So whats up with Betalain’s?

Here’s the deal; I love beets, but I’m not always super inspired to cook with them. That is until a professor of mine sent me this super simple - 5 ingredient recipe - for a creamy coconut beet soup. As a student of clinical nutrition, I’m always looking for ways to get beets into my diet, because they consist of a beneficial liver protecting flavonoid called betalain. This compound is an amazing phytochemical that give beets that stunning bright red-magenta color, and it helps us to fight free radicals in the body. Betalain is an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and I think one of the most interesting, it has the ability to protect the liver from environmental toxins we come in contact with everyday. 👌🏽

Creamy Coconut Beet Soup from @fermentermentor

• 4-6 beets any variety diced “1

• 1 onions

• garlic cloves to taste 👅

• 1” minced ginger

• 4 C. veggie stock

• 2 cans coconut milk

• 1 Tbs. coconut oil

• sea salt and pepper to taste

• garam masala to taste (1-3 tsp)

• ½ tsp ground turmeric, more to taste

• yogurt for garnish (optional)

• minced cilantro for garnish

Wash, peel, dice the beets into 1 inch cubes right away. Dice onion, mince garlic and sauté in a large soup pot in the oil of your choice for 5-8 minutes over medium heat. This is the pot you will make the soup in. Add minced ginger and sauté 5 minutes more. Add spices and mix well, toast for 30 seconds or until fragrant being careful not to burn. Add a splash of veggie stock if needed after toasting to prevent spices from burning. Add the chopped beets and a splash of veggie stock. Sauté for 5 minutes.

Add the veggie stock, scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze, and cover the pot, boil until beets are soft, you may need to add a bit more stock or water as the beets cook, then turn heat to low. When the beets are soft add the coconut milk let heat through for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and puree completely with the immersion blender or a blender until very smooth. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and yogurt (optional).

ENJOY!