this for company… well, specifically for a dear old friend who, after a medical emergency, had to learn how to eat more healthfully. He was in a state of despair and shock… he’d just learned that everything he loved wasn’t on his new diet. He loved this dish. It thrilled him to find something he enjoyed that was approved, and his thrill was my thrill.
Organic beets with their greens
1 cup thrice-rinsed quinoa, raw
2 cups of water
Perhaps a couple of cloves of garlic, sliced
Olive oil, sea salt
A scant handful of pine nuts (lightly roasted for best flavor – you can do this in the toaster oven if careful)
Start by rinsing and cooking the quinoa: boil the water, add the rinsed quinoa, cover, lower the heat, and cook for 20 minutes without checking.
While it cooks, cut the greens off the beets and wash them well. Trim off the stems and lightly chop.
Quarter the beets with the skin still on, then boil them until just soft. Rinse in cold water. The skins will slip off, turning the rinse water and your hands and your cutting board red, but no matter…
Slice the beets into ~3/8″ thick slices. If you’re using garlic, peel and slice. Heat a pan with a generous few tablespoons of olive oil, drop in the garlic, salt, and then follow 30 seconds or so later with the beet greens. Sauté them until they’re tender, then add the beet slices to rewarm.
By now, your quinoa is done and you can ladle some into a bowl, top with the beets and greens, sprinkle the pine nuts on top, and enjoy. You can feel both virtuous and satisfied.