It’s summer and here comes the time of vegetables with vibrant colors!  Summer makes it easier to eat healthy, I find. Nothing like vibrant colors to motivate us to eat healthy, to have larger options of vitamin-loaded, taste-intense, nutrient-rich and fiber-loaded veggies and fruits. Taking a tour of your local farmers’ market may be even more motivating! 

I particularly like the color of red beets. But what i find extraordinary, is how this vegetables keeps his strong, particular taste wether raw, lightly cooked and crunchy or overcooked and mushy. Whatever you use it in, It will give everything a bright colorful flair, and a bunch of taste.  

I like beets more raw than cooked. Why? Because the taste is the same, and the raw vegetable is much crunchier than the soft, mushy thing you buy precooked at the store, vacuum sealed in plastic. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still good, but much less enjoyable to swallow without needing to chew in my taste. Besides I suspect part of its nutrition value is gone since it was cooked and packed for you. 

Why is beet healthy? 

This root vegetable with a earthy flavor is increasingly known for its heart healthy qualities. Why ? And is that all?

One Healthline article will provide useful explanation on the health benefits of beets.

It explains that the health of beet is mostly related to its high natural nitrate contents that relax the heart. However if you were tempted to rely on beet juice only to get these benefits, know that raw beets seem to have more effect on blood pressure than cooked. I suspect it is probably due to some nutrients being degraded during cooking, as well as a lower fiber density once cooking has ocured. Beet juice also has no fiber content since it has been juiced. Therefore I recommend: try them raw! They taste the same and only require more chewing! Steaming them to preserve more fiber and vitamins.

Have Beets Many Different Ways

Trying to find some fresh summer beets recipes ? There are so many ways to eat beets that are fresh and delicious. And I plan on providing a few more summer beets recipes !

Fresh salads

Want freshness ? Beet go Great in goat cheese salad, with other fresh produce!

The creamy goat cheese melts into the dressing and turns pink. 

It also pairs really well with feta cheese, oregano, tomatoes and red onions. A truly refreshing salad option! This vegetable will give your savory salad a sweet flavor. Easy to add to any buddha bowl as well! 

Using Beets Greens

Like many vegetables, greens are edible and can be mixed very successfully in stir fried, soups or made into pesto. I like a stir fry with gently steamed beet greens, pre-soaked garbanzo beans and tomato sauce.

Fermented beets

It’s probably one of my kids’ favorite vegetables ! They love it most when it is fermented in salt water. It is a little softer, but still crunchy, with a  little pickled edge. And that is so easy to do ! 

1° Buy organic beets to enjoy most of its nutritional wealth !

2° Peel the beet. Slice your beets in 1/4 inch thick slices, then place them in a jar. Make a salt water brine, pour it over the beets, do not cover completely, letting the beets excrete some water. After a few minute, fill up the jar, add a heavy glass weight and close. Let it sit on the counter away from the light from 3 days to a week.

3° store in an airtight container in the fridge until you finish the jar. You can drink the juice or add to salad dressings! It has lots of natural probiotics.

It stores for months in the fridge ! My kids love it all the more that their face gets all pink when they eat it. Dice it in any fresh salad this summer for great results! You can also use the juice in broth or smoothies, it is full of good bacteria!

Pink Hummus

Beet lovers who love classic hummus will love this idea. No this is not a beet-only hummus meant to replace garbanzo beans for those who can’t. I just like to add beets and use it in hummus to give it color and sometimes to ferment my hummus. It’s a perfect colorful side or snack for dinner parties !

How do I use beets to make Pink hummus?

1° I don’t roast beets

I don’t mind roasted beets in the fall, roasted with other roasted vegetables. But in the summer, I don’t like overheating my house for nothing, and I don’t feel I need the hearty flavor of roasted veggies as much. So I either eat it raw, fermented or I steam it. The main advantage of steaming is that it preserves nutrients best after eating raw or fermented. Besides, it gives veggies a steam bath which is even more important for non-organic produce. Learn more about steaming as the healthiest cooking method here.

2° My hummus is essentially my classic hummus recipe, with beets! 

Therefore, it is gluten free and dairy free. That means there is no sour cream in it. It is very easy to digest! 

