First news of the day…I passed my RD exam or the national examination to become a registered dietitian! It’s been a long road of schooling [7 years!], and it’s nice to have the credential. I feel very blessed from all of the support of my family and great friends.
My mom and I visited the farmers’ market in town for some fresh produce this week. After being spoiled by the expanse known as Soulard in St. Louis, I was still pretty impressed by the offerings of my much smaller hometown.
Loved the abundance of local produce. Read about the benefits of eating local food here.
We bought some homegrown carrots, which I think are much better than anything you can purchase in a grocery store {definitely not as slimy and gross as baby carrots}.
We also bought some raspberries that are amazing. No blueberries because we can pick those ourselves. My mom usually freezes them to be enjoyed all winter long {and then I eat them on my oats whenever I’m home}.
I have an extreme dislike for water chestnuts, jicama, and beets. Maybe it’s the texture? Anyway, after seeing the article, “beet recipes even a beet hater can love” in the New York Times (Toby Bilanow), I decided to expand my culinary horizons, using these beets from the farmers’ market.
I chose a recipe by Martha Shulman for risotto with beet green and roasted beets. Anyone who’s ever made risotto before knows it’s basically like babysitting rice. However, the end result is definitely worth the in-between steps.
photo credit: andrew scrivani [mine was much less aesthetically pleasing].
Beets* pack a lot of nutritional punch. Their reddish-pink pigment, called betacyanin has been linked to cancer prevention.
1 cup of boiled beets provides:
- excellent source of the folate, a very good source of manganese and potassium, and a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus.
1 cup of cooked beet greens provides:
- a good source of protein, folate, pantothenic acid, phosphorus and zinc; a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, C, E, K, thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese.
So now I’m curious…do you like beets? Any fave preparation methods or recipes? I can’t say I love beets…yet, but they’re growing on me.
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