What is the calorie content, composition and elements of sugar beet? Benefits, harm in case of abuse and contraindications for use. What dishes can you cook with sugar beets?
Harm and contraindications to the use of sugar beets
Is it possible to eat sugar beets without restrictions? And what is the harm from using it? Like any vegetable, it should not be eaten for certain diseases.
Sugar beets should be eaten with caution for health problems such as:
- With hypotension … Beets contain substances that lower blood pressure.
- Urolithiasis and other kidney ailments, as well as gout and rheumatoid arthritis … Oxalic acid contained in this vegetable promotes the formation of salts, from which oxalate stones are then formed.
- For chronic diarrhea … Beetroot itself is a laxative, so the use of this vegetable in people suffering from this ailment can cause diarrhea.
- With joint diseases … The already mentioned oxalic acid, which acquires bad properties during heat treatment, combines with calcium, which is in the human body, and this leads to the formation of salts, and then stones.
- With increased acidity … Beetroot itself increases it, thereby irritating the mucous membrane.
Beet juice has the same contraindications as the vegetable itself. Although it has a healing and prophylactic effect, you need to drink it in limited doses, 100 ml per day. Side effects from abuse of the drink are not fatal, but not pleasant either. It can be nausea, vomiting, and upset stomach.
Sugar beet recipes
Although sugar beets are more industrial crops than food crops, they are used in food preparation. The vegetable is used instead of sugar in desserts. It is cut into salads. Sugar beet borscht has an unrivaled taste. Sugar beet recipes:
- Sugar syrup recipe … It is used to prepare sweet foods and desserts. First you need to rinse, peel and cut the beets into pieces. Then we cook in a stainless steel saucepan. For 10 kg of vegetable we take one and a half liters of water, in other words, the beets should be covered with liquid. We put a plate on the bottom of the dish to avoid burning. When the vegetable is cooked, squeeze out the juice, and let it boil over low heat until sour cream is thick. The finished brown product will contain approximately 70% sugar. 1 kg of syrup equals 700 g of sugar. We save the product in jars. For 1 kg of product, you can add 1 g of citric acid to avoid sugaring.
- Beetroot sweets … We cut the washed and peeled vegetables into small pieces, put them in a cast iron with a lid, while pouring a little water. We bake the base for the sweets in the oven until soft. If necessary, add water. Place the finished beets on a sheet of paper and dry them in the same oven. These are the unusual sweets you can make at home.
- Beetroot refined … We can replace store-bought sugar not only with beet syrup and beetroot sweets, but also with refined sugar made from this vegetable. We wash and peel the beets. Then we cut it into thin rings and put it in earthenware. We place the container in the oven, steam our refined sugar blank, avoiding burning. We cook the beets in such a way that soft pieces are obtained. After that, put them on a baking sheet and dry. Then lightly fry in a skillet. This will improve the smell of our product. And the last step is to grind the beetroot rings into flour. We can substitute them for store sugar in cooking. To be consumed with tea, these dry pieces of vegetables need to be rolled in flour and fried in sunflower oil. Enjoy your tea!
- Baked sugar beet … This delicious and healthy treat will not take long to prepare. You need to rinse the beets and wrap them whole with foil. Then we bake it in a preheated oven for 2 hours. Then the black crust is cleaned, and inside - delicious food! This is useful for both adults and children.
- Salad "Sugar beet with Cossack horseradish" … This dish is easy to prepare. The salad is tasty and healthy. Components: 900 g sugar beet, 4 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, 3 tbsp. tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sugar and a glass of sour cream and spices with herbs. First you need to boil the beets in vegetable oil. The pan is worth taking a stainless steel. Cook over high heat for 15 minutes. Cool the beets, salt, season with cinnamon and stir. Pour boiling water over the grated horseradish root. Add vinegar, sugar and a glass of sour cream to the cooled horseradish and beets, then mix everything well. Decorate with herbs and the salad is ready. Bon Appetit!
- Baked beetroot with onions and sausage cheese … Components: 300 g of sugar beets, 200 g of onions, 100 g of sausage cheese and the same amount of tomatoes. We also take 2 eggs, 60 g of butter, 2 tablespoons of sour cream, a bunch of herbs and a pinch of salt. Wash the beets, cook, peel and cut into cubes, and then fry them with onions. Then salt and add finely chopped tomatoes. Then we prepare the filling: mix the sliced cheese, sour cream and eggs. Grease the form with butter, put onions, beets and tomatoes in it. Then fill them with the prepared sauce. We bake in the oven over low heat. Decorate the baked vegetables with herbs. For this recipe, you can also take regular hard cheese.
- Sugar beet salad with mayonnaise … For two servings, take 1 beet, 1 sour apple, half a lemon, 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 pinch of grated lemon zest. My beets and apple. Grate the vegetables, and squeeze the juice from half of the tropical fruit. Remember to stir and add the zest and mayonnaise. Here we have such an unusual, but healthy salad.
- Vitamin salad with honey and raisins … Cooking for 2 servings. First, grate 1 sugar beet on a fine grater. For the sauce, mix 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 dessert spoon of honey. Then add salt and pepper to taste and 1 tablespoon of raisins. Then add the beets to the sauce and mix well again. We put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. The salad is served with grilled meat.
- Red borsch with sugar beet … Prepare a dish for 8 servings in a 4 liter saucepan. For borscht, take 4 potatoes, 1 red beet and half a sugar beet, 500 g of cabbage, half a glass of beans, 1 onion, 1 carrot. We cannot do without 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 50 ml of vegetable oil, citric acid on the tip of a knife, salt, ground pepper and herbs. For serving, you need to prepare sour cream, well, and boiled meat (300 g), if we are preparing a non-lean dish. So, borscht can be cooked in meat broth, and lean borscht, in water. Fill the beans with cold water. We leave it for 6 hours. Wash sugar beets, peel and cut into strips. Cook the beets and beans over low heat for 40 minutes. Cooking red beets: wash and cook for 40 minutes, until half cooked. Then cool, peel and cut into strips. Cut the prepared potatoes and carrots into pieces, and chop the onions. Then we put everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil. And cook until half cooked. Shred cabbage and add to boiling vegetables. Fry the sugar beets in vegetable oil, adding tomato paste. Put sugar beets with beans and roast in a saucepan. Salt and do not forget to add citric acid, pepper and herbs. Our borscht is ready. If it's not lean, how can you do without a piece of boiled meat and a spoonful of sour cream? Eat to your health!
Interesting facts about sugar beet
Beets have been eaten since ancient times. It was first grown and used as a medicine. There is a popular legend that it was sugar beet that saved people living in the Balkans and in countries in eastern Europe during the Middle Ages. This healthy vegetable appeared thanks to scientists who create new varieties in 1747. The process of breeding varieties of vegetables containing more sugar was very intense and persistent. Since then, the sugar level in some beet varieties has been raised from 1.3% to 20%.
Watch a review of sugar beets in the video:
In Russia and Ukraine, beets began to be grown at the beginning of the 19th century. Famous sugar magnates in the Russian Empire were Count Bobrinsky, Leopold Koenig, Tereshchenko, Kharitonenko, Khanenko and Brodsky.
