Happy Beet Day of Foggy Month!

Obviously, there are many ways you could celebrate today – borscht, salads, roasted, juiced, etc. I’ve chosen to pickle them with the added benefit of using the pickling juice to make beet-pickled eggs. I haven’t yet made the eggs, but will update when completed! I turned again to Amy Thielen’s The New Midwestern Table for this recipe.

Pickled Beets

1 1/2 lb beets (Thielen suggests baby beets)

1 tsp salt (Thielen suggests pickling salt, but I did not have any)

1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 whole cloves

6 green cardamom pods, cracked

Wash the beets and place in a large pan, cover them with water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook, partially covered for 15 to 30 minutes, or until beets are tender. Remove the beets from heat and drain. When cooled, peel off the skin of the beets and chop them into quarters.

In another pan, combine 3 cups of water, the salt, vinegar, sugar, cumin seeds, cloves and cardamom. Simmer until the sugar dissolves and then let it cool. Put the beets into a mason jar and cover with the pickling liquid. Refrigerate and enjoy!