The only thing better than a roasted beet is a big bowl full of them, and especially when accompanied by creamy avocado yogurt, delectable oven-baked asparagus, and vibrant turmeric-spiced couscous. Truly, this roasted beets recipe highlights the sweet and meaty magenta bulb at its best, surrounded by an array of colorful and flavorful components that, when eat together in one big and beautiful bite, are an astoundingly delicious confluence of tastes and textures that you won’t soon forget and will surely bookmark as a go-to, repeat eat!
“The beet is the most intense of vegetables.”
– Tom Robbins
How To Roast Beets
This is probably what you’re here for: how to roast beets. It’s simple, and a great way of transforming these root vegetables into a scrumptious centerpiece for this roasted beets recipe.
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
2. Wash the exterior of the beets well (as in, with some kind of brush or textured rag), until they don’t have as much dirt on the outside.
3. Wrap the beets in tinfoil, making sure that they are completely incased in the aluminum. If you have rather large beets, you can wrap them individually instead of all together.
4. Place the wrapped beets on a baking sheet, and bake for 55 – 60 minutes, or until a fork can be inserted into the beets with ease. The time may vary, depending on the size of the bulbs.
5. Wash the newly roasted beets under cold water to remove the outside layer of skin, the tail and the stemmed tops of the beets. Doing so should reveal a wondrously magenta flesh underneath. After doing this, they’re ready to be cut and served for this roasted beets recipe!
“What did the carrot say to the wheat? Lettuce rest, I’m feeling beet.”
– Shel Silverstein
Soaking Red Onion
Firstly, I’d like to say that the name red onion is so misleading. They’re clearly purple, are they not?..
Micro-tangent aside, you have the option in this roasted beets recipe to garnish the bowl with thin slices of red (purple) onion. The red onions offer a really nice sharpness and crunchy texture to the dish overall, and are a beautiful lighter shade of pink, a foil to the darker shade cast by the beets.
But, before you garnish the bowl with sliced onions, I would recommend soaking them in cold water first. Doing so leeches a lot of the eye-watering tartness from them and mellows their acidic nature significantly. That way, when you’re eat the bowl, the red onion doesn’t dominate the other flavors, but instead accompanies them more tamely.
If you’re looking for more purply foods, perhaps for Valentine’s Day – wink, wink – these Red Cabbage Kofta, a cabbage which I called purple cabbage up until a couple months ago – inhales deeply – are also delicious.
“I’m a beet freak. I put them in the pressure cooker.”
– Julia Child
Turmeric-Spiced Couscous
To really top off the raw aesthetic appeal of this roasted beets recipe, I infused the base layer of golden yellow couscous – usually a pale flaxen color – with ground turmeric, one of the most vividly yellow spices in existence.
The result? A beautiful bed of gold upon which rests the green asparagus and avocado yogurt, as well as the magenta roasted beets and fresh red onion.
This idea of dying the grains a vivid yellow with turmeric came from Cook with Kelly – thanks for the tip!
“I love to use beets as a lip tint. It lasts all day.”
– Shay Mitchell
Roasted Beets Recipe
If you love roasted beets, then you’re going to have to make this roasted beet recipe with avocado yogurt and turmeric couscous. It’s the perfect bowl of deliciousness that is extraordinarily vibrant in color, varied in texture, and bursting with a plethora flavors that all eat very harmoniously together.
Well? What are you waiting for? Get to scrubbing those beets!
“Breathe properly. Stay curious. And eat your beets.”
– Tom Robbins
I hope that you enjoyed this roasted beets recipe. If you did, leave a comment and recipe rating before you go!
Roasted Beet Bowl with Avocado Yogurt & Turmeric Couscous
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Aluminum foil
- Food Processor
Ingredients
For the Roasted Beets & Asparagus
- 4 medium beets, scrubbed clean and wrapped in foil
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Dash of salt and pepper
- ½ red onion (as garnish), thinly sliced and soaked in cold water
For the Avocado Yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 avocado, quartered
- ⅓ cup parsley leaves, packed
- 2 ½ tablespoons unsweetened coconut yogurt
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Juice from a lime, a couple tablespoons
- Dash of salt, or to taste
For the Turmeric Couscous
- 1 cup golden couscous
- 1 ¼ cups water
- Dash of salt
- ½ tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Instructions
- Begin by preheating the oven to 400°F (204°C). Next, remove the beet greens from 4 medium beets, scrub well, dry, and then wrap in tin foil and place on a baking sheet. Roast the wrapped beets in the oven for 55 – 60 minutes, until tender when poked with a fork.
- At 35 minutes in to roasting the beets, add the bunch of asparagus once lightly tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast them alongside the beets for the remainder of time.
- While that's happening, halve a red onion, and finely slice one part of it into thin half moons, soaking the slices in cold water until you're ready to use them as garnish (doing so removes the bitter sharpness of raw red onion).
- Next, in a skillet over medium heat, sauté the other half of red onion (finely diced) for 5 minutes in 1 tablespoon olive oil. After that, add the ginger and garlic, and sauté for an additional 3 – 5 minutes, until everything begins to brown slightly.
- Once everything is done sautéing, add the onions, ginger and garlic to a food processor, along with the quartered avocado, parsley, coconut yogurt, red wine vinegar, lime juice and dash of salt. Process until very smooth.
- Lastly, prepare the couscous by combining 1 cup golden couscous with 1 ¼ cup boiling water and a dash of salt. Remove the couscous from the heat once the water begins to boil, and then cover it for 5 minutes. After that, fluff the couscous with a fork, and add the nutritional yeast and ground turmeric, mixing it together well.
- To assemble the roasted beet bowl, firstly run the roasted beets under running water to remove the tail, spiky top and loose outside layer of skin, revealing the fleshy bulb underneath. Then, in a bowl, lay down a base of couscous, followed by the roasted asparagus, avocado yogurt, a couple slices of the roasted beets, and some fresh raw red onion.
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
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