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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The Buzz About Beets

This past weekend, we celebrated my fiance's birthday. This year, I decided that instead of going out to dinner, I would create a culinary masterpiece in my own kitchen! Dinner was served as a romantic setting for two on the porch. (Ok, it wasn't that romantic. We couldn't find matches, so once the sun set, we used an iPhone light app for illumination.)

In addition to fresh french bread, a beet and arugula salad with a sweet mustard dressing started off our evening.

This is a very quick and easy "fancy" salad and it is full of nutrition to boot! My favorite part of this salad is the beets. Why, you ask? Many well-controlled academic studies (such as this one) have shown that consumption of the nitrates in beets can significantly improve your athletic performance. For this reason, I'll make sure to enjoy another beet salad on Friday night before my last cycling race of the season!

Beet and Arugula Salad with Sweet Mustard Dressing

Salad:
6c arugula
3 large or two small beets, peeled and sliced
1/4c chopped walnuts

Dressing:
1/4c spicy mustard
2T brown sugar
3T warm water

In a large salad bowl, mix arugula, beets and walnuts. In a separate small bowl, add dressing ingredients and stir until smooth, adding more sugar or mustard to your taste. Pour dressing over salad. Serve & enjoy!

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4 comments:

  1. Kaitlin FagueSeptember 26, 2013 at 10:22 AM

    Hey Stef, I love beets!! What kind of beets did you used? I'm worried about the salt and sugar content of store bought ones but don't have time to pickle my own. Is there a brand or pickling recipe you prefer?

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  2. StefSeptember 26, 2013 at 4:10 PM

    Hi Kaitie! I prefer Trader Joe's if I can get them. They sell pre-skinned beets in a vacuum sealed pack in their refrigerated section, no salt or sugar added. If those aren't available though Libby's has canned beets with no sugar added. Although they add some salt, I don't mind it too much because I prefer my beets salted! I just don't add salt if I use these.

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  3. Laurissa CandiceSeptember 27, 2013 at 12:58 PM

    ooo I want to try this dressing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. StefSeptember 27, 2013 at 4:06 PM

    It's good! You can try it with honey instead of brown sugar too for a true honey mustard. It's also very good paired with sweet potato fries :)

    ReplyDelete