Do you enjoy eating beets or are you interested in taking advantage of the health benefits offered by beets? If so, you may be interested in preparing your own beets, rather than purchasing them already prepared or canned. It is an easy process for anyone to complete, and makes for a delicious side dish.

Beets are most commonly eaten pickled, but they can also be cooked in a variety of different ways. Once cooked, beets can be enjoyed in salads or as a tasty and healthy side dish. They are an extremely nutritious dish and should be enjoyed as part of a healthy diet. Beets contain high levels of folate, Vitamin C, and other B vitamins as well as being high in dietary fibre and low in fat http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=88.

Eating beets can help battle against a number of health issues. They have been shown to be protective against and reduce the risk of both heart disease and cancer due to the presence of antioxidants such as betacyanin http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49#healthbenefits.

For all methods except baking, you should prep your beets in the following manner:

1. Wash the beets well with cool water. Scrub with a brush to make sure you get all of the dirt off of the beet.
2. Trim the ends of the beets.
   1. Store the greens from the tops of the beets. You can cook them later to use separately.

In order to bake beets, you do NOT need to wash them first.

1. Pre-heat your over to 400 degrees.
2. Place the trimmed beets into a baking dish and then cover them with aluminum foil.
3. Bake the beets for 60 minutes, or until the beets are tender.
4. After the beets cool, you should be able to use your fingers to slip off the beets' skins and roots, if not already trimmed away.
5. At this point, you can eat the beets whole, with or without the tail. You can also chop, dice or slice the beets to use in other dishes.

Once you have prepped the beets as described in Step 1, you will need to:

1. Make sure the stems are trimmed to about 1/2 inch long.
2. Cut the tails off the beets then cut them into quarters. This will greatly decrease your cooking time.
3. Bring your water to a boil, then add the beets, making sure all of them are completely covered with water.
4. Boil for 30-90 minutes, or until the beets are tender and the skins easily slip off the vegetables.
5. Drain the beets and allow them to cool, then remove the rest of the skins.
6. The beets can now be sliced, diced, chopped or served whole.

In order to saute beets, you will need to add peeling them to your prep. You will also need to chop or dice the beets. The smaller the pieces, the less time it will take to saute them.

1. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and let it heat up.
2. Add the beets to your pan, then cover it.
3. Saute the beets in the covered pan for between 5 to 15 minutes or until they are tender, then serve.

In order to properly steam beets, you will need a steamer.

1. Beets can be steamed whole, or they can be cut up first.
2. Place your beets in your steamer. Cook for 40 to 60 minutes or until the beets are tender.