Fall harvest is a great time to explore the flavors of roasted root vegetables. Today, I introduce you to a recipe using my two favorites, beets and carrots. Root vegetables are sweet and nourishing. They have a lot of natural sugars in them, that can help us move from hot Summer Season to cooler Fall days. They were favored in times past because of their long-lasting nature in Winter storage. When peeled, cut and mixed with seasonings, their best flavor really shines. And nutrition-wise, their rich, dark colors show how they are full of antioxidants.

Many people know that carrots have beta-carotene, a form of vitamin A. One cup provides 20,000 IU. Other carrot nutrients include vitamin C, folic acid (important pre- pregnancy), calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium. They also usually contain selenium, a hard to get vitamin that helps with liver detox, among other things.

Beets are also amazing nutrition-wise: they have anti-oxidants called “betalains” in them that help neutralize free radicals and detoxify the liver. They also contain plentiful amounts of vitamins C, niacin (a B vitamin), iron, potassium and copper. More nutrients included in these red jewels include folic acid (a B vitamin, important pre-pregnancy), zinc, calcium, phosphorous, manganese, and magnesium. (Many people are deficient in magnesium due to a lack now in soils and thus vegetables. Including it in your daily nutrition can help lower muscle cramping, and improve sleep.)

If you buy beet green tops, those are also nutritious when used raw in salads or cooked. And try them as a cooked, fermented vegetable with the beets. They are quite good.

Here’s the Roasted Beets and Carrots Recipe:

Heat oven to 410F-425F. Place oven racks in the middle of the oven vertically. (Or try using an Air Fryer here on its highest setting. Beware of using anything for the fat except animal fats, that can take high heat. See the info two paragraphs down related to fats and the heat tolerance for each.)

Trim off the stem ends of 3-5 carrots and 3-5 beets. Peel the skin off. Cut into small pieces: 1/4 inch widths and 3-4” lengths for carrots. Cut the beets into 1/4” thickness pieces. Put into a bowl.

Melt some fat in a pot until liquid. Grass-fed animal fat would be best. Pork fat and duck fat taste well. Coconut oil would be a 2nd choice, and is safe for high temps. **Butter would not be a good idea because it will smoke at high temps. (Ask me how I know!) Avoid using vegetable oils would also smoke and become carcinogenic, if used at high heats. They also contain transfats, which can lock your cell walls open in an unhealthy way, and often contain chemical residues, too. Fun times!)

Pour the melted fat over the beets and carrots. Salt with sea salt while mixing well. You could also flavor them with black pepper, dry oregano, dry ground thyme, powdered onion, or powdered garlic if you wish.

Move the vegetables to a flat metal cookie sheet. Bake in a very hot oven for about 30-40 minutes total, stirring and turning once at 15-20 minutes in. Test with a fork; they are done when tender enough to eat.

You may choose to mix in other vegetables in with the beets and carrots: large pieces of white onion, winter squashes, summer squashes (like zucchini), cauliflower. Just try to cut the pieces to their size depending on how hard they are, and how they long they would take to cook. Beets are harder then zucchini, so you would cut the beets smaller and zucchini larger.

Enjoy this easy, nutritious, and warming Fall recipe.

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*Nutrition info in paragraph 3 and 4 from: Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Elson M. Haas, M.D. with Buck Levin, PhD, RD, and from Diana Sproul’s education, as well.