Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Golden Beets & Farro

This is an unusual – and totally delicious – combination of flavors, colors, and textures–

Ingredients

• Brussels sprouts, trimmed & halved (unless they’re tiny)

• Golden beets, peeled & cut into chunks (see note #1)

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Pecans, whole or not (optional)

• Cooked farro (or other grain),

• Balsamic vinegar or apple saba (see note #2)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

• Place the sprouts and beets in a roasting pan or pans (you need to give the pieces enough “social distance” from each other so that they will brown and not steam).

• Drizzle a tablespoon or so of olive oil over the vegetables, and toss. Add more oil if you need it, just to coat the vegetables.

• Roast until the vegetables are just tender when you insert fork, at least a half hour.

• Remove from pan and toss in just a bit of vinegar to brighten up the flavors.

• In a separate pan in the oven, or in a toaster oven, or in a dry frying pan, cook the pecans until they’re just crisp (this does NOT take long!)

• In a large enough bowl, place the farro and top with the vegetables and then the pecans.

NOTE #1

If you find the flavor of red beets to be too strong, try yellow beets , which are milder. And if you hate beets altogether, then butternut squash would be great.

NOTE #2

Saba is a thick syrup made from fruit and used as a condiment. When grapes are used, the saba becomes the base for balsamic vinegar. We used apple saba because Joanna received a bottle of it as a gift and thought what the heck? We loved it.