Beets. do you find them earthy? Kind of a dirt-like? Here's why...geosmin!

[NRaleighLiberal]

for you chemists out there,



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmin

Geosmin is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavor and aroma, and is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent (petrichor) that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather or when soil is disturbed. It is produced by a variety of microorganisms.

Some beets seem to have more of that aroma/taste than others - such as this lovely one, Chioggia

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I love beets!

cooked, sliced, mixed in with a bit of vinegar and dash of salt, cooled, and added to salads.
But that "earthy" flavor is the reason no one in my family liked them.
ah well, all the more for me....not to mention how good very young beet greens are.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. We actually found two great ways to eat the beets to minimize the earthiness....and greens! lovem!

We roast beets along with potatoes, carrots, onions, sweet peppers and cauliflower - season with salt and pepper and rosemary and olive oil - 400 for an hour or so - serve over quinoa, top with toasted walnuts...perhaps even some goat cheese.

And - peel, slice, marinate in some olive oil and herbs, and grill on each side until tender. Moderates the sweetness, masks the earthiness.

but...the greens! They are our favorite green - we use them for any recipe that uses collards, kale or chard. Just superb.

[Little Star]

3. The earthy flavor is exactly why I love me some beets....

hot, cold, candied doesn't matter I just love them.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. I don't get very complex with beets... I love pickled beets and buy them off the shelf...

.
.
.
... (in the jars, not in the -- yuck -- cans). I often take the jar and a fork and
just snack on them.
.
HATED beets as a kid.
.
.
.

[Callalily]

8. I hated beets as a kid too,

but then growing up my mom only made beets from a can, so that was my only exposure.

But when I started to have an organic garden I added beets to my repertoire...many different types of beets and fell in love with them!

[MuseRider]

5. Beets last a very short time at my house.

LOVE them, any way you can fix them we love them. My goats love them. I even wrote a little Haiku like poem about the goats and their beets.

Woe be to those
Who feed goats
Without purple fingers

A very popular veggie at our house. Very good juiced as well. I can them as quickly as I can so they don't all get used up as soon as we get them inside. Earthy or not we love them. I am very fond of the lovely Chioggia

[maddezmom]

6. The only way I eat them is roasted

All the other times have been canned, juiced or pickled when I was dieting and they reminded me of eating dirt.

[cbayer]

7. I adore them and am always surprised when people say

that they taste too much like dirt.

Have made cold borscht several times this month.

My favorite is to roast them and serve with goat cheese, toasted walnuts and a vinaigrette.

[grasswire]

9. Having never tasted dirt, I can't relate to this.

Beets taste like beets! Nom nom nom.

[northoftheborder]

10. Love beets, guess don't know what dirt tastes like.

Somehow, back in my dim memory, I have tasted ants, which is what blue cheese tastes like to me, so never liked it. Interesting how strong the sense of taste and smell is associated with different things in our experiences.

[MADem]

11. To the extent that I LOVE tomatoes, I despise beets.

Despise them, to the point that looking at that picture of them causes me to shudder in horror~!!!

I think I can trace it back to a traumatic early childhood experience, when I was forced to eat rubbery, purple, slimy looking beets in a grammar school lunch room by a lunch monitor. This was back in the dark ages when children could be beaten and abused in an academic environment, without consequences.

I didn't like the beet juice ruining the overcooked mashed potatoes, turning them pink, so I wasn't interested in the meal at all, but I was threatened with a beating if I didn't eat up.

I still can't bear beets, and it disturbs me when I see beet juice ruining mashed potatoes!

[Alameda]

12. I love beets...I ferment them

a few ways. My favorite is salt an apple cider vinegar with garlic in it. I then drink the juice or put yougert in it with fresh chopped dill mixed in. I also chop the beets up an put them in salad.

[pinto]

13. Love 'em. One year I grew a mix of standard and specialty beets (big root crop family).

Beautiful colors, but more importantly adaptable to a number of uses. Fresh, thin sliced. Soup. Salads. Pickled. Roasted or on the grill.