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This time of year, the most visible form of beetroot is in the pickled form. Although a great accompaniement to pot roasts and stews, it is surprisingly versatile elsewhere. This root vegetable has a  number of health giving properties and also has some history as a source of red dye. However, this is about it’s use on the plate.

A beetroot can be used in two forms in salads, the main veg finely cut and the leaves. There is little waste with a beetroot apart from the stalk, skin and base, which go wonderfully well in the compost or wormery.

If you are going to use it for a warm dish, you will first need to boil it till the point you can poke it with a skewer (1/2 hour plus) or peel, parboil and roast. The roasted vegetable works very well with game  dishes. The only downside is the after effects of the beetroot, in it’s more raw form, one of the chemicals responsible for the dye use, is passed straight through the body. Apart from the initial shock, it is completely harmless.

Boiled beetroot works well with dried fruit and wine to build a risotto. As discussed before, it’s worthwhile keeping most of the ingredients in the dish red as they will be turned that colour anyway.

A warming winter soup is magnificent, think cream of tomato but made with beetroot. The real trick is to make sure you can keep your best tablecloth safe from the spills.

Beetroot has a fairly long season, really only unavailable fresh between the start of spring and early summer.