My Mama's Beets

This recipe is something my mom makes every week, usually for Shabbat dinner. It is usually served as a side salad, but I think they can be great on top of an arugula salad with some goat cheese and pine nutes, or even a sprinkling of pine nut brittle. This is a really simple recipe that any beginner can make to impress his or her guests anytime of the year!

Warning: Make sure you have some disposable gloves on hand, unless of course you want to dye your hands red!

My Mama's Beets (makes enough to fill up a 13 cup Glad plastic container)

15 red or yellow beets

1 1/2 cups canola oil (can use vegetable oil instead)

1 1/2 cup red wine vinegar

juice of 3 fresh lemons

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Boil beets in a large pot filled with water, be sure water covers all the beets in the pot. Boil for about 2 hours on medium heat or until they are fork tender.

2. Put on your disposable gloves and rinse in the sink a few times, to get rid of some of the red dye. See photo below. (FYI that's my mama helping me peek some of the beets!)

3. With gloves on peel the skin off the beets, rinse under water, and place cleaned beets into a large bowl. The skin comes off very easily without a knife. All you need to do is squeeze gently around the beet and you will see the skin peels off.

4. Keeping the gloves on, slice each beet in half and then slice each half into thin slices and place in a large container.

5. To dress the beets combine oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a small bowl, mix together, and then pour into your container and place in the fridge to cool. Make sure that all the beets are covered in the dressing, this helps preserve the beets. (They will last a long time, up to two weeks in the fridge.) See photo below.