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A funny thing happens when you talk to people about a love-em-or-hate-em food such as beets. When you delve
into it, into the passionate arguments for or against, you usually find that you're not actually arguing about beets, but rather apples and oranges. For what could be more different than one person’s love of borscht next to another’s aversion to pickled baby beets?
Gotta admit, most of my life I have resided in the “dislike” camp. That is, until I discovered the world of difference that lies in the preparation of this vegetable. I suppose when I think back to first impressions, my memories of beets center on the dusty, dented can at the back of the pantry that eventually got taken to school as a donation to the "Earthquake Preparedness Kit." Or some plastic tray on a salad bar of gelatinous looking, blood-red circles that probably came from the same dented can that I thought I had gotten rid of at the school drive.
Then there were the diets. The diets that made me count blocks and assign glucose ratings to my food were the same ones that told me beets were bad because the sugar content was too high. Fine with me, more excuses to avoid the stuff.
Little did I know that while I was stereotyping this red--sometimes yellow, occasionally white--root vegetable as a tasteless, jellified, canned condiment that could send a diabetic into insulin shock, there was a menu item that has nearly become mandatory on restaurant menus across the country and that would change how I viewed this bulb. It was the beet and goat cheese salad that changed my perception entirely.
Once you have tasted a beet freshly prepared, sweet but earthen the way it is supposed to taste, it is hard to imagine a life without them. No, you will never go to the can, and you will certainly order them when presented at restaurants, but what of the nearly one hour cooking time needed at home to achieve restaurant results? An hour before meal time, it is unlikely I have any idea what I even want to eat for dinner, let alone be already to start roasting some vegetable. But alas, aside from boiling or roasting whole, there don’t appear to be any techniques available to home chefs to cut down on cooking time. True, this is one food that can be consumed raw (grated, in salads or as a condiment) just as well as cooked. But cooking brings out the beet's sweetness and a softer, more pleasant texture. Unfortunately, well, cooking it just takes too long!
No worries, the home Real Meals cook can have her beet and eat it too. Not only are beets not, in fact, a diet-busting hazard (only 74 calories a serving), they are super rich in Vitamin C and A. And yes, beets can actually be had, cooked, in about twenty minutes without resorting to a can opener.
The secret is in the steaming. Although a beet will taste sweeter when roasted, steaming is a way to dramatically cut down on the cooking time without much loss in flavor. Whenever a vegetable, especially a root variety, is cut small and subjected to boiling water, there is a tendency for flavor to leech into the water and the root to become water logged. An easy way to avoid this is through steaming. Start by peeling raw beets, any variety, then slice them horizontally into ¼ inch rounds. Arrange in a large steamer basket set over boiling water. Two large beets should take about 10 minutes to reach al dente. At that point they can be dressed immediately for a hot side, or cooled and saved for a salad.
The arguments over the relative merits of beets will no doubt continue to rage. As for me, pass by with the borscht and bring me the pure thing. Red, white, or golden, I’ll take it any day in about the time it will take some other guy to fumble with a can. Just try and beet me.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
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Beet This Article!
A funny thing happens when you talk to people about a love-em-or-hate-em food such as beets. When you delve
into it, into the passionate arguments for or against, you usually find that you're not actually arguing about beets, but rather apples and oranges. For what could be more different than one person’s love of borscht next to another’s aversion to pickled baby beets?
Gotta admit, most of my life I have resided in the “dislike” camp. That is, until I discovered the world of difference that lies in the preparation of this vegetable. I suppose when I think back to first impressions, my memories of beets center on the dusty, dented can at the back of the pantry that eventually got taken to school as a donation to the "Earthquake Preparedness Kit." Or some plastic tray on a salad bar of gelatinous looking, blood-red circles that probably came from the same dented can that I thought I had gotten rid of at the school drive.
Then there were the diets. The diets that made me count blocks and assign glucose ratings to my food were the same ones that told me beets were bad because the sugar content was too high. Fine with me, more excuses to avoid the stuff.
Little did I know that while I was stereotyping this red--sometimes yellow, occasionally white--root vegetable as a tasteless, jellified, canned condiment that could send a diabetic into insulin shock, there was a menu item that has nearly become mandatory on restaurant menus across the country and that would change how I viewed this bulb. It was the beet and goat cheese salad that changed my perception entirely.
Once you have tasted a beet freshly prepared, sweet but earthen the way it is supposed to taste, it is hard to imagine a life without them. No, you will never go to the can, and you will certainly order them when presented at restaurants, but what of the nearly one hour cooking time needed at home to achieve restaurant results? An hour before meal time, it is unlikely I have any idea what I even want to eat for dinner, let alone be already to start roasting some vegetable. But alas, aside from boiling or roasting whole, there don’t appear to be any techniques available to home chefs to cut down on cooking time. True, this is one food that can be consumed raw (grated, in salads or as a condiment) just as well as cooked. But cooking brings out the beet's sweetness and a softer, more pleasant texture. Unfortunately, well, cooking it just takes too long!
No worries, the home Real Meals cook can have her beet and eat it too. Not only are beets not, in fact, a diet-busting hazard (only 74 calories a serving), they are super rich in Vitamin C and A. And yes, beets can actually be had, cooked, in about twenty minutes without resorting to a can opener.
The secret is in the steaming. Although a beet will taste sweeter when roasted, steaming is a way to dramatically cut down on the cooking time without much loss in flavor. Whenever a vegetable, especially a root variety, is cut small and subjected to boiling water, there is a tendency for flavor to leech into the water and the root to become water logged. An easy way to avoid this is through steaming. Start by peeling raw beets, any variety, then slice them horizontally into ¼ inch rounds. Arrange in a large steamer basket set over boiling water. Two large beets should take about 10 minutes to reach al dente. At that point they can be dressed immediately for a hot side, or cooled and saved for a salad.
The arguments over the relative merits of beets will no doubt continue to rage. As for me, pass by with the borscht and bring me the pure thing. Red, white, or golden, I’ll take it any day in about the time it will take some other guy to fumble with a can. Just try and beet me.
Warm Beet Salad with Spinach and Red Onion
Made with salt and pepper, white wine vinegar, beets, red onion, fresh baby spinach, olive oil
Made with salt and pepper, white wine vinegar, beets, red onion, fresh baby spinach, olive oil
Serves/Makes: 4
- 4 large golden or red beets
- 1/2 medium red onion
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- salt and pepper
Bring a couple of inches of water to a boil in a large pot fit with a steamer basket.
Peel beets and slice into horizontal rounds, 1/4 inch thick. Arrange in the steamer basket, fit pot with a lid and reduce heat to medium. Steam for about 10-12 minutes, tossing once during cooking. Remove from heat when beets are tender.
Meanwhile, cut onion in half again to form two quarters. Thinly slice.
Make dressing by mixing vinegar with olive oil and adding salt and pepper to taste.
When beets are done, toss while still warm with spinach, onions and dressing. Adjust seasoning if necessary with salt and pepper.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/315-beets/