Beet Root In Cheese Sauce

The advantage to this dish is that the beets may be prepared well ahead of time. It is also delicious-even my beet-hating son managed a few mouthfuls.

You Will Need:

1 Large bunch of beets, greens and stems removed (use them for another dish)

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons flour

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

pinch of dry mustard

Potato chips (optional)

To roast beetroot:

Place washed (but skins still on) beets in a large roasting pan. Cover and bake at 400 degrees F for about an hour (check after 45 minutes). Leave lid on and let cool for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and wipe skins off with a paper towel. Slice and use immediately, or chill and reserve for later.

For the Casserole:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a flame-proof baking dish and layer-in the sliced beetroot. In a saucepan, combine milk, butter, flour, salt and pepper. Whisk over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Cook two minutes longer or until thickened. Stir in the cheese and mustard off of the heat.

Pour mixture over the beets. Top with crushed cheese-flavoured potato chips (I had the broken bits at the bottom of a bag of Cape Cod potato chips. Being the kettle-cooked variety of chip, they stood up well to the casserole treatment.

Bake 20 minutes, or until sauce begins to brown and puff. Serve hot.