Here’s the thing: beets are two personalities in one package. The round, bulbous root is a tough cookie—it can last for weeks with the right care. But the leafy greens? They’re drama queens. They’ll wilt and rot in a day if you leave them attached. So step one is simple: cut the greens off, leaving about an inch of stem on the beet. Don’t toss those leaves, by the way—they’re delicious sautéed, like a milder chard.
Think of it like this: the leaves are the beets’ lungs, breathing out moisture. If you leave them on, your beets will shrivel up like a deflated balloon. Snip, snip, problem solved.
