While beets may not be at the top of many gardeners' lists of favorite plants, their sweet taste and nutritional punch may make them worth a second look. Health experts emphasize eating a rainbow of colored fruits and vegetables for the best variety of nutrients. Beets, with their different colors and designs, fit that bill perfectly. Beets aren't just the plain, red balls most people picture; growers have developed many different varieties to decorate your plate.
Yellow or Gold
Most yellow or gold beets have a milder flavor than their red cousins. They're often more popular in cooked dishes because their skin is so thin it doesn't require peeling. Some of the more popular varieties are Golden, which is a carroty orange color, and Yellow Detroit, which starts out orange but turns a softer yellow when cooked.
Red beets are definitely the most common variety of beets grown, and there are many more from which to choose when you grow them. Their flavor can range from candy-sweet to almost bitter, depending on the type of beet and how long you let it grow in the garden. Among the most commonly grown red beets are Detroit Dark Red, which grows tasty leaves as well as the roots, and Gladiator, which is popular with people who can beets.
Much like other vegetables, beets have fans who attempt to find or hybridize the plants to get unusual varieties. Some of the more different ones include Chioggia, which is an heirloom Italian beet with a red-and-white bulls-eye design inside created by alternating layers of beet color, and Cylindra, which grows long and thin like a potato, giving cooks many slices of equal size.
While sugar beets are simply another variety of beet, they are grown with a different purpose in mind. Instead of slicing the roots for salads or meals, sugar beet processors turn the plant into table sugar, animal food and other products. Sugar beets are white, sweet, and much larger than ordinary garden beets, with roots that often measure 6 inches or more across.
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