When a vanilla balsamic reduction met up with red beets.

Okay I admit it, I’ve always been leery of the beet!  I’m not sure why.  The red hands, the production, or so I thought to cook them…. in my mind it just wasn’t worth it.  Then, one day, I was pretty much forced to choose either tuna atop of a bed of greens or beets atop of a bed of greens for a lunch date.  I bit the bullet!  I did it!  And much to my chagrin… I loved them.  Earthy flavor.  I do love the color because it means that they are packed with vitamins, which they are.  They are great for runners, which I am.  And as my youngest informed me, if you eat a ton of them she heard that your urine turns pink.  Okay, I have no idea if this is true and I’m not googling it.  I can’t believe I just typed the word “urine” on my food blog but I thought her humor may make you laugh, as it did me.  So here we go… my recipe for roasting them easily and a delicious vanilla balsamic reduction to pour over top. Yum!

Let’s break this down and take the beets first.

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Get a large roasting pan lined with foil.  Set aside.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  

Buy as many as you need.  I had two large sized (a bit bigger than a baseball) beets.  I cut the greens off (yes I know you can use them for other recipes but I had to focus on the beets first – and I did compost the leaves). WEARING DISPOSABLE GLOVES (you can get them at the grocery store) scrub them good.  They are filthy little things.  I used warm water and went to town.  Gently place them on your foil lined pan.

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Olive oil and salt!  Drizzle them generously with olive oil and sprinkle salt atop of each one.  Give them a good massage.  Then remove your gloves and throw away.  Take another piece of foil and cover the entire pan (over the top of the beets making a tent-like cover).  Place in your oven.  Roast for 1 hour.

Testing… very much like a baked potato.  Stick a knife or fork in it.  If if pierces the skin and goes deep into the vegetable – they are done!  If not, cover and bake for a bit longer.  Keep testing until they’re done.

Remove and let cool completely.

Gloves STAT!  Now, with your gloves on remove the beets and place them on a cutting board.  With a filet knife, I removed the skin carefully-  composting that as well.  Then I sliced them, you can do large slices like an apple ring or cut into bite sized pieces.

There, you totally roasted your beets!  You can store them in a lidded container or eat them right away.

Vanilla Balsamic Reduction:

1 cup of better quality balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions:

In a non-reactive small pot, place all of the ingredients and bring it to a boil.  Once boiling, whisk away and turn the flame down to low.  Whisking occasionally, let the mixture reduce and thicken for about 20 minutes.  Avoid over-cooking this or you will have a caramel textured taffy.  When you can coat the back of a spoon or a whisk and 20 minutes have passed, you’re ready.  Pour the reduction into a container or mini pitcher and let cool.  Use this to top your beets, chicken, beef, seafood or whatever your heart desires.  A little goes a long way.

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And two pics of the final products.

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— Knead to Cook

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