Do you have a favorite salsa recipe?

Mine is SO simple!

I chop a few tomatoes into small pieces, add about half a chopped onion, and add one finely chopped jalapeno pepper. Can’t get much simpler than that! Still, it totally satisfies me.

At one time I didn’t know much about Mexican food. My mother never cooked it. NEVER.

Then when I was about 23 years old, I had a Hispanic boyfriend. I say Hispanic instead of Mexican because he’s never been in Mexico. Maybe today the preferred term is Latino. I don’t know… Hispanic always sounded okay to me. Anyhow, he took me home to meet his parents… they were living in Chowchilla, California at the time. His mother made dinner … and I sat down to a meal like nothing I’d ever had before.

I was doing okay with the food - all vegetarian, my favorite! She gave me homemade pinto beans and fried potatoes on a paper plate, and then plunked down a flour tortilla right next to that. Oh my goodness! I had NO IDEA what to do with the tortilla! I had to sit there watching my boyfriend eat so I’d get an idea of what to do with it. He tore it into tiny pieces and used it to pick up the other foods!

That was my introduction to Mexican food. A few months later I MARRIED this guy, and actually LEARNED to cook Mexican foods. Then in 1985 we divorced… but I still love the Mexican food!

Have you ever noticed how much better home cooked pinto beans are? I mean, better than the ones coming out of a can? WOW, the taste differential is astounding!

I like to cook beans about once a week… usually black beans, pinto beans, or lentils. I often combine the lentils with rice. This is my burrito filling. At this point I’ve weaned myself off of cheese so all I put into my burritos is the beans, salsa, and sometimes potatoes, rice, or lettuce.

I also have the habit of warming my tortillas just like my mother-in-law did… directly over the flame of a gas burner. I’d be so lost with an electric stove! My now-boyfriend insists on frying his tortillas in a frying pan with butter. Not for me! I toss mine directly on a fully-lit burner and count to ten, then turn them over, count to ten, wait for the bubbles to emerge, and that’s it. No butter, no extra calories.. no mess.

Can you tell I love burritos? I’ve been eating them a lot lately… often alongside a mug full of my amazing and delicious vegetable soup. (The soup will have to be another posting… some other day.)

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Also: Happy First Day of Spring… Joyous Spring Equinox… and for the Persians and Baha’is: Happy Naw Ruz!

One of my favorite vegetarian dishes is pasta. My boyfriend likes his with canned Alfredo sauce and mushrooms on it. I like that too, but when I make it I usually use herbs, sometimes with chunks of fresh tomato tossed in for flavor, color, and health.

While cooking the pasta I heat a frying pan containing a small amount of oil and sliced fresh garlic. My choices for oil are olive oil, coconut oil, or sunflower oil… all organic. For this, I usually choose olive oil because I love the flavor. To my garlic I add salt, thyme, parsley, kelp flakes, oregano and basil. When the pasta is cooked and drained, I put some in the frying pan with my oil and herbs, and mix it together. The fresh tomatoes go in last, when the heat is turned off. Then I put it all on a plate with Parmesan cheese on top, and sometimes a little grated sharp cheddar right under the Parmesan. Mmmmm… I am such a pasta lover.

You notice I share my recipes but usually don’t mention amounts. I expect that we all have have an inner instinct for knowing how much to use. Learning to rely on that is part of becoming a confident cook. My grandmother never used measuring cups or spoons, and I rarely do.

Pasta choices… my boyfriend likes fettuccine. Honestly, I like it all but usually use fettuccine, spaghetti, or macaroni.

A few nights ago I went to the regular Friday evening fund-raising dinner at our local art center. This is a vegan/vegetarian dinner. They served big pasta shells with some kind of sauce (I should have asked) along with a green salad, cooked beets, and a slice of homemade bread. The dinner was satisfying and delicious, and for five dollars, I enjoyed the meal and the company of artistically minded people. The money is to be used to build a new art center in our remote mountain town.

Transitions, part three

Those of you who have given birth probably remember that the final part of labor is called the transition. I remember it well. I learned the Lamaze method for my first labor, did a refresher course for the second and third, and winged it for the last two. I did pretty good at controlling my response to pain during all five labors, except during that last part - called the ‘transition’. That was when things got rough. That was the only time I couldn’t stop myself from screaming due to overwhelming pain.

Transitions can be like that. If it is a difficult transition, something bad is happening that we’re reacting to by changing. For example a person might need to declutter their home, but if motivation is lacking, the house may stay messy for years. Then one day a child protective services caseworker might show up a the door and threaten to remove all the children. Now that’s something worth screaming about. Suddenly the parents go into hyperdrive and clean up their mess. They toss all the bric-a-brac and open the windows to let fresh air in. Life is better, but it took some terrible impetus to force change.

Transitions are often that way. We are getting so much stress from the way things are, we feel forced to change the conditions under which we live.

That’s what happened to me this time. My pants were getting tighter. Heaven forbid! I don’t mind buying new clothes, but not in a larger size! Besides, I want my health. I need it.

I put myself in health recovery mode, shut down my metabolism with the Lemonade Diet, and forced myself to reset my system. It had to be done.

Now I’m grateful to get a vegan sandwich… after ten days with nothing but lemonade and tea. To indulge in an apple rather than a slice of cheese seems luxurious, and altogether more clean than sticking more mucus into my body, especially after I went to so much trouble to get rid of it.

Transitions can be painful, but they are also bountiful. Just like in childbirth, where the worst pain gives forth the much-desired and longed for child, my food transition, ten days of fasting, has given forth a healthier and much more satisfying and healthy diet.