Vinaigrette and other beetroot salads.

In preparing salads with many ingredients, speed is at the forefront. Learn how to quickly boil beetroot without the hassle.

How to quickly cook beets in the microwave

It doesn't take as long to cook a salad as it does to boil beetroot for it. If you are tired of stretching out cooking for long hours, learn how to cook a vegetable in the microwave. Use one of the following methods:

1. Rinse the unpeeled beets, put in a bag, tie and send to the microwave. The vegetable will cook quickly - a small root crop will need 15 minutes, a large one - 20. Do not pay attention to the fact that the bag will swell: during the cooking process, it will remain intact, like the beets inside.
2. Wash and clean the beets, cut into several pieces, put in a bag and tie. Poke holes in the plastic with a fork. Put in the microwave for 10-15 minutes.

Instead of a bag, you can use a microwave-safe dish with a lid.

Beets in the microwave do not lose their beneficial properties. And although beets boiled in water are tastier, but if you use the root crop in a salad, then the difference is not noticeable.

How to quickly boil beets in a pan

You can also quickly cook beets in a saucepan. Follow instructions:

• rinse the root crop;
• fill with cold water and send to a strong fire;
• after boiling, make it smaller and cook for half an hour;
• put the pan with beets under cold water for 15 minutes.

If a toothpick or fork is difficult to insert into the beets, boil them for another 10 minutes.

Don't try to save time by taking the vegetable off the heat early, as you'll either have to put up with undercooked beets in your salad or start the process all over again.

How to quickly cook beets in a slow cooker

In a slow cooker, beets are easy to prepare. You will need:

• wash the vegetable and cut in half;
• completely fill with water and turn on the "Bean" mode.
• take out the finished beets after an hour.

This method is convenient because you do not need to follow the process. You can send the root vegetable to the slow cooker and do other things or even run out to the store. In the pre-holiday bustle, such an opportunity is a great luxury.

How to quickly cook beets: cooking secrets

To make a vinaigrette or any other beetroot dish always succeed, take note of the following rules:

• choose small vegetables: they cook faster;
• salt the beets during the cooking process so that the dish does not come out tasteless;
• add half a teaspoon of vinegar to preserve the rich color of the root;
• do not leave the beets for a long time in the water;
• do not cut the tail of the vegetable if you do not want it to become watery after cooking;
• so that the rest of the ingredients of the dish do not turn beet-colored, immediately sprinkle the chopped vegetable with oil.

If all the burners on the stove are in operation, but the oven is not busy, cook the beets in it. You will be surprised how quickly the root crop will be ready. The preparation steps are:

• wash the vegetable;
• without cleaning, wrap with foil;
• place for half an hour in an oven heated to 150–200 ° C.

If the beets are large, it will take more time. The finished vegetable is juicy and very tasty. Use this method when you want to enjoy beetroot puree.

Do not throw away leftover beets, even if they are a little dry. Pour boiling water over them and leave in cool water. Then boil the vegetable in the same water - it will again be tasty, juicy, ready to eat.

For convenience, try out all the quick beet cooking methods and choose the one that suits you best. And for cooking large volumes of vinaigrette, use several methods at the same time.

Beets are a very familiar vegetable in our latitudes and an almost obligatory attribute for the preparation of many traditional dishes - vinaigrettes, beetroots, etc. At one time, under Kievan Rus, beets were brought from Byzantium and the vegetable just got accustomed to us.

Even then, the medicinal properties and benefits of beets for the body were appreciated. The product contains a unique and irreplaceable complex of elements in optimal amounts, including zinc, copper, iodine, folic acid, manganese, vitamins B and C. It contains the fiber we need in large quantities. Regular consumption of this vegetable allows you to establish metabolic processes, improve digestion and general condition of the body.

Fresh vegetable salad is often not complete without beets, which go well with many foods in the diet. There are many recipes that have already become classics, as well as an incredible number of unusual and bright dishes at first glance with quite ordinary beets. Consider the traditional salad recipes loved by many and a few that you can surprise your guests at any celebration.

