How to Roast Beets

I’ve always loved the sweetness, flavor, and color that roasted beets can add to a salad or other dish. Roast beats are kind of expensive in the grocery store and whole, raw beets are kind of scary looking. However, roasting beets yourself is easy enough for a beginner in the kitchen and is cost effective.

So here we go.

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.

2. Make sure the tops are removed from the beets and wash thoroughly (scrub ’em if you gotta).

3. Place cleaned beets onto a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and salt (Use extra oil if you want to add to a salad after, you’ll create your own beet flavored oil!).

4. Fold up the sides of the foil and create a little packet that is completely enclosed and wont let any steam out.

5. Place beets in the oven. Roasting times are going to differ based on the size of the beet – smaller beets may be done in 25-30 minutes whereas larger beets may take up to an hour to roast.

Check on your beets occasionally, when a fork slides into the beet easily it means they are done! Enjoy!!

Sauteed Spinach with Yellow Beets

Here is a small side-dish I created after being inspired by all the yummy produce goodies at Wild by Nature today!! Let me know what you guys think!

Sauteed Spinach with Beets

1 tsp olive oil

1 garlic clove diced

1 small shallot diced

1 bunch of sweet organic spinach

2 yellow roasted beets chopped*

Splash of low sodium chicken broth

Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and shallot until fragrant. Add spinach leaves and sautee until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Add a splash of chicken broth (enough for flavor but not enough to be liquid-y). Add the chopped beets. Serve when heated through.

*See post on roasting beets 🙂

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Tuesdays are my favorite day because I basically have a nice quiet afternoon to myself with no one here to nag me 🙂 so i usually make dinner for the family. So today I baked instead, obviously after spending way too much time on pinterest and seeing dessert after dessert. Yay.

The recipe is from http://www.thecakeblog.com/2011/11/pumpkin-cupcakes-recipe.html

I halved the recipe and then forgot that I halved the recipe and ended up using 3 eggs instead of 2. I tried to cancel that out by using 3/4 cup of milk. I also added some hazelnuts on half, just on the top. Hehe.

Fennel Soup

I got off track a little bit from my all natural diet – simply because I moved home and my mom cooks basically all my meals. Well not anymore – my body feels so much different when I eat seasonal, fresh, and homemade! I got this new cookbook Savoring the Hamptons by Silvia Lehrer, it really great because it is divided into the four seasons and then only uses fresh local ingredients that are available at those times. So today I made the fennel soup with a few modifications (Basically it called for some Pernod, which I have never even heard of but happens to be an anise liquor with very few substitutes). And as I write this, the soup is simmering and the kitchen smells like fennel heaven.

Fennel Soup 6-8 servings

2 fennel bulbs

2 medium onions

2 red potatoes

2 tablespoons organic unsalted butter

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

5 3/4 cups of chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

fennel fronds for garnish

Start by cutting of the tops and bottoms of the fennel bulbs and cutting them into thin, even slices. Place the fennel slices in a bowl of cool water for 10-15 minutes. Slice the onions and the potatoes thinly. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Place the fennel, onion, and potatoes in the pot and mix until well coated with the butter. Place a piece of wax paper down onto the vegetables and cover to pot. Allow the vegetables to steam this way for about 8 minutes. Discard the wax paper.

Put the stock, lemon juice, and seasonings into the pot. Bring the temperature up to medium high and bring to a boil. After boiling, bring down the temperature and simmer for 35-40 minutes. Puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Garnish with the fennel fronds before serving. 🙂