Vibrant and delicious, beetroot is a , risottos and even cakes, but it can be quite divisive. If your view of the root veg is tarnished by the pickled variety or school dinners, there is a way to cook beetroot that may actually defy expectations.

The has an earthy flavour thanks to a chemical called geosmin, which is associated with the smell of fresh rain, albeit detractors will say it "tastes like dirt". However, there is a way of beetroot that and brings out its natural sweetness. With beetroot season peaking in the UK from June to October, it's a good time to try roasting them so long that they become caramelised.

Fans of the method say the beetroot becomes "sweet as candy". The trick, it seems, is to roast them for a long time with coconut oil.

Food blogger accidentally made caramelised beetroot this way and found they were surprisingly delicious.

Having left the beets in the oven 45 minutes longer than intended, she said: "One look at them told me I'd stumbled on my new favourite way to make beets.

"They had taken on this amazing glistening, caramelised look, which I'd never seen with beets (unless of course they are drowning in sugar, which these are not!) and, they tasted as good as they looked on the outside."

Another blogger, , calls her coconut oil-roasted beetroot "vegetable candy".

She explained: "Candy legitimately belongs in the same title as a recipe for roasted beets. Wait! I'm not crazy.

"When you roast beets with coconut oil, their sweetness comes out, and if there ever was a vegetable that deserves the name Vegetable Candy, it's Coconut Oil Roasted Beets."

Meanwhile, EatingWell says roasting makes beetroot "intensely sweet, with subtle mineral flavours".

A word of warning - roasting beetroot can take 45 minutes, but the cooking time can be shortened by cutting the veg into smaller pieces.

The is as follows.

Ingredients

One kilogram of beets, peeled and diced

Two tablespoons of coconut oil, melted

Half a teaspoon of coarse salt

Method