Nourishing beets and beats
May 13th, 2009
Generally, I avoid them. What a pain the butt, turning my hands pink for days and staining the countertop! But there have been some beautiful looking organic beets at the store lately, catching my eye, whispering sweet nothings as I passed by with my cart.
I had to have them.
Beets are fabulously full of healthy nutrients including: folate, manganese, fiber, potassium, iron and copper. But what I love most about them is their natural sugars. Beets are extremely high in sugar, yet super low in calories. This is something every food manufacturer strives for but only Mother Nature has perfected!
By the way, eating sweet vegetables like beets is one way to ward off sugar cravings like that 3pm doughnut! Interested in learning more about sugar cravings? Sign up for a free Sugar Smackdown teleseminar on June 3, 2009.
Now one funny thing about beets is that most recipes call for using the round root part of the plant and ignore those gorgeous green leaves on top. Shame! Beet greens are healthy and tasty and go great with the beets themselves…duh. See, it’s Mother Nature again, being such a smarty pants to pair these things together, naturally. With some careful preparation and a few seasonings, my beets came together in a lovely salad and nothing got stained in the process. So go for it:
Beets From Top to Bottom with Mint
adapted from Three Bowls Cookbook by David Scott and Tom Pappas
2 lbs. bunch of beets, scrubbed
1 lemon, juiced
1 lime, juiced
1 big handful of mint leaves, rinsed and chopped roughly
1 Tbl. olive oil
S+P to taste
1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop greens off of beet bulbs and set aside.
3. Wrap beets in aluminum foil, tightly seal and bake for 1 hour or until fork-tender. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.
4. When cool enough to touch, unwrap and hold beet under running tap water as you use your fingers to peel the skin off. When all are peeled, chop into big chunks and place in a large bowl.
5. Rinse beet greens and chop. Add to the bowl.
6. Add mint, lemon, lime, oil, S+P and mix well.
This salad keeps well if you have leftovers, just cover and keep refrigerated.
It’s a great recipe so I hope you get to try it this summer. But remember, you can eat all the beets, all the broccoli, all the sprouts in the world…and if you’re unhappy in your life or career or relationship you really can’t thrive. Right? In my work with clients, we call these lifestyle aspects “Primary Foods.” So forget food for a second. What do you LOVE to do? What nourishes you more than food ever could?
Sometimes it’s hard to remember to do the things you love. It sometimes it feels silly to admit your love of sewing doll clothes or collecting rocks. Why is that?
One thing I love to do is sing. I have a terrible, terrible singing voice but I love to sing anyway. It’s a tough one because I can’t be in a band or join a chorus…I need to sing somewhere that my voice can’t be heard and it doesn’t matter if I’m on key. That’s why I fell in love with kirtan – traditional call-and-response chanting from the yoga tradition. The energy in a room full of people singing together is amazing. And no one can hear me above the sound of the instruments and all the voices. Perfect!
Last Friday my yoga studio here in Boston hosted a kirtan with Girish.
Sorry for dimly lit iPhone picture, but here’s Girish!
Skipping a night of the usual Friday happenings, I headed on down and sang my little heart out. I felt badly for the people sitting next to me, but otherwise it felt so good to belt it out! Girish sang and played the harmonium while his drummer played all sorts of percussion instruments. People in the crowd sang and danced and broke out their own mini instruments and I felt like, truly, no one cared if I was off key. It felt like everyone was so alive and happy and without judgement, suspended from real life for just a few hours.
Now THAT’s nourishment.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
My son LOVES beets and typically eats them as soon as I boil them. But this is a great twist. You have NO idea what your site has done for me in keeping him interested. With ALL parents are up against … like that “squarebutt BurgerKing ad” … with the little twists you provide, I can keep things fresh and interesting and he can continue to be a teen but eating well…thank you !
May 13th, 2009 at 10:41 amHey there Michelle! I’m new to your blog. Great recipes! I love beets, but have never tried the greens! How silly of me
I look forward to giving them a go.
May 13th, 2009 at 10:57 amWow, this is another recipe today that I really think I will love beets in – thank for sharing and for jumping in on RFW!
Kelly
May 13th, 2009 at 11:27 ami agree with you-i never want to get messy and cook beets, but when i do i’m thrilled. my mom and i just made beet salad last sunday. we shredded the beets and tossed them with microgreens, a balsamic vinaigrette and then dotted the top with goat cheese.
sometimes for lunch i just have beets and goat cheese
May 13th, 2009 at 11:36 amYummy! I love how the brightness of mint is the perfect foil for the earthiness of beets.
