Beets! Who Knew?

My only experience with beets was seeing my mother eat the pickled beets from a jar at Thanksgiving. As a picky eater kid who only included corn and iceberg lettuce in my veggie repertoire, you can imagine I never tried them, and the smell alone made my toes curl.
Fast forward 40 years later and I think it's about time I take a look at beets again. Now that I am expanding my veggie experiences, I'm looking for new and interesting flavors. I've been seeing beets everywhere.....on Top Chef in fancy salads, at the Farmer's Markets and all over gourmet recipe blogs.
So, I bought some beets and looked up some recipes. Roasting them looked like a good idea. I love the way roasting brings out the sweetness in vegetables. I cut off the tops.......there were lots of leafy green tops, and I couldn't imagine just throwing them in the compost. I decided to saute them in some olive oil with a little onion and serve them with the roasted beets and some carrots that I decided to add. An hour in the oven at 350 and I was on my way. While they cooled a little bit, I sauteed the greens. I placed the greens on a plate, peeled and sliced the beets and arranged them on the greens....a little salt and pepper.....delish! Really, they were great! So beets will be in my veggie repertoire from now on!
But perhaps the best reason to eat beets is that they are very good for you. According to WHFoods.com, beets contain compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and colon cancer. They are high in fiber and despite their high sugar content, surprisingly low in calories.
But, if you are a veggie virgin and will not try the beets roasted....just hide them....

Double Dark Chocolate Beet Muffins

1 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 C. chopped pecans or walnuts

1/4 C. butter
2/3 C. Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 C. beet puree
2/3 C. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper cups; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together first 5 ingredients until well combined.Stir in the half cup chocolate chips and nuts; set aside.
4. In a small saucepan, melt the other 2/3 cup chocolate chips and butter over very low heat.Stir to combine and set aside to cool until lukewarm.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, beet puree, buttermilk, vanilla and melted chocolate.
6. Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.Don’t over mix.
7. Immediately spoon batter into 12 well-greased or paper-lined muffin cups.Batter should completely fill the cups.
8. Place muffin pan in a preheated 375 oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. Muffins are done when they spring back when touched lightly in the center (or when a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean). Don’t overbake!
9. Cool muffins for 10 minutes in pan then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Enjoy!