Because the weather never really took out any of our veggies, we’ve been having to pull a lot of them up lately to prep and plant our spring garden. All of a sudden we needed to plant tomatoes, cucumbers & potatoes…along with lots of other yummy summer veggies…but, our garden was still completely full and going strong! I’ve managed to convince my hubby to leave the kale in the ground as long as possible…we eat it so often and it can be tough to find fresh organic kale in the grocery store…but, we’ve had to pull up tons of spinach and beets in order to make room for other plantings.
With the spinach, we’ve been enjoying lots of fresh spinach based salads…which we never seem to get tired of. And, I’ve been making Kimberly Snyder’s Glowing Green Smoothie for breakfast daily. It’s a really tasty combo of spinach, romaine, celery, apple, pear, banana, and lemon and it has tons of fiber so it keeps me full all morning.
I started following Kimberly’s Beauty Detox Solution about a month ago and I’m loving it! I’ll talk more about her program and how it’s helping me in a future post…but for now, if you’re interested, you can check out her website…which has tons of great info…here!
With all of the beets we’ve had to pull up, we’ve been juicing some, canning some, and then roasting the rest. Once they are roasted they are wonderful as a simple side with lunch or dinner and they are also really yummy sliced on top of salads.
Another simple and delicious way that we’ve enjoyed our beets is in this Roasted Beet Soup. This is not a hearty meal-type soup…but, it’s wonderful served alongside a big salad for lunch or as an appetizer.
I love how easy this soup is to make. It’s warm and sweet with earthy flavors, and the cayenne pepper gives it a nice kick. The beet flavor definitely takes center stage…so, If you like beets…you’ll love this soup! You can save time by roasting the beets a day, or even a few days, ahead of time. They keep well in the fridge for quite a few days. Most beet soup recipes that I’ve seen suggest removing the beet skin after the beets have roasted and cooled. I chose to leave the skins on…simply to save time and the mess of removing them. Once blended (I used my Vitamix), there wasn’t even a single trace of the skin. If you don’t have a high powered blender, you might consider removing the outer skins before blending.
| Roasted Beet Soup |
|
- 3-4 medium sized beets
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup roughly chopped yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder (depending on how much heat you want)
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Trim, clean, and quarter the beets. Rub them with a very small amount of olive oil (just enough to lightly coat them), then place them on a foil lined baking sheet and roast them at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes (roasting time will depend on the size of your beets) or until tender when pierced with a fork.
- Place all remaining ingredients (except salt & pepper) in a medium sized saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to low, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are tender and translucent..
- Place the beets in a blender and puree until smooth slowly adding the cooked broth mixture.
- Add sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
I’ll have lots of gardening news to chat about soon, as our spring garden starts to come together…but, until then…I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Health, hugs, & happiness ~ Melissa
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