Beautiful Beets

A couple of posts back, I wrote about my Dad's incredible salad dressing.  I discussed what you should and shouldn't skimp on, and casually mentioned the joy of beets.  But I feel like I didn't do them justice.  You see, beets are brilliant.  They are healthy and they are filling.  They make salads worth eating.  They also make goat cheese taste better than I ever thought possible.  The craziest part about all of this is that until this summer, I was never even aware of how tasty beets are.  I don't have a genius recipe for you.  I just have a simple way of preparing them that I found in Mark Bittman's How to Eat Everything cookbook app.

This is so easy you will want to do it immediately.  First of all, beets are still available in abundance at the farmers markets and second, they last for awhile.  All you have to do is trim the top and bottom of the beet and wrap it tightly in foil.  Roast for an hour to an hour and a half in a 400 degree oven until a fork will easily pierce through.  Allow it to cool and then peel it.  You can eat beets and goat cheese as a salad over some arugula for a nice bite or over salad greens.

I just can't say enough good things about beets.  Try multiple colors!  When I asked the farmer that I bought mine from at the market, I asked about the difference in color and he said that golden beets are sweeter while the purple have a stronger, earthier flavor.

Beets are going to be what gets me through the winter.  I think.  I don't know.  But I do know that beets are awesome.  And they are even better with goat cheese.  But if I'm truly honest, it's because cheese always makes everything better.  But seriously, beets have added so much to my salad life.  I just love them.