How to Make Roasted Beet Bruschetta - Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. I have a great and very delicious Thanksgiving appetizer that is simple to make and sure to be a crowd-pleaser. What it is, is it takes the concept of bruschetta and instead of using tomatoes, which is a classic Italian dish, uses beets and Parmesan. Beets are very good in season during winter time, they are a root vegetable, they grow underground, and you can find them in any grocery store. The reason I am using fresh beets instead of canned is because with fresh beets I can roast them and control the consistency of the beet. I find that canned beets are very mushy and they do not really dice up well and sit on top of a bruschetta. They are great for a side for turkey, but for this particular recipe it is much better to roast your own beets. So I have already roasted my beets. What I did was I took each individual beet, wrapped them in foil, and roasted them at 350 degrees for about an hour until a knife pierced very easily in and out. I took them out of the foil, peeled them and then cut them into small dice. What I am going to do is take a couple of my beets, put them into a bowl, I have some really good grated Parmesan which I am going to add to it, kind of get the Italian flair. I have some high quality olive oil that I got from San Francisco, a little bit of balsamic vinegar, another Italian addition, some pepper, and some salt to finish off and bring out the flavor. There we go, just going to mix this around. Look at that, you have got a beautiful color, something you cannot find with most vegetables, it is got that ruby red, really, really nice smell and flavor and color, it is very fresh and crisp tasting, and it is that simple. So now I have some croutons in front of me. What I did was I took a baguette and just sliced very thin, just like this, added a little bit of garlic oil, which you can just buy at a grocery store or you can use regular olive oil, some salt and I cooked them at 350 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes until they are nice and crispy. See that? Perfect. So what we are going to do is take our croutons just like with bruschetta, and we are going to add a little bit of beet to the top, take a sprig of cilantro to add an nice coloral texture and a great fresh flavor. And there we have it, a roasted beet bruschetta with beets, Parmesan, olive oil and balsamic vinegar on a garlic crouton. It is sure to be a Thanksgiving favorite.