Last summer I bought fresh beets for the first time, at a local farmers' market. They tasted so good that I bought some each week until they were no longer for sale. The following recipe is something I will try, either with fresh beets, when available, or canned beets.

Friday, 17 April 2009
A springy, summery side

Beets sometimes get a bad rap since, for a vegetable, they have a high sugar content. But don’t let the naysayers keep you away — these root veggies are full of folate, important for lowering the risk of birth defects for women who may become pregnant, as well as magnesium, potassium, fiber, and vitamin C. I love the flavor beets add to salads, not to mention the color. In fact, the pigment that gives them that deep crimson color, betacyanin, is a powerful, cancer-fighting agent. Beets have also been found to have a high anti-inflammatory effect on the body, which can further lower your risk of heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.

When preparing fresh beets, be careful not to stain yourself — I always wear kitchen gloves. If the beet juice does make it onto your skin, just rub some lemon juice on the stains to help remove it (a trick my grandma taught me).


Beet Salad
You can prepare this recipe up to a week before serving and keep it refrigerated.

Serves: 6-8

Total time: 1 hour (for fresh beets); 20 minutes (for canned beets)








Ingredients:

• 4 large beets (or 2 10-ounce cans of already-cooked beets)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 4 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ of a white onion, finely chopped

Cooking instructions:

1. (If you’re using canned beets, start with step 4.) Rinse the beets and clean them, removing the leaves and roots. Do not peel.
2. Boil in a pot of water, salted if desired, for about 40 minutes.
3. Peel the beets under running water — the skin should come off easily.
4. Slice the beets, chop into 1-inch thick cubes, and set aside in a bowl.
5. In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients together and whisk until the mixture thickens slightly.
6. Pour the mixture over the beets and stir until they’re covered with the sauce.
7. For best taste, put in the refrigerator and cool for about 1 hour before eating. Serve cold.

Nutrition Content:
Per serving (½ cup): 97 calories, 7.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1 g protein, 6.7 g carbohydrate, 1.5 g fiber, 376 mg sodium*, 174 mg potassium
*if prepared with the salt

Hi Donna,

This sounds a lot like what we call pickled beets, only oil is added.  Have you ever heard of pickled eggs? 

Hi Donna,

Thank you for the recipe.  I have arthritis and am always looking for ways to eat more naturally to find as many nutrients and anti-inflammatory foods as possible.

Nick...you are a crack up!  Don't know where you found the jumping house...but you are too funny!  When I find the moving pictures and try posting them, they seem to lose the movement when I hit submit.  What am I doing wrong?

Take care,

Cheryl ;-)

Hi Myrna,

I love pickled eggs. We can get them at the grocery in our area for about 50 cents each.  I love pickled beets, too, but they do not sell them around my area. I used to have a good recipe for pickled beets with eggs, but I lost it.

If somebody has the old-fashioned recipe for pickled beets with pickled eggs, I would like to have it.

Thanks for the picture, Myrna. The eggs sure look good.

DonnaZ