Beets nutrition information and benefits

Mighty Beets are Back…

Have you ever bought fresh beets? Beets are back ‘in-style’ and add much more to your plate than vivid color. If you have not heard about the health benefits of beets, keep reading…not a fan? Well, maybe that’s because you’ve never tried this hearty root vegetable FRESH. Try ’em the grown-up way (uncanned) and get ready to love a food you never thought you’d like. It’s easy to love fresh beets, and not just for their nutritional advantages. While we often think of beets having a reddish-purple hue, some varieties are white, golden-yellow or even rainbow colored. The sweet, buttery taste of beets reflects their high sugar content making them an important raw material for the production of refined sugar. In fact, they have the highest sugar content of all vegetables, yet are very low in calories.

Peak season for beets is June – October (when they are most tender) and are easy to prepare at home. Pass by blemished bulbs with wilted greens and look for healthier bulbs. You’ll find the prettiest beets at your local farmer’s market. By the way, don’t throw out those greens so fast! They are chock full of nutrients such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, iron and calcium. Greens can be sautéed in garlic and olive oil. Beets are rich in folate, potassium, magnesium and dietary fiber and contain powerful nutrient compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and certain cancers, especially colon cancer.

Preparing Beets: Beet Recipe

Beets can be peeled, steamed, and eaten warm with butter as a delicacy; cooked, pickled, and eaten cold as a condiment; or peeled, shredded raw, and eaten as a salad. Pickled beets are a traditional food of the American South. It is also common in Australia for pickled beetroot to be consumed on a burger.

An increasingly popular preparation method is roasting beets. To roast beets, trim the greens away from the beets (leave about 1/4″), thoroughly clean beets with a veggie scrubber and place in a baking dish. Add 1/4″ of water to the dish. Cover. Place medium beets (4-6 oz) in the oven and roast for 40-45 minutes (a little less or more time for smaller and larger beets, respectively). They’re done when a knife easily penetrates the beet. Allow to cool in the baking dish. Cut away the ends and slip off the skins. Roasted beets are wonderful on their own or dressed with a vinaigrette, and they’ll keep, refrigerated, for 5 days in a covered bowl.

Approx Nutritional Information: 1 roasted beet: 44 calories; Total fat: < 0.5 g; cholesterol 0 mg; sodium 77 mg; Total carbohydrates 10.0 g; Dietary Fiber 2.0 g; Sugars 8.0 g; Protein 1.7 g.

Roasted Vegetables: healthy & delicious

About roasted vegetables

Year round you can find tasty, budget-friendly produce that is ‘in season’, particularly in the autumn and winter months to prepare roasted vegetables. Roasted vegetables make a great crowd pleaser for parties or an everyday ordinary dinner with the family. If you’ve not tried them before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised! Roasting vegetables draws out their natural sugars, creating a crunchy, browned outside and a juicy, tender inside.

How-to prepare roasted vegetables

To begin your roasted vegetables dish, line a roasting pan with foil and spray it generously with non-stick cooking spray or simply choose an aluminum oven-ready pan. Slice/cube variety of seasonal root/winter veggies (that you have washed to remove dirt and debris) for your roasted vegetables side dish. Good choices include parsnips (peel them first), sweet, white, Yukon or baby new potatoes, carrots, onions (sweet onions work well and color), cauliflower, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and any other hearty veggies you enjoy. Be sure to slice/cut the vegetables in fairly uniform pieces for even cooking. Prepare more than you think you will need/be very generous with your ‘mound’ of cut-up veggies. Since vegetables have a very high percentage of water, dry cooking methods, such as roasting, removes much of the water and shrinks them. This concentrates the flavor though the volume decreases significantly. Post-roasting, you will end up with a smaller mound of roasted vegetables.

Drizzle the veggies generously with olive oil and add a sprinkle of your favorite dried herbs, such as rosemary, basil, oregano and thyme (fresh herbs will ‘burn’ in the hot 420-degree oven). Toss well with your hands to coat all of the veggies and spread in the pan in a fairly even, single layer (as best as possible). The last step is to add a pinch of sea salt and a generous grind of pepper. ‘Roast’ in a 400-degree oven for about 40 minutes. Pair your delicious roasted vegetables with roasted chicken, pork tenderloin or any main meat.

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Medley

This fresh vegetable-forward summer squash recipe is reminiscent of the south of France with the addition of Herbes de Provence, an herb blend that typically includes dried basil, fennel seed, marjoram, rosemary, sage and thyme. If unavailable, you can substitute 1-2 tsp of these herbs instead.

Ingredients:
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large zucchini, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large yellow squash, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tsp. Herbes de Provence
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven broiler. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash and sauté 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 more minutes.

Add Herbes de Provence, cherry tomatoes and salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer mixture to a casserole dish. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Place under the broiler for a few minutes, until cheese melts. Less than 100 calories and 3 g fat per serving.