Roasted Beets with Whipped Feta and Micro Greens or Whipped Blue Cheese and Walnut
Overview
This simple yet crowd pleasing appetizer came to fruition on an autumn day when a friend of mine was hosting a party for a large group.
I didn’t have time to go to the grocery store, but I had beets in my fridge from that weeks CSA. In my fridge, I always have crumbled blue cheese, feta, and goat cheese. From there, this recipe was born.
Serves approximately 24 depending on how thick you slice the beets (note: serving number is for either the whipped feta beets OR the whipped blue cheese beets. Of course, feel free to make half and half, but you may have leftover cheese mixture…not always a bad thing!)
Hi, I’m Jackie, Founder of Jackie Cooks and Drinks, and a BIG believer that cooking, creating and entertaining should be FUN.
Shopping List
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4 large beets
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4-6 ounces of whipped cream cheese OR 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
OR
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4-6 ounces of feta cheese OR 4-6 ounces of blue cheese (I prefer to use Maytag Blue or Great Hill)
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1/2 lemon for whipped feta
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24 toasted walnuts for whipped blue cheese
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Coarse sea salt and pepper to taste
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Micro greens for garnish on the whipped feta beets
MEthod
For the beets
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees
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Wash and scrub 4 beets and trim the ends
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Place beets on aluminum foil, drizzle liberally with olive oil, salt, and pepper
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Wrap beets in extra foil and place on pan in oven.
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Roast for 45-60 minutes until fork tender.
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Peel beets when easy to touch. Beet skin should slide right off with your fingers.
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Slice beets 1/4” thick and place on a platter in the fridge to cool entirely.
For the Whipped Feta
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Place 4-6 ounces of room temperature whipped cream cheese and 4-6 ounces of room temperature crumbled feta in a bowl.
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Whip the two ingredients until smooth. I like to use my stand mixer for this with the whisk attachment, but a hand held mixer will do the job!
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Whisk in juice from 1/2 a lemon
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Add salt and pepper to taste
For the Whipped Blue Cheese
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Place 4-6 ounces of room temperature blue cheese in a bowl and whip until smooth.
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Add 1/4-1/2 cup of heavy cream and whip until thick. Add a little heavy cream at a time until the mixture is fluffy and not thin.
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Add salt and pepper to taste
Assembly
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Take beets out of the refrigerator and by either using a piping bag or a spoon, place a dollop of the topping on each beet.
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For the whipped feta, place a small amount of micro greens on top of each beet.
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For the whipped blue cheese, place a toasted walnut on top of the dollop.
*To toast walnuts, place walnuts in a 350 degree oven for no more than 10 minutes; check after about 3-4 minutes and give the pan a shake. When you smell the walnuts, remove from the oven.