Golden Beets

If there's one vegetable that give me the creeps, it's a beet. I was never forced to eat them as kid, mainly because the only thing red my mother ate came on a stick and tasted like a cherry. I'm still amazed that I enjoy so many different foods, when the woman who raised me calls chocolate milkshakes "breakfast" and Raisinettes "lunch". Don't get me wrong, my brother and I always ate well and Mom always managed to have your standard issue veggies on the table at dinner. There was usually corn or peas. I remember plenty of baked potatoes but that was as exotic as it got. Growing up, the only time I can recall seeing beets was as a selection at the salad bar. They looked scary, just sitting there, cold and red. So as I got older and started cooking for myself, I steered clear of beets. Now jump ahead 10, 15...OK maybe 20 years. It's time to face my fear of the beet. Alright, I may have cheated a little bit. The thought of cutting into one of those scary red things this early on in my little adventure was too much to handle. I went for the Golden Beet, cousin to Big Red. They are a beautiful orange color that resembles many yummy vegetables that I am not afraid of. Roasted then peeled, I sliced them into medallions that looked like little gold coins and then sauteed them in olive oil with crushed garlic. My plan was not to get too fancy with these guys. Figuring if I kept it simple, I would be able to pass fair judgement on my childhood veggie adversary. The verdict is in and my fears are quelled. I can think of many dishes that would be honored to ride shotgun on the dinner plate with this earthy tasting root vegetable. The golden beet will be invited back to our house in the future but his cousin Big Red and I still need to make nice-nice with each other at a later date.