It would be an understatement to say that I love beets. Perhaps it's in my blood (being Russian and all). I grew up eating beets. I still remember washing dishes that held beets and how the color of the soap would turn a beautiful cassis. But that's another story. Most commonly my family would enjoy beets in a bowl of borcht, or shredded and mixed with mayonnaise, prunes, walnuts, and garlic (give this a try before you form an opinion).
Perhaps I would be exaggerating, but I feel sorry for people who don't like beets. My suspicion is that they only had beets out of a can - and sorry peeps, but those are not beets. That would be like saying that a tube of cranberry-like jelly is cranberry sauce.
Regardless, my sister (aka MangoTomato girl) and I were shopping together at a grocery store and I saw beets. I wanted beets. She purchased them. At that point I didn't really know what was in store for these garnet roots and they hung out for a few days in the fridge.
Today was the day for them to face their destiny. I scrubbed the beets and cut off the root end and the top, just enough to reveal their flesh. The beets went onto an aluminum foil and I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.
Next, I tightly closed the foil and placed the beets into a hot oven (preheated to 400 degrees) for about 90 minutes or until the beets were tender. If you have extra garlic laying around, go ahead and place it along with the beets.
Usually I would allow the beets to cool before peeling them (the skin is really thin and you can pretty much use your fingers - gloved or ungloved - to tug the skin off the beet). This time, however, the clock was approaching 8:30pm and it was time for dinner.
For the salad, I sliced the beet into little planks (keeping the skin on). The beets were joined by avocado, goat cheese, Peruvian olives, pecans and red onion. Just a bit more olive oil, salt, and pepper over the top and it was time to eat!
For all you recipe lovers, here's a recipe for 1 salad.
1 roasted beet, peeled (optional) and sliced
1/2 avocado, cubed
4 Peruvian olives, pitted and sliced
A few thin slices of red onion
1 hunk of goat cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon of chopped pecans, toasted
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Arrange beets, avocado, olives, and onion on the plate. Add goat cheese and pecans. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Eat!
