Pete's Mixed Beets are a colorful selection of red (Detroit Red), candy stripe (Chioggia), gold and white beets. The colors stay fairly true while roasting but if boiling together the red color will take over. Roasting beets is also a great way to bring out their sweet flavor.  If trying to preserve color, roast whole beets at 350F until beets are easily pierced with a knife or fork. Cool the beets, remove skins if desired and then dice or slice individual beets. Toss in dressing etc when cool or reheat with a meal. Make sure to keep beets in fridge until you want to use.

We grow a gorgeous mix of beets on the farm - deep red, gold, striped chioggia, and white. All may be used similarly. Red beets will bleed when cooked so if preparing with other veggies be mindful of that fact or you will end up with a uniformly technicolor dish. Gold beets and white beets don't bleed. Chioggias have a bright red/pink exterior and are striped red and white inside. Roasted they do retain some of this character. Beets may be eaten cooked or raw. Grated beets of any color make a fabulous addition to salads and slaws. Grate some early in the week and place them in a tupperware and then sprinkle them into salads all week. Don't forget the greens! Beet greens can also be eaten raw and are terrific in smoothies. But they are more commonly eaten cooked, in all the ways you would use swiss chard, spinach, turnip greens etc. Roasted beets are extra delicious, roasting carmelizes the sugar in the beets. Cube beets and roast them in the oven with a drizzle of oil at 400F until they are tender and just browning at the edges. If you don't eat them all right away, cool and toss into a container and add these to salads. Yum. Do separate beet greens from the beets and store each separately, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag.