Bring the beet back...

Most people associate beets with those canned slices from a can that just look weird.  I know I always did!  For 36 30-ish years (humor me here, ok?!) I told everyone that I hated beets.  In reality, I was scared of beets.  They look all purple-y and, and, and... Ok, all I've got is that they're purple.  Hardly a reason to discriminate against a vegetable, right?  I mean, I like purple potatoes!  I like purple cabbage! Why couldn't I like a beet?  Sooooooooo, one day, at the convincing of my French friend, I tried beets.  The canned, sliced, icky looking ones.  WHY DIDN"T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THESE THINGS SOONER?!!!!  (I'm looking at YOU.  Yes, YOU!)  They were yummy, even from a can!  I feel like if you like sweet potatoes or roasted carrots, you would like beets.  They're sweet but being a root vegetable, they have a sturdy texture, perfect for roasting.  Did I mention that beets are also an excellent source of folate and manganese?  Eat up, my friends!  My friend did crazy stuff like put italian dressing and shredded cheese on hers.  I'm a plain Jane kinda girl.  I like my beets straight, no chaser, thankyouverymuch.  At least that's what I thought...

Then one day, a crazy thing happened.  My food touched on my plate. 😱  Strange because this is usually forbidden.  Next thing you know, the balsamic dressing is mixing with the beets and all kinds of crazy things started happening!!  I needed to know more.  I googled and searched on Pinterest.  Turns out, I was NOT the Columbus of balsamic beets!!  There were others that came before me to discover this wonderful new world.

Needless to say, roasted balsamic beets are one of my favorite side dishes now.  And if you're able to find loose beets at your grocery store, they are actually pretty inexpensive.  You can get the ones with the greens attached but I don't use them for anything, so I skip it and save a couple bucks.   My new favorite whole30 variation is using Tessemae's balsamic dressing on them, before and after roasting.  (While you're checking that one out, look at the others!  I love the lemon garlic marinade too!)

Go get your engine oven fired up to 400!  Let's do this!

Balsamic Roasted Beets

Preheat oven to 400
Peel beets and chop into equally-sized pieces, I did about an inch or so.
Toss a Tbsp or so (depending on how many beets) of coconut oil or ghee.  I used a little of both.  It could be olive oil too, but there's already olive oil in the dressing, so I did just enough to keep things from sticking from the baking sheet/foil.
1-2 Tbsp of Tessemae's Balsamic Dressing.  You can use plain balsamic vinegar, but you need to increase your oil to equal parts.
I just put this all on the baking sheet, covered in foil, and mix it around.

Pop in the oven and check after 20 min.  Give everything a good mix up and throw it back in.  I start checking things after another 10 min.  The beets will shrink and you'll see the edges get a little brown as they get closer to done.  You want them to be fork tender.  That's how you know they're done.  Once they're out of the oven, I put them in a bowl and put an additional 1Tbsp of balsamic dressing on it.  I probably wouldn't if I used just straight balsamic vinegar.  Then I let it cool off a little in there, mixing the dressing around here and there.

It's really delicious!  I can't believe I was ever scared of such a beautiful shade of purple. I can't wait to see your results!!  Have you shunned beets just by the look of them?  Here's your chance to make it up to them!!  Let me know what you think!!

~ Nicole