I don’t know that I had ever even tried beets before getting serious about eating locally.  The weird canned ones on some salad bars didn’t exactly cry out, “eat me!”.

But, alas, they are often at the farmer’s market when other produce is lacking, and  I’m happy to have developed a relationship with beets because they are high in fiber, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant.   I’ve come to enjoy them the more that I’ve played around with them, but I’ve never thought, “Wow, this is so delicious!” while eating them.  I’m happy to announce that this is no longer the case and I have crafted a winning recipe.

Roasted beets in quinoa with feta cheese!

The farmer’s market that I frequent most has been held biweekly through the winter.  This has been wonderful because it at least ensures that I am always buying eggs and cheese from people that I trust and who recognize me as a regular.  (This is not true for eggs and cheese sold at the grocery store!)  There has also been a fairly steady supply of root vegetables and some greens grown in hoop houses.  This past Tuesday, one of my farmer’s had baby beets that I purchased.

I also picked up some feta cheese from a local creamery.

A lot of recipes for beets involve feta cheese so I decided to use this relationship.  I also had made extra quinoa the night before and decided it should all be mixed together.  It worked splendidly.

I cut the tops off of the beets but left some of the stems, washed them, placed them in an oven-safe pan, and then drizzled them with olive oil + a touch of salt.

I put them into a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes and made sure they were done after the allotted time by poking them with a fork.  They were ready!

Next, I peeled off the beet skins using a towel so that I didn’t burn my fingers.

I cut some of the beets in half, tossed them into a bowl holding the (warmed) quinoa, and also mixed in some bits of feta cheese. Yum! The combination made the beets taste very sweet and it contrasted well with the feta cheese.  I’m sure the fact that these beets were fresh and recently harvested helped a lot, too!

Hooray for local, seasonal food!!