Beet Me!

I love a good roasted beet salad, but I never make it at home.... that is until today.  The thing that has always tripped me up is the hour that it takes to roast them.   I guarantee that I will spend that hour nibbling and noshing, and when the beets are finally ready, I'll be full.  Here's the trick - don't wait until you're hungry to make a roasted beet salad!  I roasted three beets yesterday, put them in a ziploc bag and they were ready and waiting at lunchtime today.  The rest of the salad comes together in no time flat.

First, wash the beets well and cut the stems leaving about an inch attached.  I like to put the beets in a casserole dish, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and cover with foil (don't let the foil touch the beets) and roast at 375 for about an hour.  When they are cool enough to handle, wipe off the skins with a paper towel.  It's hard to avoid beet juice on your fingers, but a little lemon and salt will clean you up.

 Don't throw out the beet greens; you can saute them in a little olive or coconut oil with garlic,onions, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a splash of red wine vinegar...super delicious, super healthy.  I love that you get two completely different flavors from one veg.

There are certain foods that I associate with beets, so I threw them into my salad: orange segments, candied walnuts (saute 1/3 cup walnuts in a half tablespoon of buttter with a pinch each of salt, pepper and brown sugar), red onion slices (soaked for 15 minutes in cider vinegar to mellow the flavor), and a couple ounces of goat or blue cheese.  Sprinkle with the juice that comes from cutting the orange and a little oilve oil.  And voila....

Give beets a try this weekend.  They are so tasty and so good for you - they contain betacyanin, which gives beets their deep color, and is a powerful cancer-fighter.  They also help detox the liver...depending on how your weekend goes, you might need that...