Roasted Beet Wild Rice

With fresh herbs, nuts & Dijon vinaigrette, this roasted beet wild rice is a simple, healthy vegan side that makes the most of multitasking.

After 16 years, our oven called it quits and our other appliances were giving us all the signs that they were about to give out.

Buying new kitchen appliances was not on my purchase list, but unfortunately, we didn’t have a choice.

In my ideal world, new appliances would have come as part of a kitchen renovation. For now, my inspiration images will continue to live on a Pinterest board

More than anything, I am very grateful we were able to handle this unexpected expense. With most home repairs, things come completely out of nowhere.

It can really throw you off!

Even though the appliances may not involve my full dream kitchen, I am still enjoying them.

I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a fridge that doesn’t freeze things in the bottom third.

It’s the little things!

With all this newfound space, I have been able to actually see what I have in the refrigerator, which has been great for my weekly veggie box.

I am sure that I would have lost track of 2 bunches of beets if they were crammed in the back of the old fridge.

Instead, I saw them in time to roast them at their best.

Beets are a root vegetable that you can use in lots of different ways.

They have a distinct earthy flavor but manage to be mellow.

I eat them with greens in a roasted beet orange kale salad. Beets are great with citrus.

Another classic pairing with beets is goat cheese. Try them in a fancy grilled cheese.

I will even roast thinly sliced beets for oven-baked beet chips.

Beets also make a good grain side mixed with fresh herbs and vinaigrette.

For this roasted beet wild rice, you can serve it warm or at room temperature.

And leftovers are tasty cold from the fridge!

How To Make Roasted Beet Wild Rice

This recipe lends itself to multitasking.

While one component is cooking you can work on the other two.

I like to think of it as 3 parts:

1. Beets
2. Rice
3. Vinaigrette

The first step is to roast the beets. I prefer using a mix of red and golden beets for color.

To roast them, just drizzle the beets with olive oil, salt and pepper and tuck them into loose foil packets.

Then put the beets on a sheet pan and roast at 400 degrees F for 45-50 minutes until you can easily pierce them with a knife.

Open the packets and give the beets a few minutes to cool. After that, use towels to rub off the skin and dice the beets.

While the beets are roasting in the oven, you can make the wild rice on the stovetop.

In the ultimate act of multitasking, its easy to whisk together the vinaigrette while the beets are roasting, and the rice is simmering.

The vinaigrette is a combination of Dijon mustard, champagne vinegar, olive oil salt and pepper.

Then I use a large bowl to put everything together.

No surprise, the more your stir the beets, the more they will stain the rice.

Because of that, I start with the rice, vinaigrette, parsley and chopped pecans.

Finally, I fold the beets slowly into the rice.

I don’t mind some color transfer in this roasted beet wild rice.

But no worries if yours turns out fuchsia!

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