BeErs, Beets, Battlestar Galactica.

Well, two for three. Or 1.5 for three. I did a little play on words with Beers and Bears there.

What did you do this weekend?

I did this:

Souvees!

Leah, Bjorn, our friend Erin (shout out!) and I headed to an International Beer Festival in Thousand Oaks. We were hoping for some good cougar sight seeing, but we only had one possible D list celebrity sighting instead. I'll take it. It was a really nice California evening with wonderful and entertaining company. And some yummy beers! Bears! Beers!

Today I cooked one of my very favorite vegetables. Kimberly Doyle loves this vegetable one million times more than I do, so I dedicate this blog to YOU, momma! I hope you read this. Will someone tell her to read this? Tell Doris, too.

First things first. Put your kitty apron on.

loooooking crazy.

 We have a great farmers market in Camarillo, and I picked up these gems last week:

Red and Gold, like Gryffindor

Roasted Beets

My favorite way to prepare beets is roasted. I think you get a lot more flavor and concentrated moisture than when you boil them. I like to eat them slightly warm on a salad with a strong cheese (goat, bleu, gorgonzola) and balsamic vinegar. Golden, red, whatever, they are ALWAYS good. Yes, Kim, ALWAYS.

Note: This time I tried putting all the beets in one foil pouch to cook them but I recommend individually wrapping the beets snugly in foil in the future. The skins will come off more easily that way.

Ingredients

• Beets (try to pick out beets that are equally sized for equal cooking time)
• Foil
• EVOO
• Salt
• No desire to maintain a manicure

Directions

• Wash and trim beets
• Drain dry
• If necessary, cut beets in halves/thirds so that all are the same size
• Wrap each beet individually in a sheet of foil with a tiny drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt
• Wrap tight so that any leaking juices don't burn in the oven
• Place on a baking sheet
• Bake at 375 for 45 minutes (this time is for lime-sized beets... use your judgment)
• To test for doneness, unwrap one beet (BE CAREFUL!) and stick a knife in it. If it slides out easily, it's done!
• Let cool 15-30 minutes, depending on how impatient you are
• Unwrap and skins will slip right off!
• Slice to your preference and serve

Arrrreee ya done?

INTERMISSION. INTERMISSION. INTERMISSION. INTERMISSION.

Oh, hey sprinkles! You gonna help cook?

Where ya going?

Oh.

RESUME BLOG POST. RESUME BLOG POST. RESUME BLOG POST.

And no salad is complete without a homemade vinaigrette, right? I rarely like balsamic vinaigrettes out of a bottle. And I don't like the excessive oil. So I make my own.

Basic Vinaigrette

Can be adapted one trillion different ways. My favorite way is to add 1 tbsp of nonfat plain greek yogurt to make a creamy balsamic. Amazing!

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp very finely diced (or grated) red onion
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1.5 tbsp good dijon mustard ( I recommend Annie's or Grey Poupon)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together, in order, with a whisk. The mustard will make the oil and vinegar emulsify.

And now you have all the skillz to make a fancypants salad. Like this one:

Lettuce, red onion, red and gold beets, goat cheese, chicken, vinaigrette.

Wonderful way to end the weekend! Who am I kidding... every day is a weekend right now. Gotta get a job...

So now I look like I murdered someone....

And the kitchen looks like a crime scene.

But it was totally deliciously worth it.