White beetroot

White beetroot is a rare but sweet variation.

I’m quite the consumer of beetroot. In a normal week, I’ll get through four roots, just as part of my juicing habit. Beetroot juice makes me feel lively and invigorated, without the weird jittery effect that caffeine has. In short, it’s one of the best things I’ve discovered this year.

But one of the very best things I discovered this year was that you can grow white beetroot. Sure, I knew there was pink beetroot, and everyone knows about yellow beets. But until I made my annual pilgrimage to the Pennard Plants stall at the RHS spring fair, I’d never heard of white beetroots. The packet of seeds helpfully suggested why, pointing out that these are rare beetroots. Well, that just about did it for me. I bought a pack and sowed a line of white beets on the allotment.

And here is the first root that I harvested from the plot today. Yes, it’s white. Eaten raw, it tastes like, well, beetroot, but a little sweeter and not quite as juicy as its red-juiced relative.

Although it doesn’t stay white forever. It was gaining a slightly pink tinge to it as I threw it into the blender with half an apple and water (recipe here) to make beetroot juice.

Looks weird, doesn’t it? But it tastes lovely.