Would you believe I’ve never actually eaten raw beets before this awesome Citrus Mint Beet Salad? I’ve had them juice, roasted, and boiled, but not raw. However, while grocery shopping the other day, I found pre-spiralized beet noodles and just had to do something with them. I decided to make a citrus mint beet salad. With is still being over 100 here in the Valley, raw foods are still the way to go even though the rest of the country is cooling off. (I’m so jealous!)

Why Beets Rock

Many people these days tell me they don’t like beets. Personally, I believe we all like all vegetables some of the time. It just depends on how they are prepared! Depending on the color, beets can have an earthy flavor to them. The orange and yellow beets to be less earthy and sweeter than the gorgeous deep red beets. Every color gives us a variety of antioxidants. Yay for fighting cancer and aging! Beets also help our bodies with phase 2 detoxification. (To learn more about detox, check out my 5 day detox.) They are also a great source of folate, B6, iron, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus. Even better, one cup is just 75 calories! Talk about bang for your buck.

A couple ways to get past the earthy flavor beets give (that’s all the awesome minerals by the way) is to mix them with citrus and/or vinegar. In most beet recipes, including my arugula salad with beets, goat cheese, and pepitas and my jicama beet citrus salad, you find beets paired with one or both. The second way to remove some of the earthy flavor is to boil them. I LOVE boiled beets. It takes like an hour, but it’s worth the effort in my opinion.

How To Make This Salad

For this recipe you will need a medium sized mixing bowl, a small bowl to make the dressing, a spiralizer (if you don’t buy them pre-spiralized), cutting board and knife. The ingredients you’ll need are beets, 1 navel orange, fresh mint, white balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt.

First up you’ll need to peel and spiralize two beets, or buy pre-spiralized beets from your local health food store, and place them in a medium sized mixing bowl. Next up thinly slice mint until you get a small handful (aboout 1/4 of a cup loosely packed) and add to the beets. Then take one navel orange and cut it in half. Squeeze the juice from one half into a small bowl (about 1 tablespoon), then peel and slice the other half into bite size pieces. Add to the beets and mint. In the small bowl with the orange juice, add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive, one tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar (if you can’t find it or don’t have any, sherry vinegar will work as well), and a pinch of sea salt. Mix together then add to the salad and mix well. You can let sit for a few minutes or eat immediately. You can also make ahead and keep in the fridge for a couple days.

Enjoy!

Other Recipes You Might Like To Try:

Citrus Mint Beet Salad

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Prep Time 5 mins

Total Time 5 mins

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

  

• 2 large beets (or a heaping amount of pre-spiralized beet noodles)
• 1 navel orange
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced mint
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1 pinch sea salt

Instructions

 

• Peel and spiralize two beets, or buy pre-spiralized beets from your local health food store, and place them in a medium sized mixing bowl.
• Thinly slice mint until you get a small handful (aboout 1/4 of a cup loosely packed) and add to the beets.
• Take your navel orange and cut it in half. Squeeze the juice from one half into a small bowl (about 1 tablespoon), then peel and slice the other half into bite size pieces. Add to the beets and mint.
• In the small bowl with the orange juice, add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive, one tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sea salt. Mix well and add to the salad.
• Toss salad with dressing and serve immediately or let sit a few minutes.