For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know I’m currently obsessed with beets. If it’s possible to be in love with a vegetable, I would send these sweet things a love note every day. First of all, they are the most gorgeous things ever… but you wouldn’t know it unless you got a little closer. I mean, on the outside beets are nothing appealing: kind of brownish, rough and bumpy, and all dusty from being in the ground.
But get a little closer, get to know one a little, get on the inside… and look! Isn’t that the most beautiful thing? Don’t judge a beet by its cover, folks!
If that weren’t enough, beets are brimming with nutritional value. They get their dark red colour from a set of phytonutrients called betalains, which provide powerful anti-oxidant, anti-imflammatory, anti-cancer, and detoxification benefits. As well, beets are also high in manganese (another anti-oxidant,) folate, potassium, and fiber. Yes, they do contain higher levels of sugar than most veggies, but if you’re eating the fiber along with it, your blood sugar won’t spike. When you consider that one cup of raw beets contains fewer than 60 calories and less than half the sugar of a medium apple, it kind of puts the sugar in perspective for you.
So let’s eat more beets!!
And let’s find ways to enjoy them raw, as excessive heating can break down many of these precious nutrients. This delicious strawberry beetroot smoothie is a fine way to do that. If you are new to the flavour of beetroot, or are not a fan, please don’t write off this smoothie! Raw beets taste pretty different than cooked… much less earthy… in fact I would go so far as to say bright and fresh!
When blended with strawberries, orange juice, vanilla almond milk, & a splash of light coconut milk, this smoothie is as delicious as its colour is beautiful. It’s not your traditional, very sweet, dessert-type smoothie, I’ll give you that. But if you’re looking for a bright, zingy beverage that has some personality to it (and is loaded with health bennies besides,) this is the smoothie for you.
I dare you to try it.
Strawberry Beetroot Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- ½ small beet (raw,) peeled & sliced
- juice of ½ an orange
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I used homemade)
- 2 T. light coconut milk
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth. Makes 1 serving (12 fluid oz/360ml)
Hi Rebecca,
I will try this with our next delivery of organic fruit and veg (just printed the recipe). Last time we tried beetroot cake (similar to carrot cake) but that didn’t go down too well … 😉
Thanks for the inspiration!
Lucy
Yup, sometimes beets are hard to sell… but I found this smoothie to be a good way! You might add a little sweetener for them (honey or agave)… I hope they love it! 🙂 xx