Welcome to week 35 of Reddit’s 52 Weeks of Cooking Challenge. The theme this week is pickling. We have been getting a lot of beets in our CSA, and I have never pickled beets before, so I decided it was high time I did so.

I love the way beets look beautiful in every picture they are in, don’t you?

I kept part of the beet top on when I boiled the beets. It was supposed to help with bleeding, but I don’t really think it did.

Peeling beets is messy business.

Feel free to puree some pickled beets, some pickling liquid,  some extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and you will have a bright fresh dressing that will compliment most salads. Their subtle spiced flavor will also shine on a holiday table in a crudité platter, condiment or side addition to your festive meal. Pared with baby greens, fresh soft cheese,  some grilled chicken and a glass or three of  sparkling blah blah blah, will make for a beautiful romantic dinner. My favorite way to eat these pickled beets is standing up, by the refrigerator out of the jar, all fancy-like. I am quite sure you will enjoy these spiced pickled beets each and every day with your family and friends, all year long.

However if you are like my dear Sister in Law, Carrie, and you think beets taste like dirt, and/or you share my dear friend Michael’s (winemaker for Stave 28), opinion that beets pare beautifully with a lovely bag of potting soil,  no amount of pickling will clean them off enough for you. You can at least enjoy my photographs and clever words. Please tell me friends, which team are you on, Team Awesome, beets taste awesomely awesome! or Team Beet, beets taste like dirty, dirty, dirt! Please leave a comment and let me know.  Thank you kindly and sincerely yours, the leader of Team Awesome!

This recipe was adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pickled-beets/.