To me, beets are the ultimate autumn vegetable. Their sweet earthiness is supreme comfort. I love them roasted with garlic, or boiled and served with butter and cumin, or blood oranges. They are lovely in a breakfast hash with bacon, or raw, grated in salads.
Beets are incredibly healthy, which makes sense intuitively, since their deep color is so similar in appearance to our blood. Since Roman times, beet juice has been considered an aphrodisiac. It is a rich source of the mineral boron, which plays an important role in the production of human sex hormones. From the Middle Ages, beets were used as a treatment for a variety of conditions, especially illnesses relating to digestion and the blood. The greens bring an additional set of nutrients to the plate, most notably beta-carotene, vitamin C, iron and calcium, and are delicious steamed and served with butter.
RECIPE:
serves 12
2 lbs red beets
2 lbs golden beets
salt, pepper
2 meyer lemons, zested and juiced.
3 tbsps sherry
1/4 cup olive oil
6 endive
1/2 lb baby arugula or watercress
fresh chives
dried tarragon
1 cup toasted walnuts
goat cheese or blue cheese- 1 cup or so, crumbled
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the greens away from the beets, leaving about 1/4 inch of stems. Scrub the beets, dry them, and then rub them in olive oil, salt and pepper and lemon zest. Then place them in the middle of a large sheet of tin foil and close to make a pocket. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about an hour or until tender to a fork. When done, remove skins and chop the beets.
Make the dressing, by whisking together the sherry, lemon juice, olive oil, tarragon and chives.
The beets can be roasted a day or two before using, also the nuts can be roasted before hand. Even the dressing could be made a day ahead if you were really trying to be efficient.
