• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Edible Times
  • About
    • Hire
  • Recipes
    • By Diet
      • GAPS
      • Gluten Free
      • Keto
      • Paleo
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
  • Just Cook
  • Macarons
  • Op Eds
  • Start Here
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • How To
  • French Macarons
  • About
  • Hire
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes

    The best ways to cook beets + roasted beet salad recipe

    Originally Published: Dated: February 29, 2012 Last Updated: Dec 14, 2020 By: Christina

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    The key to enjoying these fibrous, earthy roots we call beets is in the cooking and seasoning. And perhaps most important, what else lands on the plate. If you haven't fallen in love with beets yet, I'm here to help!

    How to cook beets by Edible Times

    Up until culinary school, I refused to eat beets because I thought they smelled like grass. I actually still think they smell like grass, but I eat them anyway. Especially as a beet salad with a whole wedge nice helping of blue cheese. More on that down the page.

    Learning to love beets

    So why the change? As a first year student at the Culinary Institute, you cook a lot of beets. And chefs at the Culinary Institute don't care if you don't care for a particular edible.  You cook, and if you're not allergic, you taste.

    Beet salad with blue cheese by Edible Times

    To my surprise at the time, beets didn't taste like the grass of which they smell (I was bound to be wrong, as usual).  They're sweet, earthy and pleasingly textural, charming little root vegetables.

    Gold, candy-striped, and the classic red. Roasted or boiled, hot and cold, I find them a wonderful, delicious mouthful. While we're on the subject, sauté those beet greens for a eye-catching garnish (the greens are loaded with essential nutrients). Or better yet, grab this easy recipe for creamed greens in my post about how to cook kale.

    Beet greens.

    Health benefits of beets

    While beets are on average 3% sugar, the intensely-colored roots are action-packed with vitamin A, potassium, calcium and of course dietary fiber. Any variety of beet works within most popular low-carb diet protocols including Paleo, the GAPS diet and Whole30. Even Keto followers like the Husband here can partake in a small portion.

    Roasted beets on a plate by Edible Times

    Three ways to cook beets

    Cooking beets isn't rocket science, just a little bit of food science. The deeply pigmented vegetable takes well to a few different cooking methods. And it's truly about what works for you, and what you hope to get out of your beets.

    How to cook beets by Edible Times

    Whichever method you choose, I gently advise cooking beets whole. Peeling and cutting raw, rock-solid beets is not edible times. Especially if you're working with a not-so-sharp knife, one wrong slip of the tip could mean a trip for stitches.

    The basic way: Boiling

    Boiling beets is the most common albeit it uninteresting way to cook them. It gets the job done and that's about it.

    The average-sized beet takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to become tender. You'll find mentions of leaving part of the stem intact, to prevent the beets from bleeding their color into the water.

    How to cook beets by Edible Times

    This practice may help slightly, but the betain pigments in beets are water-soluble and their skin is not impermeable. No attempt will stifle this process completely. Boiling also leaches vitamins and minerals out from any vegetable and into the water. Which is why I don't boil, but roast beets instead.

    My favorite way: Roasting

    I love roasting vegetables. The high, dry heat of an oven allows the sugars to caramelize (get a touch sweeter). The best way to roast them is to sprinkle trimmed beets with salt, perhaps a drizzle of oil and wrap them in foil. Time is generally the same as boiling. And the bigger the beet, the longer in the heat.

    How to roast beets by Edible Times

    I've found a few drizzles of water in the foil helps the beets cook faster. Which brings us to the art steaming.

    The healthiest way: Steaming

    Truly, steaming any vegetable keeps all the flavor and nutrients locked into your food. I find this method to be the highest maintenance, since you need to keep an eye on the water level throughout cooking. But if you want to make the most nutritionally of your beet experience, steaming is the ticket.

    Steamed beets by Edible Times

    The final prep step: peeling

    The easiest time to peel beets is after they're cooked. I take a small spoon and run the edge from the stem area to the bottom. The pigment will stain your hands, so I like to cradle the beets in a paper towel as I peel (or wear disposable gloves).

    How to peel beets by Edible Times

    Roasted beet salad with blue cheese

    Now for the real reason we're here. Roasted beet arugula salad with blue cheese, toasted pine nuts and a mustard-sherry vinaigrette. Glam up your Wednesday night with a enticing salad that's quite simple to make.

