Harvesting beet tops for the winter
Beets have changed little since ancient times, when they began to eat them. Only the ground part was eaten, the healers used root crops. Later, the sweet root became a vegetable, without which cooking is unthinkable. And beet tops often fill the compost heaps. However, there are more medicinal and nutritional elements in the tops than in the beet head. How to properly prepare beet tops for the winter - advice from experienced chefs will help.
The benefits of beet tops
- diabetes mellitus;
- diseases associated with a lack of hemoglobin in the blood;
- cardiovascular problems;
- metabolic problems;
- Gastrointestinal tract;
- with tumor formations;
- sclerotic manifestations, attention and memory disorders.
The beet tops owes such a wide range of effects on the body to their composition. But only a young, undamaged leaf blade with a petiole is used. With aging, the fibers become tough, and nutrients pass into the root crop. Harvesting beet leaves grown on their own garden beds, for the winter will always help you to have a useful product.
We owe vitamin P and microelements to the use of leaves as a prophylactic agent against sclerosis. The presence of iodine and cobalt helps preserve memory and attention, even in old age. The elasticity of the vascular walls increases, hemorrhages are prevented. Betaine, present in the leaves, helps dissolve the plaques of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. Folic acid improves brain activity, blood formation, metabolism.
Vitamin U slows down the aging process and has a beneficial effect on the digestive system, helps to heal ulcers and gastritis. A decoction of fresh and dried leaves taken regularly on an empty stomach promotes soft stools. It has been established that it is promising to use beetroot leaves with root crops in the fight against oncological diseases.
Traditional healers consider beet tops useful for vision, healer of skin diseases, medicine for headaches and keeper of the liver.
However, you can not use beets for treatment in the internal organs of acute inflammatory processes or problems with loose stools.
How to prepare beet tops for the winter
For blanks, only young foliage with petioles is chosen. You can save stocks for the winter in the form:
- dry greens;
- fermentation;
- freezing;
- pickling beet leaves;
- canning.
You need to know that heat treatment reduces the composition of nutrients, partially destroying complex organic compounds. Therefore, preservation without heat treatment is better for use as a medicine. However, the use of canned blanks will systematically make up for the lack of necessary elements in winter. The thought that eating organic products from one's own garden will bring health will add strength to the owners during autumn harvesting.
Beet leaves and petioles can be dried after preliminary grinding by all available methods. Since there is a small amount of essential oils in the leaf apparatus, drying can be carried out at temperatures up to 60 0... In the shade, drying cabinets, dehydrators, with intensive ventilation - any method is fine except drying in the sun. You can use dry herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes.
It is even easier to prepare beet leaves for the winter as a frozen product. The washed and well-dried sheets with petioles are cut finely and laid out in small disposable portions in plastic bags. It is important to store the workpieces only in the freezer, at a low temperature. Once thawed, green tops lose their beneficial properties with a new freeze. The smell of borscht with the aroma of fresh frozen greens will surely attract neighbors.
Preservation "five minutes" will allow you to keep all the vitamins in the green tops. Cut the prepared tops into strips and cover with cold salted water. After bringing to a boil, cooking continues for 5 minutes. The resulting mass is poured into sterilized hot jars, rolled up, turned over and cooled under a blanket for several hours. Such a workpiece is stored in a cold place. It is used as an ingredient in first and second courses.
The leaves are fermented entirely, without the use of vinegar. The product is fermented under the influence of salt in a warm place for several days. At the same time, useful substances are preserved and multiplied. Sauerkraut is used as an independent dish and as a component of complex salads.
When pickling beet tops, separate the leaves from the petioles. At the same time, a standard marinade is prepared using all the usual spices, sugar, salt and acetic acid. The stalks and shredded or rolled leaves are placed in jars separately. The difference in pickling is that the petioles are poured twice with boiling water, and the second time with marinade prepared on the basis of the juice released into the water.
The leaves are brought to a boil, they take the drained water, prepare the marinade and fill the jar with it. But the jar is sterilized for 15 minutes. After that, vinegar is added and both the petioles and leaves are rolled up. The petioles are kept under a fur coat, and the leaves are cooled in the air, turned upside down. You can store such blanks at room temperature.
In addition, beet tops are stewed and caviar is made from it with the addition of horseradish and garlic as a seasoning. The blank is a snack dish. Often, housewives make ready-made soup dressings, including stewed vegetables and their tops. After heat treatment, such workpieces can be stored at room conditions. But the best way is to put canned food in a cool, dark place.
Preserving the gifts of summer and the fruits of your labor for use in the winter means providing the family with healthy food all year round.