roasted beet & avocado salad

I am super proud of myself. I finally cooked beets. I have been thinking about it for months now. Lame, but true. I love beets, but something about making them at home completely intimidated me. The crazy looking bulbs and the dirty leaves. It seemed like to take that and make it into something I would actually want to eat, would take hours of prep work. It didn't. And now I'm a pro so I can whip them up anytime.



I followed this recipe from Sunday Suppers, but modified it a bit. I omitted the mint and added avocado and green onion. Much better in my opinion.

Ingredients

6 medium beets, scrubbed with stems cut
3 T olive oil
2 T minced shallot
1 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1/4 c red-wine vinegar
1/2 c really good olive oil (for the vinaigrette)
2 avocados, cut into medium chunks
1 green onion, chopped

Directions

Wash beets. Like really really scrub them. Cut the stems and just a wee bit off the bottoms. Toss beets with olive oil and salt, wrap in a double layer of foil and roast in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour. Or until you can easily insert a fork into them.

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Mix together shallots, sugar, salt and vinegar. Slowly stream in olive oil, whisking constantly.

Remove beets from oven and let stand for 10 minutes still covered. Peel if desired. I was intending to peel them, because if you've seen a dirty raw beet you understand why. But I found it impossible to decipher the peel from the beet once it was cooked. I am, was, a beet baking novice after all. So I kept the peel on. Luckily I had scrubbed the beets with the equivalent of a Brillo pad, otherwise I would have ended up eating mostly dirt.

Cut into smallish cubes and toss with vinaigrette while still warm. Top with avocado and green onion. Serve warm or chilled.

I am still somewhat stunned that the beets came out so well. Yay me! And the perfectly ripe and juicy avocados mixed with the green onion were absolutely sublime. You must try.