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Sweet and earthy, roasted beets go exceptionally well with a pungent, zesty vinaigrette made with finely diced shallots, whole grain mustard and red wine vinegar. Perfect as a paleo side dish with meat, fish or vegetarian mains or can be enjoyed by itself over leafy greens.
I love beetroot for its beautiful purple colour, which also happens to be the reason why this vegetable is so good for us. Beets are rich in phytonutrients, which have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. No wonder longevity and beetroot consumption go hand-in-hand, especially when you look at those legendary Russian & Slavic centenarians whose diet is rich in this wonderful vegetable. Its powerful nutrient compounds help protect against heart disease, birth defects and certain cancers, especially colon cancer.
If nutrition alone isn’t enough to encourage you to eat more beets, let me seduce you with the flavours of this salad instead. Even if you think that you don’t like beetroot, I recommend you try them cooked and served this way. Otherwise, roasted carrots, pumpkin or sweet potatoes would also work well with the shallot and red wine vinegar dressing.
In this recipe, I roast beets without foil and under an hour to preserve as many of those nutrients as possible. You can pre-roast a batch of beets ahead of time on the weekend or even steam them (this is especially quick with an Instant Pot or another pressure cooker).
The dressing is zesty and very flavourful made with sharp shallots (red onions are great as well), whole grain mustard or any other mustard of choice and aromatic red wine vinegar. It would work well with apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar as well. There is no honey or another sweetener in this recipe, so it’s Whole30 and paleo reset compliant (check the mustard, though).
I hope you enjoy this recipe. We had these roasted beets with potato and egg bake (I was cooking for my vegetarian friends) and I also love it as a side with grilled or roasted lamb.
If you like beetroot recipes, make sure to check out my beetroot and salmon fishcakes, or this wonderful (and super simple!) beetroot slaw salad.
For beet roasting
For the vinaigrette
To serve:
- Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F.
- Peel the beets (I do this under running water or you can use some gloves) and cut off the hard ends. Cut them into small wedges (about 6-8 per beet) and I suggest doing it on a piece of baking paper over a chopping board as to not stain the wood.
- Transfer the beets to a bowl and toss with olive oil, cumin and salt. Transfer onto a flat baking sheet lined with baking paper or grease with olive oil. Roast for 45 minutes, rotating the tray and flipping the beets over half way.
- In the meantime, prepare the dressing by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl. Set aside to marinate.
- If using raw almonds, you can then also toast those in a pan or in the oven at the same time.
- Once cooked, transfer the beets to a large plate and drizzle all over with the shallot dressing. You can use half, to begin with, and serve the rest on the table. Sprinkle with crushed nuts and chopped herbs.
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