Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Beets!

My favorite way to eat beats is to roast them.

(dont forget- the green tops are delicious. treat them like any other green).

There are two ways to roast beets:


Roast first- then chop

Chop first- then roast

What you do:

· Wash the beets well, trim off the ends. (peel, if you want)

· Cut the beet into quarters

· Wrap in aluminum foil and place in the over at 375˚ F until soft (about an hour) (Note- the oven time is flexible. I try and roast beets while I am cooking something else in the oven)

· Wash the beets well, trim off the ends. (peel, if you want)

· Chop the beets into small cubes

· Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil

· Roast in oven at 375˚ F- first 15-20 minutes covered, then 10-20 minutes uncovered. (oven temperature can be up to 400˚ F)

Advantages:

· Its much cleaner- few things are messier than chopping uncooked beets- the juices get everywhere and can stain

· Its easier to chop- uncooked beets are very hard, and this method saves you chopping time

· Less cooking time

· More slightly crispy/ caramelized edges

· You can add flavors while roasting- like citrus, garlic, or herbs

· You can roast with other veggies (see below)

Disadvantages:

· Takes longer to cook

· Its much messier- few things are messier than chopping uncooked beets- the juices get everywhere and can stain

· Its harder to chop- uncooked beets are very hard, and this method saves you chopping time



what to do with roasted beets:
  • serve with goat cheese!
  • serve with citrus vinaigrette or honey mustard vinaigrette
  • serve in a salad (or in a salad with goat cheese)

Sweet Beet & Veggie Roast
  • chop the beets (see above)
  • chop parsnip & carrots & red onions
  • optional- garlic cloves still in the peel (see below)
  • place in lasanga pan
  • drizzle with olive oil
  • roast covered, and then uncovered in a 375˚F oven
  • veggies are done when they are super tender (time will depend on how many veggies you have, but its usually at leats 40 min)


Savory Beet & Veggie Roast
  • chop the beets (see above). but beets are optional.
  • chop parsnip & carrots & onions & turnips
  • add garlic cloves- peeled or unpeeled. see below.
  • optional- chop a fennel bulb
  • place in lasanga pan
  • drizzle with olive oil
  • optional- mix in crushed dried rosemary, dried oregano, dried basil, (any of the above, all of the above, or other herbs of your choice)
  • optional- mix in chopped greens (like beet greens, collard, kale, chard, etc). volume of veggies should be around 1/3 volume of whole dish when raw. Maximum 1/2 of dish)
  • roast covered, and then uncovered in a 375˚F oven
  • veggies are done when they are super tender (time will depend on how many veggies you have, but its usually at least 40 min)

Note about the garlic:
  • you can roast the garlic peeled or unpeeled
  • if you peel it, the garlic will better flavor all the other veggies
  • if you roast the individual cloves while still in the peel, the cloves will get soft and caramelized, and will pop right out of the peel when fully cooked
  • I like both- so I always put in some cloves peeled and some unpeeled.

1 comment:

  1. so the beets this week were a different species then I'm used to- they were red and white striped inside, and werent filled with the red staining juice like the ones I usually see in the supermarket.

    So I'd definitely go for chopping these since you dont need to worry about the mess

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