    Beet salad with blue cheese from Edible Times

    If you love pecans or even candied walnuts, bring either on (I'm highly allergic, so I stick with almonds or pine nuts). The adorable John at Preppy Kitchen gives great tips for crafting candied walnuts on his blog. I'd gladly share the know-how, but I try to avoid kitchen ventures that can result in anaphylactic shock. ????

    Blue cheese wedge.

    I can take or leave the nuts any day, but have a hard time eating a salad without cheese. And when it comes to roasted beets and blue cheese, in my opinion you can't do better. Perhaps goat cheese, but that's another tale for another day.

    Beet salad with blue cheese from Edible Times

    Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Point Reyes, or simply crumbles. Perhaps that was the ticket all along to loving beets. I might not hate beets anymore, but I'm not stupid.

    Yours in beets,

    Christina Bailey digital signature on Edible Times
    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    Beet salad with blue cheese from Edible Times

    Beet Salad with Arugula, Blue Cheese + Pine Nuts (GAPS/Keto/Paleo/GF)

    • Author: Christina
    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 1 hour (to roast beets)
    • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
    • Yield: Serves 2-4 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    Nutrient-packed salad that can be customized for a variety of dietary approaches. 


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 4 beets, cleaned and trimmed of greens and root tip
    • ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted (optional)
    •  baby arugula (or other salad green)
    • Roquefort, Gorgonzola, or other blue cheese, crumbled
    • 3 tablespoons red wine or sherry vinegar
    • ½ cup olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
    • drizzle of raw honey
    • salt and black pepper, to taste

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
    2. Place beets in foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Add a few drops of water, and seal foil tight.
    3. Roast them until a knife easily penetrates, 40 minutes to an hour, depending on size.
    4. Cool, and remove skins with a peeler or the edge of a spoon. 
    5. Slice beets into ¼-inch pieces, then cut into half moons. 
    6. Optional: In a 300° F oven, toast hazelnuts until light brown and fragrant, stirring once. Cool, and roughly chop.
    7.  
    8. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey and salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Or blend all dressing ingredients in a blender. 
    9. In a medium bowl, combine arugula with thyme and season with salt and black pepper.
    10. Add blue cheese, beets, hazelnuts, drizzle with dressing and toss gently to combine.

    Keywords: how to cook beets, beet salad with blue cheese, roasted beets, how to roast beets

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @edibletimes on Instagram and hashtag it #edibletimes

    Related Posts

    • How to make roast beef in a cast iron skillet
    • Food Truth: You don't need to massage your kale
    • Love your egg salad every time+ the saturated fat myth
    • The best method for macarons bursting with lemon flavor
    • Brunch so hard: How to whip up irresistible home fries
    « My dog keeps invading my food photos, so introducing 'Sit, stay, drool'
    How to make roast beef in a cast iron skillet »

    Filed Under: GAPS, Gluten Free, Keto, Paleo, Recipes Tagged With: beet salad, beet salad blue cheese, beet salad recipe, how to cook beets, roasted beets

    Reader Interactions

    Join In Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to
    Edible Times!

    Chef Christina Bailey, Boise Private Chef, Creator of Edible Times

    I'm Christina, a classically trained, Michelin-star restaurant alum and private chef. And more importantly, Chef Mom to two little boys.
    I'm here to empower you in the kitchen and in health. I share way more than delicious, chef-tested recipes. I explain the professional formulas, ratios, and techniques, too.
    So if you the endless scrolling: You can ditch it.
    And if you love collecting reliable recipes, I'm here for you, too.
    To read about me and my food philosophy, follow this.



    Summer Recipes

    • How to make any flavor homemade ice cream
    • How to Cook Sockeye Salmon to Perfect Doneness
    • Orange-Balsamic Marinated, Grilled Asparagus Recipe
    • Why I love sugar cookie dough, and for way more than cookies + fruit tart recipe

    Most Popular

    • The Original Pat O'Brien's Hurricane Drink
    • The truth about setting absinthe on fire + how to properly enjoy this notorious green elixir
    • How to make no-bake (and no fail!) chocolate-peanut butter cookies
    • Chef Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken of Bouchon Fame
    • How to Make French Macarons, Seriously
    • How to make espresso at home without a machine

    my foodgawker gallery

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Christina
    • Private Chef Services
    • Privacy & Disclosure
    • Nutrition Notice

    Subscribe

    Looking for free cooking, baking and macaron tips?

    Sign up!

    Recipes

    All Recipes
    Breakfast
    Dinner
    Dessert
    Macarons

    By Diet

    GAPS Diet
    Gluten-Free
    Keto
    Paleo
    Vegan

    Copyright © 2009-2021 Edible Times