Beetroot Leaf Chips – Better than Kale chips?

Oh, I just love a lightbulb moment. I was feeling uninspired by cooking beet greens again, 3rd day in a row. I was also uninspired to add them to a salad. I was cold. It was cold outside. I procrastinated with them in my fridge a couple of days. And then it occurred to me: CHIPS!

I’m going to make a call here: Better than kale chips. The flavour is so good. Something about them! May be it’s that it’s ‘new’? Regardless, I look forward to seeing what you think. My family won’t find out just yet as I ate them all.

Why should we always buy bunches of beets with their leaves in tact?

• Vitamin K goodness – great for keeping the blood clotting efficiently when healing wounds.
• Vitamin A – From 1 cup alone in combination with healthy fats for absorption of the A (which we’ve got sorted, given they’re massaged in oil in this recipe) You get 220% of your Vitamin A / Betacarotene requirements.
• High in thiamin, zinc, folate, B6, potassium, Vit E, riboflavin
• They give you 15% calcium which works with the vitamin K to get those bones nice and strong and ward off things like Osteoperosis
• 15% iron for the day
• 60% vitamin C – HELLO!! Love how nature provides a winter veggie that gives us a vitamin so beneficial to us for winter immunity
• They even have 3g of fibre and protein per serve.

Not too shabby, right? So many synthetic vitamins consumed, and yet look at that unbelievable bounty available to us from nature! So on the days you don’t fancy adding them finely chopped to your salads, or sauteed with butter or coconut oil as a side veggie, I bring you a new chip on the block (see what I did there?)

Variations

• Add some nutritional yeast to the ‘massage’ for a cheesy twist
• Mix a teaspoon of pesto into the couple of tablespoons of fat you’ll be using for the recipe, to get some pesto flavour through your chips
• Mix a pinch of ground fennel seed and 1/2 teaspoin lemon or lime zest into your fat of choice, and massage the leaves. AMAZING as a crunchy little something served with fish + veggies.
• Sprinkle a few chilli flakes on them for a kick!

Get your kiddies involved. Take the time. Crazy to think we ate pesticide sprays potatoes that were sent to factories, fried in inflammatory, processed vegetable oils, loaded with processed salt, packaged in plastic and then shipped around the world to be eaten for 10 minutes. Now, I’m not saying we should feel guilty for that occasional scoff at a birthday party or on a long distance trip. It’s not about the odd time you do, it’s about all the times we crowd out those choices with better ones. Celebrate the good stuff. Choosing to eat consciously allows you to appreciate the steps – or lack of steps – taken for the amazing food we nourish ourselves with. That kind of stuff just gets me so excited, how about you?

Please do come back here and let me know how you enjoyed them or what variations you came up with, or instagram tag me @lowtoxlife when you make yours.

Real Food. Happy bodies.

NUTRITIONAL SOURCE INFORMATION: mercola.com, nutritiondata.com

NOTE ON OXALATES: Beetroot leaves are moderate / high in oxalates. Cooking these chips brings that level down, however if you’re concerned and are on a low oxalate diet, then these treats might not be the best for you.