Love at First Bite: A Beet and Rosemary Recipe Romance!
It's spring! Well, Montana Spring that is. That means we are still all waiting for fresh greens to come back into our lives. So what do you do for another few weeks until those delicious greens grace our tables? Eat Beet Salad of course!
So easy to make and so deliciously good for you too. Why good for you?
First of all, Beets are full of a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. Two
betalains, betanin and vulgaxanthin, have shown to be anti-inflammatory, and support the Phase 2 detoxification(1) step in the liver involving glutathione.
What is this Phase 2 thing you are speaking of? Phase 2 is the metabolic step that our liver cells use to attach unwanted toxic substances up with small nutrient groups for removal. This attachment process effectively neutralizes many toxins and makes them sufficiently water-soluble for excretion into the urine or bile. And guess what, that betanin found in beets has been shown to aid in the elimination of toxins that require glutathione for excretion. What does all of that mean? It means that beets help our livers process waste and toxic material so that they can be safely removed. Take that toxins!
Plus beets also contain lots of great nutrients like folate, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin C, iron, vitamin B6, and it has some good fiber to boot. So eating more beets is always a good idea.
What about Rosemary, why is it so good for you? A member of the mint family, rosemary is a good source of iron, calcium, and vitamin B6. Rosemary leaves also possess hepatoprotective (liver protective) properties. And while this generally applies to herbal preparations, using rosemary in your culinary creations certainly is a good idea. And, rosemary is also very aromatic and brings out wonderful flavors of the other foods it is combined with.
This salad is so easy, it might be hard to believe it is good for you!
Rosemary Me Beet Salad
Ingredients
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp fresh Rosemary, chopped or 1 Tbsp dried Rosemary ground
3 Medium Beets, chopped into 1/2" chunks
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
Process
In a baking dish, toss beets in olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.
Preheat the oven to roast at 400°F.
Roast beets for 30 minutes, or until fork tender in the center. (start checking tenderness at 20 minutes as beets have a short window of being done to start burning. Pull when the fork inserts easily)
Serve either warm right away or store in the refrigerator and eat cold. Both are yummy.
1)Br J Nutr. 2013 Dec;110(12):2138-49. doi: 10.1017/S0007114513001645. Epub 2013 Jun 17.
Kathi loves making healthy food that is yummy and sharing it with others. Whom ever saids that health food is bad tasting hasn't been trying very hard.
Helping people to improve their health is a joy. As health improves so to does hope and excitement in life. And that is what it's all about.
