Roasted Beets

(Formulated by the Hedonista)

Beets are one of my favorite foods.  I love them warm or cold, roasted, raw, or pickled.  The colors alone are some of the most beautiful pigments on the planet.  Whether you pick golden beets, purple beets,  or both you can’t go wrong.  They elevate any plate with amazing color.

Today we focus on roasting them, then cooling to use as a salad component.  Roasting beets is so easy, and they last in the fridge for about a week.  Beware if you use both colors of beets to keep the finished products separate while storing, as the purple will bleed into the golden.


INGREDIENTS:

  • 5-10 beets, washed  (the number doesn't really matter, what matters is that they are all uniform in size)

  • Olive Oil

  • Coarse salt

  • Pepper

You will also need: baking tray, aluminum foil, parchment paper.


DIRECTIONS:

Turn oven to 400 degrees (F)

Cut off any greens that are attached to beets (saute those later if you want) and make sure they are scrubbed really clean

Throw all the beets in a bowl and cover lightly with olive oil.  

Then for each beet do this separately:  

Cover beet with a small square of parchment, then with a small square of foil.  You are essentially making a little steam pocket for each beet.  You want the foil to really seal up well around the beet.  (I like parchment as a layer between beet and foil,  I personally don't want aluminum foil touching my food).

Put each beet packet onto the baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes to one hour, depending on the size of beets.  You are essentially roasting until fork tender.  When the beets are fork tender, remove the tray from the oven and let cool.

When beets are cool, unwrap each beet of the foil.  Use the parchment paper to rub skin off of each beet. ( use latex gloves if you don’t want hands stained).  Keep red and golden separate, if using both.

With skins off of each beet, cut beets to the size that you want.  Sprinkle them with coarse salt and pepper.  Keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to five days. Beets can also be frozen for 3 months.  


ENJOY!