Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad

While wandering through one of our local farmer’s markets the other day, I was impressed by the sea of fruits and vegetables that came in all colors of the rainbow.  I was lucky enough to stumble upon a bunch of different types of organic cucumbers at an incredible price; some were shaped a bit funny– like the burpless ones, the pickling cukes looked spectacular, and the regular old cucumbers were crisp and scrumptious.  After I filled my bag with this fabulous produce, the friendly farmer was gracious and said to me, “Thank you for buying organic,” to which I replied, “Always.”  He smiled at me, I smiled at him, and I was on my way home to make something cool for dinner during this heatwave we’ve been experiencing.  I love farmer’s market season… :0)

I am guessing that most people are at least familiar with making or eating a tomato cucumber salad.  The salad that I made with my farm-fresh produce came out so delcious and was so simple to make, I figured that I would post it, in case there is someone out there who hasn’t tried making this sensationally simple salad before.  For those that are familiar with this easy-to-prepare dish, I hope this will inspire you to get into the kitchen and create a tasty meal for you and the ones you love.

Basic Ingredients:

3 large cucumbers, sliced or diced (whichever YOU prefer)

4 roma tomatoes or 3 large vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced or diced (whichever YOU prefer)

1 small red or white onion, diced

1 large avocado, diced

2 garlic scapes, sliced, or 1 clove of garlic, pressed 

A handful of fresh basil, chopped

Extra-virgin olive oil

A large pinch of Celtic sea salt

***USE ORGANIC OR WILDCRAFTED INGREDIENTS, WHEN AVAILABLE***

 To Prepare The Salad:

1.  Slice, dice, chop and/or press the cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, avocado, garlic scapes/garlic and basil; place in a glass or ceramic bowl. 

2.  Drizzle the olive oil over the mixture (use your judgment as to how much olive oil you want in your salad) and throw in a large pinch of Celtic sea salt.

3.  Stir the salad,then it sit and marinate for at least 15 minutes.

4.  Enjoy!

******************************************************************************************************************************************************        

          *  If you look closely at the picture of my Simple Tomato Cucmber Salad, you will see a few extra ingredients swimming around in the salad.   I happened to have some raw shelling peas in my fridge, and I added those to my salad.  Other ideas would be to add some diced red bell pepper, chopped daikon radish or even some cubed summer squash or zucchini.  Be adventurous and try adding in additional raw veggies.

          *  Another ingredient that makes a fabulous addition to this salad are sprouted mung beans.  Sprouts of any kind are super nutritious, delicious, and some of the freshest food that you can eat!

          *  Try adding in a tiny bit of nama shoyu or umeboshi plum vinegar for a saltier taste.  You could even sprinkle the salad with dulse for some extra nutrition.  If you are adding any of these three ingredients, be sure to omit the Celtic sea salt, as they already contain salt.

          *  Add in a dash of cayenne pepper, a sliced jalepeno pepper or red pepper flakes for a spicy twist.

          *  Drizzle a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar over the salad for a special treat!

Have an inspired and delicious day!

My Adventures In Cleansing

Most of my friends that know me well know that I am a big fan of cleansing. I did my first monthlong cleanse back in 1999 (I can’t believe it was such a long time ago!), which was an Arise & Shine Cleanse that entailed orally taking herbs, psyllium and hydrated bentonite clay several times a day while eating only alkalizing foods. It was very structured, which was great for me at the time. I loved following directions, and this made things simple for me.  Boy, how things have changed!  All in all, I am happy to report it was a great cleanse for my first cleansing experience and continues to be a great product to this day (in my opinion).

I had just transitioned a year earlier from eating the Standard American Diet to eating a whole-foods based vegan diet, was learning about cleansing and ready for my first one. Once I started to get more in tune to my body (after getting the processed junk and junk foods out of me), I intuitively knew it was time.  I was so enthusiastic and excited to begin!  Of course I couldn’t start slow with a weeklong cleanse — I tend to like to go for it when I commit to doing something.  I dove right in and went for the gusto, what I believed to be the Cadillac of all cleanses, a monthlong one!!  Longer cleansing had to be better, right?  After all, I had been eating an unhealthy, nutritionally-deficient diet for years, so the longer the cleanse, the healthier I would be… Well, we all learn lessons, and I am no exception to that rule.  When it comes to cleansing, I think being conservative and building up to longer cleanses is a must.  That’s how I think today, though, and not back in 1999.  With age comes wisdom, I guess, or maybe I just am fantastic at learning from my experiences.  :0)

Besides the cleansing reactions that some people experience while cleansing –headaches, nausea, skin eruptions, emotional highs and lows and some other unmentionables — and at some points wanting to give up, I was losing a pound of weight a day on this particular cleanse, which kind of freaked me out a little bit. After I went from 124 pounds to 115 pounds in nine days, I ended up having to contact the Arise & Shine cleanse representatives and find out what was going on.  I felt a bit panicked, as none of my clothing was fitting me anymore. I looked like a size 4 mannequin draped in a size 10 outfit!  The representatives I spoke with were extremely helpful, and their recommendation was that I consume more calories and good fat during the cleanse, so I ate two avocados every day for the rest of the time on the cleanse, felt better and was able to put a few pounds back on. Whew!  It was definately a learning experience for me that was very valuable.  I also learned about black walnut hull being used to kill parasites during a cleanse, about colon cleansing and coffee enemas, about using cayenne pepper to intensify the effects of the herbs I was taking, how to slow down or speed up a cleanse and, generally, what works for my body and what doesn’t.

