You can't beat beetroot!

Beetroot is quite a maligned vegetable, bringing up images of sweaty packets of pickled beetroot or jars of cold beetroot soup. However, since finding out about the benefits of beetroot, I have been trying to find ways to get more into my family's meals.

Beetroot can be eaten raw or cooked. The beetroot leaves can be eaten and contain calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C. Beetroots are a good source of folic acid, magnesium, iron, fibre, manganese and potassium. The dark red colour comes from an antixoidant called betacyanin. All in all, a nutritious vegetable, which I like to include in my cooking.

The way I use it most often is to include it in a tray of roast vegetables, so when I am preparing sweet potatoes, courgettes, peppers and red onions (see previous post), I sometimes add in a beetroot or two. I also sometimes grate beetroot into salads and the simplest salad I make with it is just to grate 1 beetroot and 2 carrots, mix them together, and dress with a little maple syrup and apple cider vinegar.

Yesterday, however, I made beetroot the centrepiece of the meal, and let me tell you, it went down quite well!

This was a very easy dish to prepare. Firstly, I boiled 4 medium sized beetroots in their skins. When they were soft, I peeled off the skins, and blended the flesh.

Then I added a tin of haricot beans, and carried on blending. I added 8 tablespoons of flaxseeds and a few grinds of sea salt and black pepper.

I let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes. Then I formed patty shapes, placed them on an oven proof tray/dish and popped them in the oven for about 45 minutes on 190 degrees C, turning halfway through cooking.

Enjoy!