Bite Of Minnesota: Play With Your Food

Food lovers often seek out new and different foods and dishes to try. They revel in the deliciousness that surrounds them. It is often believed that food lovers are lovers of all food, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who likes absolutely everything.

Take Anthony Bourdain for example: that guy eats some of the strangest animals and animal parts, but thinks putting ketchup on a hot dog is terrible. Even Bobby Flay has a dislike of lentils, and Rachael Ray hates mayonnaise. We are lucky to live in an environment where we have options and alternatives, but sometimes a strong dislike can be overcome with a little effort.

For me, I'm still working through my dislike of beets. Sure, I could just avoid them altogether, but they are abundant, affordable, and a good source of nutrients, so I keep trying. I've roasted them, juiced them, and shredded them raw into salads. My most recent attempt was just playing around with my food. I roasted some beets (both red and golden), cut them into fun shapes, and stacked them on top of each other for a bite-sized snack. Turns out the more bite-sized and cute a food is, the more likely I am to eat it. Yes, I sometimes eat like a 5 year old.

Give it a try yourself. Beets are easy to cook: scrub clean, wrap individually in foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until easily pierced with a knife. The skins should slip off after cooling, and you're ready to go. I used a mini cookie cutter to cut flower shapes and then smeared herbed goat cheese in-between each layer.