Beets can be extremely intimidating if you’ve never tried them, or cooked with them. I thought I’d do a little “how-two” for anyone that wants to experience the beauty of the beet!

Beets are extremely nutritious, and taste so good if you cook them right! They are LOADED with nutrients and anti-inflammatory properties. Their beautiful deep red color comes from all their phytonutrients. They are also great food if you’re wanting to detox. I love eating both the beet and the beet greens (which are also loaded with lots of vitamins and minerals), so I included how to cook the greens as well for a lovely accompaniment to the beet root. Beets tend to be very bitter, so I’ve found that roasting them is the best way to cook them because it draws out a lot of their sweet flavor and makes them soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. They’re so delicious you just won’t be able to beet them!

Roasted Beets

1-2 Servings

Ingredients:

1 bunch of beets

1-2 cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp oil (coconut, or flavored olive oil is suggested)

1-2 Tbsp. vegetable stock (optional)

Steps:

Start off by thoroughly washing your beets, including the greens. I like to then lay them on a paper towel because as you can see in the photo below, they tend to “bleed” and can stain the counter.

Next, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and then put 1 Tbsp. oil on a roasting pan (or baking sheet, like I used). I used a basil infused grapeseed oil I got as a gift (actually, the only type of oil I own), but if you prefer not to use oil, you can roast them on parchment paper.

Now it’s time to prepare your beets. Again, using paper towels is very helpful when working with beets because they do tend to stain.

Start by cutting off all the tops of the beets, and you better save those greens!

Once the greens are removed, you can cut off the head and the tail of each beet, followed by peeling them. I used a a pairing knife, but you could use a vegetable peeler if you prefer that. Just make sure you don’t cut yourself..because it’s pretty difficult to tell the difference between beet juice and blood.

Once the beets have been peeled, you can slice them up into coins, or you can dice them up into cubes, whichever you prefer. I like to cut them into slices because they cook a little faster, and I like to eat them like chips.

Lay out your beets on the baking sheet and put them in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping them after 7 minutes.

Now for onto the greens! I used to throw my greens away, but am so glad I discovered how amazing they were. I love to sauté mine to eat with the roots or serve as a side dish, but you could definitely throw them in smoothies or salads just like you would kale or spinach. A lot like the beet roots, the greens are fairly bitter so using garlic and vegetable stock to sauté them helps remove a lot of the bitterness. A squeeze of orange juice would also help out as well.

The greens are super simple, just chop them up and throw them in a pan with sliced garlic and about 1-2 Tbsp. of vegetable stock. You could replace the vegetable stock with water or oil if you don’t have any on hand. Let them sauté on medium heat for about 8-10 minutes. Finish them off with some salt and pepper and you’re good to go!

  

Once your beets are tender, and your greens have sautéed down you’re ready to plate that yumminess up! Like I said, topping them with just salt and pepper is really good. But rosemary goes with them really well, as well as thyme.

So there you have it, roasted beets with sautéed beet greens in under thirty minutes! Now you have no excuse to pass by those beautiful beets you see at the farmer’s market or the produce aisle at the grocery store