Beet: It's what's for dinner

I got these beautiful beets at the grocery store yesterday, and now that there is another person around who can appreciate things other than chicken fingers and mac and cheese, I decided to roast some veggies for dinner tonight.
Ready for one of my "recipes"?
Get yourself some beets, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Get as many or as few as you would like because we are not going to be measuring anything. I used 3 huge beets, 2 largish red potatoes and 1 medium sweet potato. Scrub the veggies well. Trim off the ends and greens of the beets and peel any of the tough/hairy skin. Do not peel the potatoes or sweet potatoes-- just trim off any ends or eyes you find unappealing.
Dice the vegetables into 1-2" chunks. Put the red and sweet potatoes into a mixing bowl and toss with olive oil to coat. Don't go crazy with the oil. Or go crazy if you want, but don't drown the vegetables. Dump the potatoes in a casserole that is large enough for all your veggies. Now put the beets into the same mixing bowl and toss them with a little more olive oil. (I do this so everything doesn't get totally stained with the beet juice, but if you don't care, you can toss all of them together.) Dump them into the casserole and gently combine. Sprinkle some sea salt on top.
Admire the beauty of the beets. What gems! You can almost imagine wearing one. Then you look down and realize that you are. (Did I mention you should wear an apron for this one? Because you should.)
Stick the casserole in a preheated 400 degree oven for about an hour, more or less. This will depend somewhat on how many gigantic beets you use and the size of your pan. Less veggies or bigger pan=less cooking time.
Use your hour wisely. I used my time to write a long overdue letter and prepare something else for the children, but you know best what needs doing at your house.
As accompaniments, I also prepared pan roasted chickpeas (Drain and rinse one can chickpeas, saute in a small amount of olive oil until they are browned. Be careful, some of them pop like popcorn! Sprinkle with garlic salt. My kids LOVE these.) and steamed spinach (if you don't know how to do this, it is a real problem).
Simple, healthy meal complete! Beets are very good for you. They are high in calcium, iron and folic acid. And apparently, they are good for getting rid of urinary tract infections, just like cranberries. Must be the color.
I love vegetables prepared simply so I can just enjoy their natural flavors. A big proponent of this is Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. She has a great cookbook called The Art of Simple Food which I received for Christmas. (Thanks, Mom!) I definitely see it as being one of the few cookbooks I actually use, since the cooking style is right up my alley and it covers all the bases like my trusty Joy of Cooking and America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. And it doesn't bother with a fussy dust jacket that will just get in the way anyhow.