Do You Like Beets?

In my continuing quest to include more vegetables in my diet, this week I tried BEETS. I've eaten the canned ones before and like them but I had never cooked fresh beets. Have you?

I checked all my cookbooks for recipes, and they are all pretty simple. I actually peeled mine, but the books say you can roast them without, then peel them afterwards. Anyway, you just wash the beets, trim the tops off, wrap each one in aluminum foil, place them in a shallow pan, and bake at 400 degrees for an hour and a half (yes, that long--they are really hard and dense). Then I sliced them into 1/2" slices. They are really tasty just like that because they have a slightly sweet flavor.

However, my husband needed "sweeter" so I made a sauce of about 1/3 c. white sugar (or use Splenda!), 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar, 1 1/2 T. cornstarch, and 2 T. butter. If it's too thick, add some water. Once it's cooked about 5 minutes and gotten smooth, add the sliced beets and turn the heat down, so they will warm but not keep cooking.


We ate them kind of like an appetizer; they were a little addictive! If you were going to use the oven anyway, they'd be great to add in a side pan and no trouble! Then you refrigerate them and use when you like. They'd make a great salad for lunch on greens as well. Plus they're that wonderful purple color!