Pasta with Roasted Beets & Toasted Walnuts

I have a few rules in life: Floss. Keep a budget. Eat dessert – life is short. Always get your company’s 401K match. If roasted beets are on the menu, order them.

Last night, I was craving roast beets and knew I couldn’t go out in search of a beet salad after updating my Mint.com dining out budget. So instead I bought four beets and roasted them. And snacked on them like candy. (Then I made macaroons because beets really aren’t candy but that’s another post.)

Today when I came home from lunch, I had a tupperware of divine roasted beets staring at me, a dying basil plant (please help!) and some leftover orecchiette. I threw it all together, alongside a few other goodies, and lunch was incredible. So make this your new rule: if you see a roasted beet recipe, make it. Starting now.

Pasta with Roasted Beets & Toasted Walnuts

serves 1 but can easily be doubled!
Approximate nutrition stats: 421 calories, 18 g fat (3 g sat., 8 g polyunsat, 7 g monounsat), 9 g fiber, 9 g protein

• 1 – 1.5 cups cooked whole wheat orecchiette (or other pasta shape that you dig)
  • If you’re making the pasta fresh, set aside about 1/4 c. of the pasta water before draining. If it’s leftover pasta, don’t worry about it.
• 1 small beet
•  1 t olive oil + extra for roasting beets
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 5-6 leaves basil, sliced
• 2 T or so chopped walnuts
• a pinch of sweetener (stevia powder, sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup)
• freshly ground black pepper & salt

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel and dice your beets, place in a baking dish, and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt & freshly ground pepper. Roast for 40-45 minutes, stirring occassionally, until tender. [This can be done the night before. Just let your beets cool a bit and stick in the fridge til you’re ready to use them.]

2. Meanwhile cook your pasta according to package directions; be sure to reserve some pasta water. If you’re using leftover pasta, you can go watch an episode of Revenge while waiting for your beets to cook.

3. Over medium heat, toast your walnuts in a dry saute pan until they smell fragrant. Careful not to burn them! Set aside.

4. Once your beets and pasta are done, set aside.

5. In a medium pan over medium high heat, add the 1 t of olive oil, 1 T red wine vinegar, 2-3 tablespoons water (use the reserved pasta water if you have it, or otherwise just tap water), your sweetener of choice (i used a teensy bit of stevia powder), the minced garlic and your drained pasta.Saute until you start to see a little sauce form on your pasta. Add more water as necessary. Most of the water will evaporate but you need enough to create that saucy goodness.

6. Add your diced beets and toss gently with the pasta and garlic sauce. Saute for 2-3 more minutes to heat everything well, stirring gently.

7. Place your pasta & beet mixture on a plate, top with the basil and sliced walnuts. Season with extra black pepper and salt to taste. I like it with a lot of freshly ground black pepper! Enjoy!

*I think this would also be awesome with goat or feta cheese crumbled on top!

What’s one of your life rules?