Beets are edible taproots that grow below the surface of the earth. As food beet is eaten in various forms like roasted, boiled, grilled and cooked or it is even used in various salad preparations.
Salads from beet are made with adding either vinegar or oil as beets do not really have any definite taste of their own and tend to take the flavour of their spices or seasoning. The green leafy part of the beet is also edible and is highly nutritious and is used in soups and salads. Beets are highly rich in manganese, folate, iron, fibre, potassium, phosphorus, copper, tryptophan and vitamin C.
It comes under one of the world’s healthiest food. It helps detoxification. It also has anti inflammatory benefits which help diseases like asthma and other related diseases. It also has antioxidants that prevent free radicals from forming and thus helps in preventing some deadly diseases like cancer and several others.
Ingredients
- Salt
- Vinegar
- 4 whole beets
Cooking time
- 1hour 10 minutes [10 minutes to prepare and 1 hour for cooking]
Method:
- Try and buy the beets with the stems and greens attached to it. The way they look when they come out of the ground.
- Try and buy organic beets that are available at the local stores which still have the healthy green leaves attached to them
- Cut off the stems till about 2 inches.
- Always try and save the leaves which can always be used in salads , soups and other add on as they are highly nutritious.
- Now add the beets to a sauce pan and add water, vinegar and salt.
- Boil the beets for about 40 minutes. The boiling could take longer if the beets are larger in size and could be up to 60 minutes.
- Now drain the hot water from the beets and add the cold water. Always wear kitchen gloves to prevent the red juice from the beets from coming on to your hands.
- These taste brilliant when served with salt, pepper and melted butter with a dash of basil.
Points to be remembered
- While getting the beet make sure you very fresh juicy ones only. Getting anything that looks old will not help.
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