Jan De Vries, the Dutch herbalist, once remarked that it was sad how the only experience most British people had of beetroot was the pickled stuff that comes in jars. He felt it was a pity because there's so much more to beetroot, both from a culinary and from a nutritional point of view. I fully agree, but I miss the pickled stuff. As a kid, I used to love cheese and pickled beetroot sandwiches and recently, when I had the munchies around ten o'clock one evening, I decided to re-create the sandwiches as best I could, using some cold boiled beetroot which was in the fridge. This recipe should meet Mr. De Vries about half way.
I used one beetroot and here I give the quantities of other ingredients accordingly. You can use two or three or even four beetroots if you like. Just double/triple/quadruple the quantities of the other stuff.
Ingredients
One large boiled beetroot
Half a teaspoon of sugar
A large pinch of salt
1 small bay leaf
A small pinch of cloves
30 or 40 cl. of cider vinegar
Peel the beetroot cut it in half then slice it very thinly. Chuck in all the other ingredients and give it a quick stir. Russian cooks would probably add a little chopped dill, parsley and/or spring onion. You might fancy trying that too.
You can eat the beetroot immediately, as I did, but it will be better after a few hours in the fridge, even overnight.