Roasted Beets, Broccoli & Butternut Squash with Goat Cheese & Brown Butter
I detested beets as a kid. And I never understood how on earth my mom could enjoy...much less, eat the things in her Greek salad. The taste, the texture...the simple fact that they dye any other food they touch...it was just too weird. Oh, how times have changed. While beets still aren't one of my most favorite veggies, they've definitely become rather appealing to my palate recently, especially when prepapred correctly.
On another note, any of you guys big fans of the show, The Office? I'm kind of obsessed...and have been for quite some time. After having watched it season after season when it was still in production, I've continued to watch endless repeat episodes through Netflix. In fact, I believe I'm marathoning it (on my downtime) for the 3rd time around. I have no shame. As far as I'm concerened, it's one of the best shows that's ever aired. I even think it gives Seinfled a run for its money. Yeah, I said it.
If you watch The Office, then you know that one of its main characters, Dwight, owns a beet farm. The guy is just so odd that you just have to love him. Well, it was when I was watching the Office last week that I realized I had never in my life, cooked beets. It was due time.
I didn't want to cook only beets. It's autumn after all. There had to be some Fall flair going on. So I chose to roast them along with some butternut squash. But it was then that I realized both ingredients are rather sweet and a bitter veggie might mellow out the creation. Broccoli would do the trick. Yet, I still wanted some more excitement. A veggie dish that my meat-loving man wouldn't turn his nose at. And that's when this healthy veggie concotion took a turn for the worse...into a not so healthy side at all.
Nope, not healthy at all. But...it's damn delicious. The creamy and tangy goat cheese with the sweet roasted veggies and the rich, nutty brown butter...with even more nuttiness and crunch from the pine nuts. Yeah, it's probably the most dreamy vegetable dish I've ever eaten.
Did I mention that this might be one of my most easy recipes to date? You're welcome.
Roasted Beets, Broccoli, and Butternut Squash With Goat Cheese and Pine Nut Brown Butter
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh beets, peeled and cut in quarters (or sixths if they're big)
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut in 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2-3 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon pine nuts
salt
Directions:
1) Pre-heat oven to 380 degrees. Combine chopped broccoli, squash, and beets in a large casserole dish. Pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/4 cup orange juice and mix so that all the veggies are coated. Then, sprinkle a generous pinch of salt on the veggies and stir.
2) Place in the oven for 40-50 minutes, turning the veggies over once after 25 minutes.
3) Remove from oven and sporadically "dot" with goat cheese. Place back in the oven for 5 minutes.
4) While goat cheese is melting over the veggies, prepare the pine nut brown butter. In a small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter and stir over medium heat until brown. Be careful not to burn the butter. When the butter is caramel in color, remove from heat and stir in the pine nuts.
5) Take the veggies out of the oven and serve on a platter or in a serving bowl. Pour the pine nut brown butter on top.
6) Enjoy!
