Jamie Oliver's Red Beet Salad Recipe

I'm constantly on the lookout for recipes that call for raw red beets, as these root vegetables contain a variety of nutrients that can help prevent heart disease and certain types of cancer, especially colon cancer. Red beets are also rich in B vitamins, including folate, which makes them useful for preventing birth defects.

Last year, I was pleasantly surprised to find a raw red beet salad recipe in a book called Jamie's Dinners: The Essential Family Cookbook, written by celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. Jamie's recipe calls for horseradish, something that I am not a fan of, so I tweaked it a bit and came up with a mix of ingredients that worked for me.

Please note: The cancer-fighting pigment that gives beets their rich red color is called betacyanin. If you eat red beets on a regular basis and notice a red tinge to your urine or stools, there is no need to worry, as this simply indicates that your body is absorbing this health-enhancing nutrient. - Ben Kim

Ingredients:

Small bunch of red beets, washed and peeled
Large handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon or lime juice
Sea salt and pepper

Directions:

Use a vegetable peeler or a mandolin vegetable slicer to transform the bulky beets into really thin slices.

Add parsley.

Then add extra-virgin olive oil, lemon or lime juice, and sea salt and pepper to taste.

Give this salad a good toss, and enjoy it as a nutritious side dish to a hearty bowl of soup.

Note: I also tried making this salad with a bed of crisp romaine lettuce and avocado slices. The greens and avocado added substantial volume, and actually combined really well with the beets. If you're a bit apprehensive about eating a salad that is mostly raw red beets, I encourage you to add some romaine lettuce and/or avocado to the mix.

Please note: As long as you don't use salt, this recipe is suitable for the Full Body Cleanse program.