Beet It

We had a wonderful weekend in Savannah, GA, which I'll tell you all about once I upload some of the pictures later this week.  And we even got back in time for me to cook a healthy stir fry of red bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, water chestnuts and mung beans over brown rice for dinner.  This baby is going to be fed healthy here on out!  And to go with our stir fry, I tried my hand at a roasted beet salad.

The recipe is from one of the Vegan cookbooks I have.  (Back in college I found out I have an "intolerance" to eggs and casein (the protein in dairy products), so I followed a vegan diet for a few years since this was the easiest way to make sure I wasn't eating anything with eggs or dairy.  I still ate meat, so it wasn't exactly a "vegan" diet, but when I was making recipes, vegan cookbooks were my staple go to books.  I no longer steer clear of eggs and dairy as my intolerance seemed to go away once I stopped taking birth control pills.  I now strongly believe the medicines we take can have strange side effects on our bodies.)

The recipe was very simple and the outcome was great.  Although next time I would roast the beet longer.  I think it would help to have used a few smaller beets rather than one large one.  The one caveat when working with beets is that the purple color gets on EVERYTHING - gloves would have come in handy!

BEET SALAD:

3-4 medium beets (or 1 large one), scrubbed and rinsed
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/8 cup fresh basil, parsley and dill (I just used dried herbs)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

Wrap beet(s) in aluminum foil and roast in oven on baking sheet until tender, about 50 minutes to 1 hour.  (I roasted my one large beet for about 1 hour and 15 minutes and it still could've been cooked longer).

Meanwhile, whisk all other ingredients in bowl.  Set aside.
Once beets are finished roasting, open foil and let cool.  Once beets are cool enough to handle, remove skin and coarsely chop.  Mix beets with dressing and let sit 30 minutes.  Serve warm or chill for later.
Enjoy!

This still wasn't as good as my roasted beet salad from Eclipse di Luna, so I may try another recipe here soon.  I don't know where this new found love of roasted beets came from, but they really are delicious!