We cultivate the golden beet blush with the same concept of endive or chicory. We grow them in the dark to produce shiny, golden leaves with striking red veins running through them. We take the strength of the gnarly, baseball-sized beet and infuse this delicate leaf with its flavor. What emerges is the subtle note of beet within the over-arching sweetness of the leaf. 
 
We eat with our eyes first and when the beet blush is added to a plate the palate becomes excited when the eyes catch sight of it. It's a gorgeous product that would be just at home in a painter's toolkit as it is in a recipe. Chefs like using the beet blush in the same way they would endive or chicory. Its exquisite shape belies its intensity of flavor and a few leaves goes a long way in delivering earthy hints of beet that are not as overwhelming as the beet itself. 
 
When we offer chefs visiting the farm a taste of the beet blush without telling them what it’s derived from they eat it up with a look of wonder in their eyes. When we share that it’s the leaf of a beet they look confused because they have been so conditioned to eschew the poor beet. This is the beet game-changer and it has won over so many people who don't think they like the flavor of beets. 
 
It's not only the look and taste of the beet blush that wins over chefs and guests alike. It’s also a nutritional powerhouse that is packed with fiber, magnesium and vitamins B-6 and C. 
 
We harvest each leaf by hand with a scissor, carefully monitoring the size of the leaves the beets are producing. Each day we select only the leaves that are perfectly sized in a vigilant, meticulous way. The golden beet blush leaves are deprived of chlorophyll which gives them their golden color. 
 
The technique reminds us of when we were kids and left a board out on the grass beneath the blazing summer sun. When the board was removed after a day or two, there was a patch of golden grass. 
 
It's the same with the beet blush except for what we're left with in our light-deprived greenhouse is a beauty that chefs turn to again and again for a pop of color and hint of flavor. You might not be able to color your cheeks with our beet blush, but adding them to a recipe sure does leave the plate looking as exquisite.