Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese

It's that time of the year when you walk through the framers market and just want to buy everything!

A few weeks ago I was in Baltimore and stopped at this cute little restaurant, Thames Street Oyster House, to enjoy some fresh seafood.  We ordered our entrees and my crab cake burger came with a side of roasted beets and goat cheese.  I thought it would be something like a goat cheese and beet salad.  I was surprised when they arrived at the table in a ramekin with melted goat cheese on top.  When I tried them, I immediately knew I need to try to make them myself.

I started at the farmers market, with a lovely bunch of beets...

Rinse the beets and clean them.  Cut the greens and the tip (roots) off.....

Place the beet on a piece of aluminum foil and sprinkle with olive oil and salt.

Wrap the beet in the foil.  Repeat with the other beets.  Place the wrapped beets on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour or until you can pierce them with a fork and the beets feel soft.

Chop the beats into chunks and squeeze fresh lemon juice all over them.

Divide the beets into individual ramekins.

Sprinkle 1 1/2 tbsp of goat cheese on top of the beats and place in the oven.  The oven should be set to  a low broil to melt the cheese.
Once the cheese has melted, remove the ramekins from the oven.  Sprinkle with chopped mint, about 1/2 Tbsp.

Serve as an appetizer or a side dish.  Goes well with a nice steak!
Thyme 2 Taste!!

Ingredients;

2 bunches of beets, any color (about 6 beets)
1 small log of goat cheese about room temperature
1 lemon
2 Tbsp of chopped mint
Olive oil and kosher salt (for the beets when you wrap them in the foil)

Serves 4

Feel free to purchase different color beets to mix it up a little bit.