Freezing beets the EASY way

My son Carson and I LOVE beets!! This love affair only began a few years ago, at which time we had planted some in our garden and I didn't even know how to cook them. I asked around and did some research and since then have come up with my own method for freezing beets the easy way!

This week, my mother-in-law's friend arrived at our house with two boxes of beets. I was VERY excited by this because this year our garden has been over taken by weeds and NOTHING that we planted is growing. Yesterday, I decided to deal with the boxes of beets so that I could get them off my kitchen table and into the freezer.

First step is to wash the beets and pop them into a large pot. Boil for as long as it takes for the outer part of the beets to be soft enough to stick a fork in them. The time will depend on the size of your beets but will be around 15-20 minutes.

Next, drain the hot water and add cold water to the pot. The skins should slide right off! This is a messy job, so make sure that you are wearing OLD clothes.

Boiled and ready to chop.

Next, chop the beats into chunks - it doesn't matter if you make them large or small, just be consistent so that when you cook them later on they will all cook in the same amount of time.

Chopped and ready to freeze.

Next, spray a rimmed cookie sheet with cooking spray or oil. Put the chopped beets in a single layer on the tray and pop into the freezer.

My baskets are just the right height to put the trays on top.

Leave the beets in the freezer overnight and then take them out. Gently flex the cookie sheets and you will find that the beets pop right off and separate from each other. Scoop them up and put them into large zip-loc bags. Date the bags and put them back into the freezer.

When you are ready to cook the beets, you can warm them in the microwave, or boil them, but our favourite way is roasted in the oven. I take the desired amount of beets out of the freezer, toss them with a bit of olive oil and then sprinkle with seasonings - the one we like the best is Chili Garlic salt from Epicure. YUM YUM!! The beets will take about 30 minutes to cook in the oven (depending on the size of the chunks). If you need to speed that time up, defrost them in the microwave and then season and pop in the oven at 350-400 degrees.

If you are a beet lover like me, or just new to beets, try out this recipe and in the middle of the winter, when you have a roast in the oven, pop in the beets and enjoy that yummy summer flavour!!