Beets are red, right? Yes—except when they’re golden, white, or in the case of Chioggia beets, candy-striped. These nutrition-packed root vegetables are high in folate, manganese, potassium and heart-healthy antioxidants. It’s easy to love these jewel-colored vegetables when they’re tossed with olive oil, garlic and rosemary and oven-roasted to bring out their natural sweetness. Try sliced roasted beets in a simple salad with curly endive and goat cheese, add them to soups, or shred and toss with chopped onion, vinegar and Dijon mustard for a quick and easy relish to accompany corned beef or roast turkey.
Flavor Profile
- Sweet and starchy
- Soft and buttery when cooked, crunchy when raw
How to Choose a Good One
- Look for smooth, hard, uniformly round beets with no cuts, bruises, wet spots, or shriveled skin
- Choose beets with bright green leaves
- A hairy taproot means that the beet is old and tough
- Young beets (smaller) are fine textured and tender; they are more tender and sweet than larger beets. Medium and large beets are good for cooking
- To store, trim leaves two inches from the root; store the leaves separately, and eat them as soon as possible
- Store the roots in a tightly wrapped plastic bag and place in the refrigerator for up to three weeks
Peak Season
- June through October
Nutritional Highlights
- Beets are an excellent source of folate
- Very good source of manganese and potassium
- Good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, copper, magnesium, iron, and phosphorus
- Unique source of betalains (phytonutrients)
- Provide lutein and zeaxanthin (carotenoids)
- Leaves are high in vitamin A and potassium and a good source of vitamin C
General Use
- Can be boiled, steamed, roasted, or eaten raw.
- Slaws and other salads
- Garnish (grated)
- Soups (borscht) and stews
- Chips
- Fries
- Gratins and other casseroles
- Pickles
- Natural food dye (wear gloves when handling wet or cooked)
- Prepare and serve greens as you would spinach
Complements
- Olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, orange juice, red wine vinegar, vinaigrette, honey
- Rosemary, salt, black pepper, chives, garlic
- Bacon
- Swiss chard, onions, peas
- Goat cheese, feta
- Almonds, walnuts
- Peaches
- Lentils, beans
