i went to the store and bought some gold beets and roasted one. after baking it forever (its smaller than a potato, but needs 45 minutes cooking time?!) peeling away the outer skin and cutting it into slices I was surprised to find that roasting got rid of most of the dirt taste (enough that what little dirt taste was left was easily ignorable), but I was able to taste the sweetness beet fans swear that is there. Hurray...a way to eat a previously uneatable food!