White and Yellow mangels with luscious green tops – so easy to cook and so delicious. Cut off the roots and steam them until tender. Then run them under cold water to remove the skin and enjoy! At this time of year, these young root crops cook quickly.
The green tops are one of the best cooking green we grow! Don’t forget to enjoy them – gently steamed or sauteed. This vegetable is like two vegetables in one – tender roots and wonderful tops!
Sorry for my density.
Do we cook the tops or the roots – I can’t tell from your post?
Both the green tops and the roots should be considered separate and distinct vegetables!Even if you do not like “beets,” the green tops are sure to please!
Ours came without the tops I think? Or was that a different vegetable?
If the tops were detached, it was probably the last of our stored golden beets (picture below).
Ah – okay, they were definitely the golden beets (yum) We tried barbequeing them with olive oil, the last of our garlic scapes, chopped parsley and salt with excellent results.
These mangels -never heard of this vegetable until now -look a lot like carrots. I gather the carrots arrive without tops and the mangels with tops? And the beets of various kinds arrive with tops too. And both the beets and mangels need to be skinned. What an education! The pictu8res are a huge help. Thank you!
Mangels are an heirloom beet and very rare in Canada. Seed for this vegetable cannot be sourced in Canada.
The mangel tops are the best “beet tops” we grow – better eating than any other variety.
We remove the tops to the carrots for ease of transport – and they are generally inedible.(some people use them in soup – but they are VERY BITTER)
Thanks so much
are these the “fodder beets” we used to grow for livestock? we used to get them in Canada years ago. what happened?
boyd
Yes – they used to be called fodder beets, but we do not grow the red mangels as they taste terrible. However, the yellow and white varieties are sweet and store very well is harvested at an early stage. They are used internationally as a sugar substitute and are used in some places to make rum!
Could I use these as I would parsnips? That’s actually what I thought they were.
These are heirloom beets and should be cooked as you would beets. The tops are a marvelous cooking green! The absolute best beet top around!
I cooked the greens from these today. I just boiled them, didn’t even add salt or butter, and they were delicious!
Just received some mangels in my basket this morning which is the reason why I came running to this blog…not too sure if it was beets, or carrots, or parsnips. Now, I know and can hardly wait to cook them as well as their greens.
I am new to this basket delivery (today was only my second one) and I am so pleased!!! Keep up your good work!
Mangels are heirloom sugar beets and should be cooked as you do any other beet.
The tops are amazing – use as you would any other cooking green like kale or chard.
Enjoy!