Beet ittt! Beet ittttttttt!
Love you, MJ. Okay, let me set you straight on beets–as in the vegetable. They’re super duper good…. said no one ever (except me). I think they taste like corn, but slightly sweeter and tastier overall. Don’t even get me started on that gorgeous purple hue. I just die over it. It’s screaming antioxidants. Your bod will LOVE you for this salad. Eating plants is such a breeze when they taste this good. I bet you won’t even realize all the fiber, folate, carotenoids and flavonoids you’re scarfing down!
I’m doing my thesis on nutrition initiatives centered around James Care for Life’s Garden of Hope, where we’re cultivating a cure for survivors of OSU’s comprehensive cancer center. It’s a wonderful initiative to make fresh, seasonal produce more accessible and to stress the value of food in prevention of cancer and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle for survivors. Did you know over a third of all cancers could be prevented by nutrition and lifestyle interventions? That’s a whole lot of lives. The American Institute of Cancer Research came up with a set of guidelines to prevent cancer, including adopting a plant-based diet. It doesn’t mean one must eliminate meat, but the focus of the meal should be the fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans and legumes rather than the meat. Essentially, two thirds of the plate should be plants. There are beautiful fruits and vegetables that are proven to aid in the prevention of cancer, yet nearly 80% of Americans aren’t getting the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables per day.
An apple is more than pie filling–it, along with all its veggie friends, has the power to prevent the handful of chronic diseases that we are needlessly dying of at alarming rates each and every day.
People complain that they don’t want to spend a lot of money on food, and yeah, I get it. Those veggie guys aren’t cheap. They aren’t subsidized like sugar, corn (which more often than not turns into high fructose corn syrup and heavily processed, genetically modified soybean oil), wheat, beef and milk. Did you know hexane, a byproduct of gasoline refining, is what soybean processors use as a cheap way of extracting oil from the soybeans? Yes, the soybeans are literally bathed in the stuff. Pretty please try to avoid conventional soybean oil when reading labels. At least if it’s organic, you know they didn’t use a hazardous pollutant to make it. The bottom line is that unfortunately, the government isn’t paying farmers to feed us disease-fighting foods.
Yes, healthy food is more expensive than a happy meal; but I’d rather spend a buck and a half on a big head of broccoli than waste thousands of healthcare dollars down the road on diseases I could have prevented with produce. Those colorful, antioxidant rich, disease-fighting foods are the cure; and they’re literally preventing and even reversing chronic illness as we speak.
Pay now or pay later. Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is hard, but heart transplants are harder.
A groundbreaking study was recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition titled “Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research guidelines and risk of death in Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer cohort study.” Researchers investigated whether concordance with AICR recommendations is related to risk of death. The study included 378,864 people in nine different countries. They found that across the board, following the guidelines (increased physical activity, plant-based diet, limiting red meat, alcohol and sugary foods, etc.) significantly increased longevity and also was associated with a lower risk of dying from cancer, circulatory disease and respiratory disease.
Eat plants. Pretty please.
Beet and Green Bean Salad with Tangy Dijon Dressing
Prep Time:
Yield:
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PinIngredients
- For the salad:
- 3 cups leafy mixed greens
- 8 oz green beans, ends removed and sliced in half
- 1 15oz can beets, sliced
- 1 small red onion, sliced thin
- For the dressing:
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- squirt of honey (about a tsp)
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of salted water (a couple inches) to boil. Set aside a large bowl of ice water for the green beans.
- Blanch the beans. (Add green beans to pot and boil for about three minutes, or until just tender.)
- Drain beans and let them sit in the ice bath for a few minutes to chill.
- Prepare dressing by whisking together dijon, red wine vinegar, olive oil and honey. Season with a good pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
- In a large bowl, combine mixed greens, drained green beans, sliced beets and sliced red onion. Toss with desired amount of dressing, add a pinch of salt and pepper and serve.
Make sure to enter my Kroger’s Simple Truth giveaway! Today (Friday) is the last day!
I absolutely love this post! The recipe looks amazing – but I love your message too. Eating plants is crucial…whether you eat meat or not. Prevention is so important – and so is feeling good and being healthy!
P.S. I am going to make this salad asap 🙂
Thanks so much, Lauren! I know you of all people can definitely understand my obsession with eating plants 🙂 Let me know if you try out the salad!
