August 26, 2009 | Vegetables

I’ve been working really hard this summer to make sure that I eat all of the vegetables from my CSA farm (and my own garden) each week. In the process, I tend to stick the things I know won’t spoil to the back of my crisper, and on the top of that list is beets. I love them, just don’t know that I can eat them every week, so I’ve been putting off cooking them. No more!
I’m trying to eat less “bad” food (no more Ben & Jerry’s each night), so I figured the sweet taste of caramelized beets would be a good diversion, if not entire substitute, for ice cream. (Does that sound like a stretch to you? I negotiate like this with myself when I need to lose a few pounds!)

I peeled and diced a few beets and a couple of small red onions and tossed them into a baking dish. Next I doused the whole thing with some high quality balsamic vinegar (about 2-4 tablespoons) and some extra virgin olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), the sprinkled the whole thing with salt, pepper, and some fresh rosemary and thyme from my herb garden. I just popped that into a 375 degree oven for about an hour…

…and voila! Gorgeous, sugary, caramelized beets and onions. My husband and I ate the whole bowl for dinner! You can do this same “recipe” (it’s not really a recipe so I’m not even going to post one) with lots of different root vegetables like carrots, turnips, and potatoes, so whatever you have on hand, give it a try!