Beets get a bad rap, but it is totally undeserved. This root vegetable is a nutritional powerhouse, can you eat beet skin when properly prepared, it is sweet and delicious. Maybe you are intimidated by beets because you’ve never cooked them before, or maybe you have bad memories of being forced to eat canned beets as child, but you shouldn’t let that stop you from trying them now. Beets are also a good source of other important minerals such as copper, manganese, and potassium.

Red is the most common color for beets, but even red beets range from light to dark. You can also find golden beets, white beets, striped beets, and many others, especially if you frequent farmers’ markets. All are tasty, but look out — they may stain your hands! Heat can reduce any vegetable’s nutritional value, so eating beets raw is probably the healthiest way to consume them. Choose fresh beets that are firm to the touch. You might find them with the greens still attached, and that’s great. According to Consumer Reports, beet greens are a superfood on their own and can be used in many recipes.

Beets are a root vegetable, so yours might be dirty. Once you have removed the greens, brush any dirt off the beets, then scrub with a vegetable brush under running water. Grating them is the quickest and easiest way to prepare raw beets. You can grate them with a food processor or by hand. Wear rubber gloves if you grate them by hand, or just be prepared for some sideways glances at your beet-stained hands. Roasting beets is one of the most flavorful ways to prepare this vegetable, as roasting brings out their natural sweetness.

Making roasted beets is pretty straightforward: simply cook them in a dry oven under high heat until you can easily pierce them with a fork. If your beets are small, you can roast them whole. Roasted beets are delicious on their own with just a little oil, salt, and pepper. You can boil beets to serve on their own or to use in another recipe. Choose beets of similar size so that they take the same amount of time to cook, and boil them until the beets pierce easily with a fork.

Boiled and cooled beets are easy to peel. The skin should slide off when you apply just a small amount of pressure with your hands. Sliced, boiled beets make a lovely side dish. Simply squeeze half a lemon over the beets or drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dill or parsley.

If you are entertaining, use the bright color of boiled beets for a lively presentation. Steaming beets is a great alternative to boiling them. Boiling beets slightly reduces their nutritional value — all that red water you pour down the drain includes some of the vitamins and minerals found in beets. Steaming beets does not use as much water as boiling, so it does not cause as much nutritional loss. You can steam your cleaned, trimmed beets by placing them in a steaming basket over boiling water and leaving them there until they are fork tender. You can also steam beets in an Instant Pot.

One advantage of steaming them in an Instant Pot is that you can turn it on and walk away. Whether you steam the beets on the stove or in a pressure cooker, let them cool before peeling. Microwaving beets is even faster than boiling or steaming them and provides a similar result. To microwave beets, cover the bottom of a microwave-safe bowl with water, place the cleaned and trimmed beets in the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap or a reusable silicone cover. After the beets have cooled, they’re ready to be peeled.