May 13th, 2009 at 11:50 amI don’t think I’ve ever really had beets? But if they are sweet…I’m sure I’ll love them
Hmmmm as for your mama- does she have any dietary restrictions? Is she more of a fruity or chocolatey person? Some suggestions:
Cinnamon Sweet Bread (you can make it was regular chocolate chips too and its totally delicious): http://itzyskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/02/cinnamon-sweet-bread.html
Apple pie with oatmeal crust- http://www.recipegirl.com/2008/10/14/apple-cranberry-pie-with-oatmeal-cookie-crust/
Raspberry Oatmeal Squares- http://www.joyofbaking.com/RaspberryOatmealSquares.html
Pineapple cupcakes- http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2006/06/pineapple-cupcakes.html
Strawberry or Raspberry Cream Cupacakes-
May 13th, 2009 at 12:46 pmhttp://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2006/06/pineapple-cupcakes.html
whooopppps that last one should have been http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/raspberry-cream-cupcakes-recipe/index.html
May 13th, 2009 at 12:47 pmThis looks like a wonderful salad! I’ve been eyeing beets at the store for a while now but just haven’t thought of a good dish to use them in – this seems perfect!
May 13th, 2009 at 5:27 pmI’m with Michaela. My favorite way to eat roasted beets is on a salad with thinly sliced red onion, crumbled goat cheese, and a balsamic vinagrette! It’s so unbelievably good!
I also use the beet greens. Usually I saute them in a little olive oil with garlic. So good! Now I’ll have to try your recipe with mint and a citrus dressing. Thanks!
May 13th, 2009 at 5:31 pmI love beets, but can certainly see why they were used as dye in the old days! This salad sounds perfect–bookmark!
May 14th, 2009 at 7:02 am@Houseonahill – you are too sweet. you make my day!
@rose – thank you! i hope you enjoy them.
@Kelly – thank you for inviting me. it’s a great carnival!
@michaela – that sounds delicious too. i swear, running them under water really helped keep my hands from staining.
@Jenny – oooh you put it so well! the perfect foil!
@Erica – thank you for all the suggestions! you must try beets sometime
@Jodye – right? they look all tempting at the store. such a cool looking vegetable.
@Jen – you sound like a beet expert! thanks for your comment!
@Ricki – oh yeah, after eating beets i realize, hey i could use these as lipstick!
May 14th, 2009 at 9:30 amI love beets-but,somehow don’t buy it as often as I should!
May 14th, 2009 at 2:37 pmThat’s a cool recipe.I usually add the beet green to my dal and I love the slightly pinkish hue the dal gets
BTW,did you know that beet juice is recommended by naturopaths for those who are anemic. Heard it at one of the Dietetic meets back in India when we had organized a “Holistic Nutrition” seminar!
You know I saw a recipe today that was a lightened up version of red velvet cakes, that they used grated beets in instead of oil. All I could think was that would be such a pain to prepare, and if I was going to the trouble I would rather have them on a salad with some goat cheese. Yum! And at least you have yoga to release your singing energy. Whenever I try to sing around the house our dog starts howling!!
May 14th, 2009 at 6:24 pmYou’re brave. I have to say that I’ve never been a big fan of beets for the reasons you’ve listed. So good for you for going for it anyway! Looks like it turned out really nicely too.
May 14th, 2009 at 8:42 pmI didn’t like beets as a child, but have been liking them more and more as an adult. But I usually avoid them at home because of the staining! I guess I need to get over that
May 14th, 2009 at 11:08 pmThrilled to see you eating the greens – so many people just toss them. I was at WF and saw produce guy ready to dump out a huge crate of them trimmed from the beet at the display – he just gave them to me!
I sing in the car -loudly and with the windows up.
May 15th, 2009 at 7:34 amHi Michelle. I just love your website. How has your IIN experience been so far? I love beets!
Hannah
May 15th, 2009 at 10:27 amFunny you wrote about beats since I just tried them recently and realized how good they are. Plus, I just bought some mint for the potted garden… I will have to try this recipe soon!
May 15th, 2009 at 3:51 pm“But remember, you can eat all the beets, all the broccoli, all the sprouts in the world…and if you’re unhappy in your life or career or relationship you really can’t thrive. Right?”
SO SO TRUE.
May 15th, 2009 at 7:56 pmHmmm…I’ve never been a beet fan, but it has been a long time since I’ve tried them. I should probably give them another chance. The salad looks great!
May 17th, 2009 at 9:09 pmI LOVE beets! Just made a salad using the beet tops as lettuce two days ago. Saved the beet roots for juicing. Beets are simply delicious. Have you tried yellow or the gorgeous chioggia beets?
May 18th, 2009 at 1:37 amMichelle, this recipe for beets sounds delicious! I should really attempt beets myself – I had the most phenomenal brunch yesterday, which included these teeny tiny beet sliders, which were beets and goat cheese between the top and bottom halves of a mini corn muffin. They were so memorable! I’ve just never known how to tackle the beets themselves (unless from a can…) so thank you for this recipe.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:08 amaw, it sounds like that was such a good night!
i see everyone using beets and I’ve just never been able to bring myself to eat one. i wouldn’t even know what to do with it! thanks for all the info though, maybe I’ll talk myself into trying one
May 18th, 2009 at 1:12 pmSounds like everyone could use a lil’ push in the beet direction from time to time! Enjoy and let me know how you like them with mint if you try this recipe!
@Hannah – IIN is amazing. I totally recommend. I’m happy to chat more anytime about it!
May 19th, 2009 at 11:47 am