Give Beets A Chance

Luckily for my mom, I wasn't a very picky eater as a child. As a matter of record, she was the one sneaking lima beans off of her plate and onto mine during dinner with my grandparents (sorry for outing you Mom). But I've never been a fan of cauliflower, wouldn't touch gefilte fish (shudder), and despised beets- especially the slimy ones lurking at the salad bar. But after watching an episode of Tyler's Ultimate, I decided to give beets a chance. Instead of warily walking by them like I usually do, I bought some baby beets at the farmers market. The recipe on the show was for a Winter Panzanella Salad, but I had eaten the last of the bread for breakfast. After roasting the beets with shallots and thyme and then tossing them in a honey balsamic dressing like Tyler had, I just poured the beet/dressing mixture over some romaine and then tossed in satsuma tangerines, pine nuts, and feta. It was delicious!
Now beets are officially on the menu. Maybe I should give cauliflower a second chance.
Gefilte fish...no freaking way.

Roasted Beet and Satsuma Salad
adapted from Tyler's Ultimate Winter Panzanella Salad
4 baby beets, scrubbed and halved
1 whole shallot, quarted
2 sprigs of thyme
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup honey
Romaine lettuce (or your lettuce of choice)
1 satsuma peeled and sectioned
1/4 cup feta cheese
handful of pine nuts
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Toss beets and shallot with 1 tbsp olive oil, add thyme sprigs and wrap in aluminum foil pouch. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes until beats are tender.
In a large bowl, whisk together 4 tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and honey. Add the beets and shallot (discard the thyme) and toss gently to coat. Pour over a bed of romaine, then add satsumas, feta and pine nuts. Salt and pepper to taste.