Dear Katie,

My apologies for the hiatus. As is often the case, life got a bit crazy. But I’m back, and I’m making amends – not only for my absence, but for the beet pancake. I felt bad that I led you astray with that one. So when I saw you still had beets on your list, I wanted to tackle them again – I’m stubborn like that. These beets take longer to prepare, start to finish, but most of that is just baking the beets in the oven. While the beet pancake played to the savory aspects of beets, this recipe is all about the sweetness of beets. It’s basically like eating candy… but it’s still vegetables, so it’s fine, right?

Orange-Balsamic Glazed Beets

Adapted from Wholefully

1 bunch of beets (about 3-4 medium to large beets)
1 large navel orange, zested and juiced
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled or diced

 

Remove the beet greens, leaving a little bit of the stem. Wash the beets well, scrubbing them with a stiff brush to remove as much dirt as possible. Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and place in a baking dish or foil lined sheet tray. Bake the beets at 400 F for at least an hour, up to an hour and a half.

While the beets are in the oven, combine the balsamic vinegar, orange juice, and orange zest in a small skillet or saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Reduce the mixture until thick and syrupy, about 20 minutes.

 

The beets are done cooking when they offer very little resistance when pierced with a fork. If your beets are different sizes, you can remove the smaller ones as they finish and keep the bigger ones in for longer. Let the beets cool slightly.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, remove the stem and peel the beets. Cut the beets into bite sized pieces and place them in a mixing bowl. Pour the balsamic glaze over the beets and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with goat cheese.

 

A few notes: no need to peel the beets before baking; the peel is super easy to take off after they’re baked. Leaving the stem and peel intact should prevent them from bleeding too much but it’s still a good idea to line your sheet tray with foil. The first time I made this, I only wrapped the beets in foil and my sheet tray ended up with a bright red caramelized beet juice stain that is probably permanent. I like to roast them as long as possible so that the sugars in the beets have lots of time to caramelize.

I usually add the goat cheese on top after portioning the beets out because I like to have the contrast of the white goat cheese against the red beets. If you add it earlier and/or mix it in, the goat cheese tends to get stained with the beet juice. It’s purely for aesthetic purposes though.

The final product is a sweet glaze on top of sweet beets, but there’s enough sharpness from the balsamic vinegar and earthiness from the beets and goat cheese that it’s not cloying. Beets and goat cheese is a classic pairing, and I never turn down an opportunity to throw some cheese in the mix.

I’m still waiting for my CSA to begin! They said it would be sometime this month, but I’m getting impatient. I’m looking forward to how the posts will change once we’re both getting CSA shares.