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KValley
08-24-2001, 07:06 AM
After last week's great exchange of Power Vegetable recipes, I became determined to overcome my beet aversion. Childhood memories of consuming canned beets made me I equate them to eating swollen eyeballs.

No longer!! Jeanne G posted the following recipe on the Beets and the Power Vegetables thread. DH and I tried it last night and loved these beets! Roasting makes the beets tender and sweet. The toasted walnuts and gorgonzola are to die for. It's also quite easy.

I made the following changes: I used half of the oil for the beets (I didn't toss the beets with oil after roasting), half the amount of oil for the Walnut Basil Dressing. I also carmelized the onions, sauteing them with the walnuts, instead of having them raw.

As far as the serving size, DH and I ate all of the dressing (it's really a topping), but did have leftover beets.

We had this with a vegetable frittata and a lentil/brown basmati rice concoction I made up. A scrumptious, beautiful meal. Thanks for the inspiration, beet eaters!!

Julie


ROASTED BEETS WITH WALNUT BASIL DRESSING


1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds beets, trimmed and halved
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bunch lettuce, well washed and torn apart.

For the Walnut Basil Dressing:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

To roast the beets: Place the beets, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a roasting pan and cook until the beets are tender, about 1 hour, 10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the skins and slice the beets. Place the beets in a medium-sized mixing bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

To make the Walnut Basil Dressing: Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and, when it is hot, add the extra-virgin olive oil. Add the walnuts and cook until they are browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and when the walnuts have cooled to room temperature, add the onion, basil, vinegar and salt.

Divide the lettuce between 4 to 6 plates and top with equal amounts of the dressing and then the beets. Then top with crumbled gorgonzola cheese.

Serves 4 to 6

Ohioan
08-24-2001, 10:25 AM
KValley, could you post the recipe -- or at least the seasonings and approx. method -- for your lentil/brown basmati rice concoction? Pleeeeze?

Thanks!
Phoebe

KValley
08-24-2001, 01:05 PM
Oh Phoebe, honestly, how embarrassing- it was really borne out of a need to use up straggling remnants in the fridge. I just prepped the brown basmati as if for a pilaf (boiling until just tender, then baking for about 25 minutes until fluffy). It wasn't until this was already in the works that I thought to add the lentils, otherwise, I would have cooked them together. I sauteed a combo of sweet and red onions, garlic, added my favorite spice-cumin-kosher salt, ground pepper, and added this to the lentils while they cooked. Then I mixed it all together - it sat on the counter all afternoon and we ate it room temperature. Really basic. :o For lunch today I added about half a cup of this to my bowl of (gasp!) Progresso soup...