A play on the classic pot roast, the idea here comes from Chad & Derek Sarno’s Monster Celeriac Roast post here. This version was inspired by a Mammoth organic beet (beest…) from a Friday trip to the health food store. Revamped with less oil and more veg, my riff on their tune makes the whole family happy – from the omnivores through to the plant-preferring peeps. Serve it up as is or with some beans and greens.

Yield: 4 as a main; 6-8 if served with beans and greens

What you need:

• 2 large onions, cut into 6 wedges each
• 3 large carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
• 4 small or 1 large rutabaga, peeled and cut into thick wedges
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into thick wedges
• 1 mammoth beet, UNPEELED but scrubbed (1-3/4 to 2 lbs – for the single beet…)
• 1 or 2 large cloves of garlic, halved
• 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Montreal steak spice
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 bay leaf, broken into 3 pieces
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth (mushroom stock or red wine is also an option)
• salt
• freshly cracked black pepper to serve

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 300F.
2. Rub the unpeeled beet with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil all over. Make sure it’s unpeeled or otherwise, the entire mess of vegetables will be beet-colour rather than examples of pot-oven-roasted perfection. Sprinkle with the steak spice and rub it into/onto the beet. Place the beet in the center of a 5-1/2 quart Dutch oven. Pour the vegetables stock in the bottom of the Dutch oven, around the beet.
3. Put the garlic and all the other prepped vegetables in a large bowl and toss them with the remaining tablespoon of oil and salt to desired level.
4. Place the oiled veggies and garlic around the beet “roast” along with the rosemary sprigs and broken up bay leaf.
5. Cover and back 3 to 4 hours, until a skewer slides easily through the beet and the vegetables are caramelizing and nicely roasted.
6. Carefully remove the beet to a plate for carving. Serve with lots of veggies and a generous sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper.