We have had a lot of Thanksgivings that weren’t at home. I’ve always volunteered to cook and love doing it. The first-ever Thanksgiving with my son Alex and his family was one I will never forget. It was my first West Coast Thanksgiving. I wanted to bring some color to the meal. Not only do beets bring a shot of color to the amazingly ‘brown’ Thanksgiving table, if you use the recipe for salad that appears here, your beets will look positively stunning. I also incorporated California’s own Laura Chenel’s Goat Cheese for a homerun. Beets not only make a beautiful appearance in any 
buffet or on your Thanksgiving plates, they are almost invaluable once you discover this simple method for making them. That’s because flying in the face of all those who would roast their beets, thereby taking up valuable space in the already overworked oven, these beets are prepared on the stovetop. For flavor and to keep the beets from bleeding, you can add any one of three things: Lemon Juice to give them great tang, Orange Juice to sweeten the already sweet beets or Vinegar which basically pickles the beets as they cook. The skins slip off the finished beets and you can then refrigerate them until you’re ready to use them. And you’ll lose count of the ways you can serve them.First here’s the simple recipe for cooking beets on the stovetop:
1 Recipe for Boiled Beets (as above)
Prep Time 10 minutes. Cooking Time 45 mins. Cooling time: 60 mins
3 pounds beets, preferably a mix of gold and red beets, trimmed.jpeg)
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt
2 (5-ounce) package baby spinach
6 Laura Chenel’s Goat Cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1 Recipe Vinaigrette (see following recipe)
1. Place garlic cloves on the cutting board, and sprinkle with a small amount of kosher salt. Using flat side of a knife, smash cloves into a paste. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil. Toss quartered beets and garlic in oil to coat.
2. Place spinach on a large serving platter. Arrange beet wedges over spinach. Sprinkle beets with goat cheese and walnuts. Drizzle with Vinaigrette. Makes 8 servings.
In a screw-top jar combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Cover; shake well to combine. Makes 1/2 cup.
1. Place the beets in a large saucepan and add water to cover the lemon juice or vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Place pot under running cold water and let rinse until beets can be handled. The skins can now be easily peeled off. Refrigerate the beets, covered until you want to use them. The possibilities are now endless. Here are some ways to serve your boiled beets.
