A Hint of Ginger has been a little M.I.A. lately…I told you we were fired up to make the most of our new post in Cote d’Ivoire and then radio silence. Truth is – we’ve been quite busy! I know, likely excuse. We’ve been watching our little one grow and develop literally overnight and have been cheering him on maybe a little to emphatically for his tastes with every scoot across the floor as he recently inched toward crawling. We are working up the courage to start him on solid foods and make a foodie out of him early on. And we have already started showing him the world (more on our recent European get away coming soon).
In April, my sidekick and I took a trip back to the US to celebrate best-friend-since-kindergarten’s nuptials. We were so excited to escape the constant heat and humidity of Abidjan but ended up with colder-than-I-wanted weather, days of endless rain, and of course the same heat we sought to get away from. During those gloomy and rainy-for-days days, I felt like some nice roasted veggies would help the mood. And beets just seemed right, with their earthy, hearty flavor and their bright, beautiful color. These bad boys go with lots from salads and grains to other veggies and cheese and even better they can turn a monochromatic plate into a work of art!
With the temperature what it is in Abidjan, I haven’t felt much like letting some beets roast away in the oven for an hour or so and making our AC units work on overload. But back in the US, on a gloomy, dreary, cold day it was perfect! And really easy…
Just a few simple steps and you will have a nicely roasted, richly colored addition to your plate!
Start by cutting off the greens (and keep them to use in a salad or sauté for a side dish). Leaving just a little of the stem gives you a little something to hold onto when you peel the roasted beets. 
Wash the beets thoroughly scrubbing to get any grit off the outside. Keep them moist as you wrap them individually and loosely in aluminum foil. This will help make a little steam inside the pouch and keep beet from drying out. As you roast the beets in the oven, you’ll want to check them every 15-20 minutes, adding a little water each time to keep that moisture inside and the beets from scorching on the bottoms.
Depending on the size of your beets, it should take about 1-1.5 hours until they are soft. These honkers featured in the photos took closer to 2 hours but I’ve done much smaller ones that took a little under an hour. It’s important to keep checking the beets throughout the cook time to prevent them from drying or from getting overdone.
Oven-Roasted Beets
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 1-1.5 hours
Ingredients & Equipment:
- Beets, greens trimmed off
- Water, in measuring cup
- Knife and cutting board
- Aluminum foil
- Baking sheet
- Fork
- Paper towels or old rag
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 425°.
- Wash beets, scrubbing off any grit.
- Keep them wet and wrap individually in aluminum foil.
- Place pouches on a baking sheet and bake for 1-1.5 hours. Time varies based on size.
- Check beets every 15-20 minutes. If starting to dry, drizzle a little water over top. Re-seal the aluminum pouch and return to the oven.
- Beets are done when a fork smoothly goes into the beet.
- Once done, remove from the oven and let cool until you are able to handle them.
- With paper towels or a rag, scrub off the skin, peeling it off the beet. You may want to wear latex gloves to prevent that vibrant beet color from staining your hands.
- Cut up and enjoy however you’d like.
A Hint of Ginger: My mom loves her beets pickled. So, take a page out of her book and pickle half your roasted batch. Pour a little apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, and cinnamon in a plastic container of cut up beets. Refrigerate for at least a day, if not more, before enjoying them. Why stop there?!?…follow her lead as well and pour some of the pickling juices (after a day in the fridge) over some hard-boiled eggs and let them soak up that pretty purple color. My mom sure isn’t wasteful (down to the last drop)!
A Hint of Ginger 