I've always loved earthy, homey comfort foods.  As much as the sunshine of summer makes me happy, come August, I'm longing for a good braised anything, even though I know it will make John look at me funny when I serve him pot roast in the 95 degree heat.  I think of my admiration of root vegetables being tightly linked to this - substantial, meaty turnips and rutabega, jerusalem artichokes, I love them all.
So, kind of funny in the midst of all of this that I had never tried beets until the last year.  Okay, so, yes, I guess I had tried beets, if you count the slightly scary pickled version canned on the grocer's shelf - don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of picking in general, but... no.  So you can imagine my surprise upon ordering a lovely salad with roasted beets to learn that they were delicious (you might wonder why I ordered it if I didn't think I liked beets; clearly my love for goat cheese exceeds my imagined distaste for beets).  Since then, if there's a beet on a menu, I order it; if there's a beet on John's plate, I quickly distract him so I can eat it.  And if I have an evening with more than 20 minutes to get dinner on the table, you will quite often see beets there.

 
 
The cooking method for beets is pretty straightforward - you can boil them or you can roast them.  You can cut them up before cooking to cut the time, but I'll warn you that I was not a fan of this method as it left the outer edges a bit drier than I like.  As I experimented with my beets, I was thrilled to realize just how great the greens are as an accompaniment - I love that I'm able to use nearly all of the vegetable, and it makes a simple, cheap all-in-one side dish.  And the sharpness and crunch of the greens is a perfect foil to the sweet creaminess of the beets.  I top all of this with a sprinkle of goat cheese and... heaven. 

Roasted Beets on Wilted Greens (serves 4)

One bunch of beets (3 large or 4 small)

NOTE: I find that one bunch of beets yields plenty of beets for our family of four, but is a bit short on greens.  This works out okay for us, because my kids are happy to not have the greens on their plate, but if you are serving to four adults, you may wish to supplement the beet greens with other sharp greens - maybe arugula.

2T olive oil

1/2 of a small onion, chopped very fine

splash of red wine vinegar

2 oz goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375 (or whatever temperature you are cooking dinner at - these are pretty forgiving).  Chop the stems and dangling roots from the beet bulbs, reserving the green leaves.  Wash them well under cold water and wrap loosely in aluminum foil.  Place on a small sheet pan and roast for 45 - 60 minutes, until a knife easily goes through the largest beet.

NOTE:  These will hold their heat very well after you remove them from the oven, so I usually toss them in about 90 minutes before dinner so I can be sure they are cooked through and that I have time to cut them up at the end.

2. In the meantime, very carefully rinse the beet greens under lots of cold water - these tend to have splatters of clay that really stick, so it's worth rinsing each one individually.  Cut out the thicker red veins from the center of the leaves, tear into bite sized pieces, and rinse one more time for good measure.

3. Once you have removed the beets from the oven, open the foil package to let them cool slightly, then gently slip the skins off with your fingers.  Dice the cooked beets into bite sized pieces and salt very lightly.

4. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, then cook the onion until translucent.  Add the beet greens (okay if they still have water clinging to them), sprinkle very lightly with coarse salt and pepper, and saute until wilted - this will take a bit longer than spinach does, as these greens are a little tougher.  When they are fully wilted, add a splash of red wine vinegar.  I've found that the greens can get a bit salty if you're not careful, so recommend a light hand with salt and tasting for flavor both here and on the beets themselves.

5. To assemble the dish, put down a small pile of beet greens, top with the diced beets, and sprinkle with goat cheese.

For my 28th birthday, John took me for a Classical French cuisine course at the Culinary Institute of America.  We spent a wonderful weekend in beautiful Hyde Park, visited the Roosevelt Presidential Library and ate a LOT. 

As if the trip wasn't a completely amazing gift on its own, he also gave me the cookbook Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America, and this was the first dish I made from it.  The picture completely drew me in - soft mushroom filling, wrapped in crisply breaded chicken paillards, topped with a delicate, creamy sauce.  And you know what?  These roulades completely lived up to my expectations.

 
While this certainly isn't a quick meal to throw together on a weeknight, it's also not an hours-in-the-kitchen dish, and it's well worth the extra time.  It comes together in three basic steps - making the stuffing, preparing the roulades, and making the sauce.  And it is so worth it - crispy and warm outside, salty and savory inside, topped with a silky cream sauce.

Keep reading for the recipe - trust me, you want to make this!

Adapted from Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America

You can make the stuffing and assemble the roulades in advance and store in the refrigerator.  If you are preparing them straight through, the order that works for me is to get the stuffing going on the stove, butterfly and flatten the chicken breasts while that cooks, fill and bread the roulades, then make the sauce while frying the roulades.

Ham and Mushroom Stuffing

2 Tbsp butter

¼ cup minced onion

2 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms (I used cremini, but you can use any you like, including white)

2-3 Tbsp dry white wine

¼ cup minced ham (you can use any kind you like – I prefer thicker slices, but you can also use high quality deli hams, such as prosciutto)

1-2 tsp minced parsley

1-2 Tbsp bread crumbs (the original calls for fresh, but I often use the same dried bread crumbs I’m using to bread the chicken)

Salt and pepper

Melt butter over medium in a sauté pan.  Cook onion until translucent, add mushrooms and wine, cook until mushrooms release their liquid and all liquid has evaporated.  Mix in the ham and remove from heat.  Add parsley and bread crumbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cream Sauce

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1¾ cups chicken broth

½ cups heavy cream

½ tsp salt

White pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook for five minutes.  Whisk in the broth very slowly to avoid lumps.  Bring to a simmer, then add cream.  Stir in ½ tsp salt and white pepper to taste.  Simmer for 15 minutes over low heat.  Keep warm until chicken is ready.

Chicken Roulades

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

All purpose flour

1 large egg mixed with 2 Tbsp milk

1 cup dried bread crumbs (panko works well)

Vegetable oil for frying

Trim chicken breasts and remove tenderloins.  To butterfly chicken breasts, place your hand flat on top of the breast and cut through the meat parallel to the cutting board, stopping approximately ¼ inch from the edge to create a hinge from which you can open the breast flat.  Open the chicken like a book, place between two sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound flat to an even ¼ inch thickness.  Pat dry and season with salt and pepper.

Place a line of stuffing down one long edge of the chicken breast.  Starting from the long end, carefully roll the breast around the stuffing.  Seal closed with toothpicks.  Dredge in flour, dip in the egg wash, and roll in bread crumbs.

Pour about a quarter inch of vegetable oil into a skillet and heat over medium.  Place the roulades in the oil, starting seam side down, and fry on all sides until golden brown and crispy and chicken is cooked through.  Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels.  Remove toothpicks, slice and serve with sauce.