THE BEETS

1. http://www.myspace.com/thebeetsbeat

2. My neighbor Amy (Amy S.) likes to roast beets and I am always impressed with the results. For some reason roasting always struck me as a little bit daunting, but it's not, at all. I think I was daunted because I didn't know exactly what roasting meant. Like, I thought roasting was roasting a whole goat over a spit. But apparently roasting also means putting some food in a foil packet with olive oil, which is a lot easier and very different.

So I roasted these beets and made a salad. There is a tiny greenmarket every day on Sacramento Street and it's pretty cheap. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the beets before roasting, they were pretty.


You probably don't even need a recipe for roasting beets, but I used this one: http://www.thekneadforbread.com/2009/03/27/roasted-beet-bread/

I didn't make the bread, it sounds crazy!

Roasted Beets

6 beets
2 tablespoons olive oil
few sprigs fresh thyme (I used not-fresh thyme)
3 crushed garlic cloves (OK without garlic, too)
salt and pepper

1 ) Using a potato brush scrub the beets with the skin on till all the dirt is removed. Cut the stems about 2 inches from the beet off. (I cut my beets into quarters before roasting to make them roast faster.)
2 ) Get a large piece of tin foil. Place the beets on the tin foil.
3 ) Pour the olive oil over top and add the crushed garlic and fresh thyme. Add a little salt and pepper.
4 ) Close the foil to form a packet. Place on rimmed baking sheet; roast in 400F oven until fork-tender, 1 hour.
5 ) Wearing rubber gloves, peel and trim beets; cut into wedges. (I didn't have rubber gloves, and I didn't bother peeling the beets. You probably don't need to.)

The salad was lettuce, carrots, and goat cheese. I used to think I didn't like goat cheese. It always tasted like cold salty tangy creamy vagueness. I realized that it tastes way better and more nuanced if you eat it at room temperature. Recommended!