Hello, young Padawan,
Today we will enjoy a simple but very nice salad, which will delight your heart health and your libido. How about that. With only one star: the beet.
Ok, I can hear you behind your screen: “I don’t like beets. I prefer chips.” So, you can do beet chips, baked in the oven (“answer to everything” is my nickname, ed). More seriously, if you really do not like beet, you can also choose to have beet juice mixed with fruit, you will find a mini recipe lower in the beet’s paragraph. It’ll force you to read it, lol.
In the meantime, there may be a slight detail of your body that you ignore. Not so low, little rascal, I am talking about your taste buds. Do you know that you can work on your taste, your preferences? As I often say: taste is a muscle. Meaning that if you work on it, you can, by regularly tasting new foods, by adding a pinch of this or that in your usual meal, widening your panel of flavors and thus make you like food which disgusted you before.
With a little practice, you also become more precise, you get to recognize this or that food or spice.
I know I sound like a broken record, but a few years ago I did not like beet or mango for example. By trying them again regularly, putting a bit of mango in my fruit salads, beet in my starters, I ended up appreciating them to the point that today I eat and enjoy them very often when it’s the season. Truly.
If you are in doubt, you can change your habits by regularly going out of your comfort zone, adding a hint of this or that fruit or vegetables to your meals. Try, you have nothing to lose and you will be surprised. You’ll see, it’s magic.
BEET
Betaine present in beets helps to reduce the level of homocysteine, a chemical substance that harms the blood vessels.
Rich in antioxidants, its high content of betaine and minerals make it an ally of choice to maintain heart health to the point that it is more than simple: if you want to take care of your heart, eat beets, lol.
Beet generally helps fight oxidative stress and inflammation, and its red pigment the betacyanin, in particular, can slow the growth of cancer cells. It is is also an excellent source of vitamin C. Rich in vitamin A, beet also takes care of your beautiful eyes and erases your wrinkles like a surgeon specialized in facelifts. Or almost.
Finally, I put it here just in case; beet is effective in maintaining the sexual hormones and stimulates the libido.
I bet that in two hours there is not a single beet available in your local store. Do I need to remind you of my favorite extractor juice: one raw beet, one orange, and a piece of ginger? With this, if you are not transformed into Pepé le Pew, there is nothing more that I can do.
spring salad
For one serving
2 handfuls of spinach shoots
½ large beet
½ medium onion
3 branches of parsley
10 almonds
1 small clove of garlic
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
Salt
Madagascar pepper
RECIPE
For beet there are two options for this recipe: You can eat it raw or cooked, so here are the two options…
Raw option: wash the beet (no need to peel it if it is organic) and grate it finely. Set aside.
Cooked option: wash the beetroot (no need to peel it if it is organic), cut in small dice and put in the steamer for 5-7 min. Set aside.
Cut the onion into thin strips and sauté with a teaspoon of olive oil over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes, they must be golden, caramelized. Set aside.
Using a cutting board and a good kitchen knife, roughly crush the almonds, but not the fingers. Take the opportunity to chop the parsley finely. Set aside.
Squeeze the garlic with a garlic press and mix it with the warm onions.
PRESENTATION
In your most beautiful dessert plate (I know, it’s a starter, but we’re wild, lol!), arrange a bed of spinach shoots.
Put the still warm garlic-onion mixture, beets, crushed almonds, and parsley on top of the spinach. Add remaining olive oil, balsamic vinegar and season with salt and Madagascar pepper.
There you go ! Enjoy your meal !
I hope you’re ready for it because this simple recipe is really terrific. The best is always the simplest, or at least, it is often.
If you want to make a complete meal with this recipe, just increase the quantities and add a protein like smoked tofu cut in diced sauté in the pan for 5 min, or 1/3 cup of cooked rice …
A little postscript for those who may never have eaten beet before, lol: it is possible a few hours after eating beet to have a pink pee or a red poo, it is the beet pigment that does that, not worth to call the 911, lol. Hence, you will think about me even on the throne.
I do not take any more of your precious time, because you have some groceries to buy! 😉
Springtime XO 🌸
