Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Meal Prep: Roasted Green Beans and Beets


Prior to making this dish I had never had beets before. Now that I've tried them and found out I really like them I can't wait to incorporate them into all sorts of dishes this summer. Beets are a great source of folate, which help protect the body from stroke and helps reduce blood pressure. So beets are healthy, they're beneficial to the body, and they're delicious so eat up! 

Originally I was just going to roast green beans and beets, but I had extra vegetables in the fridge so I threw those in as well. I'm trying to use up all the food in my refrigerator and freezer so nothing goes to waste when I move home for the summer. Throw in as many vegetables as you'd like- I bet asparagus would be delicious in this dish!

Roasted Green Beans and Beets
  • 1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
  • 2 beets, previously roasted and cut into slices*
  • 1 large carrot, sliced
  • handful baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons walnuts, broken into pieces
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • garlic salt to taste
  • basil to taste

Line a baking sheet with tin foil or spray with nonstick cook spray. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Spread all sliced vegetables on baking sheet. Try to spread them out as evenly as possible so everything cooks evenly.

Drizzle olive oil over top of the vegetables. 

Roast for 20-25 minutes then add in broken walnut pieces. Continue roasting for an additional 7-10 minutes. The time will vary because every oven is different. Keep an eye on the vegetables. The green beans should be tender but not burnt. 

Serve with quinoa veggie burgers. These veggies are also delicious with a little feta cheese sprinkled on top. 

Allow the vegetables to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for the week.

*I used previously roasted beets to really bring out the flavor in the beets. 

To roast a beet:
  • First wash it, if it has the leafs still attached trim those off.
  • Line a baking sheet with tin foil or wrap the beets individually in tin foil. It is important to wrap the beets in tin foil or line a baking sheet because the beets will drip and it's a mess to clean up.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Place beets on foiled covered pan and drizzle a little olive oil over them. 
  • Take an additional piece of tin foil and cover the pan with the beets. You do not want to completely cover the pan, leave a few inches on either side of the pan uncovered. If you're wrapping the beets in tinfoil ignore this step. 
  • Roast at 400 degrees F for 60 minutes. 
  • Pull the beets out to check them. To check if they are done poke the beets with a fork. If the fork easily slides in the beets are done, if it takes a bit of effort to get the fork in place the beets back in the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
  • Check the beets again using the same fork test. Medium beets take anywhere from 1.5-2 hours to roast.
  • Once the beets are done allow them to cool before removing the skin.
  • Removing the skin is a messy process. The red of the beet will stain anything it comes in contact with, clothing, counter tops, and skin included (it took a few hand washings but the red did come out of my hands).
  • I found it was easiest to use a knife to peel off the skin, but you can also run the beet under cold water and scrub the skin off with a scrubby sponge. 
  • When the skin is removed cut the beets into pieces of desired thickness. 

Nutrition per serving (based on 5 servings- they weren't measured but eyeballed to be about equal):
MACROS: 7C/5F/2P
Nutrition Facts
Servings 5.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 75
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 5 g8 %
Saturated Fat 1 g3 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg0 %
Sodium 34 mg1 %
Potassium 183 mg5 %
Total Carbohydrate 7 g2 %
Dietary Fiber 2 g9 %
Sugars 3 g
Protein 2 g4 %
Vitamin A40 %
Vitamin C10 %
Calcium2 %
Iron4 %


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