As far as I'm concerned, root vegetables and their greens are a two-for-one deal. We're talking beets and radishes, whose tops are just as tasty as their tails. Don't believe me? Sometimes all you need is the right recipe.
The greens tend to reflect the flavor of their particular "bottom" vegetable. Beet greens (my favorite) are sweet and earthy, while radish greens tend toward spiciness.
If you've never cooked with these tops before, a good place to start is simply sautéeing them on their own with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then serving them alongside the dish made with the root. This will give you a good idea for their flavor and other dishes where the greens might find a home.
Here are a few more recipes to peek your culinary curiosity:
• Pasta with Beet Greens from Gourmet
• Grilled Goat Cheese Pizza with Figs, Beets & Wilted Greens from Fine Cooking
• Beet Green Gratin from Alton Brown and The Food Network
• Beet Green Pierogi with Summer Beets from Martha Stewart
• Chorizo and Greens Quiche from Lighter and Local
• Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter and Radish Tops from Bon Appétit
• Radish Tops Pesto from Fresh Local and Best
• Rustic Radish Soup from Food52
What's your favorite way to use up these tops?
Related: Can You Eat Carrot Tops?
(Image: Stephanie Foley/Gourmet)
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This Food & Wine recipe also calls for beet greens. It's a favorite in our house!
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/fusilli-alla-crazy-bastard
I have been composting my beet tops forever, like a dummy! Last fall a friend cooked some up with black rice - by far one of the best and most simple dishes I have ever had. Since then I'm addicted!
Beet greens are one of my favorite greens! I think probably because it makes the root such a nutritious, versatile food! I love to saute the beet greens with some garlic and onions and stuff them in tortillas with a bit of cheese for delicious quesadillas.
Beets were originally grown just for their greens. I hope these recipes don't catch on because I've been getting them for free from the farmers market.
Beet greens are delicious, but radish tops don't really do much for me.
Turnip tops are another green I did not want to waste, but had rarely found a good use for (just sauteed was not good enough), and then I came across the turnip green tart recipe from Heidi Swanson. It is amazing!
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/turnip-green-tart-recipe.html
My favorite beet green preparation is sauteing them with a little ginger, garlic, sesame oil brown sugar, and soy sauce.
I think beet greens should work with really any recipe that calls for cooked chard, which is a very closely related plant grown for the leaves rather than the roots. Raw, the higher toughness of the beet tops may be more apparent, but cooked I think they're pretty interchangeable.
Beet green chips! http://ashevillelocavore.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/beet-green-chips/