Off the beet-en path

For the last two days, each time I open the fridge I've been eyeing up a bag of golden beets, elegantly wrapped with a shoulder-to-knee drawing of Adam and Eve on the label, below the arousing words: Soiled Reputation.

A few years ago, I would have never put the words "eyeing up" and "beets" in the same sentence. "Soiled," yes, but arousing? Not likely. Like so many of us, I grew up with 'pickled beet pushers' and no matter what kind of marketing spin they attempted, one small bite resulted in an immediate "Yeeeeech."

If you can believe it, beets popped up as a craving for me when I was pregnant. Perhaps it was because they so closely resembled the colour of a good shiraz. Or maybe it was the cheese I laced them with, I'm not sure. But beet salad with goat's cheese (pasteurized, of course), arugula and toasted walnuts in a red wine vinegar (hey, you gotta get your fill somewhere) and an extra virgin olive oil emulsified dressing....sigh...it instantly transported me from Yeeeeeech to Yummmmm. Mama was one happy girl and the craving for beets never did truly subside.

So today I put the holiday wrapping and yuletide dinner planning aside and gave into my temptation. And did something kind for myself. Beets have vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C, don'tchaknow. They're an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, sodium and iron. The greens even have more iron than spinach. Okay, I didn't eat the greens, but good to know!

I didn't have walnuts or arugula in the house so I substituted baby spinach and pine nuts and switched things up again by using golden beets instead of my usual red.

The golden beets came from Soiled Reputation, a 40-acre certified organic farm (80-acre farm all together) in Sebringville, Ontario. It's home to Tina VandenHeuvel, and Antony John, who many of us knew as the Canada Food Network's Manic Organic.

I just learned Soiled Reputation supplies gourmet greens and heirloom vegetables to restaurants, markets, and homes in southwestern Ontario. After tasting these luscious, buttery jewels, I'm so looking into this home delivery service in the New Year.

Santé!