It must be his Russian blood; my husband loves his beets! One of our favorite ways to eat them is in borscht, but pickled beets are a close second. (Want even more ideas for eating beets? Check out my cookbook A Vegetable for Every Season.) This year, my beet crop was mostly eaten up by slugs and snails, but a friend gave us just enough for refrigerator pickles. This is a really easy recipe, and the resulting pickle is yummy - or so the pickle-lovers in my family tell me!

 
Easy Refrigerator Pickled Beets Recipe

about 3 lbs. beets (greens removed; but don't throw them away! Use them in place of collards in this recipe.)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
2 cups granulated cane sugar*
3 - 4 cloves of garlic, sliced in half

* Feel free to reduce or omit the sugar. Completely omitting it, however, makes a more strongly flavored pickle.


1. Scrub the beets clean and slice off the stems.

2. Put the beets in a pot and cover with water; place the pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to medium, cover with a lid, and cook until fork tender. How long this takes depends upon the size of the beets, but average-sized beets take about 25 minutes or so.

4. Remove the beets from the pot and set aside to cool. (Hint: Let the water cool completely and use it to water plants; it's a great natural fertilizer!)



5. In the meantime, make a brine by pouring the vinegar, water, and garlic into a saucepan. Place the pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool completely.



6. Once the beets are cooled enough to comfortably handle, slip off the peels. (Toss the skins in the compost pile, or otherwise discard them.) Slice the beets.

7. Place the beet sliced in a canning jar and cover them with brine. Put the lid on the jar and refrigerate for at least a few days before eating.