Roasted Baby Beets

Five minutes from my front door is a little slice of paradise.  Gilcrease Orchard is a non-profit farm that grows a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and opens up for the public to harvest the fresh produce.  I went last week and picked out of the ground fresh baby beets, baby carrots, arugula, kale and garlic scapes (something I haven’t tried before).

Look later for recipes for what I did with the baby carrots and garlic scapes, both of which were wonderful.

As I was growing up in both Tennessee and Nebraska, we always had a garden – a large garden that at times I didn’t appreciate as much as I do now.  Those times were the hours I would spend weeding the long rows of cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes…  What I did love was the incomparable taste of a freshly cut tomato open face sandwich or newly picked corn on the cob steaming with a little butter and salt.

Now living in Las Vegas,  lot sizes are not that big and the ground is… well, hard and no dirt.  So we settle for growing fresh herbs (mandatory even in an apartment) and a few peppers.  So I was thrilled to find Gilcrease Orchard, which will provide us with a wide variety of really fresh produce throughout the growing season.

Roasted Baby Beets 

I love beets but haven’t cooked with them all that much.  No good reason, I just haven’t.  Lover of beets or not, try this recipe and you will be a believer.   The balsamic, orange and mint, which comes from my herb garden, create a flavor combination that is wonderful with the baby beets.

This recipe is great warm right after cooking it but you can also store it in a baggie, refrigerate it and use them with salad or garnishments for appetizers or main courses.

Enjoy, and as always, make it your own!

Roasted Baby Beets Glazed with Balsamic, Orange and Mint

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Ingredients

• 1 pound Fresh Baby Beets
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt
• Ground Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup Orange Juice Concentrate (or juice of 1 large orange)
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Mint cut into slivers

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Place beets in roasting pan. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and toss. Cover pan loosely with foil. Roast beets until tender, about 30 minutes, depending on the size of the beets.
3. While the beets are roasting, combine the butter, balsamic vinegar, orange juice and brown sugar into a medium sauce pan.
4. Heat on high until ingredients are melted. Reduce to low for about 10 minutes. When mixture has reduced slightly, remove from heat.
5. Remove beets and allow to cool enough to touch. Peel while still warm and slice into wedges or halves, depending on size. Pour the glaze over the beets, sprinkle the mint on and serve.

Roasted Baby Beets