Simple Garlic Beet Salad

Beets on a bed of lettuce with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.

About a year ago when I was still in college, I saw fresh beets and decided that it was time to try cooking them. The cooking process was relatively easy. How easy? So easy that you just need to boil it for 45 minutes. Of course, you can bake beets too. My problem was that I didn't know how to flavor the beets. After some research on the internet, I decided on a garlic and olive oil dressing.

I found out the hard way that there's a side effect to eating too many beets. The next morning when I went to the bathroom, I peed a deep, dark shade of red. I went into panic mood thinking that I had internal bleeding. After hyperventilating for a moment, I realized that the red urine came from the beets. The red urine lasted for about 2 days.

Lesson of the day: Don't eat 3 whole beets by yourself or else you risk having red urine.

A few weeks ago, my mom came home with beets and asked me to make her some. I ate some, but in moderation.

Sliced beets.

Simple Beet Salad
Servings: Enough for a family of 5 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

• 4 beets (2.5 - 3 inch)
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 1.5 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2.5 teaspoons of salt
• 1.5 teaspoons of pepper
  

Note: My measurements are a guideline. Feel free to adjust to your taste.

Directions:

1. Wash beets and leave about 2 inches of stalk. Boil for about 45 minutes or until you can easily pierce a knife through the beets.
2. Let the beets cool down. In the mean time, mince garlic.
3. Cut the beets into strips. Lastly, mix the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and beets together.
4. Let it chill in the fridge for 1 hour.