# Beet salad--raw or cokked?



## carpenter (Aug 19, 2011)

I plan on making a shaved root vegetable salad. It calls for red and golden beets cut thinly on a mandoline.Should they be cooked first? The recipe is http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Shaved-Root-Vegetable-Salad-368266.

Thank you in advance.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

The recipe seems to indicate using them raw.

Personally, I think I'd roast them first. Most people don't care for the earthiness of raw beets.


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## wyandotte (May 24, 2011)

They will burn your throat if left raw.  Both the gold and the red varieties but the gold is worse in that respect.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I beg to differ wyandotte, just had raw cylinder beets for lunch.....


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Grated raw beet and carrot salad is a classic. Never burned anyone's throat.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

I use them raw in salads, too.


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## wyandotte (May 24, 2011)

Well, golly, maybe it's just me, then! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif


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## carpenter (Aug 19, 2011)

Thanks for your replies.  I may have jumped the gun.  I boiled them last night.  Hmm, maybe next time.


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## wyandotte (May 24, 2011)

Cooked, beets are nicer, though.  Even in a salad.  I daresay they are more digestible?


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## woolster22 (Nov 21, 2011)

If they are cooked just quarter them and season. I don't think id try hacking up cooked beets with a mandolin


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## rekonball (Sep 13, 2011)

I like my root vegetables cooked at least a little bit.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Wyandotte said:


> Cooked, beets are nicer, though. Even in a salad. I daresay they are more digestible?


I've never had problems digesting raw vegetables like carrots or beets. As for "better", that's a matter of taste: is a carrot better cooked or raw? I like both, they just taste different. Same with beets, I don't think that cooked is better than raw, it's just a different taste.


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## scubadoo97 (Nov 7, 2011)

Wyandotte said:


> Well, golly, maybe it's just me, then! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif


Well it's not just you. I had never had a problem with eating beets raw but when we joined a CSA we were getting really pretty candy strip beets. I did matchsticks of raw beets and made a beet salad but these really caused a burning in my throat like a sore throat for nearly half a day. I had previously eaten the red beets raw without any problem. Several of the other varieties we got from the CSA also caused this adverse effect. So no it's not just you. Different beets have different effects on different people. I don't think you can call it an allergy but it is certainly a sensitivity for some.


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## wyandotte (May 24, 2011)

Thank you, Scuba, /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif for telling us about your experience with raw beets. For me, the golden ones are the worst, so I cook them all before grating them or dicing them and adding salad dressing.

Ever made juice (with a juice extractor) of any colour of beet? Try drinking that plain and you will be very, very sorry.


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## jelgart (Dec 6, 2011)

you gotta boil up those suckers


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## chefhow (Oct 16, 2008)

I used to do a red, champagne and candy striped beet salad in my restaurant and they were never cook, it was probably one of my best sellers.  Always shaved thin and served with baby greens and a vinaigrette


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## sabbah (Jun 2, 2009)

I take raw beets through a Jap. manadline when I get "raw" food requests, for various applications. Tastes fine. Not as good as roasted with goat cheese but hey.


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## yemama (Aug 14, 2012)

It's really not a matter of whether or not you should be able to eat raw beets....everyone is different and indeed, some people, myself included, have serious reactions to raw beets.  Doesn't mean I don't love them - I do but my body has different ideas.  This isn't actually that unusual, contrary to what some people here have to say about it.  I'm also allergic to honeydew melon...not cantalope, not watermelon - just the green ones.  Same problem as the beets (red for me...not so much with the golden)...it makes my throat close up and burn.  One would have to be just plain stupid to ignore symptoms like that, regardless of conventional wisdom that says we should all be able to eat any organically grown vegetable raw. Dogma in any form is dangerous and uncalled for, especially when it concerns things like food and health.  All things are not good for all people, no matter how good you think they SHOULD be.  There's a pretty simple solution...either don't eat the beets or steam, broil, roast, saute them.  They're still tasty and the oxalic acid content is significantly reduced. What a concept, eh?


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## wyandotte (May 24, 2011)

Yemama, you summed it up quite well.  You know, I keep hearing how "healthy" raw beets are, but if you have a sore throat for the entire day, your body is indeed telling you something. I know that's the effect it has on me!  But raw beet juice mixed with other juices, some lemon juice, etc. is very, very nice.  Also, I've lactofermented raw beets (kvass) and let it age in a cool place for a long time, and golly, is this a lovely drink.  The old timers, the traditional people, had no science as we know it, yet look at what they could come up with. 

As to the oxalic acid, I read that it was only in the leaves; however, I'm willing to be corrected in this.


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## indygal (Dec 7, 2010)

Yemama said:


> It's really not a matter of whether or not you should be able to eat raw beets....everyone is different and indeed, some people, myself included, have serious reactions to raw beets. Doesn't mean I don't love them - I do but my body has different ideas. This isn't actually that unusual, contrary to what some people here have to say about it. I'm also allergic to honeydew melon...not cantalope, not watermelon - just the green ones. Same problem as the beets (red for me...not so much with the golden)...it makes my throat close up and burn. One would have to be just plain stupid to ignore symptoms like that, regardless of conventional wisdom that says we should all be able to eat any organically grown vegetable raw. Dogma in any form is dangerous and uncalled for, especially when it concerns things like food and health. All things are not good for all people, no matter how good you think they SHOULD be. There's a pretty simple solution...either don't eat the beets or steam, broil, roast, saute them. They're still tasty and the oxalic acid content is significantly reduced. What a concept, eh?


Quite right, Yemama. I just LOVE french fried sweet potatoes, but I suffer when I eat them. I can eat baked plain sweet potatoes, just not fried or with sugary stuff on them, etc. I would love to try this raw beet salad, but I think I'll go really small scale until I find out if I can tolerate them. I've never had problems with cooked beets, tho. In fact one of my all time favorite dishes is beets and beet tops cooked together. So that is hopeful.


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