Cookin' With Chris: Fried Beet Stems & More Yummy Food!

What is greasy, red, and was made on a whim?

You guessed it... fried beet stems!

Beets are the yummiest thing ever! Australians have known this forever. They put beets on everything (or it seemed that way whenever I would visit).

I have just developed a love for beets over the last couple of years. It has been a fast and furious love. I was buying them from the farmer down the street like they were going out of style.

I bought some recently and my resident chef (Cookin' With Chris, himself) cooked them up. We like them sliced, olive oil-ed, salted and then thrown in the oven for a while. Yummmmmmmmmmmmm!

Isn't this photo itself beautiful? Beets are the best!

Usually, we chop up the beet stems and thrown them on a pan on the stove with some olive oil. But Scott decided to go wild today and try something he'd never even heard of before... FRIED BEET STEMS.

The ingredients for the frying:

• Beet stems
• Half a cup or so of corn meal
• 2 eggs
• Some vegetable oil

He washed the beets; then cut them into around 4 inch lengths.

You're welcome for the awesome photography.

Next, he dipped them in the eggs.

Then he dropped them in the flour for a second.

Now, it was time to throw them in the ol' fryin' machine. Then he added a little salt while they were cooling off.

Scott made a dipping sauce out of yogurt, honey, and peanut butter.

I stirred it up while I stared at my cute sleeping little baby.

The dip made a wonderful breakfast the next day, but a TERRIBLE fried beet dipping sauce.

So, Scott moved on to option number two: ranch dressing. It was perfect!

This isn't over yet! There was one more part to the beet that hadn't been used yet. Scott wasn't interested in playing another second of the anti-waster game. So, I washed the beet greens, trimmed them up a little, and steamed up on a pan on the stove. When they were done I chopped them up and ate them with rice.

Woo hoo! We did it! We used every bit of that beet.

Would you like to know what else Chef Cookin' With Chris made for dinner?

He made some delicious kale chips. 

Once again, sorry for the terrible photography.

He also made a smoothie made of frozen berries, yogurt, almond milk, bran, a banana, and pineapple juice.

There you have it- another episode of Cookin' With Chris!

FYI- I am not claiming this to be a healthy meal just because it involves beets. It was a big frying fest- not healthy at all. Probably slightly better than fast food french fries, though.