Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook! So glad you’re here!
This week, I’m going to be featuring all things beets. Beets, in my opinion, are one of the most under-appreciated vegetables on the market. Abundant in the fall, they also appear at the markets in the mid-late spring. And right now, my market is full to overflowing with the rich, colorful and flavorful globes of sweet, rich goodness.
Beets not only taste good, but they are also SUPER good for you. While a little higher in carbs than other vegetables, they pack a nutritional punch that is hard to surpass and certainly hard to ignore. And here’s another thing: the greens are better for you than the beetroot itself–so don’t just toss them!! They can be added to soups and stews, sautéed for a side dish or served raw as part of a salad.
Let’s start this conversation with discussion on selecting beets: Beets should be firm–if they feel a little soft, they’re not as fresh as they could be.
If at all possible, get beets that still have the greens attached–not only are the greens good for you, but they are also an indication of how fresh the beetroot is–the more glamorous the greens, the fresher the beetroot!
We’ll talk more about preparing and cooking beet greens in a future post.
Are beets a “superfood?” Well, here’s a quick nutritional profile–read through it and I think you’ll be hard-pressed to decide it’s not one:
A serving of raw beets contain 20% of your recommended daily intake of folate, 14% of manganese, 8% of copper, 7% of potassium, 6% of manganese, 4% of vitamin C, 4% of B6 and 4% of iron. They also contain pigments call betalains, which may act as an anti-inflammatory and may have some cancer-fighting properties. Beets are also widely touted to lower blood pressure.
I need to note here that beets, as with many vegetables, are best eaten raw because some of the nutrients are temperature sensitive and even more of them are water-soluable. So, eating them raw is best, roasting is next best and boiling them will wash away many of the beneficial nutrients.
But–as good as the beets are for you, the beet greens are even better!
The greens are rich in betacarotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, all of which are powerful antioxidants and have cancer-fighting properties. They are a ridiculously good source of vitamin K, boasting more than 300% of your recommended daily intake in a single serving; they are also full of iron, and provide 32% of your rdi per serving. They are also high in vitamin A and C, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. In fact, gram-for-gram, they outperform the root in every category except for folate. So don’t throw them away! Toss them in a salad for a healthy alternative to lettuce, chop them up fine and toss them into soups and stews for a nutritional boost, or saute them with a little lemon juice and salt for a healthy side.
There are several kinds of beets: white beets, gold beets, red beets, elongated beets, and candy-cane beets.
I confess that I have only ever worked with red, gold, candy-cane and elongated beets.
From my research, I learned that white beets, also known as “sugar beets” lack betalain, which is the pigment responsible for the color in red and gold beets. Hence, they are not quite as nutritious as their cousins, and are also a little sweeter and lack the earthy rich flavor, which is off-putting to some. Not to me, but to some. They would be less messy to work with, as red beets essentially bleed when you peel and slice them. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them in my market, but I’m going to ask my beet guy about them this Saturday.
Candy-cane beets are rather fun, as they sport a bright pink and white striped interior when sliced. They are therefore fun to include raw in salads or on crudite plates. They are sweet and a little milder than red beets–and beware–they can lose some of their fun candy-striped quality when exposed to heat!
Gold beets are plentiful in the market. They are similarly high in betalains. Gold beets get their color from betacyanins, vs. red beets, which get their color from betaxanthans. Otherwise the gold and red beets have basically the same nutritional profile. Gold beets tend to be a little milder than red beets in flavor.
And finally, the most commonly found on the market are the red beets, which are hands-down my favorite kind of beet and when in season, I roast them up and we eat them like candy–mostly in salads, but we also really like them pickled.
Tune in tomorrow when I will start sharing beet recipes–
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
