Beets somehow perfectly manage to transition from winter to spring, seeming just as appealing roasted in cold weather as alongside fresh greens when the sun is out. Though many may remember sad salad bar beets with disgust, we promise that freshly roasted beets are so much better than that: sweet, slightly earthy and vividly bright — what else could you want from a root vegetable?

Cook beets any which way — steam, roast or fry — just be wary that they have a tendency to dye anything they touch bright pink, so take care to peel them using an old towel or rubber gloves. It may sound silly and extreme but beets have been used as a natural dye for good reason.

If you can get them with the leafy greens still attached, they're like a two-for-one deal. Don’t know what to do with those beet greens? Prepare as you would Swiss chard or any other type of leafy green. Once you've mastered the saute, up the ante with Beet Green Gratin and Beet Green, Prosciutto and Feta Quiche.

Whether the start of spring has brought extreme cold, heat, rain or snow, beets have got you covered.

• Super simple six-ingredient Roasted Beet Salad, topped with a lemon vinaigrette and chopped pistachios for a salty crunch.
• Beet chips are a great grain-free baked potato chip alternative, and they’re sturdy enough to be dipped. Guacamole and Baked Beet Chips is perfect for parties.
• An Asian spin on brunch: Beet Home Fries topped with Shichimi Togarashi and served with Japanese mayo. Shichimi Togarashi is a Japanese spice mix normally made up of red chile pepper, the Japanese pepper sansho, orange peel, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, hemp seeds, ground ginger and the edible seaweed nori.
• Kelsey Nixon’s Roasted Beet Salad features goat cheese and sliced pears with a red wine-Dijon mustard vinaigrette, making for a healthy savory-sweet lunch option.
• Giada utilizes fresh herbs to step up her chips in Sweet Potato and Beet Chips with Garlic Rosemary Salt (pictured above).
• Use Alton Brown’s simple Pickled Beets as a side dish or add the pickles into coleslaw, risotto or smoked salmon with creme fraiche as an appetizer.
• Ingrid Hoffman's Citrus Beet Salad straddles the line between sweet and savory with lime juice, mint and black olives.
• Instead of using watercress as a lettuce, Ellie Krieger blitzes it with goat cheese, buttermilk and vinegar in a food processor to make a green dressing for her Beet Salad with Watercress Drizzle.
• Raw beets, thinly sliced, are a delicate addition to any salad, like Raw Beet, Pear and Gorgonzola Salad. Use a mandolin to achieve paper-thin slices, but watch out for your fingertips!
• Red beets turn everything they touch to a beautiful hot pink (including your hands) like Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Dip with Chives and Thyme.
• Spring means it’s finally time again for slaws, and not all of them have to be made with cabbage; try this Beet and Carrot Slaw. Unless you’re working on your knife skills, shred these guys in a food processor fitted with the shredding attachment to save time.
• Garlicky Beet Salad with Walnuts and Dates is a traditional Russian appetizer, meant to whet your appetite before a big meal.

• Roasted Beet and Grapefruit Salad, a little sweet and a little tangy, makes for a great side dish on a warm, sunny day.
• Get your ice cream makers out of winter storage for Spicy Beet Ice Cream. The ice cream gets a spicy kick from cayenne pepper, vanilla and cinnamon.
• Emeril makes a quick-pickled beet for with his Roasted Beet and Crab Salad. Make the pickles the night before for faster prep time.
• Spring, simplified: Roasted Beets with Asparagus.
• Kelsey Nixon ups the party ante with Beet Pickled Hungarian Deviled Eggs. Hard boiled eggs are pickled in beet juice which lends a light pink tone to the whites (anyone else thinking of the Easter possibilities with this?), just be sure to take the eggs out of the pickle juice after an hour or they will start to get rubbery.
• Roasted Carrots and Beets with the Juiciest Pork Chops earn that title from a quick sear and finish cooking in the oven. Carrots and beets flourish when roasted with some herbs and an acid like balsamic vinegar or citrus juice.
• Everything is more fun to eat when it's pink, like Beet Risotto with Truffle Oil.
• Kelsey Nixon's Beet, Bacon and Herbed Goat Cheese Flatbread is essentially a salad on a pizza. Can't find baby beets? Get some medium beets and chop them into bite-size pieces for easy eating.
• For all my multitaskers out there, Can't Beet a Ginger Fizz is a vegetable serving and a cocktail in one.
• Utilize beets to achieve the classic red color in Bobby's Red Velvet Cupcakes.
• The ultimate in beets, Roasted Beet Borscht, can be served cold or hot depending on this crazy, crazy weather.

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