Beets

Beets.
Dirt. Layers. Flamboyant. Iron. Dense. Shapely. Peter Rabbit. Silky greens. Overalls. Country. Big Yellow Tractor. Chew. Chevre. Dice. Brunoise. Meyer Lemon Juice. Thyme. Chard look-alike. Butter. Canned. Boiled. Aluminum Foil. Coarse salt. Muddy Farm. Snail holes. Dye. Stained hands. Red blood stains on cutting boards. Peeing pink. Hearty. Heart. Tree circles. Raw matchsticks. Skins that slip off when hot to reveal smooth shiny underneath. Root. Healthful. Hippies. Bootstraps. Sweet. Crunchy. Fork Tender. Fabulous. Icky. Dirty. Borscht. Sour Cream & boiled potato. Clear & Cold. Hot and Chunky. Russia. Ukrainian. Jewish. Sprightly. Bigger than a bread box. Tiny as a thimble. Heirloom. Pretty. Farmer's Market. Topless.

Whatever word comes to mind when pondering the wondrous Beet, I hope you can find them at your local farmer's market and get your fill of these jewel like creatures this Spring.

Shuna's Method:

Preheat oven to 375-425F
Wash beets well. Trim root and leave on about an inch of stem.
Place beets in single layer in a "lasagna" glass Pyrex baking vessel.
Pour in cold water to reach at least halfway up the largest beet.
Preferably all beets are about the same size. If some are especially large cut in half, top to bottom.
Splash about 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil over beets and in water.
Sprinkle with a few stems of dried or fresh thyme.
Sprinkle a generous amount of Kosher salt over beets and in water.
"Roast" until beets are fork tender.

*If you like the beets green tops-- when beets are ready, smush thoroughly washed greens in hot beet liquid so that none are poking out. Every 5 minutes for about 20 minutes smush down greens and stir around a little with wooden spoon. Beet greens will come out silky smooth and make a delicious hot  accompaniment to the beets.*

When cool enough to handle squeeze beet and skin should slide off. Use paring knife to remove residual exterior.
I like to squeeze Meyer lemon Juice over sliced beets and sprinkle with any coarse sea salt.

In my opinion when beets are roasted with aluminum foil it only exacerbates the metallic-dirty flavour living within the beet's soul. A boiled beet is much easier than this method but they tend to taste watery and come out softer than I like.

I like that the beet bites me back. Challenges. Shouts.

And yet

the beet is just another root in the ground.

Comments

[Kudzu]

Brava, Shuna!! This brightened my very early morning as the land drowned outside my window.

Not only did you seem to find every apt description for the rooties, you gave us a super way to cook them. Thank you.

[Kimberly]

Your wonderful collection of beet descriptors made me smile.

My husband calls them dirtroot, and turns up his nose. I love them, an look forward to trying your wet-roasting method.

[beastmomma]

I think that beets are an underrated vegetable. Here's to bringing them out in the open to be used more often by more people.

[Anne]

I adore beets! I wash them, peel them, spritz them with olive oil and sea salt and roast them on a cookie sheet. I have also made a rather gross-sounding but really quite good beet lasagna (with beets functioning as short "noodles").

The Poultry Mart of Great Neck, Long Island, makes a most wonderful pickled beet salad which I'd give lots and lots of money for right now (I'm in San Diego, far far away from Poultry Mart).

[roger]

You are a true beet poet!

I love the recipe. Beets, sea salt, meyer lemon and olive oil ... sounds like paradise.

[Lindy]

And golden beets are divine, too- and the stripey ones and with toasted walnuts on top. I always get a lot of beets in my CSA farmbox. Some of the other families think it's too much, but I can usually eat them all up quite happily.
There is , however, the effect of beet carnage when preparing them, even when I'm as tidy as I can be. Can't be helped.
Can't wait til june, when my farmbox begins.

[Melissa]

Shuna......FANTASTIC. I can only find normal raw beets, these heirloom beets that you are talking about are just beautiful. I'm going to try your method, I just wrap in foil and roast till tender, your method sounds very interesting!

[Tea]

I have always hated beets. But as food blogging is making me more adventureous I have been thinking about giving them another chance. I love almost anything drizzled in Meyer lemon juice, so perhaps this will get me to take the plunge.

Lovely photos and words. Defintely *beet* poetry.

This post might be my favorite yet. I love beets! I don't know if you're familiar with the tradition of replacing the shank bone on the seder plate with a beet. I didn't know it was a replacement until I was older because that's what we always did. Contrary to popular believe, it wasn't my idea.

[cookiecrumb]

You can't really hate a beet that's cooked right.
I think food dislikes result from: 1) poor cooking, and 2) mental associations.
Anyway. I'm intrigued by your water-oil roasting method, Shuna. I've been roasting mine in a covered Corningware casserole with a splash of water, but it hadn't occurred to me to use oil on unpeeled beets. Well, well!

[lee]

I felt funny reading your directions because this is EXACTLY how I cook my beets down to the pan and the oil and thyme. Weird! I too shun the tinfoil. Great minds think alike. Haha!

[Rorie]

Yum - i adore beets, especially roasted. And your photos are amazing!

[Bryan]

Yummy! As soon as I get the Wedgewood installed I'll be trying this one out.

[dixieday]

Ah, beets! I've been the Pied Piper of beets for many years, converting many beet haters with similar roasted beets. They are really delicious dressed with pomegranate molasses, a squeeze of blood orange juice (and some zest), salt and pepper and olive oil. Mmmmm!

[Tania]

I do love your list of beet words.

Being of Ukrainian descent, I grew up on beets when, it seemed, no one else was eating them. I love when I see a trendy restaurant prepare them in a fancy fashion -- say, a salad of roasted and exotically dressed golden beets -- and try to imagine what my very untrendy parents would say if served this.

[Kevin and Ricky]

We LOVE your blog...it is brilliant and a work of art...I screamed about the beets!!! Kevin sends his love. xxxooo R

[Elayne]

Full Belly Farms in Guinda, CA (yolo cnty.) has some of the best heirloom beets that money can buy. All kinds and colors. The marriage of grapefruit, mandarins or just about any citrus w/ a fine goat cheese and walnuts is to die for. Don' forget the arugula.

[Dixon L. Creasey, Jr.]

When young, dumb and fulla...myself, I only liked beets when pickled. Couldn't stand the things. A few years ago, when my dad forced upon me some from his garden, I decided that I needed to get over it. I roasted them in the oven, plain.
O.
M.
G.
!
They were wonderful...I couldn't believe those garnet balls of joy!

You go, girl.