Life is all the sweeter when a little bit of sourness is mixed in. These sweet and sour pickled beets are the perfect side to any dish. They make every meal a little bit sweeter and are a great addition to salads, sandwiches, or even the most elaborate charcuterie board presentation.
Life can’t always be sweet; sometimes it needs to have a little bit of sourness thrown in as well. Heck, sometimes it seems like there’s a whole lotta sour and absolutely no sweet in sight. Never am I more reminded of this than today. It’s a Delawder Matthews’ tradition to go see Love Seed Mama Jump play each year at Herndon’s Friday Night Live! as a family and friend group outing.
Love Seed Mama Jump is celebrating 25 years of rocking out together, and I’m fairly certain that a lot of us have been around for most of those years. Tonight will be no exception. B.O.B. Bob and I will most likely wander downtown, with a sister or two in tow, hang out with some Herndon peeps, and get our groovy rock party started on what will hopefully be a gorgeous summer night. We’ll do all of this of course, while also embracing life’s sourness; not having my Big Bubba Matt along for the ride.
Last night, while talking to a friend about the loss of their father, I was reminded even more of life’s sour moments. When this friend referred to an experience as being one of the “firsts,” I knew exactly what they were talking about. Without trying to place my loss onto this particular friend, I couldn’t help but let them know that while the “firsts” truly do suck, the “seconds” don’t get any easier. All you can do is live through the sour, pray for the sweet, and hope like all Holy Hell you don’t cry too much in the process.
Tonight is bound to be one of those nights when sweet and sour collide; there’s not really anything to be done about it. Tears will be shed, eyes are sure to get blotchy, and mascara will most assuredly be running. It is what it is folks. All I can do is sit back, watch the music, spend time with friends and family, and remember all of the good times my Big Bubba and I had together. Y’all, there’s a whole lotta sweet in those memories. More than enough to chase away the sour.
Ingredients:
- 6 Cups Diced or Sliced Beets
- Cold Water
- 2 Cups Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar (See Suggestions)
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Whole Allspice
- 6 Cloves
- 1 Cinnamon Stick, Broken in Half
- 1/4 Cup Green Onions, Chopped
Directions:
- Place beets in a medium non-reactive pot, cover with water by 2 inches and then boil until tender. This should take between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on the size of your diced or sliced beets.
- Drain the beets; set aside.
- In the same pot, bring the vinegar, sugar, salt, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon to a boil.
- Add the beets and onions to the boiling vinegar mixture and cook for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before placing in glass jars and refrigerating.
Suggestions:
- Add 1 Cup of additional granulated sugar if you prefer sweeter beets. These beets are very sour, which I absolutely love. It’s all about what you prefer.
- Wear an apron when working with beets or risk the chance of ruining your outfit.
- A non-reactive pot is either stainless steel or enamel coated.
- These beets will last approximately 1 to 2 weeks refrigerated.
- I wait until serving to remove the allspice and cloves from the beets; this allows the beets to take on their flavor as much as possible.
Improvements:
- Add fresh dill to the pickling liquid.
- Serve these beets on salads or sandwiches. They also make a great addition to even the most elaborate charcuterie board presentation.
- Add 1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns to the vinegar mixture.
- Use these beets to make these Seafood Sliders with Pickled Beets & Baby Arugula.
Ingredients:
- 6 Cups Diced or Sliced Beets
- Cold Water
- 2 Cups Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar (See Suggestions)
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Whole Allspice
- 6 Cloves
- 1 Cinnamon Stick, Broken in Half
- 1/4 Cup Green Onions, Chopped
Directions:
- Place beets in a medium non-reactive pot, cover with water by 2 inches and then boil until tender. This should take between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on the size of your diced or sliced beets.
- Drain the beets; set aside.
- In the same pot, bring the vinegar, sugar, salt, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon to a boil.
- Add the beets and onions to the boiling vinegar mixture and cook for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before placing in glass jars and refrigerating.
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