Beets Me!

 Pickled beets! I totally did it! I've been wanting to try this ever since I had fried beets dipped in spicy mayo from a downtown food cart (East Side Kings), but was daunted because I thought pickling=preserving. Wrong. Pickling is just soaking something in brine whereas preserving necessitates equipment and know how and a surplus of produce to squirrel away for winter. Now I know, elementary kitchen trivia. Stop laughing at me, Miranda Brown.

 Anyway, it was easy but took longer than I thought. I used this recipe but don't be fooled by their breezy "slip off the skins" step. It was like peeling a boiled egg for every single little bugger, and my kitchen smelled like the pickled devil and looked like I'd been doing murder. Look at that platter of boiled beets, it's like I'm the woodsman and those are the hearts of every Disney princess EVER.

I skipped the "cooling the brine overnight" step (because I don't mind having peppercorns mixed in with my pickles) and tossed it together immediately, saving one whole day of waiting.

 I also tie-dyed two tank tops in the beet juice because it was such a gorgeous shade of purple. They didn't turn out how I'd envisioned. *cough

The beets however, turned out delicious. Serve over wilted kale fried in coconut oil and topped with goat cheese, or in a martini in place of olives. 

Cocktail naming winner:

Two-piece Beetini