Pickled Beetroot
Below is a recipe from Amy and Jade at Growing Green Thumbs. Growing Green Thumbs are passionate about teaching kids how to get back to basics through growing organic food. They play, grow, eat and share with little people and their families.
When they are not writing curriculum programmes or teaching kids in primary schools, you will find them out and about in kindergartens or festivals teaching kids about worm farming or going on a nature hunt and building bug hotels.
Their home base garden at Bonbeach Primary School is their pride and joy, winning regional school garden awards and environmental awards for sustainability. In 2017 they won the Victorian School Garden Awards and Kevin Heinz Perpetual award for the nature play garden created. It is also the foundation where students and the community access knowledge about urban farming and all that it entails.
They wear their grown –up hats to bring the Bonbeach Farmers Market to life, marketing and organizing real food experiences for their wider community. Amy & Jade are more than happy to provide guided tours of the garden they have created at Bonbeach PS to share their knowledge with other schools. Growing Green Thumbs are also available for kindergarten, day care and festival events.
Pickled Beetroot
Pickled beetroot just like nanna use to make is the best! It’s very easy to make, a little messy and a little fun. The kids will have fun with the pink water that is made from boiling the beets. Give them a paint brush, some paper and let them make some wonderful beetroot paint pictures while you do the rest.
Home grown beetroots are amazing if you can grow them, if not they are very easy to find at your local famrers market, generally all year round. Our favorite beets are grown by Sam the beetroot king! A local farmer who has the most amazing beets, big and not woody like some store bought. Always try and buy organic if you can. You can find Sam from Leaf Horticulture around South East farmers markets.
You will need:
3 large or 5 small beetroots
4 sterilized jars (recycled is best)
2 cups brown vinegar
Water
2 cups brown sugar (or rapidura sugar)
2 saucepans
Trim leaves keeping the smaller ones for salads, trim beets of roots
Place beets in a large saucepan cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer gently until the beets are soft all the way through, use a skewer to test
Allow the water and beets to cool. Place in the sink so as to keep as much of the liquid contained as it can stain. Using your hands, gently rub the skins from the beets and any gristly bits from the ends, these can go in your compost. Place beets on a chopping board – careful they are a little slippery.
Don’t throw out the water & skins. It makes a great addition to you compost heap or straight into the garden.
Pickle liquid: you will need to make enough liquid to fill each jar ¾. To get a good idea of how much you will need, measure how many mls your jars are and that should tell you how much pickle liquid to make.
In a saucepan, place 1 part water, 1 part brown vinegar, 1 part brown sugar. Gently simmer until sugar is dissolved and allow to cool completely.
Slice your beets to fit into the jars and fill to just under the rim, pressing them down firmly. Pour the pickling liquid into the jars making sure the liquid covers the sliced beets. Seal the jar and keep in pantry.
Once it’s made add it to greek yoghurt with a little chopped mint for a delicious dip.
