Beets per Minute

When was the last time you ate beets? I don’t imagine it’s at the top of most people’s culinary favorites. I used to hate beets because my only experience with them was out of a can. Those are truly awful. My mother would have them as a side dish for dinner occasionally and they tasted like whatever I thought pennies would taste like, purely awful.

From childhood until a few years ago, all that time…no beets.

Until  a friend of ours became ill…

He decided that having a  healthy diet  would keep the cancer from developing further. One time in his home he prepared a beet salad made from fresh beets. My palate made a new memory and beets for the first time had a good place in my mind.

Recently, my husband purchased beets in a plastic container from the produce department. They were round, soaking in vinegar. Then I viewed an ad for Green Giant Frozen Beets on social media. It seemed beets were emerging. The image in the ad was of spiral cut beets. It was intriguing. Going to the store was on my list so I purchased this vegetable, frozen. Not long ago, we ate them as a side dish.

I cooked the beets as directed on the package while sautéed purple onion simmered in a pan. After the beets were cooked, I drained the liquid from them, and added them to the pan of onions. In a couple of minutes it was ready to serve. I didn’t add another thing to this mixture. It was a vivid maroon serving of 2 nutrient packed vegetables. A natural sweetness seemed to make it all palatable.

And in case you’re concerned about that natural sweetness, the natural fiber is the barrier to slow down the travel of the sugar into your bloodstream. This is how God created our bodies and all the processes HE created are for our good.

After looking online, there are a number of food items that can be added to beets. This list gives you a few ideas:

• For a cold salad, a bag of spinach could be added with feta cheese and walnuts.
• Orange slices would add be a succulent addiction. delicious and incredibly healthy.
• Whip up a honey dressing stirring in balsamic vinegar and garlic to go on top.
• Roasted carrots or diced sweet potato would be a colorful combination for a hot dish.

I was pleasantly surprised by this simple dish. Beets are very good for your body by being a good source of vitamin C, magnesium and can aid in cardiovascular health.

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” ~Margaret Thatcher

Sometimes the weekends present challenges to a healthy lifestyle and the discipline we had all week crumbles.  Maybe this blog on beets can get you refocused this weekend. As a final note,  I would recommend fresh or frozen for beets, and any other vegetable.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

I Corinthians 3:16

©Valerie Rumfelt

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