Beet Smoothie Recipes and Nutrition By Tracy Russell Have you ever considered using beets in your green smoothie recipes? No, I’m not talking about beet greens. I mean the hard root part! How To Use Beets In A Green Smoothie Recipe Beets have an earthy flavor that blends well with strawberries, pineapple and bananas. You probably don’t want a beet-flavored smoothie, but if you blend it with sweet fruit and use mild greens, you’ll get a delicious green smoothie with a wonderful purplish color and an excellent source of folate. Be sure to cut the beet into small pieces before blending, and only blend them if you have a high-speed blender like a Omniblend or Vitamix. Otherwise, use beet juice as your smoothie liquid. Avoid using bitter greens like dandelion and kale in smoothies that contain beet. Instead, blend beets with escarole, butter or romaine lettuces, or use fresh baby spinach. Beet Nutrition and Health Benefits Beets are particularly rich in folate. One 2-inch in diameter beet contains up to 22% RDA of folate. Beets are also a great source of copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and potassium. A small beet provides 35 calories and 1 gram of protein. Beets have been used for centuries in folk medicine. The pigment in red beets, betanin, is said to have antioxidant properties. Beet Smoothie Recipes Beet-Berry Smoothie 1 small beet root, peeled and chopped 1/2 cup frozen blueberries 1 cup strawberries 1 small orange, peeled and deseeded 8 ounces homemade almond milk Calories: 220 | Fat: 3g (grams) | Protein: 5g | Carbs: 46g | Calcium: 9% | Vitamin A: 31% | Vitamin C: 192% Grape-Root Tea Smoothie 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped 1 small beet, peeled and chopped 1 cup red grapes 1 clementine, peeled and deseeded 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root 8 ounces green tea, chilled Calories: 200 | Fat: 1g (grams) | Protein: 4g | Carbs: 50g | Calcium: 6% | Vitamin A: 344% | Vitamin C: 67% Beet-Apple Smoothie 1 medium banana, peeled 1 large apple, cored and peeled 4 ounces fresh beet juice Calories: 245 | Fat: 1g (grams) | Protein: 3g | Carbs: 63g | Calcium: 9% | Vitamin A: 31% | Vitamin C: 335% How To Select And Store Beets Choose beets that are firm and free from holes, cracks or other blemishes that go deep into the beet. Avoid shriveled beets. If you purchase beets with the greens attached, you can also use the greens in smoothies, although I don’t recommend using them in the same recipe. Otherwise, you might get too much of an earthy flavor. I highly recommend that you only purchase organic beets as root vegetables may contain higher amounts of pesticide residues. If you purchase beet juice, avoid products that contain added sugars or preservatives. I store my beets in the refrigerator until I am ready to use them.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 15:46:34 +0000
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