Beets...lunch ladies beware

Walking through the grocery store last night without a menu or list in mind, put my brain into a tail spin. I continued through the produce aisles, glancing at boring button mushrooms, overgrown eggplant and yellowed icebugh lettuce. I was in an idea rut until I happened upon a bunch of yellow organic baby beets. So tiny and so cute! I also selected a bunch of organic red baby beets as well, and the tide started to turn.

At home, I scrubbed my beets with a spud scrub and let them air dry. I grabbed a couple of carrots, peeled them and set them aside as well. Since the baby beets were so young, I decided to leave them unpeeled. The skins were so thin anyway that it seemed like a waste (of time and nutrients) to remove them.

ROASTED BEET SALAD (served hot or cold)

1 bunch of baby yellow beets, trimmed, scrubbed and cut in half
1 bunch of baby red beets, trimmed, scrubbed and cut in half
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (keep in similar size to beets)
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
salt and pepper
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare all vegetables and place on a baking sheet. With your fingers, mix together vegetables, 2 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper until coated. Roast for 30 minutes, flipping vegetables half way through.

Remove from heat and place vegetables into a bowl. Add reserved olive oil, fresh parsley and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve warm, or chill for two hours if you prefer your salad cold.

I served this earthy salad alongside a portabello mushroom burger with avocado, tomato and onion. It was a beavy of colors and textures - which was just heaven to me!


Be warned though - - eating too many red beets may cause your poo to turn purple. Just trust me on this.