Beet Juice

A small, humble and perfectly red vegetable from the title of this recipe is one of my favorite whole year round veggie beauties. I think there is not a single negative thing about the beetroot – quite in contrary. Beet has sooo much good stuff in it; it’s whole eatable; while it grows in your garden, it requires almost no attention, and my favorite part when talking about the beet is that it has some very nice stories and legends stacked to its name.

Very long time ago beet was actually a seabeet, growing in Mediterranean area and people ate only its leaves. A legend says that when the Apollo tasted it, he reckoned beet to cost as its own weight in silver. Ancient Romans started to grow beets from that time and they usually cooked it with honey, or made a beetroot salads. Even today people mostly add beet to their salads for its dramatic deep red color. On the other side, some people don’t really want to give a chance to this super healthy vegetable. And if your significant other is one of them, before you serve him/her this mood-lifting beet juice, tell a story about one of the oldest food of love. Namely, it wasn’t just the color and texture that Romans adored in beet, but also its property of gentle aphrodisiac. And to praise it, Romans decorated their earliest brothel The Lupanare with pictures of beetroot. This fact is scientifically proven today, and besides that, the scientists have found out that beetroot also contains few ingredients same as chocolate, so it can easily beat your blues. :)

tools:

sharp knife

peeler

cutting board

juicer / food processor

ingredients:

1 medium beet

1 banana (if you like your smoothie sweeter, add one more banana)

2 apples

half grapefruit

Beet Juice Recipe:

This beet juice should be made with firm, smaller beetroots. They should be cleaned carefully of all dirt, so they lose all the earthy scent. You can use the beet greens as well, but only if you have your own beets, or you purchased it on the organic farmers’ markets. If not, just use the beetroot alone. Also, if you don’t want to use beet greens immediately, remove them from the beet because they leech moisture from the root.

Peel the beet, cut it in few smaller pieces and put it in the juicer. Wash, cut and add all the fruits. If you’re making this beet juice during the hot summer days, you could use a frozen banana. This way the juice will be more refreshing and it will add additional thickness and texture to the drink. Juice it and serve it.

If you don’t have juicer, these few healthy veggies and fruits mixed together in the food processor also make a wonderful beet smoothie.

Now, there’s one catch to this beet juice – same as all the other super healthy vegetables, beet should not be consumed in large amounts, but you can make it every few days for breakfast and keep a beet smile through the whole day.