My only experience of beetroot as a child was pickled beetroot, with an overpowering taste of vinegar. Thanks to our local vegetable suppliers (Ken and Thelma), I have discovered the joys of young, tender beetroot which are a world away from the pickled beetroot of my childhood.
Beetroot contains lots of vitamin C, fibre, potassium, magnesium, manganese, and folic acid. As a root vegetable, they do contain a lot of natural sugars, which makes them suitable for the cake recipe below in the same way that carrots are used. Flavonoids give beetroot their beautiful purple colour (though golden beetroot are also available) and also their anti-inflammatory properties. The leafy tops are an excellent source of beta-carotene, iron and calcium, and when young and crisp can be eaten raw or cooked like spinach.
A small study last year indicated that the nitrate content of beetroots could help lower blood pressure, though the participants were drinking 500ml of beetroot juice, which is quite a lot as it can have a fairly strong taste. I sometimes suggest to clients that they juice beetroot with carrots, apples and/or oranges, though another idea is to juice just beetroot with a little root ginger, possibly topping it up with ginger ale to taste.
Thanks to a recent glut of beetroot, I have been trying to be creative with both sweet and savoury recipes. Beetroot and chocolate cake is usually pretty popular, and can be made with either wheat flour or gluten-free with equally good results:
· Whisk together three large eggs with 220g of sugar until light and fluffy
· Add 200ml of good quality vegetable oil (I use cold pressed rapeseed oil), 1 teaspoon of vanillla essence and 250g of beetroot which you have previously cooked and grated finely*
· Fold in 75g of cocoa powder, 180g of plain flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
· I usually use this mix to make one small round cake and a batch of buns, so you need to adjust baking times according to the size of your cakes, but check with a skewer after anything between about 25 and 40 minutes at 180°C.
* You can either boil your beetroot or bake them in foil until tender. Just chop the tops off about an inch away from the root, scrub the root and cook. Then after they are cooked, top and tail the roots and rub the skin off.
I also used cooked beetroot to make a tasty dip recently. I whizzed a couple of small, cooked and peeled beetroot with about a third of a tin of rinsed chickpeas, about 50g of diced fetta cheese and a big glug of olive oil. Add a little extra water if it is too thick, and black pepper to taste. You shouldn’t need to add salt as the fetta is usually quite salty. I did make it again without the chickpeas, but I think they do improve both the taste and the texture. You can add the rest of the tin to a salad for protein. If you still have any beetroot puree left over, try adding it to risotto at the last minute for a glorious pink dinner!
Finally, if you do eat a lot of beetroot, you may notice that it can give an indication of your ‘bowel transit time’! Amusing as this is to the less mature among us, it can also be quite a useful as an indicator of your digestive system. Too slow a transit time (more than 24 hours) could indicate a sluggish digestion which gives your body time to absorb excessive toxins and may increase the risk of colon diseases. If it takes less than 12 hours for the beetroot colour to appear, food may be passing through your digestion so quickly that you don’t have time to absorb nutrients, perhaps due to an infection, food intolerance or stress.
Beetroot contains lots of vitamin C, fibre, potassium, magnesium, manganese, and folic acid. As a root vegetable, they do contain a lot of natural sugars, which makes them suitable for the cake recipe below in the same way that carrots are used. Flavonoids give beetroot their beautiful purple colour (though golden beetroot are also available) and also their anti-inflammatory properties. The leafy tops are an excellent source of beta-carotene, iron and calcium, and when young and crisp can be eaten raw or cooked like spinach.
A small study last year indicated that the nitrate content of beetroots could help lower blood pressure, though the participants were drinking 500ml of beetroot juice, which is quite a lot as it can have a fairly strong taste. I sometimes suggest to clients that they juice beetroot with carrots, apples and/or oranges, though another idea is to juice just beetroot with a little root ginger, possibly topping it up with ginger ale to taste.
Thanks to a recent glut of beetroot, I have been trying to be creative with both sweet and savoury recipes. Beetroot and chocolate cake is usually pretty popular, and can be made with either wheat flour or gluten-free with equally good results:
· Whisk together three large eggs with 220g of sugar until light and fluffy
· Add 200ml of good quality vegetable oil (I use cold pressed rapeseed oil), 1 teaspoon of vanillla essence and 250g of beetroot which you have previously cooked and grated finely*
· Fold in 75g of cocoa powder, 180g of plain flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
· I usually use this mix to make one small round cake and a batch of buns, so you need to adjust baking times according to the size of your cakes, but check with a skewer after anything between about 25 and 40 minutes at 180°C.
* You can either boil your beetroot or bake them in foil until tender. Just chop the tops off about an inch away from the root, scrub the root and cook. Then after they are cooked, top and tail the roots and rub the skin off.
I also used cooked beetroot to make a tasty dip recently. I whizzed a couple of small, cooked and peeled beetroot with about a third of a tin of rinsed chickpeas, about 50g of diced fetta cheese and a big glug of olive oil. Add a little extra water if it is too thick, and black pepper to taste. You shouldn’t need to add salt as the fetta is usually quite salty. I did make it again without the chickpeas, but I think they do improve both the taste and the texture. You can add the rest of the tin to a salad for protein. If you still have any beetroot puree left over, try adding it to risotto at the last minute for a glorious pink dinner!
Finally, if you do eat a lot of beetroot, you may notice that it can give an indication of your ‘bowel transit time’! Amusing as this is to the less mature among us, it can also be quite a useful as an indicator of your digestive system. Too slow a transit time (more than 24 hours) could indicate a sluggish digestion which gives your body time to absorb excessive toxins and may increase the risk of colon diseases. If it takes less than 12 hours for the beetroot colour to appear, food may be passing through your digestion so quickly that you don’t have time to absorb nutrients, perhaps due to an infection, food intolerance or stress.
