Vitamin C Salsa to Brighten up the Wintertime Blues

I am all for eating some junk food on Super Bowl Sunday but even though I may gnosh on some chips, I'd still like to think that I am getting some calories that aren't completely empty (cough beer).

This salsa is little more than dumping ingredients together but comes with fiber, iron, calcium AND a good dose of vitamin C. When all seems bleak in the winter, here comes citrus to the rescue! Toss in a little red pepper for some additional immune-boosting punch.


INGREDIENTS:

1½ cups black beans, cooked and cooled (sub 1 can of beans, well rinsed & drained)
1 jar salsa (I used Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Tomato for the nutritional info)
1 large red pepper, chopped
3 small or 2 large oranges, peeled, chopped and seeds removed
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Zest of 1 lime
Fresh lime juice, from approx 1/2 lime or to taste


1 - Combine black beans and salsa

2 - Add in orange, red pepper lime juice, zest and cilantro; lightly toss to combine without making murky.


That's it! Serve with good quality chips or even with belgian endive or raddicchio if you prefer to keep it light!


Per 2 Tablespoon serving:

Open Letter to Legislators Regarding Policies on Industrial Hemp Farming on U.S. Soil

I am writing to ask that you please become an original cosponsor of the Senate version of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011, which will be introduced by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.

We live in a frightening age where chemistry and machinery have turned our food sources into something that belongs in a lab instead lining of our grocer’s shelves. We have legal recommended limits and labeling laws on trans fats—which cause permanent and irreversible damage to our arteries but are still widely available—and yet healthful foods such as hemp that promote wellness and health are not allowed to be grown on U.S. soil.

Requiring less pesticides than cotton, hemp is a far superior textile crop that we need to boost our economy, protect our land and improve the health of the nation’s people one body at a time.

Please become a cosponsor of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011 and vote to overturn outdated federal policies which confuse non-drug industrial hemp with drug varieties of Cannabis. It’s time our agriculture and food policies caught up with the fast-paced movement of the food manufacturing industries.

Respectfully,
Lynn Matava


Thank you for reading. Write to your congressional leaders by clicking to following link, Vote Hemp

Thanks!