GARDEN FRESH : Beets : Which side on are you on?

Regarding beets, there are two camps: those who have never eaten beets and intend never to eat them, and those who are mad about beets. I’ve never met anyone simply indifferent to these gorgeous roots. Which leads me to believe that if we can coax those who have never tasted beets into tasting them, we can pull the naysayers into our camp.

What are the reasons for being anti-beet?

Could it be all that scarlet? Scarlet’s a passionate color and some people may not care for passion in their food--blood-red oranges, a favorite around the Mediterranean, have never caught on here, perhaps for the same reason.

Thus we might entice the anti-beets with golden beets. Golden beets are the color of sunshine, with buttery sweetness red beets can’t match. In a salad bowl, mix grated raw golden beets with orange chunks, rings of red onion, a handful or two of watercress and curly endive, and toss with olive oil and fresh orange juice. When the anti-beet person asks what those delicious shreds in the salad are, change the subject.

Or steam golden beets in their jackets until tender, slice them into matchsticks and sprinkle chopped fresh dill on top. Or serve hot golden beets with butter and chopped candied ginger. Only when the anti-beet is frantic to know what glorious vegetable it is, confess.

Now it may be that golden beets are too vivid still for the introverted. Then bring out the cool white beets. Albina Vereduna is heir to the pale beets Europeans have loved for centuries. Its leaves are particularly splendid. Steam, cool and slice equal parts white beets and White Rose potatoes into a pottery bowl. Add lots of finely chopped Italian parsley. Toss with your favorite oil and vinegar dressing, to which you added minced flat fillets of anchovies.

You can also combine slices of hot white beets with chopped fresh mint, chopped shallots, shallot leaves and orange calendula or nasturtium petals. Dress with extra-virgin olive oil and mild vinegar.

For an especially tough anti-beet try simmered white beets thinly sliced, moistened with cream and sprinkled with mace or nutmeg. That should do it.

It’s possible that it’s not out of timidity or dread of passion that beets are spurned. Maybe it’s large plain round rough market roots that are perceived as boring. Then serve ultra-sweet candy-apple-red Chioggias. Steam them whole, the size of small plums, and present them drizzled with honey and lemon juice. When your anti-beet cuts a slice and discovers a peppermint-striped pinwheel in the center, we’ve won.

Or perhaps the won’t-eat-beets person is one of exquisite sensibilities and gargantuan roots are unappealing. Then offer Little Ball beets, smooth and sweet. Enjoy them cool as a separate course served in small glass bowls heaped with slivers of lemon zest and a dollop of creme frache on the side.

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Of course, there are those in the anti-beet contingent who have eaten beets once or twice, beets far from where they were grown, beets with fibrous texture and muddy taste. Rather than try to convince these people that today’s freshly harvested beets are heavenly, pull out a secret weapon. No one can resist the rich succulent sweetness of beets simply scrubbed and set in an earthenware dish, drizzled with walnut oil, and roasted in a moderate oven until tender (an hour or more). The roots will be wizened, but one bite . . .

Then we mustn’t forget the greens! Until a few hundred years ago, beets’ roots were spindly and the vegetable was grown for its leaves. Kissing cousin to chard, today’s beets have the best of both ends--a plump sweet tender fine grained root and lush plush tender leaves. The leaves are delicious and far more nutritious than the roots. The best way to serve them--past chopping them into a Slavic beet borscht--is to pull the green parts off the stems, if they’re tough, and steam the greens in the water that clings to them from rinsing, in the manner of spinach. A little olive oil, lemon juice and garlic are all they need. The leaves are also delicious raw in salads.

If you’re one of us who love beets, start them in very early spring when you sow peas. In the hot interior parts of Southern California, sow from late winter to mid-spring, then again in August--through the heat of the summer, try growing beets in pots set in a cool part of the garden. In citrus climates, sow from mid-winter till early summer. Along the coast, you can sow beets from mid-winter through early autumn. For a continuous supply, tuck in a short row here and there every two weeks or so. For beets through winter, sow deep purple Lutz Winter Keeper in early July and harvest big sweet roots in early October. Layer them in cool moist sand and keep in a dark place below 45 degrees. In the coldest parts of Southern California, in mid-October, you can sow again and mulch with straw. The seeds will slumber through winter, then rouse come spring and give you the earliest possible crop.

