Roasted Beets with Orange Vinaigrette

I have come to love all the vegetables that come in our weekly CSA vegetable box; however, I admit to feeling a little grumpy towards the beets.

#1: My family hates beets.  I like beets, but with three other mouths to feed, it just happens that the poor beets get pushed aside in lieu of more crowd-pleasing fare.
#2: Beets tend to take more prep than other vegetables to get them to an edible state.  I am always in a hurry to get meals on the table, and I have little patience for high maintenance veg.
#3: Wasting local, organic produce hurts my heart.  So after a couple weeks of getting passed over, the beets get a little mushy and, well…

I've tried getting beets into my family by grating them raw, roasting, fermenting, and blending them into cake batter.  I'm pretty sure they went over well in the pancake batter, but not the chocolate cake.  Seriously, though - I've TRIED.

This winter, I have finally found the beet solutions to all my problems!  I wanted to share them for anyone else who has trouble using up their beet bounty.

First, the greens.  They should be chopped off immediately after getting home.  Store the greens in a plastic bag, and store the beetroots loose in the crisper.  Over the next week, use the beet greens in smoothies.  I slide a few into my kids' ultimate-favorite chocolate banana kefir smoothie every day.  Just like that, I can add a green vegetable to their belt for the day, and they didn't even know it!

Now for the beets.  This recipe is inspired by the beet appetizer at Salty Sow here in Austin.  I fondly remember sharing it with my girlfriends and thinking how bizarre it was that we were all loving so much on a beet salad!  After several attempts, this is it for me (and my husband and daughter both ate it - so I'm writing down the recipe!) :

ROASTED BEETS WITH ORANGE VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients:
6-10 small to medium size beets (leave skins on)
1/2 orange
2 T. raw red wine vinegar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup olive or avocado oil

To make it a fancy salad, you can add:
Arugula
Goat cheese
Roasted pistachios

Up to one day ahead:
Wrap beets individually in aluminum foil, leaving skins on.  Bake at 350 degrees until they feel soft, 45 minutes to an hour.  Leave in foil for at least 30 minutes to further soften skins.  When unwrapped, the skins should peel off relatively easily (if they don't, you didn't cook them long enough).  Slice the beets into 1/2" rounds and arrange in a dish.

To make vinaigrette:
Squeeze orange into a medium sized bowl.  Add red wine vinegar and salt; mix with whisk.  While mixing vigorously, slowly drizzle the oil into the bowl.  Once complete, taste and re-season if necessary.  Pour over beets, and put in the refrigerator until well chilled.  Stores well up to 3 days.

Enjoy!