Better at Beets

Beets just made our list of favorites. Not even kidding. My kids went back for seconds of beets and nothing else.

Here's how it played out:
I pulled the beets and hosed them off. Then I scrubbed them with a soft vegetable brush. Chopped off the leaves, but left a couple inches of stems. Two different sources told me that would keep them from bleeding out like before.

Then I set them in a casserole dish, covered them tightly with foil and baked them. At 350 degrees, they were in there for way too long. I got busy and didn't check them for over an hour. I was cooking some chicken too, and for some reason chicken takes a long time for me. So they were both in there for over an hour.

I finally got them out...
and they were very cooked. I was kinda worried they would be mush, at least the little ones. They were very soft.

Peeling beets in the past has been a chore. These were easy! I kinda followed the directions I found here. For some reason all the directions I found said I was supposed to line the baking dish with foil or bake them individually wrapped in foil. That's more work and foil than I am expending. I just put them in the dish. 

When they came out, they had indeed stained the glass casserole dark burgundy. I figured I'd put that problem off for a while by ignoring it, so the beets went into the fridge. 

The next day I decided to take a teensy step toward responsibility and try to peel a beet. 
Surprise! When I pulled the casserole out, all the stain was gone from the sides and there was a thin layer of beet juice in the bottom! Yeah!

The directions said to peel them under running water and they wouldn't stain my hands, much. It worked! Turns out I didn't really even need the running water! Cold, cooked beets with their tops and roots still on don't make much mess!!! The skins slid right off, and even the stems and roots came off without a knife!

Remember this mess? No more!

And they weren't mushy!
 
Now the flavor - beety. My kids were more creative. They salted and peppered theirs. They went back for more, so I tried the salt and pepper thing. Wow. That. Is. Good.

You gotta try this.