I wish I could tell you that the beets used in this recipe came from my garden. That I planted them, nourished them to grow, gave them my love, and harvested them myself. But you see, where I live, we are still shoveling snow. Snow that fell on April 14 to be exact. All 10 cm of it. There ain’t no vegetables growin’ round these parts. But I want you to know, that if I lived in a climate that was more conducive to growing anything for more than a few months out of the year, I definitely would have grown these myself.

Well…I would have tried to grow them myself. But unfortunately, I have a black thumb, the deathly version of it’s lively counterpart, the green thumb. I have a curse. I cannot keep plants or flowers alive. They wither as soon as they set root or stem on my property. I will never have the pleasure of telling people that the delicious vegetables they are tasting came from my garden. Thank goodness for farmer’s markets, or else I would be forever destined for a life of tasteless grocery store produce! Depressing eh?

Honey’s lovely sister (and fellow foodie) emailed me a few weeks ago with this recipe for beet risotto. I knew I had to try it as soon as possible when she described it as tasting like “f—ing amazing creamy lovestyle italian amore.” Whoa. Yes please.

So last night, with fingers stained red with beet juice, I tasted this heavenly dish, and totally echoed her sentiments. And added in a hell yeah. Now I don’t want to be pushy, but you might want to go to the store right now (or your garden, if you don’t live in Santa’s backyard or have a black thumb like me), and buy these ingredients, and make this for dinner. Tonight.

Because we can all use a little extra amore.

Beet Risotto

2 beets (about 3″ in diameter), peeled and diced small

1 onion, chopped small

1/4 cup butter

1 cup arborio rice

3 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)

1 TBSP. balsamic vinegar

1/4-1/2 cup goat cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste