Purple Passion
For Nicole Carrillo and Mirasol Gomez—friends who create farm-to-table special events as the Forage Sisters—beets are their go-to ingredient. This vibrant purple taproot grows well in Colorado and is available fresh from spring until winter, explains Carrillo, who with her husband also owns Deer Tree Farm and Agroforest in Hotchkiss. But beets are often underutilized, even though they’re highly nutritious and delicious.
“We’re always looking for creative and unique ways to use Colorado vegetables, especially something like beets, which usually all people do with is roast them or put them on salad,” says Gomez. “We try to enliven the ingredient.”
With their popular homemade beet gnocchi, which they serve nearly year-round, the Sisters are credited with sparking wider appreciation for the vegetable. (Sometimes they substitute golden beets or butternut squash.)
“Gnocchi are comforting and starchy, and this way they have a sweet earthiness to them,” says Carrillo, who brings her Italian background to the chef ’s table. (Gomez’s family is Argentinean; the pair liken the essence of their business to the “inviting welcome of your grandmother’s kitchen table.”) “Gnocchi can be vegan or gluten free. You can make them a main or a side, serve them heavy or light. Everybody loves pasta!”
