nwafoodie.jpg "savory roasted beets with goat cheese crumbles (c)nwafoodie")
Stop boiling your beets. That was so yesterday.
We are foodies because we like learning new ways to improve flavor, presentation, or simply enjoying the food experience more, right? Well, it is time for us to step it up when it comes to beets. Thankfully, this method is less work than boiling and brings out a deeper, richer, and meatier beet.
Ready to learn with this Savory Roasted Beet with Goat Cheese Crumble dish? Serves four as a side dish or two as a meal.
Take two beets and scrub them up really tidy-like, under running water. Wrap each one of them with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper and place in your oven. Bake 350 degrees for about an hour, or until you can easily slip a knifepoint in and out smoothly. The parchment paper will be your very best friend since the beet juices will manage to find their way out of those little silver blankets.
When the beets are done, take them out of the oven and peel their skins off. In case you were wondering, yes, your fingers will still get red beet juice on them. Quickly wash your fingertips under running water and you will be as good as new.
Chop up your beets into nicely formed bite-size pieces and arrange beautifully on a gorgeous platter. Pick a solid, manly-man, rustic platter. It will match the beets “style.” A dainty china dish or glass platter would be a tragedy.
Crumble bits of goat cheese liberally over the chopped beets. Now isn’t the time to be greedy, so go for it! I like to use a seasoned goat cheese, such as tomato and basil or chives.
Go ahead. Make it messy.
Lastly, drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the entire dish and season with salt and pepper. You’re done.
Oh, if you were lucky enough to buy beets with stems and leaves, it’s a fun touch (and tasty) to garnish with thinly sliced leaves.
C’mon. It’s time to kick your beets up a notch. You in?
Happy savoring!
Lyndi
Eat well, my friends. Eat well.
Yum! I used the beet greens once like a sauteed spinch…a little olive oil and thinly sliced garlic…and served with roasted beets.Recently went to a Bonefish Grill in Williamsburg, VA. and had a salad of fancy greens with pickled beets, goat cheese and candied walnuts (or was it pecans?) The combination worked very well!
See, it's good enough for us to make it ourselves!
I still have a handful of beet greens in the crisper… I think I will saute them up tonight. Thanks for sharing the tip, Matt!