On a snowboarding trip in Vermont a few weekends ago, I prepared a somewhat lavish birthday meal for my friend Erin. First course: beet borscht. I trimmed the tops off of a couple pounds of beautiful beets and scrubbed the bulbs under cold water. After patting dry, I sprinkled the beets with olive oil, salt, and freshly ground pepper and wrapped them individually in aluminum foil. After roasting at 375 for a little over an hour, I unwrapped the jewels and sliced and diced a few and snapped the picture above. Beets are truly gorgeous, so deeply crimson with bright magenta juices. The soup ended up as bright and vivid as the sunshine on the snow outside and and the flavor was earthy and sweet. What’s not to like about beets? I think those who claim not to like them either have eaten only canned or pickled beets, or are perhaps just afraid of the unfamiliar. More on beets and the beet borscht soon.