Roasted Baby Beets with Tarragon Vinaigrette
Super healthy, super colorful and super delicious! Roasting beets really bring out their natural sweetness. Roast them with garlic, sprigs of fresh rosemary, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper, then dress them with a tasty and tangy tarragon vinaigrette.
You can absolutely use mature beets to make this dish but you may want to double the recipe for the tarragon vinaigrette.
This is another in a series of posts titled “A Florida Family Farm Thanksgiving”, a collaboration with Chris and Eva Worden, owners and operators of Worden Farm, an organic family farm in Punta Gorda, Florida, and Tim and Chelsea Clarkson, owners and operators of Grove Ladder Farm, a Sarasota-based farm that specializes in pasture-raised, hormone and antibiotic free poultry and eggs.
The series includes recipes and photos of the food and beverage that the two families shared at their early Thanksgiving dinner at Worden Farm in Punta Gorda, Florida.
INGREDIENTS
- Roast baby beets:
- 1 lbs each baby red, gold, and candy striped beets, washed, leaves removed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 5-6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- A pinch of kosher salt
- 3 or 4 turns of a pepper grinder
- Tarragon vinaigrette:
- Leaves from 6 sprigs of fresh tarragon, washed, minced
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (white, sherry or even balsamic ok)
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp minced shallots
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- Kosher salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Preparation:- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- If the beets came with their leaves remove the leaves but leave about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of the leaf stems on the beets. Do not discard the leaves.
- The leaves can be cooked as well but we’ll leave that for another recipe.
- Wash the beets really well; set aside.
- Peel and mince the shallot.
- Peel and mince 1 small clove of garlic (for the vinaigrette).
- Peel and leave whole 2 cloves of garlic (for roasting with the beets).
- Wash and pat dry the fresh tarragon sprigs, remove the leaves from the stems, discard the stems and mince the leaves; set aside.
Cooking:
- Place the beets, garlic cloves, and sprigs of rosemary on an aluminum-foil lined baking tray.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the beets, move around the beets on the tray to coat them with the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Cover the beets with more foil, place it in the preheated oven and cook for about 1 hour or until a sharp knife can enter the beets easily.
- Remove the tray from the oven and allow the beets to cool.
- Using a paper towel rub the skin off the beets.
- When this has been done to all the beets quarter or halve them depending on their size into bite size pieces, place them in a non-reactive mixing bowl.
- Make the vinaigrette:
- Place the shallots, garlic, tarragon, vinegar, and mustard in a small non-reactive mixing bowl, while whisking quickly, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the vinaigrette into the bowl with the beets, mix well but gently. Spoon into a serving bowl.
- The roasted organic baby beet salad with tarragon vinaigrette is ready!
ENJOY!
Roasted Baby Beets with Tarragon Vinaigrette
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