Their royally red color matches their personality.

Beets are small but mighty vegetables that are ready to rule the produce section in your local supermarket with their anti-aging nutrients and diverse uses.

Not discovered as an edible vegetable until the 1800s in France, it took even longer for chefs in America to realize they hold more answers on the table than just a mouth-watering flavor and interesting color.

Beets are rich in phytonutrients like betalain, lutein, and zeaxanthin. This mouthful of words essentially means that beets have the qualities that many individuals seek in expensive pharmaceuticals. They are anti-inflammatory, antioxidant-filled, sight-enhancing vegetables that can even tell someone if they have an iron deficiency: a factor that many athletes make the mistake of overlooking. They reveal this information in by turning urine a reddish color.

If that seems like enough jobs for a king of vegetables, one beet holds only about 35 calories. This low-cal count keeps you healthily full and pairs perfectly with any winter meal.

They can be pickled, roasted, steamed and served with butter, eaten straight from the ground, juiced, glazed, boiled to make soup or curries, or even just used for their color-enhancing qualities. They are perfect when they are served sweet and can be part of a cold salad or a warm soft vegetable to eat as an appetizer.

So, this winter tuck into a food that will aid you while you eat, in more ways than one.

Honey-Balsamic Glazed

Roasted Beets and Carrots

3 large beets, tops trimmed

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

Olive or canola oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup

1. Wrap the beets in foil and roast them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 11⁄2 hours. Set them aside until cool enough to handle.

2. Meanwhile, peel and chop the carrots and toss with a drizzle of oil in a 15-by-10-inch baking pan. Roast for about 30 minutes, turning once or twice, until soft and carrots start to turn golden.

3. Combine the balsamic vinegar and honey in a large skillet, add the carrots to the skillet along with any oil that has accumulated in the bottom of the pan.

4. When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel them with your fingers. Slice beets into wedges and place in skillet with carrots.

5. Heat vegetables over medium-high heat and cook until the glaze bubbles and thickens, coating the carrots and beets with a sticky glaze. Serve immediately, or cool and serve over a salad.

SOURCE: General Mills Inc,

Betty Crocker