By Emily McLaughlin

I went over to my mom’s the other day to find a refrigerator packed with Trader Joe’s products. YUMM. Most were food items I had purchased before, but there was one unusual root vegetable… Beets.

I have had beets on salads before, but I had never purchased beets. My friend Alex would always rave about beets, but I never jumped on that bandwagon. She got them in her UMass Amherst farm share… but I didn’t even know where to start when it came to picking them out.

Again… Trader Joe’s had a solution. You can get them in the refrigerated section at your local TJ’s already cut, peeled or whatever else you do to beets. They come in a little box like this…

All you do from here is slice them up and eat them how you please–whether it is raw on a salad or sautéed into a dish for dinner.

Why eat them?

Beets are an excellent source of folate, manganese, fiber, potassium and vitamin C. Folate (vitamin-B) is necessary for the production and maintenance of new cells. Additionally, studies have also shown that beets ward off cancer and heart disease. The pigment that gives beets their red color, betacyanin, is what is responsible for helping to fight cancer. For those hypoglycemics out there, or you hungry folks, beets are high in carbohydrates… but the good ones. They are a great instant source of energy that energize your entire body.

Other things to mention… they are cheap, easy to prepare(especially these non-prep TJ’s beets) and available all year round!

Try ‘em! You might like ‘em!