I know you all ran out and bought beets last night. Or if you didn’t, and you are going to today, here is what you do with the greens. Make aqua cotta, which basically means “cooked water.” It was for times when there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot of other stuff to use for making dinner.
Make your chicken stock like I told you a few days ago. It is important to bring the bones to a boil and throw out the water and start again before you add the carrot, onion and celery, for this one, because you want a clear, pure tasting broth. All those coagulants that come floating to the top make the stock taste murky.
Clean the leaves of the beets really well in a clean sink half full of water to remove the sand. Strip the leaves of the spine, and then rip the leaves into large pieces. When your stock is all done, Heat about two cups of it in a sauce pan with a pinch of salt (never add salt to the stock until you are ready to use it) and a drizzle of your favorite olive oil. Add the leaves, and cook them at a simmer for about ten minutes, until the leaves are tender. Toast a nice thick piece of your best French baguette cut on the diagonal for plenty of surface under the broiler, flipping once. When it is golden, rub lightly with a raw garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil. Set it in an individual soup bowl. Rest a few of the beet greens on top. Pour hot stock over the whole thing. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Grate on some Parmigiano Reggiano and when the bread is soaked through, enjoy. This is great with a side plate of assorted salami and prosciutto, and maybe some raw vegetables cut up with a side of bagna cuda or a homemade poached garlic and anchovy mayonnaise.