for beets' sake! or, CSA experiment #2

Okay, so... I hate beets. Or, at least I thought I did. So, I'll admit it wasn't entirely unintentional that the veggie from our CSA that I decided to experiment with for a dish I was taking to a party to share was the bunch of beets we received.

Turns out that apparently beets can be pretty good. So many people asked for the recipe that I am posting it here. I'm pretty proud of myself given that I made this for the party in hopes that at least *someone* would like it, and I wouldn't have to take the offending beets home with me. I had no idea the dish would be completely empty by that evening! It was inspired by an epicurious recipe, but is substantially different because I had different ingredients and proportions.

Beet Risotto with Goat Cheese

6 large or 8 small servings

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bunch baby red beets, diced (Mine were a combination of red ace and chioggia, about 1" to 1.5" in diameter. You could probably also use a couple of large beets, peeled and diced)
1 c (or so) arborio rice
3-4 c vegetable broth (low sodium if not homemade)
1 T (or so) balsamic vinegar (I used a 10 year aged O brand one. I think the more expensive aged vinegars are worth it for uses like this. I didn't really measure, so you may want to add more to taste.)
Salt & pepper
3-4 oz. soft goat cheese, crumbled

Melt butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add beets and onion and sprinkle with salt. Saute for a few minutes, until onion is soft. Mix in rice and saute for about 1 minute until rice is coated and translucent. Add 3 c. broth and vinegar. Increase heat slightly and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat slowly to keep the pan at a simmer constantly. The whole dish should be brilliantly red! If the rice starts to look dry, add more broth. Stir frequently to ward off sticking. Simmer uncovered until rice is tender and creamy and beets are still barely crunchy. This took me about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust as needed. I'll admit I skipped this part because I was scared of the beets, so it's a good thing that it turned out for the best. Serve topped with crumbled goat cheese.

My goat cheese got sort of warm in my purse while I was walking to the party where it was served, so it didn't really crumble very well, but it was just as good with a little hunk of goat cheese cut off the log on top. :)

It was really pretty--I'm kind of sad that I don't have a photo. :) I have beets again this week, so maybe we'll have beet risotto again next weekend!