Think Pink

Juice beet it.




Yes, that happened.

Anyways, I have been an addict since I got my first fresh beets at the farmer's market right before it closed last fall. Because they're so darn expensive at the store, I was on a forced beet hiatus until someone told me about La Huerta, a lovely little market here in ILM with great prices. Plus, they sell beets by the bunch with the stems and leaves still on, which is awesome because those are great sauteed.

    I've tried a lot of combinations with beets, and come up with a recipe so flexible, it's to the point of being a non-recipe. It's more about proportions - beets are very sweet on their own. Though they work great with oranges and apples, you really have to offset that fruity sweetness with some veggies. I use cucumber for their delicate, neutral flavor, which tempers the robust, earthy-saccharine beet flavor. Ginger brightens and adds zest, and celery tempers the juice with its salty, vegetalness. 

Things can get pretty colorful if you're not careful. As in, everything you own is pink now and deal with it. 

   So, enjoy. I've been enjoying this juice for breakfast and snacks. For several weeks I was keeping some in the fridge to grab in a pinch, and at one point I made more than I could drink in the week. I froze the remaining juice in an ice cube try and put the cubes in a freezer bag; now I can add a cube or two to smoothies for that touch of pink, which I am pretty proud of. What started out as a good problem/evidence of my general ineptitude now makes me look like a really meticulous health person. (Fyi, you have to pay like .80 cents at most crunchy smoothie/juice joints to get a beet juice "shot" in your beverage, which they tell me is supposed to help with inflammation. The more you know).

1-2 medium to large beets

1-2 large oranges (or another fruit, like apple)

.5-1 large cucumber

2 stalks of celery 

Slice of gingerroot

1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Juice everything except for the lemon, squeeze that in at the end. Ta-da!

More importantly: that is definitely a Star Wars X-Wing ice cube. And it makes everything better. Shout out to my mother.

 
There are fish ones in there too. Notice how all the cubes are not melted because I drank the juice THAT FAST,

 One last thing: beets can. . . do things to you. Mostly good things, but, you know. I'll just let Portlandia explain it to you.