The perennial garden beet root is rarely the star of the family table. Despite its beneficial effects on cardiac health and the fact that it is among the richer vegetable sources of folate, manganese and potassium, this vegetable has had a struggle to find a place of honor outside gourmet and special recipes. Garden beet root comes in red and golden varieties and both are equally suited for cooking. One of the more common ways to cook and serve beet is to roast them.
Roasting food items, the earliest form of cooking known to man, not just preserves food but actually enhances its taste. In the modern kitchen, you may not want to do it the way it was originally meant to be done but use the convenience of the oven. Oven roasted beets are also the real secret to the wildly popular beet salad. Here is a step by step guide to roast beets in oven.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time Required: 1-1/2 hours
Resources Required:
1. 5 or 6 medium sized beets, red or golden
2. A couple of tablespoons of olive oil
3. Salt
4. Foil
Instructions:
1. Select your beets
When choosing beets, look for bulbs without scars and with leaves that are not yellowing or wilted. Select about 5 or 6 medium-sized beets. Remove the leaves by cutting close to the bulb. Wipe them with a cloth roughly. Don’t bother about peeling them since they will peel easier once roasted.
2. Oil the beets
Drizzle olive oil over them. Rub oil over them with your hands to ensure that they are all evenly coated with the oil.
3. Salt the beets
Sprinkle salt over the beets. The sugar in the beets will offset the salt. Be liberal.
4. Wrap in foil
Wrap the beet in foil and arrange them on a baking tray.
5. Roast the beets
Place the baking tray in the oven preheated to 350/175 (Gas Mark 4). Roast for 1 hour. Take it out and let it cool for 15 minutes.
6. Peel the beets
Once the beets have cooled to a point where you can handle them, cut the two ends of the beets and press gently to help the peel come off.
7. Serve
Slice the roasted beets into quarters or strips and serve with a dash of pepper and lime juice.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How to freeze and store roasted beets?
After roasting the beets as directed above, slice or dice them into small pieces. Put them in a freezer bag or a ziploc. Put a plastic straw into the bag, with one end sticking out and seal it up to the straw. Pull the straw out till only a tip is inside and suck the air out from the freezer bag. Pull the straw out and simultaneously seal the bag fully. Place the bag in the freezer. Frozen roasted beet will stay for up to six months without loss of taste.
2. What makes good seasoning for roasted beets?
Dill, tarragon, and rosemary are good herbs that you can season your roast beet with, either fresh or dried. Garlic, garlic chives, parsley make for good seasoning too. Red wine vinegar, plain vinaigrette, lime juice, and pepper balance the sweetness of roasted beets well.
Quick Tips:
1. Some people prefer slicing or quartering the beets before putting them in to roast. Cutting the beets exposes greater surface area to the roasting process and also causes beet juice to run. Experiment with whatever you find to your liking.
2. You can try putting some seasoning with the beets after you oil them so that they roast along with the beets. Rosemary, garlic, and marjoram are good ideas.
3. You can use roasted beets instead of freshly diced ones.
4. If you are going to use your roasted beets in a salad, be liberal with the olive oil. You can use the run off oil from roasting as a dressing base for the salad. The magical taste of the roasted beets mingles with the cooked oil to add a new dimension to the salad.
5. If you have bought your garden beetroot with fresh leaves, you can use them as a substitute for chard in recipes that call for it.
Things to Watch Out For:
Beets are messy. They juice like crazy and the stains are difficult to get rid of. Also, when you are cooking with other items and you don’t want them to pick up the color of beet, keep them aside.
