They’re also one of the easiest foods to make. And yes, beets can be eaten raw, but I prefer the texture of them cooked.

If you want to make roasted beets, all you’ll need is a bunch of beets (they usually come 3 beet roots to a bunch), an oven safe bowl, some foil, and a knife.

Clean the beets well. They don’t need to be scrubbed since the skin will be coming off of them after they’re cooked, but you do want to get most of the dirt off.

Next, take the knife and cut the beet stems about an inch above the beetroot (the bulb part). Leave the dangly bit of the root attached, and try not to damage the skin. Even the golden beets have juice that can stain, it’s just not as bright as the juice from red beets.

Place a layer of foil in the bowl, and place the beets on top of the foil, so that they’re nestled in the bowl (or pan, or what have you). Cover with more foil, and press the foil down tightly around the edges.

Place the covered bowl into the oven, and bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 45 minutes to an hour for small to average sized beets. You may need longer for very large  beets, or for roasting larger quanities.

Often, you can tell when the roasted beets are thoroughly cooked just by smell. When the oven starts giving off the aroma of beets, they’re nearly done. I also add a bit of water to the bowl if the beets are particularly large, to keep them from burning during the extended cooking time.

Once the roasted beets are finished and cooled enough to touch, simply pinch off the long root stem, and the stems at the top. Gently squeeze the beet to break open the skin, and peel it off. I recommend rinsing the beets once peeled, since some of the dirt from the outside may remain.

You can slice beets any which way, and top with anything you wish (oil, butter, herbs, salt & pepper), but I like them best just plain and a little warm.

For an extra nutritional punch, baby beets can be used since they don’t need to be peeled before being eaten, and beet greens are wonderful in salads, sauteed, or my favorite- used in home made fried rice! For more information on the health benefits of beets, please see my other posts.

Sweeter than potatoes, packed with nutrients, and with a light, crisp texture, turnips became something to look forward to.

The years marched on and so did I. After a few years, I decided to introduce turnips into the meals I shared with my husband. But there was one problem- every single time the turnips were bitter!

Eventually I gave up trying to cook turnips that weren’t bitter, until one night I complained to my mother. “How come your turnips were always so good, and mine are horrible? Every time!”. Without missing a beat, my mother piped up with “How thick are you peeling your turnips?”  Say what? I’d always been taught to peel as close to the skin as possible so as to avoid waste.

Apparently that’s not what you do with turnips.

Do you see that yellowish line about 1/4″ in from the peel?  That’s the bitter part. You’ll feel as though you’re throwing away half the turnip when you cut that far down, but at least you’ll be able to eat the turnips!  And if the waste really bothers you, and you don’t have a composter or a pig, the white part between the peel and the bitter line should be fine to eat.