Vinaigrette with beets and pickles

Probably the most popular beetroot salad is vinaigrette, which is prepared in a very large number of options, we will give one of the most common. Vegetarians and people adhering to a healthy diet are very fond of such dishes, because beets contain a lot of necessary acids and substances.

In general, you can prepare a salad from fresh and boiled beets, depending on the recipe; in vinaigrette it is best to boil all vegetables except canned ones (peas, cucumbers, etc.). To prepare a vinaigrette according to a common, but not quite classic recipe, take the following list of products:

• 200-250 g potatoes;
• 150 g of beets;
• 150 g pickled cucumbers;
• 100 g carrots;
• 150 g of onions;
• 50 ml of olive oil;
• 50 ml balsamic vinegar;
• 2 g salt;
• 4 g sugar;
• A small pinch of freshly ground black pepper.

The entire recipe will take about an hour and a half to prepare. Of course, the preliminary preparation of products (cooking and cleaning) will take more time. First you need to boil in their skins, cool and peel the potatoes. We also cook beets and carrots in parallel. Then I cut all these vegetables into cubes or thin, neat slices. We add pickled cucumbers to boiled and chopped products, which are cut into cubes (it is recommended to slightly squeeze out excess liquid from them).

The onion is cut into half rings, it is better to pour boiling water for a couple of minutes before adding it to the salad, and then rinse thoroughly with cold water - this way you can get rid of the overly sharp characteristic smell and pungent taste of the onion. We combine all the prepared vegetables in a convenient salad bowl, add dressing for vinaigrette, which we will now tell you how to make.

Everything is extremely simple - you need to mix in certain proportions (in the amount indicated by the recipe) balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Here we add a little pepper, sugar and salt, mix everything very carefully and wait for a homogeneous consistency, now you can season the vinaigrette and immediately serve it to the table.

Raw beetroot recipe with prunes

This fresh beetroot salad is quite savory and tasty, but contains a combination of ingredients that not everyone can appreciate, but many people simply love this dish. It's all about the unusual combination of garlic, beets and prunes. The full list of products is as follows (we cook for approximately 2 servings):

• 1 beet;
• 15 pieces of prunes;
• A little less than a glass of walnuts;
• garlic clove;
• 2 tbsp. l. olive oil;
• A pinch of salt.

The salad does not require any pre-cooking of products and everything will take about 15 minutes of the hostess's time. The step-by-step instruction looks like this:

1. Peel the beets, grate it on a fine grater;
2. Finely chop the prunes;
3. Twist the nuts in a meat grinder, finely chop with a knife or crush in a food processor;
4. We rub the garlic on a fine grater or crush it in a garlic press;
5. Mix everything, and then add oil and salt;
6. We insist for several hours, decorate on top with a couple of whole walnuts, serve.

Such a salad can be seasoned with low-fat sour cream or yogurt, it comes out very pleasant, sweet and bright taste. It is strongly recommended to use fresh beets for this recipe. At the same time, it is very important to choose a good quality vegetable so that it is tasty enough in itself and does not spoil the dish.

Super vitamin cucumber and beetroot salad

We won’t tell you how tasty and healthy this salad of fresh cucumbers and beets is, but we’ll say that it’s worth trying to cook it at least once, and then you yourself will understand everything. Guaranteed to get new taste sensations. To prepare a salad of fresh cucumbers, it will not take much time. Let's prepare such simple products:

• Cucumbers - 5 pcs;
• Beets - 1 large or several small ones;
• Chopped walnuts - 2 tbsp. l.;
• Green onion batun (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp. l.;
• Lemon juice - 1 spoon;
• Mayonnaise - 3 tablespoons (to taste);
• Soy sauce - 3 tablespoons.

Everything is prepared simply and you do not need to boil or fry anything for the recipe - all vegetables are taken raw and retain vitamins as much as possible (although it is worth mentioning that beets are such an amazing vegetable that is able to retain most of its nutrients even after any heat treatment) . Salad of fresh cucumbers and beets is prepared as follows:

1. Beets are rubbed on a coarse grater;
2. Lemon juice is added, in a convenient container it all warms up at a low temperature for about 5 minutes;
3. Then cut the cucumbers into strips, add to the beets;
4. Also do not forget to add walnuts;
5. Dressing the salad will be a mixture of soy sauce and mayonnaise;
6. Everything is sprinkled with green onions.

