June 30, 2009

Balsamic Glazed Beets

Wow, this was amazingly good. This little dish of baby golden and albino beets was my first serving idea for this yummy vegetable. Then I was trying to figure out what kind of salad dressing to make for dinner (one that wouldn't clash with the strong flavors in the beet glaze) and I came up with plan B, which was to dump the beets and glaze over the garden lettuce and sprinkle on a little chopped bacon. Oh my - it was a winner!
---based on a recipe printed in the Washington Post 6/6/07

Ingredients:
16 baby beets
(this recipe would work with regular beets, but they would need a longer roasting time)
fresh rosemary sprigs
1/2 C balsamic vinegar - I used white balsamic for my lighter varieties of beets
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2 Tbs. butter

Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the beet tops down to about one inch, leave on the root end, and gently scrub the outside of the beets. Wrap the beets and rosemary sprigs in enough heavy foil to make a packet that seals. Place the packet on a jelly roll pan or something else with sides. Roast for about 30-40 minutes for small beets. You should be able to pierce the beet easily when they're done. Let them cool completely, then trim off both ends and peel off the skins. Discard the rosemary. Step 1 can be done up to a day ahead of time.

Step 2
Combine the vinegar, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan. Heat gently until slightly reduced. Add the beets to the sauce and heat through. Serve warm, or use on a lettuce salad with added crumbled bacon.
These recipes will hopefully give you some ideas about how to use produce from your garden or farmer's market. There are also other recipes that are simply here because they are our favorites, or someone made a request at the last church lunch! I'd like to encourage you to alter these recipes to suit your own tastes, your family's needs, and to use what you have on hand. Therefore, some of my recipes will not have exact measurements. So...if any of the recipes leaves you scratching your head, just send me an email and I'll try to answer your question. HappyGrowing@eatingfromthegarden.com