Roasted Beets and Garlic Sautéed Beet Greens

I hate adults this time of  the year. It's the beginning of the "when I grew up" stories. You know what I mean, the stories that start with a phrase about school never closing when they grew up and they walked 12 miles in the snow. Good for you, do you want a cookie for your efforts? I too grew up in a school district that never closed. Until I was in grade school and we had a severe storm on the middle of the day. The school district decided to wait it out, it was just a little bit of snow. Finally at 1 pm in the afternoon they let released the school district. Bad idea. I was one of the kids that actually made it on a bus (a lot of my friends ended up staying at various schools with little food and blankets to go around). The bus took until 9pm to get to my house. Well mostly to my house. I was let out three blocks away, across a very busy intersection. I walked across that busy street, while watching accident after accident happen in front of me, but I did make it home. 8 hours after we left school. My poor father had to leave our car on the side of the road and walk part of the way home. He got home at almost midnight. I never talk about my experience as a reason that my kids are soft and need to suck it up and go to school. I do talk about my experience as a reason that sometimes it's better to be in school until June instead of being stuck alone crossing a busy street in a snowstorm. People that like to tell about how kids are soft, keep it to yourself. Honestly, I for one don't care, let the schools close.

Now that my rant is done (trust me it really is one of my big pet peeves), on to the recipe! I love roasting vegetables. We eat a ton of roasted veggies in my house, especially in the fall and winter. The following is an easy way to prepare beets (I promise beets are really delicious when prepared correctly).

Roasted Beets

Ingredients

• 1 pound beets, scrubbed

Cooking Directions

1. Wrap beets in foil packets (2-3 beets per packet).
2. Place on a baking sheet and cook at 425 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
3. After beets have cooled rub off skins (they should come off easily, if they don't use a small knife).

The beet greens can also be used and they are a great source of vitamins (and delicious). Just heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet, add one or two sliced garlic cloves. Let cook over medium heat until garlic browns. Remove garlic and add greens. Cook until the greens are wilted, approximately 3-4 minutes. That's it, so easy! 

Tips: 

• Roasted beets are great by themselves or with a small amount of salt and sour cream. 
• They also make great salad additions. I love adding roasted beets and sunflower seeds to salads, yum! 
• Finally, you can add them to smoothies. It sounds a little strange, but they are a great source of vitamins and don't add a root taste to smoothies, the taste is barely noticeable amongst the other smoothie ingredients. They are great with strawberries, I make beet/strawberry smoothies about once a week to help with my potassium levels. 

Food and Wine Roasted Beets with Pistachios, Herbs, and Orange

As I've mentioned before I love beets. I have been known to eat an entire jar of pickled beets by myself in one sitting. I am also the same person that gets overly excited when I go to a craft show and they have someone selling jars of pickled beets in their stall, yum. For most of my life I enjoyed my beets pickled and eaten sliced or whole with a large serving of sour cream. Everyone else in my family couldn't stand my beloved beets and refused to partake in my delicious treasures. However, approximately two years ago I stumbled across a recipe for roasted beets and everything changed. My family discovered that they could actually enjoy beets. Now I make roasted beets a couple of times a month and they are always happily eaten. The March issue of Food and Wine magazine had a recipe for Roasted Beets with Pistachios, Herbs and Orange which looked very easy to prepare and full of flavor from the fresh herbs.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes an hour and twenty minutes to prepare and cook, twenty minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. The beets that I purchased were very large and therefore took longer than the hour baking time suggested by the recipe. I had a hard time breaking the cinnamon stick into pieces and only broke it in half instead of into four pieces. To save on time during dinner prep I made the dressing in the morning, which I feel helped to make the flavors blend together and become more flavorful by the time it was served at dinner. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

While this recipe takes 15 ingredients, the taste is really quite simple. The fresh herbs create a nice fresh flavor, which is light and not overbearing. The presentation is beautiful with the color from the beets and the contrast with the green color of the pistachios and celery leaves. My husband liked this dish, but felt that for him it was a little too simple in taste. My two boys ate the beets, but picked off the nuts and fresh herbs. A beautiful dish that is very healthy and simple.

For the recipe Roasted Beets with Pistachios, Herbs, and Orange.

Food Network Magazine Warm Beet-Orange Salad

I'm back! My internet is on and I am so much happier! So back to my normal posts. Since I was sick in January and diagnosed with very low potassium I have made a great effort to include more fruit in my family's diet. I have always been great about preparing vegetables, but fruit is another story. I am happy to report that the last time I had my potassium checked it was perfect and I don't have to go on any daily medication. I feel so much better and less tired now that I have been diligent about including more fruit. Plus I have discovered that fruit can be delicious in recipes. The January/February issue of the Food Network Magazine had a recipe for Warm Beet-Orange Salad, which promised a delicious combination of fruit and vegetables and very simple to prepare.

This recipe  has 7 ingredients. It takes approximately an hour to prepare and cook and makes 6 servings. I actually picked a week to make this dish that beets were very hard to find in my area. It seems that every couple of weeks different vegetables and herbs becomes impossible to find and then in a couple of weeks appear again, it can be very frustrating and doesn't seem to have much rhyme or reason. Luckily, after I went to three stores I was able to find great looking beets to prepare. Make sure to let the beets cool slightly before peeling to prevent burning your hands. Finally, take all the skin off the oranges before segmenting, the taste is better plus it absorbs the dressing more effectively. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love how bright this salad turned out. This would make a great salad for Easter or a spring get together. My husband thought that this recipe would benefit from the addition of more flavor. I agree that the addition of fresh basil would elevate the flavor of the dish. Overall, very easy to put together and would make a colorful edition to any table.

For the recipe go to Warm Beet-Orange Salad.

Everyday Food Roasted Beets with Orange and Thyme

Growing up I hated beets. My mother would try over and over again to make me eat them and I stubbornly refused. It wasn't until I got married that I discovered that beets weren't just from a can or jar and could actually be delicious. In the last 8 years I have fallen in love with roasted beets and make them frequently. My two boys are hit or miss on whether they will eat them, but luckily my husband loves roasted beets and will eat them as many times as they are prepared. One of my favorite ingredients to pair with roasted beets are fresh herbs, so I was intrigued when the January/February issue of Everyday Food Magazine had a recipe for Roasted Beets with Orange and Thyme.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes approximately 50 minutes to prepare and roast and makes 4 servings. I actually had a hard time finding fresh beets locally. For whatever reason all my local stores were out of beets for over two weeks. Luckily, I was finally able to find them and prepared the dish. All the remaining ingredients are basic and I had no problems finding them and made no substitutions. I used local honey, I always try to use local honey when available. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Fresh herbs and roasted beets when paired together are delicious. This recipe is very easy to put together and has a nicely balanced flavor. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed these beets, I particularly liked the flavor from the grated orange peel and fresh thyme. Overall, a very simple roasted beet recipe.

For the recipe go to Roasted Beets with Orange and Thyme.