Roasted Beet Stacks - October Secret Recipe Club #Recipe

It has been a long and crazy week. I am almost embarrassed to admit that cooking has not been at the top of my priority list. No, too many projects, appointments, events and deadlines to meet. Add to that all the recent computer/internet issues and I am wiped out.

Please no complicated recipes to follow or new techniques to master. I am spent.

So when it came to my Secret Recipe Club Post this month, I needed something fast, but delicious. I had the pleasure to be assigned to Why I Am Not Skinny for October. As her tagline states, she is a South African living abroad in Brussels and she enjoys sampling as well as writing about the food she eats. Her blog has recipes and a lot of restaurant and event food posts as well.

And if I ever find myself in her corner of the world, I am definitely looking her up for a great restaurant recommendation!  You will be drooling over the places and food she posts.

She does have a recipe section with some delicious offerings to look through. These Beetroot and Cream Cheese Towers stood out to me because it was simple and would utilize the seasonal produce we have right now on the farm. Yep, beets.

Not wanting to stray from her already amazing dessert, I did have to switch up the toasted nuts. I went with toasted and salted hazelnuts (filberts) since they are locally available and pine nuts are something I don't often purchase for the cost.

I surprised my husband with these for lunch. I say surprised because he knew how busy I was and wasn't expecting a treat like this. I couldn't help myself though, they were so easy to make and really were a great start to lunch together.

It all starts with some simple roasting. I like to gently scrub any loose dirt off my beets (remember, they came straight out of the ground) then toss them in olive oil and a pinch of salt before covering in foil and roasting for about an hour.

You will know they are done when they are fork tender and the outer peel just rubs right off with a paper towel.

Then slice and top with cream cheese, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with roasted chopped nuts. I chose hazelnuts, but the original recipe called for pine nuts. Your choice.

Roasted Beet Stacks
original recipe from Why I am Not Skinny

You Will Need:

• 4 medium beets
• cream cheese, softened
• diced chives *optional
• olive oil
• toasted and salted, hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Start by roasting your beets. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Give them a quick scrub, if needed, then pat dry, coat in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and put inside a foil pouch. Roast for 45 minutes to an hour. The beets should be fork tender when done. Let cool enough so you can take off the outer peel. I like to rub mine with a paper towel.

Slice beets into 2 to 3 sliced and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the softened cream cheese and chives, if desired. Place the cream cheese into kitchen wrap and shape to be the same width as the beets. Layer the beets with slices of cream cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Enjoy!

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