Sunshine Beet Popsicles

When I moved to the west coast part way through college I could only bring what I could fit in my 1998 Chevy Cavalier (four door, atleast!), along with all of my then-boyfriend's belongings, our camping and skiing gear, and ourselves. In short, we couldn't bring much. Luckily our new town had a large Goodwill which had a well stocked and eclectic selection of house supplies. It was there, on our first west coast Black Friday that we found a relatively new looking Hamilton Beach juicer in working condition. It was 50% off of $7! $3.50! Imagine our excitement. We lived near a farm stand with tons of cheap produce! It was perfect. We took it home and assembled it in our dorm apartment. The pulp it spit out was a bit wetter than ideal, it was loud, and definitely didn't spit out an amount of juice comparable to the amount of fruit we put in, but it worked! 

We became juicing fanatics. We made giant glasses of morning orange juice requiring over 6 oranges, we made orange-lemon-ginger tequila cocktails. We'd sit in our garden, sticky orangey fingers clutching tall glasses of orange-carrot juice. We never delved far beyond citrus, carrots, and apples, but we certainly made a ton of juice.

When I graduated from college and decided to move back to NYC I sacrificed the juicer to my ex, among many other incredible Goodwill finds, because he was staying, and again, I had to fit everything in my Cavalier. After moving to the city I discovered the joy of fruit and vegetable juices, and every time I shelled out $6+ for a 16oz wheatgrass-pineapple-beet juice I would mourn the loss of my crummy little Goodwill juicer.

So when my mother called a few months ago and told me she found a nice looking juicer on Groupon, and would I like it? I jumped on it. OF COURSE I want a juicer. It's the Dash brand Tall Slow Juicer, and it's incredible. The pulp is dry, and you get a good amount of juice per piece of fruit. I am back in juice heaven, but this time with a lot more variety. Beets, spinach, mint, wheatgrass, I've been trying to diversify my juicing.

Anyway, I figured why stick to juice? I love popsicles! Especially People's Pops, who make delicious fresh fruit popsicles and sell them at local farmers markets. I decided to make my own fresh fruit juice popsicles, then I looked at my fruit bowl and saw these lovely golden beets. And carrots. I just couldn't resist the idea of sweet vegetable popsicles!

I happen to have popsicle molds, but an ice cube tray covered with tin foil, and toothpick popsicle sticks also works well for mini-popsicles. I haven't tested this theory, but I am fairly certain one could feed these to popsicle loving children and never tell them there were any vegetables enjoyed. 

Yum! The oranges provide some upfront tangy-ness, and the sweetness of the raspberry rounds out the earthy notes of the beet. These are definitely sweet enough for kids, but with a flavor complex enough for adult enjoyment, and the color is lovely, bright-fuchsia-red-orange.

Sunshine Beet Popsicles

Makes 6-8 popsicles, depending on mold size.

2 Golden Beets

3 Oranges

3 Carrots

1 Heaping cup Raspberries

Cut beets and carrots into chunks of the appropriate size for your juicer (or food processor- though I recommend you strain the final product prior to freezing if using a food processor). Jubilee oranges by cutting off top and bottom so they sit flat, then cutting away the peel and pith. Juice all fruit and pour into popsicle molds or ice cube tray. Cover with lids or tin foil (if using ice cube tray, poke toothpicks through the foil of each one as popsicle sticks).

Freeze for 4-6 hours, until solid. Remove from mold and enjoy immediately. 

These will probably last a while in your freezer, seeing as they are frozen, but they're so tasty chances are you'll devour them all in a matter of hours.