Healthy Foods: Beet salad & Israeli couscous

I eat 5-6 small meals a day, which is called "grazing." To read more about this way of eating check out my other health blog post here. 

So this was one of my meals yesterday, but if you want this to be a lunch or dinner just add a protein (3 oz of grilled tilapia or boneless skinless chicken breast, or beans.)

This is traditional israeli food, I grew up on ptitim and beet salad, I am obsessed with both! But I made ptitim (pearl couscous) with a whole-wheta version and it tastes just as good and both are super healthy foods. 

Look at the recipes below, israelis cook with a lot of "eye balling," a little of this, a little of that, so I tried to make the recipe easy to follow but you can adjust all the seasonings to your liking. 

Pin It Health benefits of Beets: 

• You can tell right away that beets are amazing for you by their color, all vegetables and fruits that are dark blue or purple (blueberries, red cabbage, beet) are healthy foods that are high in antioxidants that protect from aging and cancer (They retard tumor growth.)
• The phytonutrients in beets help to detox the body and have anti-inflammatory properties. Both super important. 
• Beets are high in lutein which helps with eye health 

Recipes: 


To make the whole-wheat Israeli pearl couscous (also known as ptitim)
Ingredients: 1 package of whole-wheat pearl couscous (available at health stores and some publix,) 1 medium onion, olive oil, and spices: turmeric, paprika, cumin, low- sodium chicken soup seasoning 
1. Cut one medium onion and saute in olive oil on medium to high heat 
2. Add the whole-wheat pearl couscous sauté without water for a minute 
3. Add a 1/4 of a teaspoon of cumin and turmeric,1 teaspoon of paprika, and 1 tablespoon of low-sodium chicken soup seasoning mix 
4.  Add water until it covers the pearl couscous completely, let boil
5. Cover and  let cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes until water is absorbed 


To make the beet salad 
Ingredients: Fresh Beets (choose smaller size so they cook faster,) or beets in a can (drain in a lot of water to get rid of the sodium,) Fresh garlic, olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. 
1. Boil beets in water for 1 hour or until soft (check with a knife or fork) 
2. Peel and cut beet into squares (or if you used canned beats start here) 
3. Add minced fresh garlic (as much as you like,) salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon and mix.
4. Refrigerate before eating. Keeps in the refrigerator for a week.  


Check out more healthy recipes and healthy foods here. 


xoxo, 
Danielle