My Heart Beets for Slow-Roasted Roots!

Readers, few and celebrated, you will be happy to note that the retreat went well. Of course, my labors were a bit exaggerated with the loving preparations extended to fifteen plates per item. That said, each meal was a triumph, and so I begin posting the recipes in the order they were requested.

Don't mind me, if the preparation suggestions reflect the meditative pace in which they recently manifested themselves.

Conscious Heart Beets Meditation: Easy Does It and Slowly

The color of beets touches a deep, emotional core for me, so I sat down and peeled them slowly, occasioning to glance out the window at the bird-filled trees and shrubs beyond the pool reflecting a perfectly blue southern California sky. Perhaps it was the water that brought a few tears so easily, sweetly. My thoughts flowed toward the significance of this silent task. Fulfilling work that is appreciated, that nourishes and sustains, I considered myself lucky. My mind wandered toward the future, will this practice bring together the many aspects of my professional and personal self? Will I make my family and build community through my natural relationship to "regionable" foods? Back to the present, I rinsed my hands and noted how pink and clean it makes the nails, like a natural manicure, a blessing in itself.

Ingredients
beets
carrots (one third the amount of beets)
turnips, sweet potatoes, potatoes (if you got 'em, cook 'em)
onions (one white or yellow, and some small onions with their greens or shallots, etc.)
olive oil (up to two tbsp below and some to drizzle on top)
your favorite spices (Herbes de Provence, I like fennel, too)
asafoetida (I add it where I might be inclined toward garlic, which not everyone likes)

Utensils
paring knife
chopping knife
pyrex/enamelware/ordinary baking dish
aluminum foil (I don't always use it, and when I do I wash and reuse, but we'll investigate how to live without it, very soon!)

Preparation
Clean and cut your veggies. Start your oven at 450. Put the onions on the bottom of a deep baking pan. Add your oil and 1/2 of your total spice mixture. Add the beets. Stir and make sure everybody is a little bit oily. Add the carrots on top, the rest of your spices, a little more oil, and stir just a little bit, so the carrots don't end up on the bottom. Sprinkle the asafoetida atop and cover with foil. Now wait.

This could take awhile, certainly at least an hour, so just check on them once in awhile and stir them occasionally (twice is good), so they don't burn, a little sticking is yummy though. (The clear pan makes the vigil easier.) When they are nearly done, tender to your fork and aromatic to your nose, take off the foil and add a little oil, if you've been terribly sensible. Now, broil them for five minutes to put a gratin-y veneer on top.

Eat with a big salad! (Or with the lentil walnut burgers coming soon!)

To Quicken this Process
You could boil the beets first, if you need to cut down the prep time or wish to decrease how long you use the oven. (Add the carrots, use baby carrots for even less prep, and any potato-like things later or they will get very soggy.) You could even sauté the onions with the spices while you're your boiling.

Or you could practice breathing or read a novel or play with the kids. (It'll be fine, just turn it down to 350, if you're going to be outside for more than 1o minutes.)

These veggies are worth the wait.