by ExpatChef
Back in the not-too-distant past of my single days, I had a lunch date with a smart ass lawyer type. When trying to decide where to go, I suggested something ethnic just to test how open-minded he was, food-wise. Somehow, I can’t imagine spending my life with someone who did not posses an adventurous palate or at least an open mind. Preferably both.
“How about Vietnamese?” I said.
“No, thanks, I don’t like cat,” replied Smart Ass Lawyer.
“How do you know? Maybe you’ve just never had it fixed right.” I retorted.
The reason I bring this up, other than it is funny, is that this is how many vegetables get banished to the realm of yuck after a single attempt over a mushy, canned, processed, tasteless mound of mush that was once some type of vegetable. People have just never tasted the real thing, not been willing to try it, or just never had it fixed right.
Now, I would not go so far as to eat cat. But I have eaten some strange game, the details of which I will not admit here, though it was local and uh, organic, I'd guess. I’m talking veggies now. Specifically beets. And, not just any beets. Locally grown, organic Golden Beets.
Mellow and sweet in flavor, delicious roasted at 450-degrees for 35 minutes in a touch of olive oil and sea salt, sprig of rosemary. And served with goat cheese and balsamic viniagrette on fresh, locally grown greens. C’est magnifique! Try all the colors (gold, orange, red) mixed for a beautiful plate of bright colors.
But you see, while I married a man who is somewhat adventurous and open-minded, he had it in his head he did not like beets. Of course, the only way he’d ever had them was cold, canned and pickled.
So, when this latest prize from the farmers’ market was pulled from the oven, he balked at beets. At first. My toddler ate hers, no problem. The fully-grown (I did not say mature) adult, however, took a while. Then, finally, took a bite.
“Hey,” he said, “I could eat these.”
Hallelujah, I thought. Wait a minute. Has anyone seen the cat?
The Expat Chef can be found barefoot, boisterous, but not pregnant, in her kitchen.
