It’s been a long time since I trusted a recipe from a newspaper. In general I figure most newspaper recipes are very good, but you hit a bad one and it scares you off. So why give them a second chance when you have reliable, overly-tested cookbooks, as I do.
But I love roasted beets and I was looking for a recipe that didn’t seem like much fuss. So I thought, okay Chris Nuttall-Smith, writer for the Globe & Mail, lets give this a go.
I’m happy to say that his article title is apt: “How to Roast this this Fall Veggie to Perfection.” You just make little packets and stick them in the oven. There’s even an illustrated guide, for goodness sake. I am going to say, however, that I outsmarted you, Mr. Nuttall-Smith. Though your recipe almost led me astray I thought to put a baking sheet under the beet packets just in case they spilled. 12 roasted beets later and I have a clean oven and a beet juice-covered baking sheet. Victory is mine. Roasted beets are mine. Happiness is also mine, but you can have some of that too. The other two I don’t plan to share. You can keep your beet juice-covered oven all to yourself.
I substituted the last of my blueberry vinegar for the sherry vinegar you called for. Either would work well. Or balsamic, or maybe even the peach vinegar I picked up at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn.
The rubbing the roasted beets with a paper towel trick is pretty alright too. I still got beets all over my hands, but probably less than if I’d used my fingers to peel off the skins like a fool.
All in all, you’re alright, Mr. Nuttall-Smith. And thanks.
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