Fun With Beets :D

Recently I have been on a beet kick. There are so many ways you can eat them and they are soo good for you!!! Plus you can't beet the color! I got mine in the bulk food produce section of Meijer's! For an easy way to keep beets on hand to add into recipes or salads, grate them into bowl or storage container and keep it handy in the fridge!

Beets are a root vegetable that are easy to grow and are a great source of potasium, sodium, magnesium, vitamin C, and beta-carotene.

I made a beet orange salad for Thanksgiving that went over ok.
I was really the only one who really liked it...
well I thought it was good. Decide for yourself!

Beet Orange Salad

3-4 Beets grated into a bowl
2-3 Oranges, sliced into rounds and the segments removed and added to beets
1/4-1/2 C raw organic sugar, or stevia to taste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
5 drops sweet orange oil

Mix and allow to marinate for a while before serving. The juice from the beets and oranges will be drawn out by the sugar and will sweeten it nicely! If you have left over salad, put it in a salad with a 1/4 C cashews, it's delish!!

The great color of beets gives shakes and salads a wonderfully festive feel! But it does get all over your hands!! If you have trouble getting the beet stains off your hands after using soap, try vinegar or lemon juice!

Beet-licious shake!

2 bananas, one frozen and one fresh
1 1/2 C frozen strawberries
1/4 C grated carrot
1/4 C grated beet
2 tbsp hemp protein powder
1 tbsp fresh minced ginger
stevia to taste
dash cinnamon
1 C water to blend

Blend ingredients until smooth and enjoy!


As a spin off of Carrot Ginger soup, I substituted some beets and spices!

Carrot Beet Ginger Soup

1/2 C grated carrot
1/2 C grated beet
1 tbsp white miso
1/2 avocado
1 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1 C water

Place all ingedients into blender and mix until smooth.


I also recently made some refrigerator pickles and pickled beets. The difference is that after you pour the brine over the veggies, you skip the ending water bath and stick the jars in the fridge to picklize. With the beets though, and some other veggies, like cauliflower, it is good to blanch them for 30-60 sec to allow for better flavor absorption.  I found out all the lovely info for this at:
http://www.thekitchn.com/small-batch-recipe-cucumber-pickles-urban-preserving-with-marisa-mcclellan-173303

I personally winged the beet brine mixing brown sugar, vinegar, water, cinnamon, and cloves on the stove. We'll see how they turn out!