If you are looking for an easy, healthy, raw dish to serve as an appetizer for a special Valentine’s dinner, look no further! This creamy beet orange soup is one of my go-to soups when I need to whip up a meal with little time on my hands. This is really a great year-round soup and is definitely not just for Valentine’s Day, but since it’s red, and it’s delicious, and it will give you a super boost of oxygen from the beets I highly recommend it!
People often ask for “aphrodisiac” type foods to serve on V-Day. Beets definitely fit into that category. My previous post talked about how Celery can make men more attractive to women by increasing certain pheromones…so I guess we are on a Valentine’s week roll here. I know, a lot of people aren’t into Valentine’s Day and find it too commercial with pressure to buy cheezy cards. Or, they refuse to accept it as a “real” holiday. But for me Valentine’s Day, like all holidays pretty much, were always tons of fun growing up, and I still love them today. My mom and dad always gave me a beautiful gift on Valentine’s Day, and we always had a nice family dinner together.
I was fairly creative with the Valentine giving myself. I was big into hand-made cards, and each year I tried to make my new designs even more creative than the previous year. One year when I was about 8, IÂ had a great idea for a card made on a huge piece of red (of course) oak tag. I went into my parents bedroom while they were downstairs, took their 11X17 wedding photo out of it’s frame, and proceeded to cut a heart shape around mom and dad including the matting. The cutting job wasn’t too bad, except the top of my mom’s 60’s hair-do was reduced by about 2 inches thanks to the slip of a scissor. But, I was thrilled with the end product. A little Elmer’s glue, lots of glitter, and a rhyming Valentine’s poem, and I was ready to present it. I couldn’t wait for my parents to see this piece of art.
The utter shock on their faces when they realized that my card contained all that remained of their dresser-top wedding portrait was priceless. I was certain that the look was one of pure joy, and I was so happy that my Valentine creation had rendered them speechless. They did ask why I didn’t come to them for photos first, since they do have smaller copies of photos stored away. But I explained that I wanted them to be surprised, and so I couldn’t have asked first, and anyway, now they could display my huge card, not just a plain photo. Many more “fun surprises” were in store for my mom and dad throughout the years, I’m so thankful they always looked at the bright side of what was good, and beautiful and heartfelt.
I hope you all enjoy your weekend, whether you are celebrating or not, and have a beautiful big bowl of yummy soup!
Ingredients
- 2 large red beets
- 2 oranges
- 3 celery stalks
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 avocado
- 1 1/2 tablespoons mellow white miso
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
Juice beets, oranges, celery and ginger, then place in blender. Add avocado, miso, pepper and basil and
blend until smooth and serve!
