The Sweet Beet

Though I could go back to the spinach and kale trough over and over again without much complaining, it’s fun discovering other greens that bring some variety to the party.  My latest discovery was made when one of the local vendors at my farmers market had set up a mini propane stove at the corner of her booth and was sauteeing greens and serving them up to receptive shoppers.  I had more than my share of samples at which point I felt I owed them at least the purchase of the equivalent of what I’d already eaten.

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This past winter I was at a birthday party for a friend where we were all asked to bring a dish.  I brought a favorite of mine (Spinach Chickpeas and Sweet Potato) but the one I could not stop taking seconds and thirds of was a kale salad brought by Deborah and Bryan.

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There is nothing like having a baby (which I had three weeks ago) to focus you on the bare essentials in life since all of a sudden the window for doing anything closes the moment the little guy’s mouth opens.  My prerequisite now for food is that if I’m going to make it, it must take less than 30 minutes from conception to birth of the dish.

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I had a baby.  It happened last week. I can’t say it was a surprise as it had been building for 9 months. But there is a very big difference between having a baby living inside you and one living outside you.  The biggest difference?  Food. For 9 mos the little guy (Finn is his name) essentially had an intravenous drip of the most delicious nutritious food, coursing through his little body. He ate like a king – frittata one meal, kale soup the next.  He lived in a pool of constantly replenishing water that was his for the drinking 24/7, all he had to do was open his mouth and swallow.

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At my favorite local coffee shop there is a sign in front of the banana muffins saying “Sugar-Free”.  I asked the girl, who was waiting for my order, if they were sweetened with anything besides bananas.  ”Oh ya, agave”.  ”So they’re not sugar-free, they’re just cane-sugar free.” I reasoned, to an unreceptive audience….  Sugar is sugar my friends! Whether it’s cane sugar, agave, coconut sugar – they all contain roughly the same number of calories and have a similar effect on your blood sugar.  I don’t even think foods sweetened with honey should be allowed to call themselves “sugar-free”  - which they often do.  And forget the fake stuff; if it’s sweetened with artificial sugar it should be legally required to prominently state on the front of the package, “Sweetened with Chemicals”. (The one exception is stevia, which has no calories but is not artificial, though I do have some flavor reservations, so don’t recommend it for baking.)

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I have to admit that I barely know who’s playing tomorrow, but I do know I’ll be watching it  - or to be more accurate I will be at a friend’s house where the TV will be tuned to the SuperBowl, and where there will be a table laden with food, all which seem to satisfy our primitive brain’s desire for fat, salt and calories.  And that wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that the moment we turn on the TV, we turn off our discipline. We accept that for a few hours we’ll indulge now and regret later.

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