A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for Summer Borscht which prompted one of my Facebook friends to ask for more beet recipes. I’m happy to oblige because I love beets mostly for their sweet taste but also because they contain powerful nutrients that help to fight against anemia, heart disease, liver disorders, gallbladder problems and certain types of cancers, especially gastrointestinal cancers.

I often advise patients who suffer from gallbladder pain to eat beets because they thin the bile and so can relieve pain. For this reason they are also one of my favorite ways to benefit the liver and the betaine they contain has also been shown to improve the function of liver cells. I recommend beets to pregnant women because not only are they a great blood tonic but they are full of folic acid which can help to prevent certain kinds of birth defects. When it comes to heart disease there is evidence that beets can lower cholesterol and reduce inflammation and there are several studies that look at how beets can combat cancer. You can read them here, here and here.

Today I made used some home-grown beets in salad which combined with some Seedy Soda Bread made a lovely, light healthy lunch.

Ingredients

2 medium sized beets

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp argave nectar

1 small cucumber, sliced

2 tbsp mint, chopped

1 tbsp dill, chopped

1/2 tbsp chives, copped

1/4 cup yogurt

Instructions

Take two beets and clean them but don’t take the skin off or chop them in anyway. This is because they are more nutritious if the juices don’t leach out during cooking. Wrap the beets in foil and bake in a medium oven for 45 – 60 minutes. You can do this any time the oven is on too cook something else. Neither temperature nor the timings need to be exact. These were roasted at 375F for 50 minutes.

Unwrap and allow to cool until they are warm but cool enough to handle.

In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, vinegar and argave nectar to form a marinade. Chop the beets and mix them in the marinade and leave in the fridge for at least an hour. The beets can be stored like this for up to 24 hours. When ready to eat take the beets from the marinade and arrange on a plate with the chopped cucumber. Sprinkle the mint and dill over the beets and cucumbers. In a small jug mix the yogurt with some of the marinade to taste. This gives the dressing a rather alarming pink color but preserves as much of the beet nutrients as possible. Pour the dressing over the salad and garnish with chopped chives.

Serves 2 -3 and tastes great with the Seedy Soda Bread especially if you used carroway seeds in the bread recipe.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s is a much loved British TV chef and cook book author who writes about gardening, farming, cooking and eating at his home River Cottage. His wonderful book The River Cottage Cookbook covers everything from planting a vegetable garden to butchering a pig. It earned him the nick name Hugh Fearlessly-Eatsitall in the British press and I consider it a bible.

This soda bread recipe is based on a recipe in River Cottage Every Day. You can also find the recipe in an article in the Guardian here. As you can see I’ve taken some liberties with Hugh’s original recipe based on what I had in my kitchen this morning. However that’s the beauty of soda bread – it comes together in a jiffy with the minimum of preparation and can be customized to accommodate the ingredients on hand. This loaf took about 10 minutes of measuring, mixing and kneading and then spent a further 35 minutes in the oven filling the kitchen with a nice homely baking smell and making my mouth water.

This is very healthy bread although I have to admit I ate mine slathered with butter! The seeds and spelt flour lend it a nutty richness and bump up the nutritional value. As this blog article by Dr. Edward Group points out we should all be including more seeds in our diet so try this Seedy Soda Bread and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

3 tbsps EACH of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
2 tbsps EACH of sesame seeds and flax seeds
1 tbsp EACH poppy seeds and carroway seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 3/4 cup spelt flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup yogurt
1 1/4 cups fat free milk

A small amount of extra milk for glazing

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 400 F
• In a small bowl mix together all the seeds
• Sift both the flours into a large mixing bowl and add the salt and baking soda mixing everything together thoroughly
• Add all but 2 tbsp of the seeds to the flour and mix
• Combine the milk and yogurt in a jug and mix together well
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the milk and yogurt in slowly mixing with a fork as you pour
• Continue to mix until the dough comes together (adding more milk if it seems dry)
• Tip the dough onto a floured board and knead for about a minute until the dough feels smooth (it’s important not to overwork this dough)
• Form into a ball and place on a floured baking sheet.
• Using a serrated knife make a deep cross in the dough. This should be about 2/3 of the way through the loaf.
• Glaze the loaf with a small amount of milk then sprinkle seeds all over the top making sure plenty get into the cross
• Put the loaf in the preheated oven and bake for between 30 and 40 minutes (mine took 35 minutes)
• Your loaf is ready when the top is golden brown and it sounds hollow when you pick it up and tap it.

Enjoy!