Selena Robins, Author

Who doesn’t love a good beeting?

If you’ve only tried pickled beets or not tried any at all, then you’ve been missing out on some great ways to enjoy this sweet vegetable.

Beets have an earthy fruity flavor and are so versatile you can turn them into a salty snack or utilize them in your baking, and not feel guilty when indulging, since beets are chock full of vitamins, antioxidants, and help boost your hemoglobin and immune system.

Here are a few ways to give yourselves a good beeting.

BEET CHIPS – Warning: They are highly addictive.

Ingredients:

2 large beets

3 TBSP olive oil

2 tsp. finely minced fresh rosemary leaves

2 cloves roasted garlic (mashed) if you don’t have any of this on hand, then 1 tsp. of powdered garlic

Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or use non-stick spray)

Peel the beets.

Using a mandolin (or a good cutting knife) slice the beets thinly (like the thinness of a potato chip)

In a large bowl, add all your sliced beets.

Add: rosemary, oil, garlic, salt & pepper and toss well to coat all the beet chips

Place them on your baking sheet, do NOT overlap.

Bake for one hour, or until edges are crispy and the beets look like they have dried into chip consistency.

Remove from oven when done and put them on a cooling rack until cool, and even crispier once they are not warm.

***Note*** You can use the same recipe to make sweet potato chips and serve them along with the beet chips. Use any of your favorite dips as well.

GLUTEN-FREE BEET BROWNIES

Ingredients:

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup gluten free flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup beet puree (bake beets (1 or 2 depending on size) in oven, until tender enough to mash into a puree

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 TBS honey

1 cup banana, mashed (or use apple sauce)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)

1/2 cup pecans (or any nut that you like or leave the nuts out all together)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Spray a baking pan 9 x 9 with non-stick spray

In one bowl add all the dry ingredients, mix well.

In another bowl add all the wet ingredients, mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into pan and cook for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

***Topping*** Ice with your favorite chocolate icing, add berries or just dust with confectioner sugar.

GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE BEET CAKE

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup Gluten-free flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 medium beets (baked and mashed and cooled)

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven 350F

Add all the dry ingredients into one bowl and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vanilla and almond extracts

Add the cooled, pureed beets to the egg mixture and stir well.

Pour wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until everything is incorporated.

Line baking pan with parchment paper (or use non-stick spray, but I prefer using parchment paper, works real well)

Pour the cake batter into cake pan and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until toothpick  comes out clean.

Cool cake completely before icing with your favorite frosting or serve with freshly whipped cream.