Catching a Red-Eye With Beets on the Menu

I've never actually flown on a red-eye flight; in my line of work it's not really necessary.  Nor have I had beets on a plane before, but I do enjoy digesting beta vulgaris, emphasis on vulgaris.    

This recipe is adapted from the Barcelona Restaurant Group Cookbook...after getting very used to beets being paired with goat cheese over the years, I found, through this recipe, that they go as well or better with a bleu cheeses, which have more of a piquant salinity against the sweet and earthy beets.

When working with beets I enjoy seeing the bright red juices that ensue, concentrated by roasting, and I wonder if I have anything I could dye...like Afghan elders who use it to add pizzazz to their beards.

You can roast them whole as Barcelona's recipe suggests, but to save time you can peel the beets before cooking and cut them into cubes, making for a pretty quick salad, tapa or side. 

Ingredients:

2 bunches of beets, or 6-8 medium-sized bulbs, rinsed

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted in a 350° oven for 10 minutes (keep an eye on them)

1/4 lb. bleu cheese (whichever type you like)

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or walnut oil if you have some lying around

Fresh flat leaf parsley

Salt & pepper to taste



Preheat the oven to 450°.  Cut the stalks and the root ends off the beets, and place a couple to a few on a sheet of tin foil, then wrap the foil up and seal it closed.  Place the foil packets on baking sheets and bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes, depending on the size of the beets, until a knife pierces easily. 

Remove from the oven and let cool, foil still sealed for 5-10 minutes.  Then open the foil, and using rubber kitchen gloves or a clean but non-decorative kitchen rag, peel away the skin.  It should come off very easily.

Cut the beets into 1" cubes and toss immediately with the rice wine vinegar.  It's suggested that you let them marinate this way, refrigerated, for 2 days.  I did just a quick pickle though and found it to be sufficient.  


Plate the beets and crumble the bleu cheese over them, along with the nuts.  Drizzle conservatively with oil and garnish with parsley if you like.  Let people season to taste with salt and pepper individually.