Nicole Martineau
Prep time: 20-25 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes at 375 degrees
Ingredients:
1-2 Fresh bunch beets with toppers small
1 package of goat cheese
Several sprigs of fresh thyme 6-7
honey for drizzling overtop
Sea salt
cracked pepper
olive oil
Directions:
To get started you will want to turn the oven on at 375 degrees to get good and hot. For myself, I always want to make sure that my veggies are the freshest you can get. For the beets I choose the regular red/purple beets and the orange beets because they are really pretty in color. For fresh beets you always want to make sure they are firm to the touch and don’t have any spots or bad parts on them. They should smell fresh, and their foliage should be bright and vibrant. Of course the smaller the beet the sweeter they are, when they are baked they come out so good.
Next, I make sure the beets are cleaned and free from any dirt I cut the stems off leaving about 1-2 inches of stem on.
Add a good amount of olive oil onto the beets and make sure they are covered well. Add a good sprinkling of salt and pepper (to your discretion) Then allow them to roast on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to an hour. They should be tender enough that you can put a knife through them.
Once they come out of the oven and cool down, you can start taking the skin off carefully.
You may want to use gloves for the task at hand. To take the skin off, I use paper towels to wipe off the skin and most of the skin should slip off, once the beets have cooled down. Using a paring knife will help out with the beet skin and to cut the root-tops off. I know that when you cook the beets with a little of the root top on it adds to the flavor especially when it bakes in the oven. It also stops the beets from bleeding out. I warn you it is a messy job and your hands will turn red if you don’t have gloves on. It will also stain your clothing, so have an apron or an old shirt on.
When the beets are cleaned off you can cut them in halves, quarters or leave them whole if they are small enough. I add a small topping of goat cheese over each beet and a small sprig of thyme and you are ready to go!
Baby beets can be used for salads, and the larger ones for a nice side to your evening meal. The stems can be used for salads or sautéed with butter/olive oil. Beets are also an excellent source in vitamin A, C and potassium. They say "you are what you eat"!!
The thing about beets once they are roasted you can eat them hot or cold . You could also use edible flowers like pansies, if you want to get fancy about it. You can drizzle a little honey over it makes an elegant side dish to an elegant meal.
I like a little pomegranate molasses or really good balsamic vinegar on my beets as well. It’s how you want to serve it up.
For me, this little project was all about the photography, I love to play with my food!! As far as the dish goes It was delicious!
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