Appetizing and tasty salad is ready and you can immediately serve it to the table.

Products for 5 servings (about 1300 grams)
Beets - 300 grams
Carrot - 200 grams
Potato - 300 grams
Sauerkraut - 150 grams
Pickled cucumbers - 150 grams
Salad onion - 100 grams
Green peas - 200 grams
Salt, vegetable oil, pepper - to taste
Green onions - a few sprigs

How to cook
1. Boil beets for 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on size, potatoes for 20-25 minutes and carrots for 20-25 minutes. Beets are cooked separately from carrots and potatoes so as not to color them. However, if you put the beets in a bag, you can cook all the vegetables in 1 saucepan, taking them out as soon as they are ready.
2. Peel and cut the onion into half rings.
3. Finely chop the onion.
4. Cut pickles into cubes.
5. Sauerkraut, if large - cut.
6. Peel the carrots and cut into cubes.
7. Peel the beets, cut into cubes. So that the beets do not stain the rest of the products, they must be seasoned with vegetable oil.
8. Cut potatoes into cubes.
9. Drain the juice from the jar of green peas.
10. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
11. Salt, season with oil and mix well.
12. Decorate with green onions.

How to cook vegetables for vinaigrette in a double boiler
In order for the vegetables for the vinaigrette to cook in a double boiler at the same time, you need to properly arrange them on the shelves, depending on the cooking speed. The temperature of the steam is higher than the temperature of boiling water, for this beetroot, as the longest - the boiled vegetable must be cut into pieces and laid on the lower tier so that it is most in contact with the steam. Put the whole carrots on the second shelf, and put the potatoes, cut into large pieces, on the third. Sliced ​​beets are cooked for about 40 minutes, carrots and chopped potatoes are cooked for about 30 minutes, but because all these vegetables are one above the other, they will all be ready at the same time.

How to cook beets quickly and correctly is a question that is asked not only by "teapots" from cooking. There are enough subtleties and tricks in the preparation of beets. Their knowledge will facilitate the achievement of the result, make it tasty and healthy. So, how to cook beets quickly and easily?

How long does it take to cook beetroot?

Beets are cooked from 20 minutes to 3 hours depending on the method, size and age.

What is here:

Boil 2-3 hours

If you put it in a pot of cold water and just put it on the stove, the cooking time will be 2-3 hours (depending on the size). Cook beets quickly it will not work, but, nutritionists say, some vitamins will remain.

Cook in 1 hour

If in boiling water - then an hour. But the process can be accelerated.

Professional approach to cooking beets

Professional chefs cook beets like this: after it has boiled for about 30 minutes, drain the water and put it under a stream of cold water (the colder the better) for 15 minutes. The temperature difference brings the beets to readiness. So, the whole process takes 40-50 minutes.

Boil beets in 15-25 minutes!

If you want to cook the beets even faster, put them on a large fire without reducing or covering the pan with a lid. (True, in this case, nothing will remain of vitamin C). But then there should be a lot of water, it should cover the root crops 8 centimeters higher, otherwise it will boil away before the vegetables are cooked. After 15 minutes - under ice water for 5-10 minutes. Everything, the beets are ready.

Boil 40 minutes +

"Long-playing" method: large fire (if thrown into cold water) to a boil - medium fire (40 minutes) - quiet fire (until cooked). At the same time, we pour water 5 centimeters above the level of the beets.

Always end the process with cold water. Then the beets, in addition to what "reaches", are easily peeled.

Not fast, but tasty - in the microwave

Not the fastest, but very tasty way to cook beets - do not cook, but bake in a microwave or oven at a temperature of 200 degrees, placing in a baking bag. It will take 25-30 minutes; if the temperature is not so high or the beets are large and old, then it will take more time.

• Important! Vitamin C is destroyed at 190 degrees C.

