Beets are great. They have a beautiful color, especially when you blend them together with other yummy vegetables. I have found in the years of stuffing my face with strange and delicious foods that pickled beets are one of my favorite things to snack on or through in a salad to give it a bit of tang.

My mom was the first person who ever gave me pickled beets. She did one of those, “Here, taste this” as she commenced to shove something strange into my mouth. (Please keep your mind out of the gutter!)

Needless to say, it was delicious. In my culture, we only pickle a few things. Like pimento with onion, bell peppers, and scotch bonnet to make a tangy sauce for escovitch fish. If you have never had some good escovitch fish, stick around I am sure somewhere this year I’ll put out a good recipe for it. If I were to describe the flavors to you it would be first you taste the tanginess from the vinegar, then you are hit with a melody of heat and spice at the same time. The crispiness of the fish ties all the flavors together and at the end of the day you just had a foodgasm and loved every moment of it.

Now let’s get back to what we were talking about because as I write this, I am drooling and feel no regret about the dish I just described.

I pickle my beets a little differently than most. I love to add a bit of ginger to give it that hidden heat you never knew pickled beets could have. I try not to put too much ginger because then it’s just detox and I have had my fair share of detoxing for this month.

I like how beets are refreshing to your taste buds, giving off the feeling of a surprise in your mouth when you take that first bite. It is both refreshing and a bit startling at first but your taste buds will definitely come to like it.

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Ingredients

2 medium-sized beets, scrubbed, peeled, and cut into thick circular shapes.

1 cup of vinegar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 tbsp of sliced ginger

1/2 cup of water

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of allspice whole

Instructions

1. In a large pan add the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and allspice over medium heat.
2. Let the mixture boil for 10 minutes before adding the beets. This will need to boil for 15-20 minutes. (You want the beets to still have a nice crunch to them while soaking up the vinegar and spices.
3. When the beets are done boiling, remove them from the heat and add the ginger.
4. Let this sit for one hour or more depending on how strong you want the ginger taste to penetrate the beets.
5. When the liquid has cooled, pour off in a glass jar for storage. You can choose to add the ginger or not.
6. Enjoy your hard work and have some pickled beets.