Wondering what to do with all those beet greens? They are much too tasty to throw away!

If you are tired of eating your beet greens in a salad, here’s a little recipe that our family is famous for out west. Big thanks to my Auntie Jean for introducing us to this treat, I seriously cannot get enough of these beet leaf “cabbage” rolls!

Beet Leaf “Cabbage” Rolls

• Beet greens

• Cooked rice

• Sauteed onions & Garlic (optional)

• Heavy cream

• Fresh Dill

• Salt

1. Wash and stack your leaves on top of each other neatly. Place them into a ziplock bag and freeze. When you are ready to use the greens, remove from the freezer and let them completely thaw. (This step makes them soft enough to roll)

2. Mix your cooked rice and onions/garlic together and let cool.

3. Carefully pull one leaf off your pile and hold in your hand.

4. Spoon a teaspoon (or less, depending on the size of your leaf) onto one end of the leaf.

5. Fold in the sides and roll like a regular cabbage roll, (These will be tiny) and place into a casserole dish.

6. Repeat a thousand times. (I never said this was easy, it’s actually a time consuming project)

7. At this point you can freeze your casserole dish for a special occasion or you can proceed to the cooking instructions.

8. Bring your heavy cream, more garlic (optional) to a boil. Add dill and salt and pepper to taste.

9. Add to your casserole dish and cook at 350F for about 30-45 minutes (till nice and bubbly)

I don’t ever measure how much filling I make because it depends on how many leaves you are using. These are very little rolls, so assume that most people (if they like them) will eat 5-6 rolls each as a side dish ( I can knock down at least 10 rolls…), so you can judge how many rolls you need based on that. These are time consuming, but they are such a great dish that is well worth it!

** I’m thinking a dabbling in a “lazy” version of these. I imagine just mixing the ingredients together in a similar fashion of lazy cabbage rolls would potentially work too. Let me know if you try it!

** Google tells me that beet greens are high in Vitamin K, A, C, B2(Riboflavin), B1(Thiamin), B6(Pyridoxine), B5(Pantothenic Acid), Folate, B3(Niacin) and Choline.