ROASTED BEETROOT OR ROASTED BEETS

Good Morning to you,

"You like potato and I like potahto

You like tomato and I like tomahto

Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto,

Let's call the whole thing off".

written, by George and Ira Gershwin

The reason I am singing a verse of this song is, what I know as beetroot, my American friends,  know  as beets and whilst I was thinking about the difference, which I now believe there is no difference at all, the difference is just the name, "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off", popped into my mind..... and do you know, I can't get this song out of my head.

Have you ever listened to "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" sung by Fred Astaire?  Find the song on YouTube and I guarantee you, it will make you feel happy and you will want to put on your dancing shoes and dance around the room..... or at least as I did, dance around with slippers on.

But I am digressing, I do love eating beetroot, and I had a real fancy for it, so I took a trip  to the market to buy a few bunches.

When buying the beetroot, it reminded me that one of the many vegetables which Gramps grew in his allotment, was beetroot.  I remember Ivy would always slice and pickle the beetroot to enjoy during the winter months. Pickled beetroot was always added to the Sunday tea table, but because the beetroot was pickled, it was too acidic for me. Now I am older,  I do enjoy pickled beetroot, but do you know, my favourite way of eating beetroot is just simply roasted with olive oil and sea salt, skinned, then eaten with a salad, some pasta, or even on it's own.

So today, I am going to share my love of beetroot with you,

I added pasta, sun dried tomato pesto, which I had made, and some beans which I had left in the fridge, I then topped it with the chopped beetroot and that favourite ingredient of mine, grated Parmesan cheese and we had an enjoyable  lunch.

Of course it wouldn't be right if I did not share the music I was listening to whilst I roasted the beetroot. It was none other than,

The Divine, Bette Midler. Listen to her singing "In My Life" and "Hello In There"....she is just fabulous.  Do you remember the film Beaches.... oh dear, did I laugh and cry during the film.  I have watched it a couple of times now, but only when George isn't around, as he has a knack of making me laugh at the crucial moment, when tears are about to fill my eyes, which of course, just spoils the film.  I think you know by now, that George is very mischievous. Having read that sentence back, it sounds a little odd, as you would think that I would prefer to laugh, rather than cry, it's just that I do get so engrossed in films.

So if you are ready, I will pop on my apron and really there isn't much organising of ingredients today.

INGREDIENTS

4 beetroots, the weight does not matter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of sea salt

METHOD

Heat the oven to 180C 

1 small baking tray

Cut the leaves and stems from the top of the beetroot

Remove the root from the bottom, but do not

 cut  too close to the beetroot 

as you do not want the beetroot to bleed.

Wash the skins carefully

Brush a baking tray with olive oil 

then brush each beetroot with olive oil

Using 1 teaspoon of sea salt

sprinkle over the beetroot.

Bake in the oven

for 1 hour 15 minutes - 1 hour 30 minutes

but up to 2 hours if you are using larger beetroot.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Now don't be disappointed, I can see you looking at the

beetroot and thinking, well, they started out as firm

vegetables and now they look like dried prunes!

Do not be deceived, because under that crinkled

skin, lies the treasure..... just wait and see.

Now here's the trick, make sure you wear rubber

gloves.  I used disposable gloves, because as delicious

as these beetroot are, they will stain your fingers

when you start to peel and handle them,

and  trust me

you do not want to be walking around with red

fingers nails for the next week.

Although having said that, if you want "scary" looking

fingers for Halloween, feel free to dispense with the gloves.

Still using the disposable gloves, chop the beetroot
 into bite size pieces,

then, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper

and

enjoy them as a side dish

or as we did,

with pasta, beans, sun dried pesto and Parmesan Cheese. I shall tell you how good this dish is......  George enjoyed seconds.

Beetroot or beets can also be boiled, but again, be careful not to damage the beetroot when removing the stems and stalks. If you damage the skin when washing the beetroot, then you will find the beetroot will bleed into the water.

Now, I have no experience whatsoever in preserving or canning beetroot or beets, but I know a lady who does.  Pop over and visit  CeLynn at CeLynn's Sunflower Patch  and you will find a step by step guide to canning beetroot or beets.

Take care, have a lovely week and I will see you on Wednesday.

This week I will be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways

and

Anyonita at Anyonita Nibbles