anti-inflammatory beet fried rice

Recipe adapted from Yup, it’s Vegan

I’m a huge believer in using diet as a means to improve our mental and physical well-being. And I love to eat so whatever food I’m adding for its nutritional benefit needs to taste good if I’m going to give it a recurring role in my meals. This beet fried rice recipe tastes great AND can help you improve your athletic performance. Additionally, it’s full of anti-inflammatory ingredients that can aid in your freediving equalization. In my experience, equalization is the number one issue that beginner freedivers struggle with. If I can eat something that will make it easier for me to dive deeper, I’m all in.

I LOVE fried rice and was so excited to try out this recipe. While looking for a recipe to tweak, I knew I wanted to find something that already contained beets. They have such an earthy flavor, I worried the flavor profile would be off if I just substituted beets for something else in a dish. This recipe had beets plus other healthy ingredients with anti-inflammatory properties, yay! I tweaked it a bit from the original and substituted for ingredients I already had. 

Why Beets?

Beets have lots of vitamins and minerals and are low in calories and fat. But the main reason I’ve been on the hunt for new beetroot recipes: Beets can improve athletic performance. And especially interesting for freedivers, beets enable us to extract more energy from the oxygen in our bodies. This is because beets have nitrates which your body can convert into nitric oxide.

In the book, How Not to Die, Dr. Greger explains that nitric oxide “signals the muscle fibers within the walls of your arteries to relax, allowing them to open up and for more blood to flow.” Nitric oxide is naturally produced in your body but free radicals can get in the way of normal nitric oxide production. This means eating antioxidant rich foods is important but you can also eat nitrates to help your arteries dilate normally and to improve performance. For best results, consume 2-3 hours before training or competing.

Many of the other ingredients in this stir fry have health benefits as well:

• Broccoli is one of the best sources of sulforaphane, an antioxidant with powerful anti-inflammatory effects.
• Turmeric contains a powerful anti-inflammatory compound called curcumin. Eating black pepper with turmeric can significantly enhance the absorption of curcumin.
• Ginger is high in gingerol, a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Would you like more oxygenating or anti-inflammatory recipes that are designed to help you improve your freediving performance? Comment below or send me a message to let me know what you think.

Beet Fried Rice Recipe:

For the stir fry:

• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 2 medium sized beets peeled and finely diced
• 1 inch ginger peeled and minced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tablespoon curry powder
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 crown broccoli cut into florets
• 1 carrot diced
• ½ onion sliced into half moons
• 1 bunch beet greens and stems chopped
• 3 cups cooked brown rice (cooked the day before and chilled overnight is preferred)

For the sauce:

• Juice from one orange
• Juice from one lime
• ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large, wide pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the diced beets and cook stirring frequently until the beets start to soften, about 5 minutes. Next, add the ginger and garlic and cook for about 1 minute. 
2. Add the spices and cook stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes. 
3. Add your vegetables to the pan. Continue to stir frequently for about 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables have turned bright in color. If you still have room in your pan add the cooked rice, stir to heat throughout and go to step 4. If you are out of room in your pan (like me) transfer your vegetable stir fry to a bowl. Add a little more oil to the pan and add the cooked rice. I like to smash the rice down on the bottom of the pan to make my rice a little crispy. Leave the rice smashed down for a couple of minutes without touching it. Add the vegetables back to the pan on top of the rice. 
4. Now you’re ready for the sauce – squeeze your orange and lime juice right into the pan and add your tamari or soy sauce and stir, stir, stir to combine. 
5. Serve warm, garnished with chopped green onion, cilantro, sesame seeds, hot sauce, lime wedges, or whatever you like on a stir fry.