I belong to a CSA: the acronym stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It's a support system for farmers where you as a "supporter" pay for a share of the harvest ahead of the season and then receive a basket of food weekly or bi-weekly. That way, if it's a terrible year for green beans or some other crop, the farmer doesn't lose everything, and the difference in income and food loss is absorbed by the community.
This year has been kind to the beets, which is wonderful because I love beets. Consequently, I had about 5 pounds of them in the fridge, so I figured since we are most likely headed for more uncertainty in the world, I may as well have some pickled beets in my corner, fighting the good fight.
I like pickled everything, so I was excited to try out a different recipe that uses honey instead of refined sugar. I tend to avoid highly processed sugars because they are not good for my (or your) digestive system. So, instead of adding refined white sugar, I used honey. You can find tons of recipes online, so figure out what you want your beets to taste like, and start experimenting.
I also encourage you to become familiar with your local farms and food ways! Now, on to the recipe:
Pickled Beets:
5 lbs. beets
1 onion
4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
pickling spices
Boil beets for about 40 minutes. Allow to cool and then peel the skin off the beets and cut into manageable chunks. Peel and cut the onion into about the same sized pieces. Pack onions and beets into jars (I filled 3 quart jars).
In a pot, bring the vinegar, water, honey and salt to a boil, until everything is dissolved. Add the pickling spices, and then fill the jars with the brine.
At this point you can use a water bath to can the beets or just keep them in the fridge. I opted to keep them in my fridge because I'll eat them quickly enough. If I had pounds and pound of beets I'd probably opt to water bath them.
Beets in all their glory.