Yin-Yang Grilled Beets

I decided to call this grilled beets recipe "yin-yang" because of the sharply contrasting colors of the two different types of beets I used: Common purple-red beets and rarer, golden-yellow beets. Because the purple beets will stain EVERYTHING a deep pink or fuchsia, you should marinate and cook them separately from the golden beets if you want to preserve the sunny yellow color of the latter.

Instead of peeling the beets, I scrubbed and trimmed them. But feel free to peel them if you prefer. If you only have one type of beet, you can still make this recipe, using either one or both marinades. Likewise, you can also choose to use only one flavor of marinade for all of the beets. You can also increase the quantity of the marinade ingredients if you've got more beets than I had on hand--I had only a half-bunch of each type, left over from two large bunches from which I had already roasted some beets the day before. Don't forget to save and/or cook the beet greens, because they are flavorful and nutritiously rich (just search my blog for "beet greens" if you need a recipe for them).

Unfortunately, my photo above doesn't do justice to the visual attractiveness of these grilled beets, and I also failed miserably at plating them in a classic yin-yang shape. As regular readers of this blog no doubt have noticed, photography and plating are not my strengths.... So, if you make this recipe and are able to plate and photograph it nicely, please do feel free to share your results (and your feedback on the recipe) either as a comment here or on the Carolina Sauce Facebook page.

Ingredients
For Purple Beets
3 or 4 medium purple beets, washed, trimmed & quartered

Marinating beets

1/2 large shallot, peeled & quartered
1/3 cup raspberry vinegar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp dried rosemary, lightly crushed
Kosher salt & ground pepper to taste

For Golden Beets
3 or 4 medium golden beets, washed, trimmed & quartered
1/2 large shallot, peeled & quartered
1/3 cup orange juice
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Kosher salt & ground pepper to taste

Prepare each type of beets separately as follows:  Combine all ingredients in a resealable plastic bag (purple and golden beets in separate bags), seal and shake to combine & evenly coat the beets with marinade. Marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight (if for longer than an hour, marinate in the refrigerator).

To grill each type of beets separately:  For each bag of marinated beets, cut a large square of aluminum foil and curl the edges up to create a "bowl" shape. Carefully pour each set of beets (with marinade) into its own foil "bowl." Fold up the sides of each "bowl" to create a foil pouch, making sure the edges are tightly-folded to prevent any leaking. Place each pouch, fold-side-up, on your hot grill and grill until tender and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. When done, open each pouch and spoon onto serving plate.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria