roasted beet and goat cheese appetizer

Our New Menu Includes a New Ingredient: Beets!

beet and orange salad

Our new beet and orange salad. A perfect starter for your meal.

Two of our new menu items feature a new ingredient, beets. We love this sweet, earthy root vegetable, as do many Italians. That’s why we decided to include them as part of our new, authentically Italian (yet uniquely Gio) menu.

Beets in Italian Cuisine

Beets? In Italian cuisine? Yes! While not always thought of as a staple in Italian cuisine, beets have been part of the Italian diet for centuries. Wild beets grow throughout the Mediterranean, where they thrive in the well-drained, sandy soil. Italians enjoyed beets in their cooking since the third century, A.D when the Romans discovered that the fleshy taproot was as delicious as the leafy chard. While you may not find beets on the menu in Italy, they are often served in the home.

Beet Nutrition

We also love beets because while they are full of flavor, they are low in calories and have no cholesterol. Beets also contain several plant-based anti-oxidants. A phytochemical compound, glycine betaine, is found in the root. The root also provides B-complex vitamins including niacin (B-3), pantothenic acid (B-5), and pyridoxine (B-6), and minerals such as iron, manganese, copper, magnesium, and potassium.

Our New Menu Items

Our new Beet & Orange Salad and Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese appetizer are authentic, rustic Italian dishes. We use fresh beets, roasted to bring out their natural sweetness and earthy flavors. We combine them with other fresh, Italian ingredients to create two delicious new starters. The Beet & Orange Salad combines beets with juicy sections of orange and fresh mozzarella cheese. We toss all three ingredients with fresh spring mix. Then we  finish the salad with our homemade creamy poppy seed dressing. The beet and goat cheese appetizer, or antipasti, layers sweet, warm roasted beets with fresh goat cheese over a bed of crisp arugula. We top everything with a bite of orange zest and our own balsamic reduction. Both dishes are authentically Italian, with a progressive Gio twist! Enjoy and si mangia bene!   Gio Italian Grill: An authentic taste of Italy in the Lehigh Valley  
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