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[If you can, buy beets with the stems and greens still attached, as they come out of the ground.
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Ask the produce manager at your grocery or health food store to buy organic beets with the nourishing leaves attached!]].
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Cut off all but 2 inches of the green stems.
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Save the leaves because they are very nutritious and can be steamed, sauteed or shredded in salads!
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Leave the beets whole with 2 inches of stems at the top and root ends at the bottom. This prevents the red color from seeping out into the water [and all over the place too!].
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Place in a saucepan covered with salted water to taste (with at least 1 tsp of vinegar).
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Boil until tender [usually, 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the beets]. Boiling can take up to 60 minutes for larger beets.
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Drain and run cold water over beets. The skins will slip right off with the root ends, but make sure you wear kitchen gloves so your hands don't turn red.
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To serve, you can add melted butter, salt and pepper, basil, savory, caraway seeds or sprinkle with minced chives or parsley.
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NOTE: i prefer to steam my vegetables in an OSTER mechanical food steamer available cheap with free shipping from amazon.com - so i peel and slice mine for faster cooking as i do for all potatoes.
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But you can steam this in a covered pot with a steamer insert also - just make sure the water doesn't evaporate: bring the salted water with more vinegar added to a boil and add the steamer insert and beets. Cover and steam on medium or medium low heat until they are your desired tenderness.
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One thing is for sure - never peel or cut the stems or roots if steaming or boiling whole - it's SO much easier not to have red dye and red water dripping everywhere - and the skins come right off easily once cooked. Peeling is a waste of time and makes a mess!
