What to do with beetroot stems?

I headed into Macro Wholefoods today and was overwhelmed by the big, bright bunches of super fresh baby beets and just had to buy them. And then they had bunches of bright green asparagus on sale so, you know, I just had to buy them too (along with a massive bag of limes for $3)

I decided to make a vegetable salad of baby beets and sweet potato, with asparagus and wilted baby spinach leaves, with a bit of balsamic vinegar dressing. I reckon you could have easily put either goat or feta cheese in, or perhaps tossed through some walnuts, but just a simple balsamic was delicious enough too.


But the problem was I had all of these gorgeous bright pink beetroot stems that I couldn't bear to throw out:

Too pretty to donate to the compost bin...

Apparently no one really cooks with beetroot stems. The only recipe I could find was this one for keerai upperi, and with inspiration from that, Gib and I combined forces and made our own side dish with beetroot stems... with wonderful results. Not sure if my photos are doing it justice here, but oh well, here goes:

Beth and Gib's gingery beetroot stem and bean side dish

1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic
Stems from one bunch of fresh baby beats, washed thoroughly, chopped into 5cm lengths
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp mustard (I used hot english)
100 g cannelini beans

Saute the onion and garlic together until the onion goes clear
Add the beetroot stems and ginger, cooks for another 3-4 minutes until stems start to soften
Toss through mustard and cannelini beans, cook until beans are warmed through


Although it doesn't really come through in the photo, what I liked about this was the gradient of colours in the dish: the bright pink stems, the peachy coloured onion and finally the pale white beans which don't get much of a chance to absorb the beetroot.