Recipe: Balsamic Roasted Pumpkin and Beets?

Credit: Flickr/posixeleni

Add some pumpkin pieces to your beets and roast to perfection

Add the fall flavour of pumpkin to perennially tasty beets in this harvest-style vegetable side dish

Pumpkin is usually considered a base for pies, soup or loaf cakes. We seldom choose this economical vegetable to serve as a side dish. Perhaps it’s the sheer size of pumpkins that discourage anything but carving faces for Halloween. You can buy pumpkin in pieces at most stores or simply choose the smallest one you can find for this tasty harvest recipe.



Ingredients

• 1 (2-pound) piece of pumpkin, peeled and cut
 into 1-inch cubes

• 1 pound beets, topped, peeled and cut into 
evenly sized chunks


• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

• 1 tsp. fleur de sel*

• Fresh cracked pepper to taste

• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

• Crumbled chèvre (garnish)



Instructions

1. Place the pumpkin and beet pieces in a large bowl.
2. Add the oil, balsamic vinegar, fleur de sel and cracked pepper.
3. Toss well to coat.
4. Transfer to a cookie sheet and spread out in a single layer.
5. Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for about 50 to 60 minutes or until vegetables are golden brown and tender.
6. Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle with a bit more olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
7. Sprinkle the thyme leaves over top and garnish with the chèvre.
8. Season to taste with additional fleur de sel and pepper.

Serves 4-6.


*Note: Fleur de sel is a salt that comes from the Mediterranean and is often used as a finishing salt. The taste is superb.

Originally published in TV Week. For daily updates, subscribe to the free TV Week e-newsletter, or purchase a subscription to the weekly magazine.