Roasted Beets
Roasting beets is an excellent way to concentrate the flavours and sweetness of the beets while keeping them moist.
I am not a huge fan of beets, but I recently came across a method of cooking which I just can’t keep to myself. Us, Trinidadians, like to boil beets and have them in slices, as a side along with our main dishes. This method is a nice change to try; it takes a bit longer, but to me it’s worth it. I used my air fryer, so that I can set it and forget it while it does it’s thing. But you can also roast it in your oven for the same effect.
In this recipe, I used only 2 beets; but feel free to roast as many as you like. The same cooking time will be used for any amount that you decide to roast. Just adjust your other ingredients to suit your taste buds.
Ingredients
1/2 lb beets - I used 2 fairly large ones.
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves.
Olive oil- or any of your liking.
Foil
salt and black pepper to taste
Method
Scrub each beet and place in a foil packet. The foil packet is to keep the moisture in the beet itself. Add a little oilive oil and rub over the beets. Wrap the foil around the beets and place in a preheated oven at 350 deg F (176 degC) or a preheated Air fryer at around 175 deg C.
Some Nutritional Facts about Beets!
In Trinidad, when we think about beets, we think about “good for your blood” This is correct to a point in that it has iron (0.8mg per 100g of beet; 1 beet is about 82g). But it also has the following benefits which some may not be aware of:
Folate- B vitamin that is essential in DNA synthesis and prevents neural tube defects in babies. It has also shown some ability to reduce risk of heart disease.
Manganese- assists with enzymatic processes in your body and assist with wound healing and metabolism.
Copper - Keeps your immune system healthy and helps create red blood cells.
Vitamin C- Enhances iron absorption in the body and is known to boost your body’s immunity.
Nitrites- which are converted in the body to nitric oxide that opens up blood vessels, putting less load on your heart.
High in natural sugars- Beets have a medium glycemic load, but don’t worry. A 1/2 cup of beets would not lead to a major spike in your blood sugar levels.
You can check out more benefits of beets here.
Roast for 40 to 60 minutes or until softened. Once a knife can cut through the beets easily, then they are done.
Slice beets and add salt, pepper and thyme.
