There’s nothing better than the spiced scent of freshly baked goods as it spreads from the oven and wafts through the air of every room; or that gratifying, warm belly feeling once you’ve had your slice. 

In the spirit of the winter season, let’s get in the habit of incorporating more seasonal produce into our diet. Winter recipes such as this delicious roasted balsamic beets and rutabaga dish help us experiment with different foods other than your traditional pumpkin and squash and keep the kitchen life interesting. 

It doesn’t end there—another perk of using winter produce is that it supports our local farmers, agricultural production and boosts economic growth. 

When’s the last time you thought to use any root vegetable for your weekly meal prep or as a part of your fancy plate at dinner parties? They’re a lot easier to integrate with your meals than you think. 

Start with a quick and easy beet and rutabaga dish—both vegetables are packed with lots of nutrients and have endless health benefits. Beets stabilize blood pressure and help improve digestion, while rutabagas are high in antioxidants and promote bowel health, to name a few. 

With a formula this simple, you can add several different complementary veggies to the recipe and it’ll add even more heartiness to the dish. There are tons of ways to tweak and upgrade the recipe to suit your liking, so stick around for a list of top picks. 

You’d be surprised at how upscale it tastes compared to how long it took you to prepare it. Try out the recipe listed below and find out just how easy it is to make food gourmet! 

Ingredients 

• 3 red beets
• 3 golden beets
• 3 rutabagas
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme and rosemary, chopped (dried works too!) 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Wash thoroughly and peel the vegetables 
3. Slice the vegetables into uniform wedges (the thinner the wedges, the easier for them to bake!)
4. Place onto a baking pan and drizzle some extra olive oil 
5. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle herbs over the wedges 
6. Place in oven and let them roast for an hour, checking in on them every 15 minutes with a skewer to ensure they aren’t burned over over-cooked 
7. Sprinkle fresh herbs and seasonings once removed from the oven, then bake for an additional 15 minutes 
8. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Top tip

Upgrade your dish with other leftover ingredients you’ve got at home with these different veggies for an even more flavourful, colourful and well-rounded meal. 

Great add-ons or alternatives for the recipe: 

• Red potatoes → for a subtle sweetness 
• Sweet potatoes → for a more pungent sweetness 
• Parsnips and turnips → for an added nutty, earthier flavour 
• Radishes → for a spicy kick 
• Carrots → for a woody, earthier flavour
• Yellow onions → for some spicier sharpness 
• White onions → for a stronger, spicier sharpness 
• Red onions → for some sharpness with a hint of sweet 
• Garlic cloves → for warm, earthier heat 

Looking for in-season produce at amazing discounts? Check out the FoodHero app to save 25% to 65% off groceries!