How lucky are we city- and suburb-dwellers for the resurrection of the Farmer's Market? Every Sunday morning, I make my way to the one in Studio City, CA to buy my produce for the week. Buying fresh, local and seasonal fruits and vegetables is not only more delicious, but it has to be healthier. Right now, I'm a little miffed for the lack of summer salad ingredients, such as rosy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers and sweet, crunch bell peppers. Winter and Fall, however, have their own bounties. Pears! Butternut squash! Apples! Persimmons! Root vegetables!
I love beets. Growing up, they of course came from a can, already sliced into rounds swimming in their red liquid. I wasn't quite a fan, yet. My mother always served them on Friday with fish. Who knows why, but she determined beets and delicate Atlantic flounder fillets are an eternal match. I digress... One day in the eighties, while visiting my best friend, Laurie, at her home outside Orlando, FL, I had fresh beets for the first time. She steamed them in her pressure cooker and served them with a memorable chicken pot pie. The first taste of the deep, earthy beet had me hooked. It took me a while to buy a fresh bunch for myself to cook up. Now, they are a weekly staple as long as I can get them fresh.
Here is the basic method I have been using most recently to cook beets. I keep the finished product in a container the fridge, then dip into it every day to sprinkle my salad with the deep, earthy sweetness (rich with antioxidants!) of this amazing root vegetable. Or, you can make a wonderful salad or side dish... or, what about a creamy Beet Risotto?
Fresh beets
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel the beets and cut into one-inch chunks. Place in a baking dish; toss with a few slugs of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Cool, then put into a container for later indulgence or use in a recipe right away.
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