Roasted Beets and Carrot Greens

17 February 2013.

A Menu Worth Sharing: Roasted Beets and Carrot Greens.

It's not often that we invite people over for dinner, so one might say that last Sunday was sort of a special occasion. A fairly low-pressure one -- our dinner guest was one of our dear friends, and it certainly wasn't our first meal together -- but nonetheless, I was determined to serve up something that was not only scrumptious, but, you know, also easy on the eyes.
What I know about our friend is that she loves beets as much as tin and I do -- so it was fortunate that on our trip to the farmer's market the day before, we'd found two massive beets. I decided to let one of these glorious specimens inspire the rest of our meal.

I wanted to avoid the classic "Chef at a Dinner Party" problem -- i.e., I didn't want to miss out on the great conversation while fretting over the meal preparations. So I fired up the oven. Using your oven will force you to prep everything ahead of time, and it will serve as the perfect warm holding place, allowing you to relax and enjoy your time with your guests.

It's rare to find three people who truly, deeply love beets -- wanting to let the beet take center stage, I chose my other flavor companions accordingly -- three carrots, an apple, and a white onion. First things first: peel everything (but the apple). I then took my sweet time and very precisely sliced the beet into 1/4"-thick slices. I did the same with the onion, trying to keep the rings intact. I sliced the carrots, as I have before, into sticks. As for the apple... I imagined layering the sliced beets, onions, and apples in a spectacular, rich tower of complementary colors. Fortunately, this was a possibility for me as I proudly had in my possession: an apple-corer. It's something that I, quite honestly, almost never use, but on these rare occasions, it's irreplaceable. I removed the core, and cut the apple into 1/4" rings.

I then set about arranging a baking sheet with three aluminum foil sections. If you recall, the last time I roasted beets, I pleaded with you not to peel them. Maybe you're already fretting about the possibility of these beauties drying out -- as you should be. But you can avoid this by creating an aluminum foil pouch for your beets. I allowed my beet pocket to take up approximately half of a 9"x13" baking sheet, arranging the beets in layers. I drizzled each layer lightly with olive oil, and added (to each layer) a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and a pinch of fresh dill. I sealed my pocket with another piece of aluminum foil, rolling the edges together.
One remaining quarter of the baking sheet is now to be the designated apple corner. Simply prepare a closed pocket for your apple slices -- no salt, no pepper, no dill, no oil -- just plain 'ole apples.
The final quarter of your baking sheet is for the carrots and onions. I put the carrots down first, cut-side-up, and layered the onions on top. I drizzled the onions with a bit of olive oil, added salt and pepper -- and left this section uncovered.
The whole thing went into my oven at 400 degrees for twenty minutes.

The next two elements of the meal will take approximately five minutes each and can be prepared right away and held warm. When preparing a vegan meal for friends, I like to make sure that I have a side of warm greens, and some sort of grain. For this particular meal, I let nature dictate which green would be the best.

While at the farmer's market, we came across a lovely bunch of orange carrots, with their greens intact. Over-the-moon excited, we took a bunch with the healthiest-looking greens. As we were walking away, another woman buying carrots allowed the carrot-salesman to remove the greens -- and throw them into a huge bowl of other discarded greens at his feet. Initially horrified, tin and I realized that this could work to our advantage. We asked for the greens, explaining that we liked to eat them. The carrot-salesman was skeptical, but allowed the two strange carrot-enthusiasts to take the compost off his hands.
As I'd already used carrots, I figured there was no better salad green for this meal than, indeed, the carrot greens themselves. To prep carrot greens, you'll want to wash them and remove some of the long, tough stem -- it's edible, but not necessarily the most pleasant thing the plant has to offer. I cut a few inches of the distance between the carrot-root and leaves proper and discarded it. The bits of stem interspersed between the leafy greens can be chopped into manageable pieces and will add a little extra crunchiness to the final dish.

I finely diced one clove of garlic and put it into a nonstick pot with about four cups of my chopped carrot greens. Like all greens, they will wilt and cook down to a minuscule shadow of their former selves. To my carrot greens, I added two cups of fresh parsley (roughly chopped). For a little bit of color, and because its sweetness is another great echo of the beet, I added a half cup of corn. Cook the greens briefly with the garlic -- after two minutes, add a tablespoon of water, cover, and simmer for five to ten minutes. Should you need to hold the greens warm, you can add water teaspoon-wise to ensure that they do not dry out and scorch.

Finally, I decided to use an under-appreciated grain: millet. A grain of millet is about twice the size of a grain of couscous, and is similarly round. It's essentially foreign to the grocery stores of the States (unless you're buying birdseed), which is a shame, because a serving of millet gives you a lot of bang for your buck: this power-grain boasts a slew of B-vitamins, lots of fiber, and iron. So if you happen to see it on your grocery store shelf, consider eating like a bird.
Millet is prepared, as rice and couscous, in a 1:2 ratio with water. I brought two cups of uncooked millet with four cups of vegetable broth to a boil for five minutes, reduced the heat, covered, and simmered for ten minutes. After ten minutes, you should turn off the heat and allow it to sit -- covered -- for another ten minutes. It will absorb any remaining liquid during that time without overcooking.

And now, it's all about the presentation. When we were ready for dinner, I devoted one quarter of the dinner plate to the millet, and another quarter to the warm salad. On the remaining half of the plate, I laid down three of the beet slices, topping with the sliced apples and onions. The carrots found a place toward the rim of the plate, nestled between the greens and the millet. The oil on the sliced beets and the juicy greens will provide enough "moisture" when eaten with the millet, which can tend to be (like couscous) a little bit dry.

That night, it was warm in our house -- and not only because we left the oven door open. We enjoyed our dinner with an ample serving of catch-up, and a glass (or two) of nice red wine.