Beets. Always loved ’em. Never cooked them on my own. They’ve always looked too intimidating to me- like a knife can’t even get to it. I mean, look at them:

Little tough guys.

But with such a high concentration of antioxidants, iron, anti-inflammatory & detoxification properties (not to mention great taste and color), I knew I had to suck it up sooner or later and learn how to make them.

Well, I did it. I loved them. And while they were a tad bit messy and took a bit longer in the oven than most roasted veggies, they were surprisingly not hard at all to make. And delicious.

In my book, they are good Sunday cooking recipe for the week- perfect in so many different ways, including on it’s own as a cold deli side dish, warm or cold on top of mixed greens, sprinkled with goat cheese, blue cheese or feta,  pinenuts, walnuts or hazelnuts, or with orange or grapefruit zest.

You can alter the basic recipe almost infinitlely. That is, if it makes it past 2 days in your fridge. Mine sure didn’t.

Roasted Beet Salad:

Ingredients:

5 medium beets

Dressing: 2 TB Olive oil + 1 TB red wine vinegar + 2 tsp dijon mustard+ sea salt & pepper.

Organic goat cheese, blue cheese, or feta cheese for finishing (optional).

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Scrub beets to remove dirt:

2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skins as best you can. Chop into small cubes (cut into rounds, then sticks, then horizontially into cubes) and place on a baking sheet. Toss with a bit of olive oil and bake at 400 for 35 min, or until you can easily pierce them with a fork.

3. Place cubes in a glass or tupperware container. Whisk your dressing together, then toss to coat, add any extras you’d like (goat cheese, let’s say) and refrigerate or enjoy. As with anything, they taste better the next day, so make it ahead if you have time.