Roasted Chiogga Beets

I harvested a huge batch of beets on Monday night, for dinner with friends.  I pulled up at least a dozen of the tasty tubers.  I know it's summer when my kitchen sink has dirt and mud in it.  :)

I roasted the beets in aluminum foil, with EVOO, salt and pepper, on the grill for about 10 minutes.  (I had sliced them up, which helped them cook quickly.)  This was the first time, that I could recall, where I cooked up the greens as well!  After giving them a thorough rinsing, I destemmed the leaves with a paring knife.  Then I heated up some EVOO on the stove, added some diced onion, some minced garlic and simmered those until fragrant.  Then I added the leaves, which I had torn into smaller pieces.  It took about 3 minutes for the leaves to wilt.

I then grabbed a dish and loaded up the greens, added the roasted beets, and topped it all off with some herbed goat cheese.  The dish was a hit with my friends!

We're having a heat spell here in the Chicago area so my friends and I opted for a dinner of summer salads.
Other items we dined on that night:
-arugala, pumpkin seed, feta and watermelon salad in a balsamic dressing
-diced tomatoes with basil
-white bean and chick pea puree
-fresh baked bread and butter (I love being friends with a baker!)
-and homemade macaroons dipped in dark chocolate

and to drink we had arnold palmers with fresh made sun tea and lemonade.  YUM!