Small Town: We've Got the Beet

Today I thought I would talk about something I have been going nuts for recently.


Introducing my new food obsession: Beets

All Photos by Marisa Hunt

While this isn't the first time I have eaten or made beets, I have found a new appreciation for the wonder vegetable. They couldn't be better for you, (well maybe they could, but it is pretty good.)

When our green-thumbed neighbor brought us delicious homegrown beets, I couldn't resist.

So to go along with our dinner of grilled chicken and zucchini I decided to make roasted beets.

I have made these before but with a new oven they turned out to be more caramelized than roasted. I thought I had ruined them but we actually liked them more! Roasted beets are delicious but these turned out to be crispy and bursting with a rich flavor.

The only problem with these beets were that I didn't make nearly enough! Out of maybe seven small beets cut into quarters we have a very small amount.

As soon as I pulled them out of the oven my family ate them all off the baking sheet!  Tired-hungry from moving out my mother's last storage unit into her new house, they couldn't wait till the rest of dinner was ready. Even my picky cousin ate them saying "Wow, those are good."

Roasted/ Caramelized Beets

This was all that was left by the time I got these on a plate.

These recipe represents a larger quantity

Ingredients:

15 fresh beets peeled and cut into quarters (If you want alot use 20 beets)

Olive Oil

2 Sprigs of fresh Rosemary, chopped

Sea Salt

Cracked Pepper

Garlic Powder


Use salt, pepper and garlic powder as you see fit, enough to sprinkle on all the beets

Directions:

Cut the tops and bottoms off the beets and peel off the rough skin with a potato peeler to reveal purple skin

Cut the peeled beets into quarters and spread the beets out a tin-foil lined cookie sheet

 Drizzle olive oil evenly over the beets, but not too much


Sprinkle sea salt, cracked pepper, garlic powder and chopped rosemary over the beets


To Roast the beets, heat oven to 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. Watch the beets, if you want to simple roast the beets, take them out before they brown, they should look almost boiled instead


To Caramelize the beets, heat the oven to 425 degrees for about 50 minutes. These beets will appear crispy, once they do, take them out so they don't dry up and remain soft inside.


Remove the beets from the cookie sheet immediately and put on a serving plate. Now, attempt to get them to the table before you family eats them off the plate!

There you have it, BEETS the wonder food. After this I will buy alot more beets! Try to get beets that still have the greens attached so you can use them as well. Beet greens are just as nutrious as the beets themselves and can be made similarly to swiss chard, or kale. Let's make another dish out of these!


I can't wait to try this recipe for Beet Risotto. I think tonight is the night. Look for my attempt this week.


I also found a recipe for Beet Cocktails, but I'm not too sure about this. Anyone brave enough? Tell me how they are!

I think next time I will  mix these beets into pasta with chicken and parmesan for added flavor and texture.


What would you use these beets for? A side dish? With pasta or in a salad?

Enjoy!


Love,


The College Cuisiner