Hard-to-beet health benefits.
With an eye-catching color and an easy-to-handle size, beets are perfect as one of the first finger foods for your little one. As healthy as they are tasteful, beets are loaded with calcium, potassium, and sodium, plus vitamins A and C. These nutritional benefits help to boost your baby’s immune system, while promoting muscle skeletal, nervous system, and brain development. In addition, beets are also high in fiber, making them easy to digest. Most pediatricians recommend introducing beets into your baby’s diet between eight and 10 months. Also note that many new parents are often alarmed by the reddish color in their baby’s urine and stool – a common, and harmless, after-effect that can occur shortly after consuming beets.
Easy to prepare, easy to love.
For most baby foods, beets are best prepared by roasting or steaming them. This helps to make the beets more mushy, and easier to gum or chew, plus simple to puree, as well. In addition, steaming and roasting helps to maintain healthy mineral benefits for your baby. When pureeing beets, be sure to completely remove the greens as they are difficult to digest, even for adults. Most moms agree that beets mix well with potatoes, rice, peas, apples, chicken, pork and even tofu. Once you have prepared the baby food, seal the leftover beets in a plastic bag or container and place them near the back of your refrigerator. Beets will typically remain fresh for about one week as long as they are kept cold.
Interesting beet facts.
Beets are a member of the Caryophyllales family of plants and are thought to have originated on European, Middle Eastern and African coasts. Gaining popularity throughout ancient history, beets were used by both the Greeks and Romans for medicinal purposes and as a culinary herb. Applied as a clothing and hair dye in the 16th century, beets were first commercially cultivated in France and Belgium during the 19th century. Today, several varieties of beets are commercially grown, including sugar beets and pickled beets, with the Red Ace beet the most common in the U.S.
Try one of these delicious beet recipes the next time you’re looking for a new recipe for your family or little one.