dressing: mix together

1/2 avocado, mashed

juice squeezed from 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp. ground pepper (to taste)

 

 

Chop the following into small chunky bits - salsa consistency - and put into a small bowl.

 

1/2 of a red pepper

1/2 or more of a jalapeño pepper

1/3 of an English cucumber

1 large tomato

4 green onions

2 stalks celery

1 carrot peeled and grated

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/4 tsp. pepper flakes (or to taste)

cilantro leaves - cut up, enough to fill 1/2 cup (careful not to bruise while cutting)

1/4 tsp. sea salt (to taste)

 

Mix in the dressing and start munching - and munching - and more munching - to properly digest it and get the full benefits of vitamins and minerals.

Bonus: the (hot) peppers and omega 3's in the avocado are great for your metabolism - fat burners, so to speak.

 

Add your favourite cooked beans to make this salad a meal - plus notching up the nutrition (B vitamins, calcium, zinc, potassium, magnesium and protein). Roll the salad up in a huge crisp lettuce leaf and you'll have one crunchy veggie burrito. Can be eaten out of hand, or if messy bothers you, use cutlery.

 

 

 

 

 

Put the following into a blender and - blend well: I love my vitamix for always doing this job so well.

 

2 tomatoes

about 3 handfuls of greens - a mixture of spinach and kale or chard ( dandelion greens will soon be available)

3 stalks of celery (cut up into chunks)

1 avocado (without pit and peel)

some chopped spicy pepper - you choose your heat

juice of 1/2 lemon

 

Blend until smooth. Pour into a pretty soup bowl. At this point you transform it from a smoothie to soup. Cut up some more - small - avocado chunks and stir (hide) into the soup for added texture. Garnish the top with snippets of dulce (will give soup a salty flavour), or fresh sprouts (alfalfa, clover, pea, broccoli), or the first wee sprigs of parsley reviving in your garden.

 

What's your favourite "ode (recipe) to spring and all things green and raw?"