Originally published on September 29, 2014
The term “quick pickled beets” is a bit misleading. I really thought it would be a matter of placing the beets in a bowl with some vinegar and seasoning and just let it sit for 15 minutes or so. Ah, but I had forgotten that the beets need to be softened first, and they also need to be peeled. That requires either steaming or roasting – which takes about 30 minutes. Peeling raw beets was something I learned very early on not to do. After making some red beet dish or another, I was talking to my grandma about it, and about how very difficult it was to peel them. She asked me if I had steamed the beets beforehand, to which I answered a very dismayed “no.” I’ve never made that mistake again and while it means that these “quick pickled beets” aren’t as quick as you might like, keep in mind that you’d spend just as much time trying to peel them in their raw form. And that you’d be a lot more frustrated at the end of it all.
Ingredients:
4 beets
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
1.) Chop the leaves and stems off of the beets. Place them in a steamer basket set into a pot and fill with 1 to 2 inches of water. Cover, turn heat to high and let beets steam for 30 – 40 minutes, until they are fork tender. Be sure to keep an eye on them and add more water if necessary.
2.) After beets are finished steaming, remove from the steamer basket and allow them to cool slightly, enough so you can handle them. Peel the skins off (use a knife if you have to, but you should be able to just slip them right off,) and dice the beets.
3.) While the beets are cooling, place the onion slices, red wine vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and lower heat. Simmer the mixture for 4 – 6 minutes, just until the onion softens some.
4.) Place the diced beets into a bowl and pour the pickling mixture from the saucepan over top. Let beets sit for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5.) Serve and enjoy! (You can also store the pickled beets in an airtight container in the fridge for one week.)