Beetroot top. Recipes with beet tops

Late spring and early summer are the season of young vegetables. Counters at this time are full of juicy colors, among which it is difficult not to notice the young beets, especially if it is sold together with a juicy top. Unfortunately, very many mistresses immediately cut off and throw out the leaves, not quite understanding how useful they are and how many delicious dishes one can cook from them.

Beneficial features

The first question, often asked by the hostess: "Why bother to cook from a beet top?" The scientists answered this question a long time ago, proving that the leaves of this plant contain no less useful substances than in root crops. Beetroot tops are rich in ascorbic and folic acid, vitamins of groups B and P, trace elements such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iodine. Vitamin C in leaves is many times more than in root vegetables.

Dishes from this vegetable are useful to people with heart problems and thyroid gland, sick with diabetes and anemia. Scientists noted the huge content of substances that suppress the growth of cancer cells, so oncologists recommend that patients in their diet must include beet tops. What to cook from this vegetable depends on the culinary preferences of a person. But the abundance of recipes allows absolutely everyone to find something to their liking.

Role in World Cooking

In many countries of the world prepare dishes from succulent leaves of a beet. In Russia, borsch is cooked from it, in America, stew is prepared, Georgians like phalis, and Armenians wrap up beets of meat and cereals in beetroot leaves, as in cabbage rolls. Beetroot topped with recipes from generation to generation, is famous in almost all parts of the world. Do you want to try to cook a national Russian dish or overseas delicacy and in your kitchen? Dare! A few simple recipes will help in this.

Borscht

Let's start, perhaps, with borscht. To make it, you will need a pound of young beet, along with leaves, 4 potatoes, 2 small young zucchini, 3 ripe tomatoes, carrots and onions. In addition, we will prepare the oil for frying roast and a little vinegar. And to add flavor to the dish, we use seasonings. What - it's up to you. Any favorite spices will do. Well, without sour cream can not do, it is used when serving to the table.

This dish is lean, it is suitable for vegetarians and those who follow a diet. But it is perfectly permissible to cook it with meat, and chopped lard to add to the roast.

Let's start cooking with the grinding of the ingredients. The first is sent to our future borscht beet, sliced in small slices. It is followed by cubes of potatoes. While the vegetables are boiled, onions, carrots, tomatoes and zucchini fry in oil, add a little vinegar and protushim. As soon as the vegetables become soft, we load the frying pan into a saucepan and there we also send the strips cut by strips. Cook for another 15 minutes, add spices and salt. And when the borsch is cooked, he needs to brew - for this it is best to wrap the pan with a towel and leave it on the turned-off stove for at least 30 minutes.

Love more sharply? Feel free to add pepper and crushed garlic to borsch!

Pie with beet tops

The homeland of this recipe is Karachay-Cherkessia. For the preparation of pie we need the following products:

• Flour - 200 g;
• Home-made soft cheese (brynza, suluguni) - 170 g;
• Feathers of onions;
• Beet tops - bunch;
• salt.

Raw leaves wash and cut into smaller, add cheese and onions to them, mix thoroughly. From flour, salt and water, knead a dough. Roll out a few circles, according to the size of the frying pan. Now we form pies: on the smeared frying pan we spread the dough layer, distribute the filling on top. We will bake in the oven. A cake with a beet top is served to the table, cut into pieces.

Stew

A very popular product for cooking vegetable stew is beet tops. Recipes of this dish are supplemented with such ingredients as: potatoes, peppers, beans, spinach, carrots, cauliflower and much more. Let's try to make a stew one of the most common ways. To do this, take a large bundle of leaves, an onion, several ripe Bulgarian peppers (better than multicolored), butter, greens and seasonings. Now fry the sliced vegetables separately, put it in a saucepan and fret about 20 minutes.

Before serving, we will dress garlic and seasonings.

Vegetarian cutlets

This dish can please not only those who observe a strict fast or do not eat meat for some other reason. Cutlets from beet tops can become a wonderful ... garnish! They are perfectly combined with smoked bacon and bacon, fried sausages, salted bacon, ham. You can serve them in a separate dish, for example, with sauce or ajika. This dish turns out very juicy and fragrant, at once you can not say that it is based on beet tops. What to cook for cutlets and how to serve them, you decide. So, let's get started.

Leaves of beet (a large bundle) mine and cut into smaller pieces. We drive a raw egg, sprinkle with flour. The amount of flour and eggs depends on the juiciness of the greens, and on its quantity. The result should be a dense mass, which allows you to form cutlets. Fry them in hot oil.

Soup

This vegetable is often used for cooking first courses. Let's try, for example, to make soup with beet tops. To do this, cook light chicken broth, add to it finely chopped potatoes, grated carrot and fried in oil onions. When the vegetables are cooked, let us lower the tops of the broth into thin strips. Very suitable for this recipe and boiled eggs, especially effectively look in the quail dishes. To such soup you can serve croutons or crackers.

Vitamin salad

Recipes with beet tops do not always imply heat treatment. Very popular and salads of fresh leaves, storing a maximum of vitamins and beneficial microelements. The only effect of high temperature is a second dive into boiling water, which is necessary for the tops to become soft. Beetroot leaves in salads are perfectly combined with cucumbers, radish and radish, cabbage, watercress, spinach, lettuce, greens. You can add boiled eggs, fried nuts, olives, flaxseed or sesame. A completely unusual taste gives such salads scalded raisins.

For refueling, vegetable oil is often used, seasoned with fruit vinegar, lemon or pomegranate juice. Sour cream or mayonnaise is also great.

Dolma

In the East, the word "dolma" refers to any dish consisting of a vegetable base stuffed with a mixture of rice and meat. And the traditional Bulgarian pepper with minced meat, and cabbage rolls in grape leaves, and even eggplant boats are considered options for the dolma recipes. Of course, among all the diversity there was a place for a variant with a beet top.

To make phali, young beet leaves are used, with cut legs. Strict recipes for the preparation of the filling (as, indeed, the dish as a whole) does not exist. In order to make minced meat, beef, lamb, pork or poultry meat are used, as well as their mixture. Be sure to add finely chopped or grated onions. In the East, it is customary to put a little rice into the filling, not more than a quarter in volume.

The dolma wrapped in leaves is pre-fried in a pan, baked in the oven until half cooked, or immediately put into a large cauldron. For preparation of gravy, a mixture of fried vegetables (carrots, onions, garlic), dressed with tomato, can be used.

Dolma is served on a large platter, along with gravy.