Passover Eats - Part 4: Roasted Beets and Asparagus

Passover also rules out one of our stand-by veggies, green beans. So the natural green choice is asparagus. Instead of just a boring steamed asparagus, I found a Mario Batali recipe online for roasted beets and asparagus. His recipe called for a frisee salad - I left that out (too fussy) To make it more colorful (and less messy), I bought some golden beets instead of the traditional red. This was an easy recipe and just requires some time in the oven.

Roasted Beets and Asparagus
5 golden beets
14 spears of asparagus
2 tbsp. olive oil + 4 tbsp. of olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Spread kosher salt on a baking sheet (covering the sheet)
Place unpeeled beets on the baking sheet
Put in the oven for 45 minutes
While the beets are cooking, cut the woody ends off of the asparagus
When the 45 minutes are up, open the oven and place the asparagus around the beets (on top of the salt)
Return to the oven and cook for an additional 15 minutes
Remove from the oven and place the asparagus on a platter
Drizzle 2 tbsp. of olive oil over the asparagus + a pinch of the salt from the baking sheet
Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces
Let the beets cool for about 5 minutes and then peel
I cut them into halves, and then half moon shapes
Place in bowl and toss with the balsamic vinegar and 4 tbsp. olive oil
Season with pepper

Arrange asparagus and beets on a serving platter and enjoy! I served this dish at room temperature. It was delicious!

Summary:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour (non-active)
Baking sheet, platter, bowl, measuring cups, tongs, serving utensils