Beets.
I remember back in 1980 or so, my dad had to have an emergency appendectomy. Mom took me to see him in the hospital and his main complaint was that the hospital served canned beets every day. I may have inherited a bias against beets from his hospital cafeteria experience.
Several times over the past year or so, friends have raved to me about how yummy fresh beets are. When they see me start to retch, they usually insert the fact that canned beets, like canned pineapple, are a whole 'nuther animal, and are not worth consuming. Canned beets are surely what Satan must serve for dinner each night, probably alongside calf liver.
*shudder*
I hope I never have to find out.
I decided it was high time I give them a fair shake, so three beets came home from the grocery store run.
....sounds like the start of a joke, doesn't it? Three beets walk into a bar...
After I scrubbed the beets thoroughly, I diced them, tossed them in olive oil, coated them in grated Parmesan cheese, wrapped them in tin foil, and baked them at 450 for about 40 minutes. They were delicious. King and I definitely liked them, the kids mostly loved them.
After dinner we researched the health benefits of beets. One thing I was happy to learn is that beets contain something called betaine, which lowers homocysteine levels in the blood. The highly toxic homocysteine makes platelets clot and atherosclerotic-plaque form. High levels of homocysteine in the blood lead to the development of heart disease & stroke.
Hrm... I might just be following a trail of beet juice here, but since my dad died of heart related issues, my guess is that he should have learned to love beets!
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