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In the landscape, you won’t see more of beets than the rounded top of their roots, but the perky leaves are delightful. Mix beets among dwarf dahlias (either from seeds or from the nursery). Dahlias come in yellow, red, pink, purple, orange, scarlet and cream--gay against the ruffled deep green to purple leaves with scarlet or green veins and stalks. Set young dahlias three feet apart and fill in with fast-growing baby beets like Little Ball. Sow the seeds about two dozen per square foot, patting them in firmly. When the seedlings are three inches tall, start thinning. Thinnings of tiny leaves are lovely in a grated carrot salad. Thin to an inch apart, then harvest when the babies are 3/4 inch across. For maximum fineness in larger cultivars, I never let beets get past two inches. Carefully pull beets furthest from the dahlias--as you harvest, the dahlias will fill in, leaving no gaps in the border.

Beets do best in full sun in humus-y soil on the alkaline side, kept moist but not sopping. Beets are slow to germinate, but you can harvest two months from sowing. Few pests bother beets, although some insects love to nibble the leaves. A floating row cover (from the garden supply) will keep them off.

Beets do beautifully in containers 6 to 12 inches deep filled with a well-draining soil mix. Sun and water requirements are the same. In a big pot, add a petunia and trailing blue lobelia.

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In the unlikely event that the anti-beets aren’t moved by all your tasty offerings, get them to grow their own. All of those mentioned grow easily, but the superb hybrid Red Ace is ideal for beginners. One taste of these gems fresh from the garden, and the hold-outs will say they knew beets were sublime all along.

Sources

Fresh: Farmers’ markets, grocery stores.

Seeds: Albina Vereduna from the Cook’s Garden, Box 535, Londonderry, Vt. 05148.

Burpee’s Golden--this cultivar has low germination, so plan to sow extra thickly--from W. Atlee Burpee & Co, Warminster, Penn. 18974.

Others mentioned from Pinetree Garden Seeds, Box 300, New Gloucester, Me. 04260.

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Cook red beets whole, leaving the root tip and a couple of inches of stalks on so the color won’t seep out of the roots--goldens and whites don’t bleed. Steaming whole beets or simmering them in salted water can take from 30 minutes for small ones to an hour for larger beets. They may be cooked in advance and reheated without harm.

We all have a sentimental attachment to certain foods from childhood. At the Eunice Knight Saunders School, we were served Harvard beets for lunch every Wednesday. I was in the second grade, and it was my first taste of the fascinating play of sour/sweet flavors found in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Asian cuisines. And I loved the red. The dish is said to be more than 60 years old; the color comes from Harvard University’s crimson. My California version is dazzling strawberry--orange juice fixes the color. These are as good with older beets as with babies. This is a delicious plate-brightener with pale fish and potatoes. Apples in any form are great with beets, so drink cold cider with the supper. Add a salad of celery hearts for crunch (olive oil and lemon juice), then for company, a dessert of cheesecake.

CALIFORNIA HARVARD BEETS 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/3 cup water 2/3 cup fresh orange juice 1 tablespoon rice vinegar or other mild vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 3 cups tender-cooked beets, either babies, or larger beets cut in small chunks, about 1 pound Salt Freshly ground pepper Chopped flat-leaf parsley or chervil

In medium-large non-reactive saucepan, whisk cornstarch and water until smooth. Add splash of orange juice and bring to simmer over medium-high heat, whisking frequently. After mixture thickens, turn heat to low and stir 1 to 2 minutes to cook cornstarch.

Remove from heat. Whisk while slowly adding vinegar, sugar and remaining orange juice. Add butter in flakes. Stir in beets and either cover and set in cool place until time to reheat, or return to burner until beets are heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn into serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about: 103 calories; 130 mg sodium; 8 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 1.01 grams fiber.

Food styling by Donna Deane and Mayi Brady