Needless to say, although I really like the Arise & Shine products, honestly, that cleanse was tough for me because it was so long and intense. Although I felt great at the end of the month, it did take a lot out of me.  And being the stubbon girl that I can be at times, I did three more monthlong cleanses over the next couple of years (all before 2005)… Two Arise & Shines and one Ejuva Cleanse. Sometimes it can take me a bit to figure out what works for my body… luckily I eventually get it. :0)

Well, I finally got it, and I am happy to report that my days of monthlong cleansing are over (at least for now). It simply takes too much out of my body and is too taxing on my mind.  I have found that doing a weeklong (or shorter) cleanse works great for me, and my body seems to respond well to it.  I tend to only cleanse in the spring, summer and early fall, as the winter is too cold up here in the northeast.  I would much rather eat hardy and building foods, such as soups, root veggies and dark leafy greens, instead of juicing and eating 100% raw during that season.  The thought of cleansing and winter together gives me a chill even thinking about it, and it’s warm outside today!  The last weeklong product cleanse that I did was the Raw Cleanse by Garden of Life, and I really enjoyed doing it.  It was quite different than any other cleansing products I have used.  It was VERY gentle, and I felt fantastic at the end of the week after using it.

For the past couple weeks one of my best girlfriends (who I consider my sister), Nancy, has been going on and on about the delicious juices she has been making for herself, her husband and her two-year-old son, Baby D. Nancy is an exceptional role model for other mothers when it comes to nourishing her child with healthy foods, and I consider myself blessed that she shares some of these recipes that she creates with me! She is always making her little pumpkin healthy smoothies, giving him delicious whole-food snacks and has even incorporated a daily ritual into their schedule of him helping with the preparation of some of the meals! He gets to help his mommy put the vegetables in the juicer in order to make a juice and is very enthusiastic about doing so.  While drinking the masterpieces that he helps to create, he doesn’t come up for air until the end of his cup, and then he always says, “Mmmmmmmmmm!” It’s way too cute for words to even express, and it makes me excited to hear all of her lovely stories about this little sweetheart and his adventures with loving food and healthy eating.

Over the past few weeks, Nancy has expressed to me how delicious one particular juice she has been making is that she got out of David Wolfe’s book Eating For Beauty (one of my FAVORITE books of all time!), which is sooooo good for your skin and overall health. The juice consists of apples, cucumber and celery. She told me that it was refreshing and delicious at the same time…  And since she loves healthy and delicious food as much as I do, this made me EXCITED!

I decided to give it a whirl this past Sunday morning, and it was, in fact, DELICIOUS! I am happy to say that my honey loved it, too. :0)

After being INSPIRED by Nancy and Baby D, thoroughly enjoying this sensational juice and realizing that I am wanting to cleanse (I can feel myself being pulled in that direction), I decided that it is time for me to do a spring juice feast!  (I have heard juice fasting referred to as juice feasting, and I like the term “feast”, as I associate the term “fast” with lack and “feast” with abundance!).  I love the idea of doing a mini juice feast for four days. This is definitely a managable amount of time for me to cleanse, and it makes me excited to think of how much more energy I will have in only four short days! 

Over the past few years I have been working on simplifying my life… So why wouldn’t that pertain to cleansing, too?  When I really thought about it, I came to realize that cleansing CAN be really simple (doing a juice feast or eating 100% raw) and doesn’t have to entail purchasing any “products” in order to do a cleanse, unless buying a product and following the directions works for you.  It also doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out process unless you choose for it to be.  Setting the stage for your body to go into cleansing mode and letting it do what it’s designed to do by juicing fresh, organic raw vegetables or eating lightly steamed ones, using cleansing products or not, together with rest and meditation, can make a world of difference in your overall health.  It definitely has for me.  :0)

As an added note… if you are considering doing ANY form of a cleanse, I recommend doing your research first… There are countless numbers of books to read or websites to visit on this subject.  It is best to know what might go on in your body during a cleanse BEFORE you cleanse.  If you smoke, drink excessive alcohol, eat lots of processed foods and/or the Standard American Diet, are taking prescription drugs or recreational drugs, you should consult a health care professional before you do ANY type of cleansing, as the cleansing reactions you could experience might be severe and harmful to your body.

With that said, Happy Cleansing!  :0)