I love giving gifts. I love finding out what a person likes over time, filing it away in brain, and flipping through those things and getting or making the perfect thing for someone. This holiday season, I’m making a conscious shift to give more food gifts.
For the past few years, the shininess of owning most stuff has lost it’s luster. Having less things and more experiences (and good food) have become much more important to me than amount of things that fill our now much smaller apartment. I’ve also just been okay with letting things go after a certain amount of time and making space for the new.
The need to have less stuff started to change the way I thought about gift gifting, too. As I focus in on being purposeful with what’s in our place, it only makes sense to me to extend that courtesy to others, especially since a lot of my friends also live in smaller spaces too. And I decided I really wanted to give gifts with purpose, something they needed, wanted, a fun experience, or something that they could enjoy and enhance their lives.
Food has become a big gift with purpose. They can enjoy a tasty experience, nourish their bodies, and they probably only have to worry about which shelf to put a mason jar on rather than if they should return/regift/where in their house my gift should go. Earlier in the year I shared that I’ve given friends food gifts for their birthdays, and this holiday season is no different.
While giving sweet food gifts can seem pretty default at this time of year, I also want to give some savory ones that also have great health benefits as well. In my NTP training, they stress the importance of adding fermented foods into your diet. Fermented foods like pickles, sauerkraut, yogurt, kombucha, miso have healthy bacteria that can help keep the healthy bacteria that’s living in your digestive system balanced and healthy. Fermented foods are also really helpful for people who have a slightly harder time with digestion, since the bacteria in the food has help predigest it.
I have several friends that love pickles in all forms and some of them will be getting these Pickled Roasted Beets. I love beets and now while studying I love them even more for all the digestion benefits I didn’t know they had. I have a text book with supplement and nutritional recommendations for certain dysfunction in the body, and almost all of the digestive issues recommend beets as a way to correct them.
So not only will my friends get to enjoy the taste of pickled beets, they’ll also be to enjoy digestive benefits as well, which for a nutrition nerd like me makes me very happy. I love nothing more than making something that tastes good and helps the body.
I hope you consider giving some food gifts this holiday season, I’ll be back later this week with a bonus post to give you some ideas on what food gifts your loved ones this season and for any special occasion.
Ingredients
- 2-3 large beets, greens removed and washed
- olive oil, for roasting
- salt, pepper, garlic for sprinkling
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tbsp honey
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425.
Cut beets in half, then quarters, then in half again. Arrange 4-6 wedges in a sheet of foil, fold up sides to create walls, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with seasonings. Bring sides together and create a closed foil packet. Repeat with all beet wedges and arrange on a baking sheet. Roast for 60-70 minutes.
Once done, remove from heat and open packets, allowing beets to cool. Once cool, rub skins off.
Dice beets into inch to inch and half-sized pieces, then pack into a clean mason jar or jars, depending on jar size.
In a pitcher or large mason jar, combine brine ingredients and whisk or shake (after adding a lid) until honey is dissolved. Taste and adjust honey, salt and pepper to taste.
Pour brine into jars until beets are covered with mixture. Close jars tightly and refrigerate. Let sit overnight (or longer) for a more pickled taste.
Notes
Adapted from Pinch and Swirl
I filled two 16oz jars with my beets.