Vibrant Beets Soup

There is something fascinating about beets.

They are vibrant. Sweet. And delicious.

I have been want to make beets soup for a while.

I finally did.

This recipe is loosely based on this recipe from Love Served Daily. I wanted beets to be the primary ingredient. And it was delicious!

Ingredients:

4 medium red beets, washed, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, washed, peeled and diced
2-3 medium tomatoes, washed and diced
1/2 tsp cardamon powder
2 cups water
2-3 tbsp sour cream
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan or dutch oven. Add diced beets, and carrots and fry for 1-2 minutes.  Add diced tomatoes, salt, cardamon powder and continue frying.

Add fresh ground pepper, water (or broth) and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Using a hand-held blender, process to a smooth paste or transfer to a food processor and pulse till smooth. Add sour cream and mix well.  Continue to cook for 5-6 minutes.

Season as necessary and serve warm with croutons or bread.

Millet and Beets Upma

I love trying healthy grains (or seeds)  in different ways. Especially those I can substitute for rice.Millet is a relatively unknown small, round, yellow (or white, gray or red) seed. Although the term millet refers to grains, it is not really a grain, but a seed. Millet is widely grown in India, Asia,  and parts of Africa. Certain forms of millet have high protein, minerals, iron and calcium compared to common grains such as rice and wheat. It is gluten free, and a good substitute for other grains such as rice, oats or couscous.It is a source of high energy,

This is my second time cooking it and I can tell you it is not the easiest to cook. It definitely takes longer and needs more preparation than other grains such as Amaranth and Quinoa. For details on preparation and how to cook millet, I found this site with good information.

Upma is a very traditional and popular south Indian breakfast item that I cook for brunch, quite often. I have a traditional recipe that we used at home and adapt it each time I alter the ingredients. Following my Upma series, here is another almost similar, but slightly different millet-based Upma.

Ingredients:

1 cup organic, hulled millet, rinsed (soaked overnight if possible)
1 small onion or scallion, chopped
1/2 red beet, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
a small piece of ginger chopped
a handful of cashews ( you can also use peanuts)
1 tbsp channa dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp ghee (optional)
a few curry leaves

In a pan, add oil, channa dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and cashews (or peanuts) and fry lightly till golden. Add chopped ginger, curry leaves and jalapeno and fry for a minute. Add onion and continue frying for 2-3 minutes. Add beets and tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes.

Add 2-3 cups water, season with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and let simmer for 5-6 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse millet seeds and add.  Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes or until cooked, stirring often, and adding water as needed. Add 1tsp of ghee if desired and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove from flame and serve warm with a cup of tea or coffee.

See Also:

Quinoa Upma
Amaranth Upma
Pearl Couscous Upma
Pearl Tapioca Upma
Red Rice Poha Upma
Upma and Pessarattu

In addition you can also make upma with bulghur wheat, Sooji (cream of rice) or Vermicelli.

References:

Millet Nutrition with some recipes
Millet on Wikipedia
Let’s make some boiled Millet

Roasted Kalettes with Beets and Cranberries

The past few months I have been hearing about Kalettes that are brand new vegetable — a hybrid between kale and Brussels Sprouts. There is some discussion on whether this should be called BrusselKale, Kale Sprouts (that is what Trader Joes is calling them), or Kalletes.  But Kalette seems apt, since the florets look like mini kale bunches. Kalettes are rich in Vitamin C, K and B6.

This recipe is adapted from here. There are more recipes posted there if you want to experiment with kalettes.

Ingredients:

1 bag (8 oz) Kalettes
1/2 golden beet sliced
1/2 red beet sliced
1/2 cup cranberries
1/3 cup walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves minced
salt and pepper to taste
a little Balsamic vinegar
blue cheese

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Toss kalettes, beets, walnuts and garlic with some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Can also add a few red pepper flakes. Lay out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Add cranberries and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle a little Balsamic vinegar and top with blue cheese and serve warm.

Mango Beets Blast

It’s been so hot and humid lately, that this is a perfect, refreshing drink to jump-start your day or after a workout at the gym or just about anytime actually. This is inspired by a recipe I saw in the Prevention Magazine.

Ingredients:
1 beet
1/2 mango
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup vanilla almond milk or I used mango smoothie
a few mint leaves

Chop the mango and freeze for 30 minutes. Meanwhile slice and cook the beet in a little water. Cool. Transfer the beets, frozen mango, orange juice, and almond milk. Add 3-4 mint leaves and pulse in a food processor.

Garnish with some mint leaves and serve chilled. Makes 3-4 servings.