I have an odd love for beets. You may find them strange, but I find them absolutely wonderful, diverse, nutritious, and tasty. If you’ve been reading the blog for a little while you probably know this already. It seems every time I post about them, I talk about my love affair. Check out some posts here, here, and here for solid proof. 
From my observations they aren’t a commonly eaten food. That is, unless you are at a summer picnic, they are red, pickled, and mixed with eggs. Let’s get it together people! Eat more beets! Maybe I should get t-shirts made?!
But really, if you’re not eating beets, don’t feel bad. It’s probably because no one ever taught you how!
My favorite cooking method is roasting. It requires virtually no work on your part. Depending on if you want to eat them hot or cold, it may require some planning, but that’s about it!
Roasted Beets
Ingredients:
- beets
- olive oil
- sea salt
- tin foil
Instructions:
- preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- cut off the stems near the base where they meet the root (you can eat them too, but that’s for another day!)
- give the beets a good scrub in the sink
- after the beets are dry, generously rub them with olive oil
- place beets in the center of a large piece of tin foil
- sprinkle generously with sea salt
- wrap up your little beet gems in a foil pouch, nothing fancy, just don’t let the oil leak
- roast in the oven for about an hour or until fork tender
- allow to cool enough to be touched; rub the skins off with your fingers
- eat your beet or refrigerate for another day!
If you like ‘em hot, start them about an hour and a half before you want to eat them. That gives you the hour roasting time and some time for them to cool. Don’t be a tough guy and try to remove the skins right when they come out the oven. You’re finger tips won’t be happy.
If you prefer room temperature or cold beets, it’s easy to make them the day before you want to eat them. I roasted these guys in lemon olive oil while the oven was on from another dinner. Then they were all ready to top my salad the next night. No burnt fingers involved. Complimenting my beets on this salad: garden butter head lettuce, local strawberries, walnut halves, and poppy seed dressing. It was a good mix!
These were my first golden beets and boy did I enjoy them! They literally are little sunshine gems dug from my garden and they don’t stain my fingers pink! A definite winner that will be planted for many years to come.
I’ve been doing my best to succession plant them to get continuous harvest. If all goes well, you’ll be seeing many more beet recipes over the coming months. We’ll be learning together. Roasting is always my stand by, but it’s time to branch out! Canning, grilling, and juicing…here we come!