My Classic hummus recipe uses presoaked garbanzo beans which I steam for 6 minutes. They remain firm and crunchy and keep most of their nutrients.

3° is it a low FODMAP dip ?

Technically it isn’t. People who have to follow a low FODMAP diet usually are told to avoid beans and peas because of their high fermentability in the gut. That can cause stomach upset and digestion problems. However, I do believe that part of the FODMAP problem is also the way legumes are prepared and how long they are cooked ! 

Tip: If you are not specifically on a low-FODMAP diet, you can try preparing beans appropriately and see how it affects your digestion. Reintegrate slowly though! Mostly, use dried beans and soak them overnight. Then steam them with an efficient food steamer for 6 minutes. Beans have to remain crunchy! 

Eat legumes as dips, as fresh salads, or other dishes you like, but make sure to chew them thoroughly. I will explain how to cook beans so that they don’t cause gas in an upcoming post!

4° I use steamed beets to make it. 

It keeps the process of making hummus easy and fast! Just dice your beets and steam them 5 minutes. Then add them to the food processor and blend ! 

Best processor to make hummus? I like both Vitamix and Cuisinart. It is easier to dose water and to clean up the Cuisinart compared to the Vitamix. I always make too much hummus to use an immersion blender.

5° Fermenting: It will last even longer if you ferment it a little bit. 

Just replace the steamed beets with a fermented beets and a little fermented beets juice to ferment it. Let the hummus sits on the counter a few hours after making it ( I leave it around 6- 8 hours) to allow for it to ferment. Keep in the fridge in an airtight container. The fermented juice and fermented beets will give hummus a slightly pickled taste. Fermenting eat helped keeping it for easily 2 weeks or more.

6° What is so special about the Fermented Beet hummus Version?

• The slight pickled taste when you ferment it. That may be something that people don’t always enjoy at first.
• The taste: Despite the use of beets, this hummus does NOT taste like beet at all ! Garbanzo beans and tahini have enough of a strong taste to overpower the taste of beet. The color, however, is wonderful !

Ingredients: 

• Lemon juice ( one lemon);
• Garbanzo beans, pre-soaked overnight;
• One Onion, steamed;
• Fresh garlic ( each clove can be replaced by 1 tsp garlic powder)
• Tahini;
• Green onions for deco;
• A medium beet ( I use raw beets) . Peel it, dice it and steam it 5 minutes. The size of your beets can vary, either large or medium, approximately 4 oz raw.
• A little olive oil for deco;
• Sesame seeds, for deco.

Food restrictions compatibility

My hummus recipe is gluten free, dairy free, oil free ( if you skip the oil on top) – for sure processed oils free – vegan and vegetarian. It is also easier to digest because it is prepared the best way you can: soaking overnight, then steaming, and adding some fermented beets, which makes it a fermented snack. Fermentation ahead of eating makes food easier to digest.

Making it in 5 easy Steps 

• 1. With a pairing knife, cut the beets on a cutting board, whether fresh or fermented. If they are fermented, you don’t need to steam them. However, you need your food steamer to steam pre-soaked garbanzo beans for 5-6 minutes. Soaking decreases beans’ phytic acid content, which hinders nutrient uptake. It also eases digestibility.
• 2. Steam beans and onions. Transfer in an food processor with water, lemon, garlic, tahini, salt ( you can add some ingredients and blend them one by one too).
• 3. Add steamed beet or fermented beet ( the equivalent of a 4-5 oz beet). Blend until smooth. You can use an immersion blender in a bowl, but it will go faster in a food processor especially if you want to blend until very smooth.
• 4. To ferment, leave on the counter for 4-8 hours in an airtight container. Store in the fridge up to two weeks ( I never kept it longer because it got eaten! It probably would last much longer though!)
• 5. Serve in a small bowl with raw carrots, peppers, cucumbers or pita chips, or spread on sourdough bread !

Steps in pictures:

For more flavorful, healthy recipes of summer beet salads and other summer salad options, stay tuned ! 

More dips? Want classic? Try my Savory Intense Hummus, With A Steamed Cuisine Twist, or Purple? A French Classic: Aubergine Caviar or Eggplant Dip. Want green? Try my Parsley Apple sauce! Want protein? Easy Chicken Liver & Breast, Orange & Thyme Recipe ! Enjoy 🙂