Valentine’s Day is red, rosy and romantic — so serve bright, pink beets, the color of valentines! For a simple valentine treat, cut roasted beets into 1/2-inch slices. Cut into hearts with a cookie cutter or sharp knife. Spread with cream cheese or chevre, or sprinkle with crumbled feta. Serve as-is, or on top of greens, pita crisps or baguette slices.

Beets are versatile. While chocolate is usually a sweet snack or dessert, beets can be sweet or savory. They can be warm or chilled. Roast them, boil them, steam them, fry them. Make soups, salads, sandwiches, pesto, hummus. There is beet gnocci and beet ravioli. There is beet jam, beet relish and beet wine. Almost anything can be made with beets.

Valentine Soup is also known as borscht — any soup made pink with beets. There are many varieties, from a thin consomm broth to a thick soup with meat, beans, potatoes and vegetables.

The best-known baked treat made with beets is Red Velvet Cake, but beets can add their deliciousness to cookies, muffins, pies and other baked goodies.

Oatmeal Beet Cookies (Provided photo — Yvona Fast)

Beets are sweet! They have a higher sugar content than sweet potatoes or carrots.

Chocolate does have health benefits: polyphenols and flavonoids are good for cardiac health and cancer prevention. Other chemicals in chocolate affect the neurotransmitters in the brain, affecting mood.

Beets are healthy. With only 55 calories per cup, they contain large amounts of fiber, potassium, manganese, folic acid and vitamins A and C. Powerful antioxidants and flavonoids in beets help protect you against heart disease and colon cancer. Betacyanin, the dye responsible for the bright crimson color of red beets, is powerful cancer preventative.

Valentines Day is rosy, red, pink, romantic. Create sweet, savory, bright, bold recipes for the special people in your life.

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Valentine Salad (Provided photo — Yvona Fast)

Valentine Salad

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Ingredients:

2 potatoes

3 or 4 eggs

1 – 2 cups spinach leaves

1 or 2 tablespoons fresh minced dill

1 pickle

1/2 sweet onion (about 1/2 to 1 cup)

1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise

2 heaping tablespoons plain yogurt

2 or 3 beets, roasted, peeled and sliced

Directions:

In salted water cook potatoes until tender. Drain, cool, and dice.

Cook eggs until hard-cooked. Place in cold water and peel. Set aside

Line salad plate with spinach leaves.

Chop dill, mince onion, chop pickle.

In bowl, combine potatoes with dill, onion, and pickle. Fold in mayo and yogurt.

Place on top of spinach in center of salad plate.

Chop the eggs; place half the eggs over potatoes.

Slice beets and arrange on top. Sprinkle with remaining eggs and crumbled feta cheese.

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Processor Oatmeal Beet cookies

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Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter (or equal amount coconut oil)

1 1/2 cups oats

2 medium beets

1/2 apple, peeled and cored

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup flour (any type)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.

Place butter, oats, beets, apple and maple syrup in food processor and process until everything is combined.

Transfer to a bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup plain yogurt.

In small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup flour (any type), 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir into the dough. Stir in 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 cup walnuts.

Place on cookie sheet by teaspoonfuls.

Bake about 15 – 20 minutes.

Makes about 2 or 3 dozen cookies.

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Author of the award-winning cookbook “Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market,” Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: cooking and writing. She can be found at www.yvonafast.com and reached at yvonawrite@yahoo.com or on Facebook at Words Are My World.

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