Just Beet It!

So, those who know me know that a passion of mine is nutrition. I love really amazing, beautiful, delicious, healthy whole foods. One vegetable I've always loved but never have cooked until this very night is the beautiful beet! So apparently, the beet has a ton of nutritional benefits including cancer fighting agents. Its pretty wicked. Its also high in folate which reduces the chance of birth defects for women who are pregnant and helps prevent heart disease.

So anyways, yesterday I went to the farmer's market with a good friend of mine (which is pretty much my favourite Saturday morning activity in Toronto). I just adore the farmer's market. So, I impulse bought some beets, despite the fact that I have no idea how to cook them or really what to do with them. Fortunately, the internet knows all. So, I decided to make roasted beet salad, inspired by a recipe for roasted beet and apple salad. There's no apples in mine though. Here we go. My adventures with beet salad:
Preheat oven to 400. Wash beets and trim off the stems or the greens.


The internet told me to wrap the beets in tin foil with olive oil. I didn't have any tinfoil, so I stuck them in my crockery. Often, I use my crockery for roasted garlic, so I decided, hey, I bet roasted beets would taste pretty wicked if you put a head of garlic in with them too! Turns out, I was pretty damned right. Cut the pointed end off the head of garlic, and place in the crockery. Add olive oil to the garlic and a bit on each beet. Cover, and put in the oven. After 40 minutes, rescue the garlic. You don't want to overcook that. The beets should be ready after about an hour in the oven (I understand this is dependent on size). To test if they're done, stick a knife in them. If it goes in easily, and they are tender, they're ready! When they're done, let them cool, then peel. They turned out perfectly! Thanks for the advice internet!

After your beets have cooked, peel the skin off. YAY! They're delicious.

So, I decided to make a wicked salad. In the salad I put:

greens

1/2 medium red pepper

1/2 an avocado

1 large beet

1/4 cup blueberries

1/4 cup blackberries

1 ounce goat cheese

1/2 the head of roasted garlic

5 walnuts

1 balsamic grilled chicken breast

I made the dressing with the reserve oil from the crockery that I cooked the beet and garlic in. Then I added 1 tbsp of aged balsamic vinegar and 1/2 a tsp of maple syrup.

This is what I got:

Hooray!

I love beets! And now I know how to cook them!

And, for a little side bonus, I got a gorgeous sunset from my balcony. SWEET!