Beets..

[Nenyath]

What to do with them? I have no experience with beets at all and we got three in our organic box.. Also, grapefruit, any way to make it taste less bitter? 6th day raw and still doing good!

[juliebove]

Beets can be slivered and put in or on a green salad. You may have to peel them first. Baby beets are best for this, but the ones I got in my orangic produce box the other day were pretty big. They were rather tough. I slivered up some and then gave up on them.

As for the grapefruits, you might try a pinch of salt. This is what my mom used to do if they weren't sweet enough. Then again, you might find yourself with salty, bitter grapefruit, which is what I had the other day. My favorite grapefruit is the ruby red. Second favorite is pink. White is the least favorite. I think they tend to be the most bitter.

[Jackie1995]

Juice those beets! Mixed with apple, carrot and celery, what a great healthy tonic!
YUMMIE!

[julie07052]

I love beets!! I just peel them and grate them in my cuisinart. Takes only a few minutes. I put a big heap of the grated beets on top of my salad every day. I think they make my salad taste so much better. And I love that they stain my cucumbers red and make my salad dressing pink!

[Nenyath]

Thanks everyone! I will most certainly try them on my salad! Unfortunally I do not have a juicer, so the juicing will be tough.. As for the grapefruit, never ever heard about putting salt on them! Might as well try though, got nothing to loose, only a grapefruit to win ;)

[RowanC]

1 beet -grated
1 pear approximately same size - grated

Mix them up and add a handful of chopped walnuts.
Then add the juice from 1 lemon or lime.
Stir it and taste.
If you like it sweeter you can add agave or honey, just a tiny bit. But usually,if the pears are sweet, that's enough.

I just LOVE this salad.

You can also grate the beets and put them in smoothies.

I've also made this salad using an apple instead of a pear. It's great.

[Nenyath]

It sounds really nice RowanC! I ought to try that!

[Sarah]

You can make lovely beet chips too, if you have a dehydrator. Just slice them thinly with a spiral slicer or knife, marinate a while in cider vinegar with a touch of olive oil, salt & pepper, then dehydrate.

I also love shredded beet salads - mixed with vinegar or lemon juice & olive oil, add some pumpkin seeds and/or parsley. Also a beet/red cabbage coleslaw is delish!

Don't be afraid of those beets - they are super good for you!!

[levamssg]

I add beets to my vegeburger mix -- makes it look like "burger" ! I also add shredded beets to salads. Or make Borscht!!

[solarliving]

A nice combo is: juice half a beet with some carrots and celery. Beets are a blood cleanser.

[Smoothie]

Hi Nenyath

We juice our grapefruit. To make it sweeter, I juice one or two oranges wth it. It makes it sooooo yummie. It's a really great flavor.

This is the best thing to do with grapefruit if you really don't like the taste.

[Secret Heart]

My intestines must hate me but I cut beets up into big chunks and put them on my salad....they're a great cleanser!

Heather

[karenisraw]

I slice the beets up into think slivers to put on a salad.

For the grapefruit, I peel ALL of the skins and pith (white stuff) off of each segment and eat like that. They are sweeter.

k
:)

[RowanC]

I had problems eating grapefruit because of the bitterness too.. UNTIL I discovered that what is bitter is the membrane, not the fruit. So, I peel it, then with my teeth, I open each wedge at the top, pull down the membrane, and just eat the fruit. Once you learn how, it only takes a second, and it's awfully refreshing!

[Jackie1995]

Hi rowanc,

just wanted to let you know I'm trying your beet/pear/walnut salad tomorrow. It sounds totally delicious! Even my wonderful spouse will love it, because he loves beets. He's not raw at all, but is eating more fresh fruit, salads, etc. just because they're hanging around staring at him...

Thanks for the idea!

[Nenyath]

Hmm.. I tried juicing one of the grapes yesterday together with an orange to sweeten it, but it was still bitter.. My mouth got really sore too later in the night, I'm not sure wether it was the grapefruit or just the beginning of a sore thoath, but there is nothing this morning...

[Shivananda]

Here's a great, tangy, simple recipe for raw ginger beet salad*

2 cups shredded or spiral cut beets, raw and peeled (I like the fine shred from a Spirooli)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
1 Tablespoon agave nectar (or honey or maple syrup or date soak)
1 Tablespoon Tamari or Braggs
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice (or vinegar)

Toss all ingredients in a bowl and let marinate at least a few minutes (and longer is better) before serving.

Attached is a pic of a batch of this I made the other day with golden beets. It turned out as delicious as it is gorgeous to look at.

Also, I slice beets into paper thin circles (a Spiralizer or Joyce Chen spiral slicer with the shred blade turned off works great for this - use a bit more than a full slice and overlap the ends to get a perfect circle), put a ball of pate in the middle, shape it a little, then fold the slice in half and shape to make into a Rawvioli. I like it better than turnip or daikon, and golden beets are beutiful for this as well. And rawviolis from striped Chiogga beets knock people out.

*adapted from The Raw Gourmet by Nomi Shannon

[Nenyath]

Hi Shivananda..

It really does look delicious! I don't have the slicer though, and am short of ginger too, but I will remember it!

Fly forever free,
Nenyath

[Shivananda]

I don't have the slicer though

No matter, use shredded beets from a food processor or a hand grater, thin sliced beets from a mandolin or matchstick cut beets from your chef's knife... use yellow beets, red beets, striped beets, purple beets. It's all still going to turn out tasty. I just showed it the way I did because that's how I made that particular batch the other day.

[Nenyath]

I'll remember that.. Thanks!