SWEET BEETS

Beets are one of my springtime delights. They're easy to grow and always give me a bumper crop of delicious food. But what can you do with them? When I was a kid, cooked beets found their way onto my plate--sliced thickly or cut into quarters--coming straight from a can.  Sometimes my mom would buy pickled beets at the store. I liked them both ways. So when I started gardening (when I was seven years old), beets were one of the first veggies I planted.

Nowadays, they're a big part of my kitchen garden. One year, they grew so big, I thought they were sugar beets! And we were afraid they would be too tough to eat. But we washed them up and baked them in the oven and they were every bit as tender as a young beet could be!

Have you tried baking beets? It is my favorite way to serve them. Roasting them brings out the hidden sweetness in this colorful vegetable (with all its wonderful juices).  And each bite is so smooth and tender, you'll want to make them a regular part of your family's wintertime eating.

HOW TO ROAST SWEET BEETS

Fresh Picking
When picking them from your garden, choose any size beet. But make sure they feel hard, not soft or squishy. You can also use the greens for a later meal--either fresh in a salad or cooked like spinach.

Package Your Beets
Slice off the beet greens and save them for a later meal. Then wash your beets and wrap them loosely in aluminum foil. You can wrap several small beets in one package. Large beets should be individually wrapped.

Roast Them Up
Preheat your own to 400 degrees. Put your beet packages on a cookie sheet. (Sometimes, even with careful wrapping, your beets may leak). Bake for about an hour. But baking time will vary, depending on the amount and size of  your beets. I like to test them every 20 minutes, pushing a fork or paring knife into their centers. Beets will be done when the fork comes out easily, just like when you are baking potatoes.

Skins or No Skins
This part is up to you. We like baked beets both ways. And I've found when I grow my own, the skin are very tender (as long as the beets don't get too old). If you want no skins, let your beets cool down so you can handle them. Hold them in your hand with a paper towel, then gently rub the skin away. The skin should slip off easily. If you have trouble, the beet probably needs to cook some more.

3 Big Reasons to Enjoy Sweet Beets

BEET HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!  One study found that drinking one glass of beet juice lowered your blood pressure by an average of 4-5 points. The naturally occurring nitrates that are found in beets are turned into nitric acid by the body. This relaxes and dilates our blood vessels, which ends up improving blood flow and lowering blood pressure.

BEET EYE DISEASE! Beet greens are a good source of lutein, an anti-oxidant that helps protect eyes from age-related  macular degeneration and cataracts. They also contain a variety of phyto-   chemicals that are good for the nerves in your eyes.

BEET FATIGUE! Try some beet juice to rev up your engine for your next workout. One study I found showed that people who drank beet juice before their workout were able to exercise 16X longer!