In love with the man who beets me

[elle7573]

By Gabrielle Devenish
July 3, 2010
If the Jolly Green Giant ever proposed to me, it would be a match made in heaven. Same if Popeye popped the question. (And I’m skinny like Olive Oyl too!). That’s how much I love my vegetables.

So it stands to reason that I immediately fell in love with Raymond Amos when he sold me that beautiful, velvety bunch of spinach at the Cherry Creek Farmers Market on a recent Saturday outing. Inundated already by all the various farms and local purveyors selling their goods, I was pretty much ready to split when I reached Amos’ stall. Yet something about the simple, yet well-picked array of produce on his tables drew me in. Spinach, collards, kale – my heart fluttered. I spotted the orange and purple orbs of beets nestled among the goods, like finding little gems among all the other treasures.

Amos is the proprietor of My Mamma’s Hat Farm and CSA, in Niwot, Colorado. Their motto is “Sower of Seeds and Good Deeds,” and they are committed to providing fresh locally grown produce and shortening the distance from the field to the table. Amos himself sells his heirloom varieties at the Cherry Creek Farmer’s Market as well as the Longmont YMCA Market. He also supplies a number of local restaurants, including Tortugas, Terroir and Sugarbeet. He himself is the picture of a true farmer, standing in his jaunty straw hat and dirt flecked overalls, cradling the bunch of spinach as he gently hands it to me.

“Sure you don’t want some beets?” he offers. “A beet salad sounds mighty fine tonight…”

“Actually, I make this awesome beet salad,” I prattle on excitedly, detailing my ideas. “But I can’t buy a whole bunch of beets and eat them myself.”

He offers to split a bunch for me, selecting the most perfect bulb in each color. I cannot resist the temptation any longer. “OK, you got me. I’ll take them.”

I took them right home and began making my salad right away, despite the fact that my apartment was already 90 degrees. I ended up with a beautiful salad and what’s more, a new crush on a man I just met. Yes, he beets me (and feeds my greens addiction as well). And yes, I always come back for more.

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Sugarbeet
101 Pratt St Ste A, Longmont, CO 80501

Terroir Restaurant
246 Main Street, Longmont, CO 80501

[elle7573]

The salad I ended up making...

[tatamagouche]

Beautiful! If you don't already, you should post on the Home Cooking board too.

http://www.denveater.com