One Bunch of Beetroot, Three Dishes, Nothing in the Bin

Buy a bunch of beetroot with the tops on and you have bought three vegetables. Most people cook one of them and compost the other two, which is roughly like buying a chicken and using only the thighs.

The roots are dense and sweet. The leaves behave like chard, which is unsurprising since chard and beetroot are the same species selected in two directions. The stems are crunchy, magenta and completely different from either. Cooked as three things, one bunch feeds more people and tastes considerably more interesting than a tray of roasted roots.

First, the safety note

Beet leaves and stems are high in oxalate, and this is worth knowing before you start eating them by the bowlful.

For most people this does not matter. Beetroot's oxalate is relatively poorly absorbed, and eating beets in ordinary portions has not been shown to raise kidney stone risk in people who have never had one. But if you have had calcium oxalate stones, or you are at high risk, beet greens belong on the short list of leaves to treat carefully, alongside spinach and chard. Boiling reduces oxalate content meaningfully, in the region of a quarter, and the water should then be discarded rather than used.

Practical version: if stones are not part of your history, cook them however you like. If they are, blanch and drain rather than sauté, keep portions modest, drink water, and eat them with a calcium source such as yoghurt, which binds oxalate in the gut rather than in the kidney.

Breaking down the bunch

Cut the tops from the roots about 2cm above the crown, which stops the roots bleeding as they cook. Then strip the leaves from the stems, exactly as you would for chard. You now have three piles.

The roots: roasted in their skins

Heat the oven to 200C, fan 180C.

Wash the roots but do not peel them. Put them in a roasting dish with a splash of water, a glug of olive oil, a few thyme sprigs and plenty of salt, cover tightly with foil, and roast for 45 to 60 minutes depending on size, until a knife goes in without resistance.

The foil is the whole trick. Beetroot roasted uncovered dries and toughens. Roasted covered it steams in its own moisture and concentrates, and the skins then slip off under your thumbs while they are still warm. Do this with gloves or accept magenta hands for a day.