healthy eating

The thing about healthy eating is that it's often easier than eating crap. I definitely have days of being lazy and reaching for the take-out menus, but when farmer's market season rolls around I get inspired to buy fresh, local, organic produce and prepare meals that show off natural flavours. I feel like it's a waste of time and money to buy such perfect things and overpower them with spices and seasonings invented to mask less than ideal ingredients.




I've made this dish a few times this summer, and I can't see myself ever getting sick of it. Peeled, uncooked baby beets are the stars here, with their natural earthy sweetness and dense crunch. The thick, slightly bitter greens don't go to waste, and are softened with heat and lemon juice so they don't overwhelm the palate. Feta cheese is ideal, because the saltiness plays off the sweetness of the beets really well, but when supermarket feta is almost $6 (not okay!), goat cheese will do. I prefer the salty feta to the tangy goat cheese, but this meal needs one of the two to really balance the depth of flavour. And, of course, chickpeas for protein, but also for that neutral, creamy flavour that brings everything together. I used fresh dill as a garnish, but I wonder if mint would be better.