Here you can find weekly highlights of the incredible local produce we sell on our shop with fantastic recipe ideas.
Happy cooking!
The un-beet-able root
8 July 2020
It’s beetroot season, and you can find an array of juicy beets from baby beetroots to colourful beet bunches on Good Food Exeter online farmers market. Our beets are grown by farmers who care about the environment, and they are all grown less than 30 miles from Exeter (most of them are grown right on the city’s doorstep!).
Beetroots’s ancestors were initially cultivated in North Africa, and spread thanks to ancient Greeks and Romans who loved beets. Beetroot is now ubiquitous and can be found in most countries. Beets prefer cooler temperatures, and the UK has the perfect climate to produce sweet beets most of the year.
I am a big fan of beetroots, they are a truly versatile vegetable that is just lovely raw in salads, roasted, added in dips and in soups. As our beets are fresh from the farm, they are delivered in bunches with their leaves, which are edible and can be added to lots of salad and dishes too. Beetroot are extremely good for you too.
Unsure what to do with your beets? Here are some of my favourite recipes:
- For a refreshing juice, try this Beetroot, clementine, grapefruit and raspberry juice recipe from More than Red (and you can find raspberries on our shop too!)
- Once you’ve tried beetroot hummus, you keep going back for more! This roasted beet Hummus recipe from The Minimalist Baker adds a zest of lemon and some fresh garlic for a delicious dip.
- For a fresh summery salad try this simple beetroot and carrot salad from the BBC Good Food. The addition of cumin gives it a lovely twist. And you will find some lovely local carrots in our shop too.
- Beet leaves are delicious too- try them in this wonderfully simple beet green salad by Allrecipe.
- If you like baking, beetroot are fantastic in a Tarte Tatin with thyme (basically an upside down pie). This delicious Beetroot Tarte Tatin recipe from Taste adds some crumbly goat cheeses on top.
- The simplest way to cook beets is to roast them. Simply Recipe roast beet recipe with orange and balsamic vinegar, which sounds as good as it tastes.
- The earthiness of beetroot goes extremely well with dark chocolate, as proven by the popularity of beetroot brownie. BBC Good Food has a simple and moreish beetroot brownie recipe
You can find lots of beets, carrots, raspberries and chickpeas on Good Food Exeter online farmers Market. And you can meet our producers here.
Written by Julie Smith for Good Food Exeter