My Yiayia Mary loved beets. Her grandchildren did not. So she always made us beets lightly glazed with honey (can be switched out with agave nectar!) and garlic. For years I thought that this was a variation of her own instead of a village recipe as Yiayia told us. To my complete surprise one summer in Greece, I found this dish on the menu of a small beach side cafe in Kalamata!

glazed beet over rice #nofilter #nojoke

The glaze is light and not sticky sweet. Equal parts honey or agave nectar and orange juice, crushed garlic cloves add just the right bridge between the earthy beets and sweet syrup. By allowing the roasted beets to simmer in the glaze, the flavors come together in a very unexpected and completely delicious way.

You can choose your favorite box rice pilaf, I am a Near East junkie, or cook up your own. This is a very filling, satisfying dish and great for lunch the next day though it doesn’t usually hang around that long!

• 8-10 medium, quartered roasted beets
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients, except for the beets, over low heat. Bring up to a slow simmer.

Add quartered, roasted beets to the pan, cover and very gently simmer for 20 minutes.

gently simmer beets in cooking liquid

Remove beets from the cooking liquid, you can discard the liquid, and serve on a bed of rice pilaf. A healthy, hearty meal and guaranteed to make a beet lover out of anyone!

dinner!

With love and thanks to my Yiayia Mary for making a beet fan out of me at an early age – filaikia, Yiayia!