Just Beet It

I know what you're all thinking...... who wants to start off the year talking about beets? Well, I ordered a bag of beets through Sysco thinking it would be a nice 5lb bag....... and what came in with my order was a rather large 25lb bag!   So when life gives you beets, you do a mass beet preparation and blog while you're waiting for them to cook. :)

Beets and I have a pretty solid love affair. Being and growing up Ukrainian, to not eat that magnificent magenta borcht at family dinners would get you some pretty big looks of disapproval from Baba. And then there was all the beet products:  pickled beets, beet horseradish, beet relish and beet leaf holopchi... 

So as my diet changed and I have started to educate myself about what is healthy to eat, I was PLEASED to find out that beets are pretty darn fantastic for me!  Not only do they have very high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties but eating them helps your body remove toxins from your system. So as you start your New Year trying to recuperate from all of those holiday sugars...throw some beets in that rice bowl!

I have a little rule for cooking beets...when I am preparing them for my borcht, I bake them...that way I can add all the drippings to the soup stock and not loose any of the flavor. When I am preparing them for rice bowls, salads, or smoothies I boil them like I would a potato so that the beets do not dry out like they might in the oven. I also always to prepare them with the skin on because it keeps in nutrients as well as makes removing the skin MUCH easier than trying to do so when they are raw.

So go grab a few pounds of beets this January and stay tuned for some great recipes!

My homemade borcht, this one I used a beef stock but it can be made with a vegetable stock for all my vegan buddies out there.

My 25 pound bag of beets....I will prep all of them!