ROCK THAT SUGAR BEET SALAD!

This is the sugar beet. I used to ignore it until I was introduced to it recently by a friend who is a fan. It tastes sweet corn with the texture of potatoes. like  there are many reason why one should adore this sweet, little red  thing.

• 20% SUGAR. It's one root crop with the highest sugar content. The root of the beet contains 75% water, about 20% sugar, and 5% pulp. The sugar is formed through photosynthesis in the leaves and stored in the root. .

• 20% OF THE WORLD'S SUGAR comes from sugar beets. Russia is the largest producer of Sugar beets with 47.6 metric tons yielded in 2011 alone.

• 15 to 21 °C best temperature to grow sugar beets. They grow exclusively in the colder areas with humus-rich soil. Which is why here in the Philippines they are grown mostly in Baguio and the Benguet region.  

•  15 MINUTES is all it takes to steam sugar beet. It can be eaten raw, roasted, boiled, steamed, sautéed and oven-baked into chips. 

• 5 POINTS is how much lower your systolic blood pressure can be if you drink beet juice. It is said to do this because the nitrates in the beets are converted into nitric oxide inside your body.  Nitric oxide helps to relax and dilate your blood vessels, improving blood flow and lowering blood pressure.

• O% FAT is contained in 82 grams of a single sugar beet but it has 35 calories.

SUGAR BEET SALAD

INGREDIENTS

500 g sugar beets, boiled and dice

400 g potatoes, boiled and dice

500 g bacon, fried and chopped

1 liter water

1 big bottle of Japanese mayonnaise

4 celery stems, sliced

250 g kesong puti (about 1 block)

1 tbsp stone ground mustard

1 tbsp dill finely chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

TO MAKE

Wash the sugar beets and potatoes.  Boil the water in the pan. When the water starts boiling, add in the potatoes, skin on. Allow the potato to soften for about 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. When already tender, take the potatoes out. Add some more water and wait for it to boil again, then add in the sugar beets. Submerge in boiling water for about 15 minutes. When tender, take them out.

Allow the potatoes and sugar beets to cool down before taking the skin off, then dice.

Fry the bacon until crispy, then chop. Slice the celery. Mix the Japanese mayonnaise, dill and stone ground mustard. Add in the diced sugar beets, potatoes, celery and bacon. Mix gently, add salt and pepper to taste.  Place the salad in a container then crumble the kesong puti (white cheese made from carabo milk) on top. Serve.