One item in last week’s produce box was a beet- not so pretty on the outside but brilliant on the inside and super nutritional as well.  Just so happened that I was given an additional bag of beets a couple of days later.  I was excited to have them but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them. I’ve made a lot of beet soup in the past few years but haven’t really explored much more with them.  I’ve always been a fan of beets though, and it was time to branch out.

I was thinking about all of this while sitting in our garden and noticed that the mint was growing wild and needed to be used.  So when looking for beet inspiration I Googled beets & mint and landed on this site with this Roasted Beets with Mint recipe.

This recipe was found here : Roasted Beets with Mint. We made it according to their recipe except doubled the portions- it was delicious!

Roasted Beets with Mint-

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1¼ pounds beets – total without greens, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached
1/3 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped

Stir together lemon juice, cumin seeds, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in oil and let stand while roasting beets. — We dry toasted the cumin seeds in a pan and lightly crushed them with a mortar and pestle.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

Tightly wrap beets in a double layer of foil and roast on a baking sheet until tender, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool to warm in foil package, about 20 minutes. — This is the first time I have ever roasted beets so I wasn’t certain how tender they would get or how quickly they would roast.  I did know that I did not want them to be mushy at all, I would rather they be undercooked than overcooked.  Because all of the beets were completely different sizes I decided to only roast them for an hour and let them cool for 20 minutes or longer. Turned out to be a good choice because they were cooked perfectly!

When beets are cool enough to handle, peel them, discarding stems and root ends, then cut into 1/2-inch-wide wedges.

Toss warm beets with dressing. Stir in mint just before serving.

This dish was super easy to make.  Fresh mint paired with beets makes a stunning combination not only in taste but visually as well! So vibrant- it even looks healthy!