Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Beet Advocate


I haven't found my way into the studio yet today but plan to work on a few things later this evening.  I spent this morning at the Green City Farmers Market stocking up on seasonal goodness for the week and enjoying a cheese, herb and heirloom tomato crepe...yum!
It kind of embarrasses my children but i secretly consider myself to be a beet advocate.  My love for beets goes back to my early childhood but until a few years ago I had mainly enjoyed pickled beets from a jar or can.  But then somewhere I read about roasting beets...I can't remember where or when...but I did it and it was simple and they were amazing!  Roasting beets concentrates their earty sweetness and turns them satiny and tender.   Since that time I have taken every opportunity to serve beets to friends, family and neighbors and they always love them and i always pass on the cooking method.  (here's the part that embarrasses the kids) whenever I have to buy beets at a regular market (rather than a farmers market) the person behind me will ask...so how do you cook those (this has actually happened 4 or 5 times) and i will tell them about roasting them and how good they are and blah, blah, blah...so for anyone who cares here's how to cook that dirty and intimidating root vegetable:

preheat oven to 400
take 3 or 4 beets and clip their greens leaving about 1" of stem on top
Set out a double layer of foil about 12" long
Place the beets in the middle and seal them into a foil package
put the package in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet(in case juice leaks) 
roast for 1 1/2 hours
open the foil and slice the stem and end off  each beet
use a paper towel and gently rub each beet (the skin will adhere to the paper towel and slip off)
slice or cube each beet and put them into a bowl
toss with  a bit of red wine vinegar and let sit 15-20 minutes
add a bit of olive oil and kosher salt and serve or refrigerate

Once cooked they are like the ugly duckling that turns into a swan...they are beautiful, and delicious and really good for you!  These guys are great served plain or as part of a salad..one of my favorites is arugula, beets, asian pear, sauteed sliced almonds and shallot-lemon  vinaigrette...tomorrow back to painting. 

8 comments:

Sandy Mastroni said...

oh thank you for this . I am going to try this and let you know how I do .
this is what I do ..... chopped frozen spinach with Feta cheese .
I mix in a small carton of egg beaters and bake .[ like a quiche ]
and lots of McCormick garlic pepper seasoning
Oh I hope I will like this beet thing .... more vegetables , less cookies

artslice said...

What a great story - and a nice way to spend the morning... at the farmer's market! I love beets - although I don't get much of a chance to eat them except canned at the salad bar. I'm going to look for some fresh ones before the summer's over.

tangled sky studio said...

i forgot to mention there are a few different colors (although they all taste pretty similar). golden beets are the most gorgeous color of deep bright gold once cooked and peeled, chioggia beets are harder to find but almost have a tie-dyed look after cooking with the colors creamy yellow, pale pink and orange and then there's the most common ruby or deep crimson color.

Leililaloo said...

Never tries this, i am abeet cooker. This sounds sooooo good, my mouth is watering. Luckily i have some beets waiting to be roosted at this minute. But they are slightly bigger then the pretty ones in your photo's. Is the rooting time 1.5 hours for the big boys as well?

Leililaloo said...

Sorry for the typing errors, shame on me. My son was crying in his bed, wanted to finish up quickly, too quickly.

tangled sky studio said...

larger ones will probably take closer to 2 hours(you should be able to pierce it with a fork easily. how do you usually cook them?

belinda marshall said...

hi,
just in the last day or 2 i have had a craving for a roast beetroot and feta salad that my sister made, and i went out and bought some beets. i am the worst cook – have no idea how to go about recreating what she made! so thanks for this :)

mummysam said...

i love beets....we actually made beet burgers for dinner last night! mmmm..roasted beets are delicious