By the way, baked beets are sweeter than boiled beets. And it is it that is recommended to be used in recipes for salads and vinaigrettes.

More about the nuances of quick cooking beets:

Choose small, flattened, thin-skinned burgundy roots that are tastier, prettier, and cook faster.

Pour a spoonful of vegetable oil into boiling water along with beets (I found a recommendation on the Internet, I haven’t tried it myself).

Barbaric way: peel the beets, cut into pieces, in a word, do as with potatoes. In a pressure cooker, they cook it for 20 minutes, after cutting it into strips.

10 secrets on how to cook beets correctly, and not only

1. Clean not clean. Firmly, with a brush, wash. We do not remove the peel, we cook with it. We do not cut off the tail. If you break the integrity of the beets, juice will flow out of it and it will turn out watery and whitish. Beetroot is peeled if it is intended for stewing.

2. Salt-do not salt. We do not salt the beets at the beginning of cooking, since the salt will evaporate anyway, and there is no point. In addition, salt will make the vegetable hard, which means it will increase the already long cooking time. Salt the beetroot dish directly. But not all hostesses will agree with this. Some people think that it is necessary to add salt at the beginning of cooking, otherwise it will turn out tasteless.

4. How to neutralize the smell. Not everyone likes the smell of beets. To neutralize it, throw a crust of bread into the saucepan.

5. How to check readiness. The readiness of the beets is checked with a fork: it should gently and easily enter the vegetable.

6. If you have peeled fresh beets, it can not be kept in the air, so as not to destroy vitamin C.

7. If the beets are dry. If your beetroot has dried up, do not rush to throw it away: scald it with boiling water, pour water at room temperature and let it swell. Then put it on fire without changing the water.

8. How not to "color" vegetables in a vinaigrette. FROM going to make a vinaigrette? Cut boiled or baked beets into pieces and immediately sprinkle with vegetable oil, then other vegetables (potatoes, for example) will not stain.

9. About the benefits of beetroot broth. Do not pour out the beetroot broth that remains after cooking the beets! It is better to add equal amounts of lemon juice, cinnamon and ginger to it (how much - adjust yourself, depends on the amount of broth). You get a tasty and healing refreshing drink, no worse, the preparation of which is more troublesome. With diuretic, laxative, antihypertensive and action.

10. About beet tops. Be sure to learn how to cook dishes from beet tops, pkhali, for example, add it to borscht and beetroot, because beets are healthy, and beet tops are even more useful - they contain a shock dose of vitamins. Only young tops will go into food, the old is not good.

Proper heat treatment of any product affects not only its taste, but also its beneficial properties. This is especially true for vegetables, so information on how to properly cook beets and how long to cook them until tender should interest you. There is a myth that heat treatment of foods destroys their vitamin and mineral complex, although this is absolutely not true!

Boiled beets are used in many healthy meals. This root crop is especially popular in the countries of the post-Soviet space, because it is one of the most affordable food products, moreover, it is also very healthy! Of course, this vegetable crop can also be eaten raw, but this is how it is used mainly for medicinal purposes.

In salads and snacks, the root crop is used boiled, and with proper cooking of beets, we can save the maximum amount of its nutrients. About how long to cook this vegetable crop so that it does not lose color and cook faster - our information!

The method of boiling red beets affects not only the cooking time, but also corresponds to the size of the root crop and its age. You can quickly cook root crops (including carrots) of small size and young, and it is recommended to boil large beets and carrots in the microwave or bake in foil in the oven.

How to quickly boil beets

Method number 1

This secret is owned by all professional chefs. According to this method, the root crop is cooked for 20 minutes! The whole secret is that a sharp temperature drop accelerates the process of softening plant fibers. That's physics!

We take medium-sized root crops, put them in a saucepan, pour boiling water over it and put it on a strong fire without covering it with a lid. Water should cover the vegetables with a layer of at least 8 cm - otherwise, it will quickly boil away, and the root crops will not have time to cook.

