I love salsa, like eat it with a spoon love it!
I love that there's a variety of types too so you don't get bored.
I love to make homemade salsa but keep jar salsa in the pantry because people in this house get upset when there are lonely chips in the pantry and no salsa for them.
Today I got free salsa! It can't get better. Now I know what you're thinking... This is a lot of work for free salsa but "It's summertime and the livin's easy." Plus I wanted to tell you about salsa plans anyway.
Tostidos Hint of Lime Salsa
Our favorite lime chips in a salsa! & Free too! Let me test more Kroger!
(They apparently don't suggest eating this lime salsa with their awesome lime tortilla chips because they sent these plain ORGANIC! chips. Maybe the universe will implode with too much lime.)
Chips arrived like they were ready for Mardi Gras!
Riddle me this... Free lime salsa from Kroger only available at our Walmart.
I'm done rambling about free salsa and I'll get to why I love salsa so much.
Chips
First of all the chips are not so good for you. They are high calorie and high fat. You must buy organic, otherwise you're eating Monsanto corn still riddled with pesticides.
Having said that tortilla chips do tend to be one of my caves. Just eat intentionally, like not a bag.
How we add excitement
In our foods we tend to add flavor with fat. It's a mistake.
One- because it doesn't really taste that great and
Two- when you heat fats they lose many of their valuable nutrients. (So save that grass fed butter for slathering on soaked grain toast instead. Or drizzle cold Extra Virgin Olive Oil on pasta.)
Instead we should be adding flavor with spices and vegetables.
India is the king at this. Just hit up your local Indian Restaurant and you'll see the spices!
Spices preserve meat and are such valuable compounds for humans too!
Spices
My new favorite spice shop is www.savoryspiceshop.com
Find one near you and go taste hundreds of spices to top your grill, oven, yogurt dips, dressings...
This is my current favorite spice mix. Despite what it's called, we put it in hamburgers. We're rebels like that.
Chimichurri Steak Dressing & Marinade
Salsa
Vegetables get their great color from all their valuable nutrients. You probably knew that already.
The reason I like salsa is because it mixes great spices with powerful vegetables.
You can make salsa out of so many things but let's look at basic powerhouse items.
(This by the way is a recipe from a very good friend for one of my favorite homemade salsas!)
1 Can Tomatoes
Half Lemon- juiced
2-3 Dried Arbol Peppers
1 Garlic Clove
1/4 Small Onion
-blend-
Add a half a bunch of Cilantro
-blend again-
Tomatoes...
Tomatoes are full of vitamins A and C and folic acid.They are high in antioxidants- which protect and heal your cells.
They are high in carotene- a "flavonoid compound, beta carotene has powerful antioxidant functions, helps the body scavenge free radicals, thereby limiting the damage to cell membranes, DNA and protein structures in the cell."1.
They pack a cancer fightin' Lycopene punch. Especially protective against prostate cancer.
They contain alpha-lipoic acid can aid in blood glucose control, improve vasodilation and protect against retinopathy in diabetic patients and may even help preserve brain and nerve tissue.2
Tomatoes are high in fiber which helps both heart disease and diabetes.
Lemons...
Are loaded with Phytonutrients- "benefits of phytonutrients are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Phytonutrients may also enhance immunity and intercellular communication, repair DNA damage from exposure to toxins, detoxify carcinogens and alter estrogen metabolism."2 Bring on the lemons!
They are high in vitamin C- It neutralizes free radicals and boost your immune system. (It's done wonders for my asthma by the way ;) They fought scurvy, they can help you.
Lemons contain hesperidin, a molecule which preserves capilary blood vessel integrity.3 Anti-cancer!
Lemons are also anti-inflammatory. Which we always need. We are constantly bombarded by things which make us susceptible to many (or maybe most) of our modern day diseases.
Peppers...
Peppers contain vitamins A and C, potassium, folic acid, and fiber, all in one little spicy package.
They also contain capsaicin, which boosts your metabolism and suppresses your appetite too!
Bell peppers also contain B6 which boosts your mood by helping your body produce serotonin and norepinephrine.5.
Garlic & Onions...
This one is my favorites.
Compounds in garlic may help attack and kill tumor cells! Seriously.
Garlic fights something called Nitrosamines which are formed in our intestines and caused by food additives and cured meats. This reduces the mutations in the DNA of your cells and protects them from damage, preventing cancer.
Several compounds in garlic stop carcinogens from becoming active and flush them from your system. (The cabbage family is good at this too.)
Allicin (another antioxidant) can protect and heal your heart, lowering blood pressure levels and lowering your LDL. Plus, less inflammation is always great for your heart.
Phytochemicals in garlic (and onions) may prevent the onset or progression of some cancers. (especially stomach and esophageal.) Perhaps because it protects and heals your digestive system.
Cilantro...
High in vitamin K. (Not one you hear of much, eh?) This important vitamin stores in your fatty tissue until it's needed and then helps your body coagulate blood.6 (Plus it makes your rice taste yummy)
High in vitamin K. (Not one you hear of much, eh?) This important vitamin stores in your fatty tissue until it's needed and then helps your body coagulate blood.6 (Plus it makes your rice taste yummy)
In case you needed reasons to chow down on loads of salsa: on your chicken, in your rice bowl, on your burritos, to make you feel better about those fatty chips... You now have tacit permission. Go nuts.
Sources
3.Foods to Fight Cancer by: Richard Beliveau
