Veggie Challenge #6: Golden Beets

Beets are not something I eat.  Ever.  To be honest, I didn't know they weren't always purple and pickled naturally.  [Can you tell we ate a lot of pickled beets growing up?]  I credit my semi-recent rediscovery to the 'seasonal vegetables' side that Skipjack's Restaurant serves with their catch of the day lunch special.

Back in the day (a whole 4 months ago...) when I worked in Copley Square I used to get Skipjack's take out every once and a while for lunch.  On one particular instance my salmon came with some unidentified orange vegetables next to it.  Now, I have to say I think of myself as somewhat of a know-it-all when it comes to vegetables.  I may not like it or know how to cook it, but chances are I at least know what it is.  I picked this unidentified vegetable up, smelled it, licked it, (ask my dad, this is my process for tasting new foods and has been for a long time) and then proceeded to take a bite.  It was buttery and amazing and delicious - the stuff dreams are made of.  Probably because they were roasted in butter, but we aren't going to focus on that.  Bottom line?  Golden beets are awesome. 

"They look like little beet astronauts." - Boy

 There are a couple ways to cook beets - boiling and roasting.  Boiling immediately reduces the beets to flavorless, nutrient-less gold blobs while roasting is super-easy and leaves them chock full of all flavor and juice.  No-brainer.  I chose to wrap them individually in foil and toss them right on the oven rack to roast for 90 minutes at 400F.  You will know they are fully roasted when they are fork tender. [Oh, and put a tray under those suckers or you will be scouring hardened sugary beet juice pucks from the bottom of your oven.]


I decided to do a cold beet salad with oranges and sweet onions to play of the sweetness of the beets.  [Great decision, Alex.]  I roughly chopped the beets as well as some oranges and onions.  Tossed them with a red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Very simple and very amazing.

Salad aside, I must recommend oven roasting your beets as the way to go.  Discovering beets after not being a beet fan for years means I have some serious catching up to do.  Good thing the beet season runs through the winter, eh?