I absolutely love this post! The recipe looks amazing – but I love your message too. Eating plants is crucial…whether you eat meat or not. Prevention is so important – and so is feeling good and being healthy!
P.S. I am going to make this salad asap 🙂
Thanks so much, Lauren! I know you of all people can definitely understand my obsession with eating plants 🙂 Let me know if you try out the salad!
I am so excited that I found your recipe and blog! I’ve never followed any one blogger in particular but I can tell right now I am going to! I am addicted to veggies and their benefits too and can’t wait to share this salad with my friends and family at two separate bbq’s this weekend!!! I usually bring my immediate family our own food because most of them have not figured out the immense health benefits and overwhelming good feeling you get from what you put on the end of your fork 🙁 This recipe is sure to please!
★★★★
SO great to hear! I, too, am very much addicted to veggies 🙂 Hope you enjoy everything you try!
I am so excited that I found your recipe and blog! I’ve never followed any one blogger in particular but I can tell right now I am going to! I am addicted to veggies and their benefits too and can’t wait to share this salad with my friends and family at two separate bbq’s this weekend!!! I usually bring my immediate family our own food because most of them have not figured out the immense health benefits and overwhelming good feeling you get from what you put on the end of your fork 🙁 This recipe is sure to please!
★★★★
SO great to hear! I, too, am very much addicted to veggies 🙂 Hope you enjoy everything you try!
Made this for dinner tonight and have to say it’s very tasty. Cutting up and soaking the red onion in cold water while preparing the other ingredients removes the strong onion scent and leaves the flavor. Also used fresh, steamed beets.
Thanks for the great recipe and your thoughts behind the post!
★★★★★
Thanks for reporting back, Ernie! Glad you liked it. Great idea to soak the red onion while prepping! Fresh beets make such a difference, too.
Made this for dinner tonight and have to say it’s very tasty. Cutting up and soaking the red onion in cold water while preparing the other ingredients removes the strong onion scent and leaves the flavor. Also used fresh, steamed beets.
Thanks for the great recipe and your thoughts behind the post!
★★★★★
Thanks for reporting back, Ernie! Glad you liked it. Great idea to soak the red onion while prepping! Fresh beets make such a difference, too.
Absolutely fabulous. I had a can of each vegetable and it was GREAT with the dressing! Will be making again.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks for reporting back 🙂 You just reminded me that I need to make this again soon!
Absolutely fabulous. I had a can of each vegetable and it was GREAT with the dressing! Will be making again.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks for reporting back 🙂 You just reminded me that I need to make this again soon!
This looks so good! I’m glad I picked up beets and green beans at the farmers market:)
If using fresh beets do I need to cook them 1st? Also assuming rice vinegar would work instead of red wine?
Thanks!
Me too–sounds so yummy and fresh! You will definitely need to cook the beets first. My favorite is to just cube them up and roast them till tender. I’ve never tried it with rice vinegar–let me know how it turns out!
Thanks, I’ll let you know how it turns out!
This looks so good! I’m glad I picked up beets and green beans at the farmers market:)
If using fresh beets do I need to cook them 1st? Also assuming rice vinegar would work instead of red wine?
Thanks!
Me too–sounds so yummy and fresh! You will definitely need to cook the beets first. My favorite is to just cube them up and roast them till tender. I’ve never tried it with rice vinegar–let me know how it turns out!
Thanks, I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Looks delicious. I just roasted three bunches of beets without any plans for them – perfect timing!
Perfect! I have a new beet recipe coming up that I think you’ll adore 🙂
Looks delicious. I just roasted three bunches of beets without any plans for them – perfect timing!
Perfect! I have a new beet recipe coming up that I think you’ll adore 🙂
This looks amazing and I plan in trying it tonight. However, both my husband and I are cancer survivors and I am befuddled that the process canned photo comes up without a word of “Organic.”
Hi there! While I do purchase some organic products, I by no means eat 100% organic so I’m not sure where your surprise is coming from? That’s a personal preference based on many factors. Feel free to use organic canned beets if that suits you.
This looks amazing and I plan in trying it tonight. However, both my husband and I are cancer survivors and I am befuddled that the process canned photo comes up without a word of “Organic.”
Hi there! While I do purchase some organic products, I by no means eat 100% organic so I’m not sure where your surprise is coming from? That’s a personal preference based on many factors. Feel free to use organic canned beets if that suits you.