Most of the beets grown in the United States are sold canned, a fact that has likely driven away thousands of potential beet lovers. They are, to my palate anyway, insipid. They are absolutely wonderful and perfectly suited to a huge variety of dishes, from simple roasted beets tossed with a little olive oil and black pepper to beet salads, soups, risottos, pasta dishes, relishes and chutneys. Many recipes call for boiling and steaming beets, techniques that certainly cook the beets, though with some sacrifice of flavor and texture. If you bake beets in the oven, their flavors are concentrated and their texture remains rich and dense, rather than diluted.
Beets contain more natural sugar than any other vegetable.
They also contain significant quantities of vitamin C and folacin. Beet greens are an excellent source of calcium, beta carotene and iron. Unlike a boldly flavored traditional borscht made with red beets, this soup is delicate and subtle. Because beets are so sweet, they are best when accented with contrasting flavors, such as the yogurt and cucumber mixture used here as a condiment. Remove from the oven and let cool until easy to handle.