Beets and Blue Cheese Butter

This dish can be prepared in under 15 minutes. Given that I usually roast beets for an hour in the oven before peeling/prepping them, this is a huge improvement. Plus, the dish gets some great savory notes from the blue cheese and walnuts.


Serves 4-6 as a side dish


3 large beets (about 3 inches diameter) and their greens
1/4 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
about 1 inch block of blue cheese (definitely less than 1 ounce)
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
salt and pepper to taste


1. Prepare beets by peeling skins with a vegetable peeler. Cut the bulbs in half, then half again. Chop each quarter into thin slices about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Coarsely chop the stems and greens into 2 inch pieces.
2. Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat, add garlic until fragrant. Then quickly add the beet root pieces. Stir briefly, then cover and allow to steam for a minute or so. Add the stems and greens and cover again for another minute. Remove cover and stir, distributing the heat and garlic butter.
3. When the beet root is just tender, turn down the heat and crumble blue cheese on top. Let this melt as you carefully stir it in. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with toasted walnuts.