Salsa, Summer, and a Song

With summer finally here (or at least sort of coming....at least it's not cold and rainy anymore), I have been craving fresher, colder foods. I finally got up the gumption to make my own salsa cuz garlic hurts my stomach and pretty much every salsa out there has garlic in it! I do eat it sometimes, but then always regret it because of my stomach. Anyways, this is a little spicy and pretty fresh & delish! :)

Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:

9 (or so) red Roma tomatoes, chopped into four parts each

1 small onion, chopped into chunks

1 chipotle pepper, canned in adobo sauce

1 Tbsp. adobo sauce

1 handful cilantro

Cumin, salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

Place 1/2 of the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients into the food processor and blend thoroughly. Add rest of tomatoes and pulse a couple of times. You want some tomato chunks left. Enjoy!

I made this dessert to take to my aunt's house for Father's Day lunch. I ended up not staying because they were having a really late lunch, so I haven't tried it yet, but they assured me it was pretty good! ;) My aunt said it was like sorbet with a crust and I was kind of thinking it would be like a frozen smoothie with a crust. Anyways, I think it is a totally guilt-free dessert. All it is is nuts and berries! That's it! I got the recipe from the Delicious Magazine that I get free at my local health food store.

Raw Berry Pie with Nut Crust

Ingredients:

2 cups raw cashews

10 pitted medjool dates (soak in water if very firm or dry), divided

1/2 cup macadamia nuts

3/4 cup raw walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries (soak if dry, drain)

1/2 teaspoon oil

1 1/2 cups small to medium fresh strawberries, hulled, divided

3 cups mixed fresh (or frozen) berries, divided

2 tablespoons raw, unfiltered honey (or agave syrup)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Soak cashews in water for at least 4 hours. (VERY important!) Rinse and drain. Place 3 dates in a bowl and cover with 1/2 cup water. Let stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine 7 remaining 7 dates, macadamia nuts, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Process on high until mixture starts to form a ball, scraping sides as needed. Lightly coat a 9 inch glass pie dish with oil. Press nut mixture evenly into dish, crimping top edges. Chill. Remove dates from soaking water, reserving water. In a food processor, combine soaked and drained dates and cashews, 1 cup strawberries, 2 cups mixed berries, honey, and vanilla. Process 3 minutes until smooth and creamy, adding soaking water from dates if needed. Add remaining 1 cup mixed berries and pulse until berries are chopped but still visible. Spoon filling into crust, smooth top, and freeze for 1 hour. Remove pie from freezer and arrange remaining 1/2 cup strawberries (sliced or whole) around perimeter. Slice into wedges and serve. If making ahead, remove from freezer at least 30 minutes before serving.


I just got the new Whole Living August issue and am super stoked to see fresh, quick, healthy raw recipes on its cover! Can't wait to try some of them out!

Aaaaaand, since my sister thinks Schuyler Fisk doesn't exist ;), here's one of her songs. I couldn't find the one I wanted to on Youtube, so I had to settle for this one. It's still a pretty good one! :)

That's all for now! Oh, wait in the past 9 days, I've worked out 7 of those days. Woot, woot! :D