Make Beetroot Your New Veg Friend! (Juice Recipes Included)

 

The Red One – Recipe Below (along with details of where to buy the glass bottle)

When I was at school and had school dinners, they used to give us sliced boiled beetroot with shepherd’s pie once a week. It turned the mashed potato a blushing pink. In those days we ate what we were given, both at home and at school, there were no menu options. I loved school dinners and whilst I wasn’t a big fan of boiled beetroot, it was ok. I ate it. Then in my teens I started taking packed lunches and between then and 2 years ago, not another slice of beetroot passed my lips. We never had it at home and later when I had my own family, my husband didn’t like it so we just never bought it.

Juicing changed all that. When I came to have my first juice with beetroot in, I was somewhat apprehensive. To my surprise, I liked it and given all its nutritional benefits, beetroot became My New Veg Friend.

It is advisable when you first begin juicing to add some fruit, especially lemon and/or berries, even ginger, which I still do, I’m not that hardcore that I drink straight beetroot juice! It has a slightly earthy flavour which some people aren’t keen on, although some varieties are sweeter than others. This is reduced if you remove the skin, but of course you’ll also be removing vital nutrients.

A welcome donation from our neighbour’s allotment

To my surprise, my previously juice-sceptic husband started having a daily beetroot juice too. I convinced him that it would help his blood pressure and now it has become part of his daily routine. And he doesn’t even drink it with a peg on his nose! He certainly feels healthier for it.

He gets regular exercise cleaning up after he’s made it too – for some reason, he always manages to get beetroot juice everywhere! So be warned, it stains, you’re advised to wear an apron and rubber gloves!

Just one of the many beetroot explosions in our kitchen, it even reached the ceiling once!

Beetroots are rich in iron, potassium, magnesium and folate, are anti-imflammatory, rich in anti-oxidants and are good for heart and blood health. They increase blood flow to the brain and improve exercise performance. Regular drinking of beetroot juice has been shown to reduce blood pressure.

Here’s one of the beetroot recipes we use – full of anti-oxidants, it is also anti-inflammatory, mineral-rich and has protein from the romaine leaves (see below for links to other beetroot juice recipes)*

The Red One

Ingredients

(Organic if possible)

1 Small or Half a Medium Beetroot – If organic and you’re used to beetroot, just chop the ends off, scrub well and leave the peel on

2-3 Medium Carrots, scrubbed

6 Romaine leaves, rinsed well

Thick Slice of Wax-Free Lemon – if organic, scrub and leave peel on, if not peel thinly leaving as much pith as possible.

Chunk of Ginger – size depending on whether or not you are used to the taste, it doesn’t want to be overpowering

2 Medium Apples

Half a Mango or Large Handful of Mixed Berries

Method

Juice all ingredients except Mango or Berries. Blend them into the juice, add ice.

(Beetroot is also a great tomato substitute: if you’re nightshade-sensitive and miss pasta or pizza sauce see my post Amazing Tomatoless Sauce)

*Winter Beetroot Wonder-Juice: Refreshing, Nutritious, Simple

Election Day Special Fruity Beetroot Juice

Blended Breakfast Beetroot Juice

Hot, Hot, Hot Anti-Inflammatory Beetroot & Ginger Juice!

Here’s one for beetroot soup:

Vegan, Gluten-Free Carrot, Beetroot & Basil Soup

and a burger recipe:

Nutty Bean & Beetroot Veggie Burgers with Quinoa & Redcurrants

You can even have beetroot in your porridge!

Pink Oats, Anyone?

The glass bottle in the photo is by Grip and Go UK. They produce a variety of stylish glass bottles in quirky shapes, some with colourful silicone grips and easy grip lids, or you can choose stainless steel lids. The bottles are dishwasher-safe and you can even chalk on the one in the photo, great fun! Ditch the plastic!

Here’s a gentle, relaxing YouTube video of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (see what I did there? 😉) to listen to while you sip your juice.

 Copyright: Chris McGowan