French Roasted Beets

Who loves beets? Red beets - golden beets - beets, beets, beets. I participated in a top chef cooking competition at school last week and the secret ingredient was beets. Granted our team didn't win (we got a close 3rd place) but this appetizer was a big hit.

French Roasted Beets
3 beets - golden or red
A small log of goat cheese
Fresh basil - 8 leaves
Balsamic vinaigrette
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut the tops and bottoms off each beet; wash thoroughly
3. Take out a piece of tin foil big enough to wrap the beet
4. Drizzle olive oil over the beet; season with salt and pepper to taste
5. Seal the tin foil over the beet; repeat for each beet
6. Bake beets for 1 hr at 400 degrees
7. After an hour, take beets out of the oven and let cool for 15 min
8. Carefully peel each beet - the skin should come off easily with a fork
9. Cut each beet across the width (pretend like the beet is the globe; cut on the latitudinal)
10. Find a cookie cutter equivalent for an inch diameter circle - I used the top from a spice container; cut circles from the roasted beet slices
11. Lay the beet slices out on a tray
12. Scoop out goat cheese and put a small dollop on each beet circle
13. Add shredded basil on top of each beet circle
14. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette on top

Serve with tooth picks. Enjoy!