sassy salsa

I am so blessed to live in a place where backyard gardens are so plentiful and productive.  This has been my first year exploring the art of harvesting my own foods and my GOODNESS it has been an excellent journey so far! My own garden is spitting out tomatoes on a daily basis, just the perfect amount for me to eat, preserve and share, and the other day a dear friend gave me a big box of joy from his garden, including the last two ears of heirloom corn. So, I found myself in the kitchen with an excess of kernels and tomato fruits, and I immediately thought *salsa!*

I also have a handful of these terrifically spicy hot peppers growing.  After a few attempts at eating them fresh one bite at a time [whoa] I decided a salsa would be a nice way to tame those suckers. I used black cobra peppers, but any hot pepper would work. If using jalapenos, use two for the same amount of kick.


Sassy Summer Salsa - alliteration from the garden!

2 ears of corn, kernels removed from cob
4 fresh tomatoes
1 hot pepper [Serrano, black cobra, De Arbol], diced
1 avocado, cubed
1 red bell pepper [optional]
1/4 cup cilantro [optional]
1 tbsp cold pressed olive oil
1 garlic clove
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp hatch chile powder [or cayenne]
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Chop tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and garlic and add to corn kernels in a big bowl. Mix oil, vinegar, and spices together in a little cup and pour over salsa. Mix thoroughly and dig in with raw veggie chips, or spoon into a lettuce leaf and eat like a taco!

reflection on digestion

There is a point in every diet where we think to ourselves 'self, something is just not quite right here.'
 Despite any previous satisfaction with a certain way of eating or another, sometimes we just hit a place where certain habits do not treat us as well as they used to, or circumstances change our psyche regarding foods.  I found myself in this place recently; in between the Easter holiday, when I did a 5 day cleanse followed up by a wicked flu, and the beginning of august, I found myself detached from the foods I consumed.  In other words, I was indulging more often than healing with my diet.

So, decidedly, I devoted myself to a cleanse which consisted of 2 days of liquid food and 7 additional days of vegetable and fruit juices, warm raw barley miso drinks, the master cleanse lemonade drink, homebrewed kombucha, and any other healthful drinks I felt inclined to taste. Last Tuesday I started coming off of my fast with watermelon and cucumber, and now I am finally back to a happy, normal belly that I fill almost exclusively with nutrient dense, healing raw foods.

This cleanse enabled me to stop the bad habits I had acquired, such as mindless snacking, eating sweet and processed snacks and overall kind of losing focus. Granted, I know even my worst diet is one hundred times better than the SAD way of eating, but, being so invested and such a firm believer in the healing power of food, coming back to a place of love and appreciation of my food and my body was absolutely necessary.


And, the top it all off, I feel great, inspired, and ready!

I made the best soup yesterday from my garden;
Tomato and Dill Bisque

4 medium tomatoes [or a pint of cherry, or two big, whichever]
1 bunch of fresh dill
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
2 tsp nama shoyu
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp coconut oil
blend to creamy and drink up!
best when tomatoes are warm from the sun and freshly picked :D