I had one lovely Golden beet in my hand and I wondered what to do with it. I decided to slice it up with my mandoline and make beet chips – something I’d never done before. I turned the oven on to about 325 F and laid them on a Silpat mat. I sprayed the slices lightly with olive oil and gave them a sprinkling of sea salt. It only took a few minutes (with an eagle eye on them in case they burned, which they quickly do) and the result were crisp, sweet beet chips. The perfect healthy snack!

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I hated beets as a kid. I only liked my grandma’s pickled beets because they were sweet. But as an adult I can’t get enough of them. And what’s easier than tossing a bunch in the oven to roast? Mix them up with a few other root vegetables and you have the perfect healthy meal. Colorful too!

Another oh so tasty dish is this simple crimson soup. It’s wonderful served hot or chilled, and looks beautiful in your bowl.

Roasted Beet Soup
This recipe is delicious with either golden or red beets.

3 Tablespoons butter
9 medium beets (should measure 8 to 9 cups once cut)
4 1/2 cups chopped onions
4 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
6 cups (or more) chicken broth
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream

Roast beets whole with skin on in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool to touch. Cut off the ends and remove the skin. It should come off quite easily. Chop into ½ inch cubes to measure 8-9 cups.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, ginger, and lemon peel. Saute for about 2-3 minutes, then add the broth and beets; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; let stand 20 minutes.

Puree soup in blender in batches until smooth. Return puree to pot. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to soup and thin with more broth, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Garnish with crème fraîche or sour cream.

Makes 8 servings.

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Unless you have some fancy-schmancy dinner party planned, I find it best to go to the farmer’s market with nary a menu in mind, and let the recently harvested fruits and veggies dictate what I’ll be serving. Coming home with my fresh loot, I spread everything on the counter, take a step back, and look at colors and textures. Then, it all starts to come together.

When food is this fresh I don’t mess around with too many ingredients. I prefer the natural flavors and aromas of the food to reach their full glory all on their own, without much coaxing from me. When I saw the beautiful golden and red beets, tender fingerling potatoes, fragrant fennel, and the deep green and orange of the Japanese pumpkin, Kabocha, I got giddy with grilling glee!

Slowly roasting vegetables releases their natural sugars, creating a delicious caramelization that marry all their glorious earthy flavors into one beautiful dish.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
Use as much or as little of each vegetable, or add your own market picks. The beauty of roasting is there are no rules!

Golden beets
Red beets
Fennel
Red onion
Fingerling potatoes
Kabocha (or acorn squash)

Clean and top the beets and, along with the fingerling potatoes, drizzle with olive oil. Roast whole at 400 degrees until softened, but not completely cooked (about 30 minutes). Remove from the oven and carefully peel the beets, then cut in half. You can leave the fingerlings whole, and slice lengthwise in half before serving, or halve them and continue roasting (both ways are delish!)

Quarter the fennel and red onion lengthwise, and cut the kabocha into 1/2 inch wedges.

Toss all the veggies in a bowl and drizzle enough olive oil to sufficiently coat. Then, add a big splash of balsamic vinegar, a couple hearty pinches of Kosher salt, a few good turns of fresh ground black pepper, and a small sprig of fresh rosemary. Let roast another 30-40 minutes, turning every so often to get an even roast.

Go to your local farmer’s market this weekend and let us know what you created!

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It’s hard to believe that these dirty looking root vegetables can transform into such tender, buttery goodness. Beets contain more sucrose than any other vegetable, which is probably why I love these sweet beauties. But they get such a bad rap. Why is that? Is it because as children we only had Grandma’s canned ones? I still love those, Grandma!

There are a bevy of wonderful, and more modern, ways to eat beets today. Beet chips, roasted with other root veggies (fennel, parsnips, carrots), beet hummus, on a bed of greens with goat cheese…And, they add such gorgeous color to a meal, especially when mixed with their hybrid versions: yellow, white, pink, variegated.

Beets are water-soluble, so if boiled they will lose a lot of their beautiful crimson color, which is why I prefer them roasted. Roasting requires little effort and keeps all those sweet flavors within. No need to remove the skin, just scrub and lop off the greens.

Place cleaned beets in single layer in a roasting pan. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with sea or Kosher salt. In a 350 degree oven roast for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours, or until soft. When the beets are cool enough to handle, simply pull the skins off with your hands.

Roasted Baby Beets and Goat Cheese Salad

For the dressing shake in a jar the following ingredients:
1 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
Toss salad greens with dressing, reserving a little. Place sliced beets on top of greens, sprinkle with goat cheese and drizzle remaining dressing on top. Season with fresh ground pepper and sea salt.

Check out Coconut & Lime’s “Roasted Beet Mashed Potatoes.” Delightful!

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