I ordered garlic through my veggie buying group last week (if you are in the Charlotte, NC area you must check out www.farmersfreshmarket.org) and I received this beautiful, albeit large, bag of garlic! Needless to say, I have been cooking with garlic just about every day since.
The beets in this recipe were also part of my loot from last week. I always roast my beets to prepare them for my recipes. Roasting beets is very, very easy. The best part is that you can scrub your beets, trim the beet greens, wrap them in foil and throw them in the oven. Set a timer and then forget about them. You can eat them warm with dinner, cold in a salad that day or even enjoy them later in the week. For this recipe, I roasted beets while roasting eggplants and garlic for my baba ghanoush. The kitchen smelled great! I had no intention of doing anything with the beets for a day or so – when they were done roasting, I set them aside until they cooled and then peeled the skins. I sliced a few beets for dinner and chopped the rest for this garlicky beet side dish to be eaten later in the week. Refrigerate the roasted beets until you are ready to use them.
How to Roast Beets:
1.) Trim the beet greens. Discard or use in salad. Scrub the beets under cold water. Wrap in aluminum foil and place on a cookie sheet to prevent your lovely oven from getting speckled with red beet juice.
2.) Cook at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn off the oven. Let the beets cool.
3.) Peel the skin from the beets using a small paring knife.
How to Make Garlicky Beets:
Garlicky beets are so easy and delicious. Take cooled roasted beets, chop them and toss with a garlic vinaigrette. Let sit for at least three hours in the fridge. I prepared these and then ate them for the next two days – they should last for at least a few days in the fridge – tasting more and more garlicky every day!
Garlic Vinaigrette:
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Good Olive Oil
3 Cloves garlic, finely diced or minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
