Roasted Beet Salad

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

Fresh beets are so good. This time of year, the farmers markets have fresh beets and they are so sweet.  Last week, I roasted some beets to use in Beet Risotto and I had some leftover beets.  They became an amazing beet salad!

Roasting beets is an easy task: wrap cleaned beets in foil, add a couple of whole garlic cloves, some sprigs of thyme, and olive oil and bake at 350 degrees F for about an hour, less if the beets are very fresh.

When they are cooled, peel the beets under running water--this keeps the red color off  hands.  For this salad, I used:

4 medium beets, roasted, peeled and sliced
1 small red onion, diced
1 T parsley--I used Italian from the garden

To the beets and onion, I added:
2 T olive oil mixed with
1T fresh lemon juice

The salad was chilled for 60 minutes before serving and then topped with crumbled blue cheese. It didn't last long!

Roasted Beets

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

I love beets in any fashion. This summer, my beet crop wasn't the best but last year I had so many that I canned jars of pickled beets and they were oh, so tasty. Many people think they don't like beets probably because they have only been exposed to commercially canned harvard beets. We've served fresh from the garden beets to dinner guests who were stunned at the sweet flavor of the real thing.

Last night, I took a roasted beet dish to a pot luck and it was a hit. The usual comments were heard: I forget about beets or I love beets but don't know how to cook fresh ones.  I came home from the farmers' market with two huge bunches of fresh beets for $3 and went to work.

Whenever I cook fresh beets, I remember Grandma Washburn telling me to leave 2" of the stems and roots attached to each beet so that the color doesn't drain out while cooking. So just like Grandma said, I trimmed all the beets, washed them, and put them on a large sheet of heavy aluminum foil in a single layer.

Next I added a handful of fresh thyme from the garden, four garlic cloves unpeeled and drizzled with olive oil and tossed.  I closed the foil around the beets, put on a baking sheet and into a 400 degree oven.

An hour later, I removed the foil packet, opened it and let the beets cool. Then under running water--this keeps your hands from turning red--I easily slipped the skins from the beets, cut off the root and top, and cut into chunks about 1" in diameter.  I squeezed the garlic cloves to remove the cooked garlic, chopped into a small dice and added to a serving bowl with the beets.

I tossed the cleaned beets with salt, pepper, 2 T olive oil, 1 T balsamic vinegar (the vinegar brings out the sugar in the beets) and just before serving, I added 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese.

Another favorite roasted beet recipe that I love is to add the roasted and cleaned beets to the food processor with salt, pepper and a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and puree.  The gorgeous, red puree is a terrific color and taste addition to the dinner plate.

Beet Risotto

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

The farmer's markets are the place to find small beets with the attached beet greens this time of year--although I went out to my garden to harvest them. Small beets, those around 2" in diameter, are incredibly tender and sweet. This risotto dish turns a brilliant red color and is stunning on the plate. We had it tonight with fresh lake trout (the fish just appeared in our backyard--in a cooler--this week) and it was a tremendous meal.

Roast at 350 degrees F for 30-40 min. in aluminum foil:

8 2-inch beets (or whatever size you have!), with 1" of stem attached, saving remaining greens, beets unpeeled
4 cloves of garlic
3 sprigs of thyme

Once the beets are out of the oven, cool, peel, and dice. Toss in a bowl with the roasted garlic (squeeze the soften garlic cloves out of the peel into the beets).

2 T olive oil
3 green onions, sliced
1 c arborio rice
3 c chicken stock

In olive oil, saute green onions. Add arborio rice, saute quickly until golden brown. In 1/2 c increments, add chicken stock, stirring, cooking over medium heat, for about 25 min until the rice is softened.

Beet greens, wash, cut into 1 x 3" strips
1 T olive oil
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t balsamic vinegar

Saute beet greens in olive oil, stirring constantly, until the greens are wilted.

To the cooked rice, now called risotto, add the diced beets, sauteed greens, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and grated parmesan cheese. Cover and let rest for 2-3 minutes to let cheese melt.

Serve this dish and I guarantee you that people who think they don't love beets will devour it!