Roasted Beet Salad with Cinnamon

from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

serves 4 to 6 as a salad course

Ingredients

• 1 lb beets
• 2 T coarse salt
• 1 T sugar
• juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
• large pinch of ground Ceylon cinnamon
• 1 T chopped flat leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Rinse and thoroughly dry the beets, being careful not to break their skins.  Cut off the tops, leaving about 1.5 inches.
2. Roast the beets: a) in the oven: thightly wrap the beets, with the salt, in foil or parhcment paper and set in a shalow baking dish.  Bake at 325 F for 2 hours.  To check for tenderness, open one end of the packet and test a beet with the tip of a knife to see if the flesh has softened.
3. Peel the beets, but into bite-sized pieces, and put in a bowl.  Combine the remaining ingredients, pour over the beets, and let marinate for 1 hour before serving.  

Serve at room temperature.