Food of the week: Beets

Leave it to the Romans to produce the greatest discoveries...Aqueducts, indoor pluming, and beets! Though the sweet and earthy beet is thought to originated in North Africa, the ancient Romans were the first to cultivate the velvety red root for food. Later, in the 19th century, beets were used for their high sugar content in Poland, home of the worlds first sugar factory.

Thats a bit of history on the luxurious and brilliantly colored vegetable, now here is why you should ate as many as you can!

Not only are beets high in anti-oxidants, contain 13% DV of fiber, 27.5 % DV of Manganese (think healthy bones, healthy nerves) and help prevent heart disease but they also perform two very cool functions....

1. Beets prevent birth defects- Even the thought of a baby is along way off for me, a diet rich in the B Vitamin Folate, encourages normal tissue growth (especially in the spinal column) of a fetus.
2. Beets keep our livers safe with super chemicals like glutathione peroxidase and glutathione-S-transferase . These extra-scientific compounds allow the liver to identify and eliminate the toxins we put in our bodies.

You can eat beets in a million different ways.
Try ordering beet-apple juice at a local juice bar. Or enjoy beets with feta in a salad with a thyme vinaigrette. Don't forget to always save the greens when you buy beets, they are great sautéed with a little garlic!

Click this link for Grilled Flank Steak with Beets, Greens and Horseradish