Dill beet leaf rolls

I absolutely love growing beets.  Beets are one of those amazing vegetables that you can eat the root, the stem and the leaves. Beet leaves are an amazing source of protein and fibre. They contain a host of many antioxidants as well as many vitamins and minerals.  Did you know that beet leaves are actually more nutritious than the actual beet? Crazy right, so DON'T throw out those stems and leaves....use them!

One of my favourite ways to use up beet leaves are to make beet leaf rolls.  These little bundles of goodness are great as side dishes or as a main meal. I generally make these rolls for my freezer so that our family can enjoy these all year long...we always run out before the next growing season, so this year I am stocking up.

What you will need

-fresh beet leaves

-1/4 cup of olive oil

-Calrose rice

-1 Tbsp dried dill

-1 medium diced onion 

-3/4 cup crumbled bacon (you can omit if you want this to be a vegetarian dish). I use the Kirkland bacon crumbles...makes my life easier.

-cooking pot

-parchment paper

-cookie tray

-spatula

-large bowl

-cutting board

You should be able to make around 70-80 rolls with this recipe.  Your quantity will depend on the size of your leaves and how much rice mixture is placed in each roll.

Instructions

I pick my beet leaves the day I am making these rolls, so that I know they are fresh. I try to pick the biggest leaves I have, but if necessary I overlap 2 leaves to make a bigger roll.

-Rinse and clean your leaves, remove the stems up to where the leaves begin (set aside the stems).

-To prepare my rice, I use a rice cooker.  Measure out 2 cups of dry rice, and three cups of water to add to your rice cooker (I don't rinse the rice first because I like it a stickier consistency).

-In a frying pan, add the olive oil and onions, cook for 2 mins, add dill & crumbled bacon. Continue cooking until the bacon is crispy but not burnt.  Transfer to the large bowl.

-Once the rice is cooked, transfer to the large bowl.  Give the mixture of rice, bacon, onions & dill a good stir and set aside. If it looks like you need to add a bit more dill, please do so (yum). 

-Fill your pot with water, and let it gently boil. Once the water is boiling, turn it down to medium. You are now ready to assemble your rolls.

- I do one roll at a time, which means I only blanch 1 beet leaf at a time.  Take your beet leaf, submerge the leaf in the hot water for 5 seconds then remove with a spatula (careful not to tear the leaf) and place on your cutting board.  Gently straighten out your leaf and spoon some of the rice mixture onto the leaf.  Roll the beat leaf up like a burrito.  If you tear a leave, simply blanch another leaf and roll over top of the existing roll.  Easy peasy right?

Place beet leaf roll on the cookie tray with the parchment paper. Once your tray is filled place the tray in the freezer and freeze for 2 hours, then transfer to a Ziploc bag.

I suppose you're wondering how to cook these lovely green gems.  NOTE:  I cook these when they are frozen.  I usually get around 15-20 rolls in each Ziploc bag,  Preheat your oven to 350' F.  Place your rolls in a casserole dish that has a lid.  Pour 1/2 cup of  half & half cream over rolls, sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of dried dill.  Cover and bake for 50 mins. 

Yummmmmmmmmy!!!!      Now back to those stems you set aside.  I like to keep these stems for making homemade soup. Simply clean the steams, chop them up into bite size pieces and blanch them in boiling water for 3 mins.  Place blanched stems in a bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Once they are chilled, drain and place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Try to not let the pieces touch each other.  Place in freezer for 2 hours, then transfer to a medium Ziploc freezer bag.  So the next time you make soup, grab a handful of these nutritious stems and throw them in your soup.

Eat what you grow :)