What BEETS the classic deviled egg recipe? One that's both delicious and made with all whole food, real ingredients!
Introducing our rebooted version:
Beet deviled eggs
Reboot with beets
5 Reasons to eat more beets!
1. enhance athletic performance
Beets are very high in dietary nitrates, which in this study has shown to enhance athletic performance and increase blood flow! Dietary nitrate, found in beets and green leafy vegetables, improves the efficiency of the little power plants (mitochondria) within our cells, boosting athletic performance by extracting more energy from every breath. Therefore, this improved muscle efficiency allows athletes to exercise at a higher power output or running speed for the same amount of breath.
2. Improves circulation and tissue oxygenation
This is not only beneficial for athletes, but also in patients suffering from illnesses that affect circulation and tissue oxygenation such as patients with high blood pressure, emphysema, and peripheral artery disease. In these studies, patients saw improvements in their symptoms by simply supplementing with beet juice.
3. improve blood flow to the brain
In this study, beets have been shown to also improve blood flow to the brain, particularly the frontal lobes, which may protect against age-associated dementia. Considering their vasodilatory effects, beets may likely be useful in the prevention of heart disease and in this study, the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
4. Good Source of Antioxidants
Beets are also great sources of antioxidants and are one of the few vegetables that do not lose any antioxidant power through a variety of cooking methods! Beets are a rich source of phytonutrients called betalains -- red and yellow carotenoid pigments. Beet juice is a more concentrated source of betalains, although cooked beets contain much more fiber. They have been shown to decrease the growth rates of cancer cells in vitro. Beets also bind and remove bile-acids in the colon, which are associated with premature degenerative diseases.
5. Nutrient Packed
Beets are also very good sources of folate, providing 34% of your recommended daily value and is a good source of manganese with 28% of your recommended daily value. Other micronutrients beets are a good source for: potassium, copper, dietary fiber, and magnesium!
How do nitrates from beets work for our health?
When mixed with our saliva, bacteria in our mouths convert dietary nitrates into nitrites, which can then converted to nitric oxide. This nitric oxide is what improves cellular respiration.
Why don’t carcinogenic nitrosamines form in our stomach from all the nitrites?
If nitrite was indeed a carcinogen, we would have to avoid swallowing because our saliva contains so much! Our bodies are smart, we actively secrete vitamin C in our saliva and into our stomach juices to prevent that from happening. However, beet juice does not contain Vitamin C, so just sipping on beet juice all day might not be the best thing. However, try incorporating whole beets into smoothies or just pair your beet juice with foods that do contain vitamin C (like dark leafy greens, oranges, or strawberries).
RD pro-tip: A big arugula salad has as much nitrate as a cup of beet juice, and in addition, the requisite dose of vitamin C.
Dietary limitations of beets:
- Beets are unsuitable for infants to consume
- May promote oxalate kidney stones in patients predisposed to kidney stones
Beet Deviled Eggs
Recipe By: Dietitian Taylor Johnson, RD, LDN
Recipe Type: Appetizer
Serves: 20 deviled eggs
Dietary restrictions: Dairy free/gluten free/Paleo
This vibrant and fun appetizer is the perfect Spring party platter! Easily assembled, delicious and nutrient packed with superfoods you wouldn't even know were hidden in! This recipe is dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, paleo friendly and great for kids with its natural, bright food coloring from the beets! These are sure to BEET your traditional deviled egg recipe.
RD Tip: You can make the filling a day ahead of time and fill the eggs shortly before serving!
Ingredients
- 10 pasture-raised eggs (I use Vital Farms)
- 1/2 cup (packed down) finely graded raw beet
- 1/4 ripe avocado
- 3 tbsp. Horseradish mustard (I use Koops' Horseradish all natural)
- 3 tbsp. mayonnaise ( I use Primal Kitchen which is made with avocado oil and cage-free eggs, dairy free, and refined sugar free)
- 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. pickle juice
- 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
- Pink sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Boiled Eggs:
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.
- Gently lower the eggs into the water so they don't break, and let it come to a boil again. Once it does, lower the heat, and let the eggs simmer for 11 minutes.
- Prepare a large bowl with an ice bath.
- Once the eggs are done cooking, place them in the ice bath for at least 15 minutes.
- Peel the eggs under cold running water for easy peeling.
Deviled Egg Filling:
- Once the eggs have been cooled and peeled, cut eggs in half lengthwise.
- Take out the yolks and add it to the food processor.
- Add all remaining ingredients to the food processor and process until fully combined and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste. (if mixture has a vinegar flavor from the mayo, offset it by adding ~ 1/2 tsp. honey)
- Use a pastry bag or a plastic bag and fill it with the deviled egg mixture. Cut the corner off the bag and pipe the filling evenly into the egg whites. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and a dash of smoked paprika for garnish. Reboot and enjoy!
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