Preserving Beet Greens

I try to preserve vegetables from our garden using methods that do not require the use of the freezer and, subsequently, energy. I find canning and drying to be the best methods to preserve. However, sometimes those methods don't yield a pleasing result, especially with delicate items with a high water content such as beet greens.  Beet greens are actually quite delicious. You can substitute beet greens for any recipe that calls for spinach or Swiss chard but be warned that the dish will turn a rather dramatic pink. I made pasta in a white sauce and threw in some beet greens and informed Ben that we were eating "Princess Pasta" that night. You can mitigate the aforementioned pink-ness by cooking the greens separately from the main dish and then throwing them in right before serving.

The best method I've found to preserve greens is to freeze them. The downside is that you use up precious space in your freezer, but the benefits - good texture and colour, and nutrient retention - far outweigh the drawbacks.

The Process

First, clean off a space to work. My mom informs me that the key to safe preserving is to make sure anything that comes in contact with the food is really clean. Microorganisms are the source of food spoilage. By reducing the amount of bacteria, mold and yeast that are present at the time of preservation, the food will be safer when it comes time to eat.

Start a large pot of cool-fresh water on the stove.

Clean off any dirt on the greens by rinsing the whole leaves under cold water.

Cut off the tough red stalks.

On a clean cutting board, chop up the greens into nice, bite-sized pieces. At this point, I sometimes give the greens an extra rinse under the water but if you did a thorough job on the first rinse, this may not be necessary.

Make sure the pot of water is at a strong boil.

Place all of the greens in the water and boil for about 3 minutes - a process called blanching. The point of blanching is to kill off any microorganisms that may be present.

When the timer goes off, drain off the hot water and stop the cooking process by running cold water over the greens or placing them into a large bowl of ice water.

Drain off the water and place the greens into containers. If you want to save space you can place the greens into sealable plastic bags. I'm generally wary of plastic being around my food so I place the greens into glass containers. I put enough in each to make up a family sized serving. Then just place the containers in the freezer where they'll be fresh for up to a year.  The morning that I'm going to use the greens, I simply take the container out of the freezer and place it into the fridge to thaw by dinnertime.