Plant-Based Diet: Beetroot & Apple Soup (Combats Winter Chills)

When people are asked to name their favourite root vegetables, beetroots, aka garden beet, might not be most people’s first choice. However, they are my favourite because they’re jam-packed with nutrients and taste so fresh when prepared right. 

Before I moved to the UK, I never had eaten beetroot. After living in the UK for several years, beets still weren’t on my radar. Only three years ago, I taught myself how to bake. One day, I came across a recipe calling for beetroot. I used the quantity required in that recipe but still had a lot of fresh beets left. So, I steamed them and added them to my salad. Then the rest is history. Beets to me are love at first bite; their taste was like sunshine for the soul — sweet and earthy. 

Since then, I have included beets regularly in my diet. It’s a very versatile ingredient, too. From pickles, dips, pasta, vegan burgers, soups, and cakes to smoothies, you can use beets to make those everyday dishes. Moreover, this root vegetable has a natural red food colouring that gives the dish a nice bright finish.

So, in this post, I want to share my go-to beetroot soup recipe with a mix of apples and carrots. It’s simple, super healthy and filled with comforting flavours — a perfect soup to warm up a cold day!

Beet varieties  

Beetroots are a very hearty and productive crop. They can be divided into two main types based on their roots’ shape. 

• globe/round beetroots (short-rooted)
• oval/long beetroots (long-rooted)

Normally, oval/long beets cook quicker than globe/round beets.

They can be divided further into different varieties. The most common variety grown in the UK is ‘boltardy’. This variety produces deep-red flesh and medium round-shaped roots with smooth skin. The table below shows some common beet varieties.

Variety	root shape	root size	flesh colour
action	globe	small	dark red
blankoma	globe	medium	white
boldor	globe	small to medium	orange or yellow
boltardy	globe	medium	dark red
chioggia	globe	large	red & white rings
cylindra	oval	medium	dark red
merlin	globe	medium	dark red
red ace	globe or oval	medium	deep dark red

Beetroot can also be categorised based on its flesh colour. For instance, red, striped, golden and white beets etc. 

Beet greens

Do you always discard beet greens and only eat the root part? Do you know that beetroots were first grown for their leaves, not roots? Beetroots are believed to originate from the Mediterranean Sea area, and they were cultivated for their leaves around 300 BC. However, in 1542, Europeans started consuming the root part of the beet. The type of beetroot also only began to take its modern shape in the 16th century.

Beet greens have two parts, namely stems and leaves. They’re both edible. Though certain beet varieties are better for beet greens, such as early wonder tall top and bull’s blood, because they produce sweeter stems and more tender foliage. 

The greens are very easy to cook and taste delicious. Before cooking them, wash them properly because sometimes beet leaves can be sandy. Then remove the leaves from the stems and chop them separately. Add a bit of olive oil and simply sauté them. But make sure you cook stems for 3 to 4 minutes first, then add the leaves later because stems take longer to cook through. You can often cook the leaves the same way you would cook spinach.

If you can never have enough beet greens in your diet or it’s hard to buy beetroots with beet greens still attached, then you can go for swiss chard. Swiss chards are beets’ leafy brothers and share a common ancestor, the sea beet. Moreover, their greens taste similar to each other. However, people don’t usually eat chard roots because they lack the sweetness found in beetroots.

Beetroots’ health benefits 

Beetroots are a nutritional powerhouse. They are a rich source of vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. Their red colour shows that they’re very high in antioxidants, too. They also have a high concentration of folate (vitamin B9) and dietary nitrates. Last but not least, they even have higher iron than spinach. 

Beets have been used as a medicine in some cultures going back thousands of years. And they continuously give us a lot of health benefits when consumed regularly in our diet. The benefits include: 

• lower blood pressure
• reduce inflammation
• regulate blood sugar
• support liver health
• improve gut health
• enhance physical exercise performance
• neutralise free radicals and make our skin more glowing

If you’re trying to get fitter, go for beetroots. They are low in calories but are filling because they’re fibre-rich root vegetables. So, they can increase the feeling of fullness even if you just have a small portion of them. Also, beetroot pulp is a good home remedy for an upset stomach.