Beautiful Beets

Over the summer, I experimented a little bit with balcony gardening. Okay, I had about 12 pots lining the edges of my balcony, and started everything from seeds in the spring. Everyday, I would water the pots and keep an eye out for those first sprouts to break the surface of the soil. Before I knew it, I had an abundance of arugula and mesclun greens, Swiss chard, baby spinach, and kale. One of the vegetables I was most excited about was the beets. They are super easy to grow, and the best part is that you can eat both the leaves as well as the roots. When I harvested my beets, they were about 1.5" in diameter, but I could have left them to grow bigger; I was just so excited to get them out of the ground and taste them!

Beets are very versatile and can be enjoyed many ways. You can eat them raw by grating them and adding them to a salad, you can pickle them, add them to soups, or roast them in the oven with other root vegetables. So what did I do with my beets? I found this great little recipe that is so easy to make, looks beautiful on the plate, and best of all, was absolutely delicious. It makes a really good starter to any meal, a great side dish, or just an alternative to your everyday salad. I am sharing it with you today.

Roasted Beets with Feta
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

4 medium beets, trimmed leaving 1 inch of stems attached
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees Celsius). Wrap the beets in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.

2. Bake the beets in preheated oven until easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes to an hour. One done, remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Peel beets and cut into 1/4 inch slices.

3. While the beets are roasting, whisk together shallot, parsley, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside.

4. To assemble the dish, place the sliced beets onto a serving dish, pour the vinaigrette over the beets and sprinkle with feta cheese.

Source: www.allrecipes.com

Variations: You can easily substitute goat cheese for the feta cheese, and sprinkle some toasted sunflower seeds.