Beets
Beets can be an intimidating vegetable. They look strange, they have VERY long stems and lots of greens, they are usually dirty and not the most appealing looking vegetable!
But, on the contrary, they are incredibly delicious to eat AND they are so good for you! Finding ways to incorporate them into your diet would be a great place to start to take advantage of all of these benefits.
Here are just a few of the great benefits!
Packed with essential nutrients, they are a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Especially if you are plant based, like me, this is a great way to pack in the iron! I always feel so much better when I have a beet juice or a couple beets with my meal a few times a week.
According to Insider.com Beets can provide so many benefits to support a healthy body.
#1 - They can help lower blood pressure
#2 - Fight Inflammation
#3 - Contain fiber to help support in weight loss.
#4 - Help supportive digestive health
#5 - Support Brain health with increased blood flow. My acupuncturist told me that beets are blood builders and being that I’m not meat eater, I was definitely excited to hear this!
#6 - They help with athletic performance. As you’ve seen recently, there are more and more sports drinks containing beet root for this reason as it helps support mitochondria efficiency.
Now that you’ve read how great these are for you, lets talk about how to make them so you don’t feel so intimidated!
First, there are several ways to make beets and I find cooking them only helps to add to the flavor and really draw the sweet and sugary taste to the beets. Since they are a nightshade vegetable, they do contain more starch it was said they may spike glucose and therefore cause and insulin spike, however they are actually now thought to help regulate blood sugar!
To cook beets, first you want to figure out how to cook them, then figure out what to pair it with. For instance, I love my beets with crème fraiche, which I’ll share the recipe! I also love to pair with walnuts or pistachios for a salad, I like to add into my buddha bowls and they are even good alone!
First, BAKING:
When I bake individual beets, and I want them to be soft and really juice, I wrap them in foil and bake them right on the rack for 45 minutes. From there you can just feel off the skin and easily cut them the way you want them.
I also love to peel them with a potato peeler and cut them, place them on parchment paper on a flat baking sheet and bake them with olive oil and sea salt just to add to my buddha bowl, or even eat alone! That’s really all it takes for me! You can also make beet chips like this by cutting them super thin and laying flat on a baking sheet.
Sautéing:
If you want a little crisp, baking them in the oven or sautéing them is the best. You can sauté them on a stovetop in a fry pan with oil and just some sea salt and get them nice and crispy and super flavorful!
A few very simple ways to get you started in making beets that will really keep you feeling your best but trying to add them here and there a few times a week!
For the latest recipe, click HERE to go to to the newest beet salad creation!