After 15 minutes of rapid boiling, drain the water from the pan and put it together with vegetables under a stream of very cold water. We stand the boiled product in ice water for 5-10 minutes, making sure that the water remains ice cold (ice cubes will help). Ready! You can make a salad!

Method number 2

How many minutes do you need to cook beets according to this method, read on!

Pour the root crops with boiling water, keep on medium heat for 30 minutes from the moment of re-boiling, drain the water and immediately put the pan with the product under a stream of ice water for 15 minutes.

If the tap water is not cold enough, stock up on ice cubes. In general, according to this recipe, beets are cooked for 45-50 minutes - taking into account the time of its cooling.

* Cook's advice
So that the beets do not lose their color, pour 1 tbsp into the boiling water. fresh lemon juice, or 1 tsp. sugar, or 1 tsp. vinegar.

How to cook delicious beets for vinaigrette or salad

Method number 1: in the oven

To cook beets so that they do not lose color and are tasty, we will turn to a tried and tested method - the oven! It turns out delicious and not troublesome.

• Preheat the oven, set to 190 degrees. Wash the beetroot thoroughly, do not cut the tail and leaf rosette. Our task is to prevent juice from flowing through any cuts.
• Wrap the root vegetable tightly in foil and bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetable. Large beets should be baked for 35 minutes, small - 20 minutes.
• Unwrap and lower into a pot of cold water until cool. If you have time, you can leave in the oven to cool completely.

Cooking vegetables in this way allows not only to preserve their bright beautiful color, but also most of the vitamins, organic acids and mineral compounds. The bright beet color of the vegetable looks great not only in vinaigrettes, but any salad will look very beautiful.

*Cook's advice
Red boiled beetroot should not color other components of the salad, but how to achieve this? Very simple! After cutting the vegetable into cubes or in any other way, sprinkle the sliced ​​\u200b\u200bwith vegetable oil and mix. The oil coats the beetroot pieces, locking the juice inside. You end up with a very colorful vinaigrette or other vegetable salad!

Method number 2: in the microwave

Microwave owners should not have any problems with boiling vegetables.

• We take a medium-sized root crop, wash it thoroughly with a brush, but leave the tail and leaf socket, as we advised in the recipe for baking vegetables in the oven.
• But for cooking in the microwave, we must still violate the integrity of the skin, otherwise the root crop may explode from the internal pressure of water in the vegetable. Therefore, we make deep holes in the vegetable with toothpicks.
• We wrap it in a plastic bag (to keep the inner chamber of the oven clean), put the bag in a special bowl for microwaves and boil the vegetable at a power of 800 kW for 10 minutes. In the process of cooking, turn the vegetable over once on the other side.

How long to cook beets in time if the microwave oven is of lower power? There is only one advice: look in the instructions for your device. As a rule, no more than 20 minutes! Consider also the size of the vegetable - large beets are cooked longer.

How to cook boiled beets in the traditional way

How to boil root vegetables (and carrots too) for a salad so that they retain all the important nutrients?

1. I wash the beets and carrots well with a brush, do not cut off any parts of the root crops, put them in a saucepan and fill them with cold water to a level of 5 cm above.
2. We turn on the big fire and wait for the water to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. We take out the carrots and dip them in ice water. Cook the beets for another 20 minutes over medium heat and then - until tender over low heat. Readiness is checked with a knife or a toothpick. The tip should go in easily.
3. We drain the water in which the product was cooked and fill it with ice water. After cooling, clean and crumble according to your needs.

* Cook's advice
Always try to use the temperature difference trick when you cook vegetables! Firstly, in this case they retain their color and fiber structure, and secondly, they are very easy to clean!

Also remember that salting water at the beginning of cooking is not recommended, since boiling food in salt water slows down the process, and vegetables harden.

How long can boiled beets be stored?

This is not an idle question if you are a very busy person and do not have enough time to boil vegetables before cooking. You can store the boiled product for up to 3 days - in the general section of the refrigerator, but in the freezer - up to 6 months!

We hope that our information on how to cook beets correctly and for how long will help you include this healthy vegetable in your daily menu more often. Dishes with vegetables are the best foods for health and a high quality of life!