beet generation

i've never been a fan of beets, despite what i've heard about how nutritious they are. my father used to eat beets whenever we went to a buffet. they were obviously from a can, always watery, bloody-looking, and unappetizing. but things changed last year at a country house near the pyrenees. for dinner one night, we were served a salad of beets and sunflower seeds. they were the most amazing beets i'd ever eaten, like, in my entire life. i couldn't stop talking about them. it was nothing but beet talk for 10 minutes. so, when i came back to chicago, i had beets at lula cafe. if any restaurant in chicago could do beets right, surely it would have to be lula, one of my fave restaurants, right? but these beets did not compare to the pyranees beets. lula beets had too much olive oil on them, and i think they were a little pickled. still, i'm not giving up on my beet odyssey. today i made beet chips out of a beet that was on sale at stanley's and on the verge in my fridge.

baked beet chips

ingredients
one beet
olive oil
salt
pepper

heat the oven at 400 degrees. trim and peel the beet. slice them into chip-sized pieces (i wouldn't go to thick or too thin here. too thick, and they'll be soft. too thin, and they'll be super crispy. i sliced mine on my mandolin at the medium setting, and i think that was a little bit too thick). toss the beets in a glug or two or olive oil with a few pinches of both salt and pepper. lay them in a single layer on parchment paper on a baking sheet. cook for 12 minutes. then, take them out, turn them over, and cook for another 10 minutes. this is when i turned the oven off, did a little work for 10 minutes, and then took the beets out.

i'm eating them right now. they're pretty good. roasted beets are supposed to be tasty with goat cheese. but goat cheese is expensive, so i might use them as a vehicle to eat some greek yogurt i have in the fridge. use what you can!