January 9, 2017

Beetroot Relish

This was my first time making any sort of preserve. It’s much easier than I imagined and the beetroot relish, after you leave it pickle for a few weeks, tastes great.

This abitmoreveg recipe is one of my favourites. And something I never mentioned on the original post, beetroot relish is great with cold meats or as a sauce for sausages, particularly venison sausages. This is the last recipe on the vegetarian site. I’d kind of run out of ideas and steam at that stage…

I know I said I might never cook beetroot again – now that I’ve found how good it is raw – but I made this at the end of last year. And I’ll definitely be making it again.

At the end of 2014 I started getting fruit and veg deliveries. It’s great. You don’t choose what you get you just get a box of fresh organic fruit and veg each week – kind of like a lucky bag. Beetroot seems to feature a lot so I decided to try something a bit different with it. I’m back to buying in the supermarket – it’s easier to plan ahead, though it was lovely getting the deliveries.

I’m not sure if there are any health benefits to relishes. I think they’re supposed to aid digestion. In any case this is a nice addition to a cheese sandwich and will liven up a veggie burger or a slice of nut-loaf. This relish contains beetroot, apples, onions, cider vinegar and ginger. The minerals of these ingredients should survive the pickling process.

So this turns out to be very easy and the only messy thing is the beetroot. Is beetroot ever not messy? I don’t think so. I’d advise wearing gloves when you peel and grate it because otherwise the stain it leaves on your hands takes ages to wash out fully. But it tastes good and it’s great for your health so I suppose we’ll forgive it.

Once the relish is cooked you place it into sterilized air-tight pots and leave it to … I don’t know what the word is – do what it needs to – for at least 5 weeks. And if you’re wondering how to sterilize your jars here’s how.