Beets, Beans and BBQ Skewers

I have to say I am proud of myself with this beet dish. Now, a few years ago I never would have touched beets no matter how they were cooked. When I was young I remember my mom making beet dishes and hating even the smell of them. Now I love them!

This recipe was inspired by Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables. When I was in Portland, Oregon in 2006 I saw the documentary made on Farmer John and actually got to meet him which was amazing. He talks about generation of farming and CSA's. It really is a great documentary. Well he sold a book which I absolutely love. It is divided by seasons (which means nothing here in Winnipeg!!) but each vegetable has a page dedicated to it about storage, flavour companions etc plus amazing recipes. This beet recipe was tweeked a little from his original one.

Beets in a Creamy Sauce
6 med beets
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup veggie stock
1/4 cup soy milk (or almond/rice)
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped

Cut the tops and bottoms off of the beets and scrub them clean. Place them in a glass dish with half cup of water and cover with lid or foil. Place in oven at 425 for about an hour (you can also roast garlic in the oven at the same time for another use). When you can pierce them easily with a fork they are done! Take them out and let them cool a bit before running them under cold water. Their skins will easily come off. Slice beets in half and then in quarters. All of this can be done ahead of time.

In a pan sautee the onions in evoo, add flour and cook for 2 minutes, add stock, soy milk and dijon mustard and stir to combine. Let thicken for 1 minute then add the cut up beets. Let simmer over low heat for 10 minutes until the beets are warm again!

On the side I reheated some rice and onions with local green beans and Gardein BBQ Skewers. I had a coupon to try them for free and they were actually pretty decent. I found them filling and only actually ate one of them.