Kia’s One Pot Buttery Beets & Pasta

After a day of summer camp and sprinklers, my kids needed some nutritious refueling. I had some fresh beets with greens on hand, which inspired this quick, one pot dish for dinner. Colorful beets are high in phytonutrient pigments, and rich in antioxidants. They’re also high in folate and a B vitamin important for a healthy heart and for normal tissue growth. Hooray for beets!

2-4 beets with greens
6-8 ounces pasta
Baby dill (or cilantro or basil)
Butter

Prep your veggies
Scrub beets clean, then chop into 1/2 inch slices (no need to peel!).

Rinse the beet greens and thinly slice them, stems and all.

Mince up a few big pinches of baby dill, or more if desired.

Cook everything in one pot
Get a medium pot of water boiling, and add the beets.

After 3-5 minutes, add the pasta to the beets, and note cooking time (my spaghetti package said 3-4 minutes). After 2 minutes, add the beet greens and dill. Stir pot occasionally.

When pasta has cooked, pour the whole pot through a fine meshed strainer so you don’t loose the greens and herbs. Transfer the pasta and veggies back into your cooking pot, but remove from heat.

Add two or three tablespoons of butter, more the better! Stir everything together and season with salt and pepper. You can also add cheese if desired, but we skipped it and the kids still devoured their dinner. Sweet, nutritious beets for the win!