Pickled Beets = yum yum yum

I love most things pickled. Never give me sugar again, but I wouldn't survive without salty snacks. Being pregnant and all, I'm supposed to be eating well, namely cramming veggies down my throat every meal of every day.

Beets are a great source of nutrients such as vitamin C, dietary fiber, iron and calcium. I never had them as a child and wasn't quite sure how to prepare them as an adult. One of my coworkers introduced me to canned pickled beets and I was hooked.

I decided to try out Alton Brown's pickled beets recipe, since any time I want to cook something new I just Google the food with Alton Brown's name next to it.

He has you roast the beets with shallots, olive oil and fresh rosemary. Since shallots cost a lot up here, I just used some red onion instead.

He also instructs you to put the beets in jars. I didn't have any big jars so I just used a big tupperware container with a tightly fitting lid and that worked just fine.

After several days in the fridge, I tasted them and they were fantastic. There were a little on the crunchy side (I think my beets were larger than the recipe called for so they probably didn't cook as quickly in the oven) but the beets were infused with rosemary. I felt the flavor would be more balanced with a little more sweetness so I just added a bit more sugar and let the beets pickle another couple of days.

These will last in the fridge for a long time, but I think I'll eat through them pretty quickly.

Here's his recipe:

Ingredients

• Roasted Beets, recipe follows
• 1 large red onion, frenched
• 1 cup tarragon wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Directions

Remove the skin from the Roasted Beets and slice thinly. Arrange in 1-quart jars alternating layers with the onion. In a small pot boil the rest of the ingredients and pour over the beets. Tightly lid the jars and place in the refrigerator for 3 to 7 days before serving.

Roasted Beets:

• 6 medium beets, cleaned with 1-inch stem remaining
• 2 large shallots, peeled
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl toss all of the ingredients. Place into a foil pouch and roast in the oven for 40 minutes.