Coarse or kosher salt and freshly ground pepperto taste
Instructions
Trim the greens from the beets and discard any thick, tough looking stems.
Rinse the beets and put them in a pot of cold water so that they are covered by at least an inch. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium and allow the beets to simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes, until a sharp knife slides easily into the beets. Drain the beets, rinse them in cool water, and slide off the skins, which should come off easily. Cut the beets into cubes.
Meanwhile, roll up the leaves into cylinders and slice them thinly crosswise. Rinse them extremely well with cold water in a colander (they will likely be pretty gritty).
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for a minute until you can smell the garlic. Add the rinsed greens which will still be wet from washing them. Season with salt and pepper and sauté the greens for about 3 minutes, then add ½ cup of water and cover the pan. Cook, stirring every few minutes, and then recovering the pan, for about 8 minutes until quite tender.
Remove the lid and allow any remaining liquid to evaporate as you finish cooking them greens. Turn them onto a serving platter. Arrange the cooked beets on top of the greens. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature. That’s it.
Notes
What is the difference between red and yellow beets, you might ask? Good question. Not a whole lot apart from color. Yellow beets might be a little less “earthy” than their red counterparts, and it varies from beet to beet which has more sweetness. Red obviously will stain, so if you are making a dish with beets and you don’t want the whole thing to be tinted pink, yellow are a better bet. But they are stunning, and if you need to add color to a meal or a buffet, they are eye-catching.