Yellow Beets… Roasted!

My beets are still growing.  But, I did add two baby (golf ball sized) beets from my garden to the batch of large yellow beets I bought at the farmer’s market.  Twice-cooked… well… three times if you count a quick saute with the shallots.  The first time, I wrapped the beets in parchment, then a quick saute.  Follow that up with another round in the oven for the final roast, this isn’t a quick dish.  But, the end result was worth the effort.  The concentrated sweetness of the beets was able to shine brightly.

Roasted Yellow Beets

3-4 yellow beets, well-washed & trimmed
olive oil
fine sea salt

olive oil
4-5 shallots, cleaned and thinly sliced
rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
fine sea salt, to taste

Carefully wash beets.  Trim off the tops and bottoms.  In a large dutch oven, place one layer of aluminum foil.  Place one piece of parchment over the foil.  Place beets in the center.  Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and a splash of tap water.   Cover with one layer of parchment and top that with one layer of foil.  Wrap edges tightly to make a sealed package.  Place in 300 degree oven and roast until fork tender.
(1-1 1/2 hours depending on the size of your beets)

Let cool.

Peel beets and slice into rounds.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In the clean dutch oven, saute shallots in a generous splash of olive oil until light gold.  Add a scant 1/3 cup of rice wine vinegar and deglaze pan.  Add sliced beets and another drizzle of olive oil.  Saute for a minute or two.  Toss beets to coat in oil & vinegar.  Sprinkle with pepper and salt.  Place unlided dutch oven in the preheated oven and roast beets for approximately 30-45 minutes. Or, until beets are light gold around the edges and the shallots begin to caramelize.

Serve beets hot out of the oven with grilled chicken, steak or salmon.  Or, serve warm over a bed of baby greens to start a meal.  Drizzle with olive oil and rice wine vinegar reduction from the pan.