Delightfully Raw in Utah: Part I

After spending over 4 weeks in Matt and Dawnen's yard just south of Walla Walla, we finally got back on the road and continued our journey south. Since the going is rather slow when pulling a 27' trailer I figured that we'd be ready to stop after 5 hours of driving. (And I was soooo right!)

We arranged to spend that first night parked in front of some strangers' house near Boise, Idaho. See I found out about something really neat called the Boondockers Welcome Club. For a very small fee you can join the Club and in return be able to communicate with other members and stay on their property for free. Pretty darn cool if you ask me! Our hosts lived in a quiet neighborhood so the next morning we were well rested and ready to make our way to our next stop.

Miraculous Soak
While scouting online for a place to camp I discovered that a slight detour from the main road would take us to one of the best hot springs in all of Idaho. Now you're talking! Not only does Miracle Hot Springs have several neat camping domes but it also has a little campground. Perfecto!

It was a short two hour drive, which was great as our plan was to arrive early so as to make the most of the hot springs. Lord knew I could use a good soak in healing waters with my kidneys hurting like they were. The weather was cool but none of that mattered once we were in! As a bonus since we camped there we received a free one hour session in a private pool. Yay!

We then went to the outdoor pools which varied in temperature. We stuck to the warm ones. ;-)

Donnie getting ready for a dip.

Soaking my health troubles away...

The camping domes

Cloud-O-Rama
The next morning we continued our travels towards Utah. The drive was rather uneventful, other than my kidneys hurting badly, especially with all that bumpy sitting. Once we turned onto the I-84 E the sky suddenly got super interesting. I'd never seen anything like it! Don and I joked that some of the clouds looked like alien ships. ;-)

This next cloud formation was simply incredible!

If you look closely you'll see the sun disappearing behind the clouds and the upper right side showing the colors of the rainbow.

Woo hoo! I so love clouds!

Driving through Salt Lake City was super stressful. We suddenly found ourselves on 6 lanes and lots of traffic. Slow as we were we stuck to the right lane but it kept turning into 'exit only's. Eeek! Were we ever glad when we saw ours come up!

Visiting the Fox Family in Eagle Mountain
After a bit of a detour we thankfully made it safely to the Foxes, which we hadn't seen in nearly 2 years. Thomas is in the blender business. After selling various machines like Vita-Mix, Blentec and Waring, he turned his focus to the OMNI V 3 HP, an awesome high power blender a great deal more affordable. (You can learn more about the Omni here.)

Don, Thomas, Jasmine and Angelica

Their dog Coco is still as sweet as ever! She has calmed down a great deal since we were here last. Too bad Kyky couldn't be here too; the two of them got along fabulously!

Eagle Mountain is fairly high in elevation, and while there wasn't as much snow as last time we were here, the temperatures dropped to well below freezing at night. And so we gratefully accepted the warm bed that Angelica had made for us in their spare bedroom. It was also nice to be able to easily sneak in and keep Miss Puss company who was confined in the room - Coco can get so excited, you just never know! - rather than having to go over to the trailer. Jasmine LOVES cats so she made sure that Pu didn't get lonely.

I was a little concerned about how it would go around the table, with me having been on liquid foods for a week or so. So much for playing in the kitchen or even eating together, I thought. But I discovered that my digestion quickly improved while I was there. Yippee!

Some of the food we enjoyed...

Cheezy Corn Chowder

Marvelous Mushroom Soup

My first solid food, Spring Rolls in rice paper, with just a teeny bit of Ginger Dipping Sauce went down fine. Woo hoo! And so I continued to expand my repertoire little by little.

Collard Wraps

Angelica was intrigued by Matthew's Hot & Cold Salad but felt intimidated by the many steps. I reminded her that it's mostly a bunch of chopping. It certainly helped to do all of the work together; between her, Don and I we had everything ready in a reasonably short time.

Our cold components were lettuce, arugula, spinach, basil, red and yellow bell peppers, celery, cucumber, tomato and a little green onion to sprinkle on top. Our hot components: cabbage, red onion, bok choi and carrots.

I thought we did a fine job; it was super delicious!

Here you can see how the salad sits in a warm broth. Yummo!

I was even able to have a bite of the lovely dessert Angelica made: my Cheesecake with Berry Sauce.

Coming up next: our adventures in St-George, Utah!

Matthew's Hot & Cold Salad

I've learned all kinds of neat tricks and new recipes during our time with Matthew and Dawnen. One of these is how to assemble a Hot & Cold Salad. This is one of Matt's staples, and no wonder; it's absolutely delicious and a really awesome way to get your greens when you don't feel like eating a plain old salad.

It's a sort of cross between a salad and a stew. Just the thing for those cold winter days coming up!

There isn't an exact recipe, as it greatly depends on what is available and your personal preferences, but here's the basic formula to create an amazing Hot & Cold Salad that will be both satisfying and super nutritious.

Step 1: The Broth
The first thing you want to do is prepare a broth. Matt throws in curry powder (at least 1 tbs), some turmeric and hot pepper into water (4-5 cups or so) that he brings to a boil in a medium to large pot. It takes a while to get the exact measurements right as it will really depend on your taste buds. The amount of water can vary too in accordance to how soupy you like your Hot & Cold Salad.

Allow the broth to simmer for a few minutes in order for the spices to bloom. Set aside with the top on.

Step 2: The Cold Components
I guess it doesn't really matter which part, the hot or the cold, you start working with. You'll be basically chopping all sorts of veggies, greens and herbs and putting these into different bowls. Your choice of components can vary, but you'll most likely want to have in there a variety of mild flavored greens.

Lettuce

Arugula - my all time favorite salad green!

Now a few veggies...

Cucumber. This one came from his garden and the seeds were a little big so he scooped out the core first before slicing it thinly.

I really like Matt's technique for slicing peppers. First he cuts the top off and take out the seeds. Then he cuts the pepper in half. Next he places one side onto the other and set them on the board sideways in order to slice them, which is the opposite direction from the way I used to do mine.

He also used some celery bias but somehow I've misplaced the pic. Also some fresh herbs...

Basil

Piling up mint leaves before chiffonading them.

Chives cut at a bias

You can throw all of your thinly sliced components into a large bowl, except for the more intense ones that you'd like to sprinkle on top.

Mix cold components well.

Lovely little toms from their abundant harvest

Step 3: The Hot Components
In there will go whatever greens or veggies that you would like to lightly cook so as to soften their flavor and texture. For instance you might want to keep your more fibrous greens, such as kale, for this hot part. In the salad that Matt prepared that day he used...

Cabbage

Leek

Onion

Kale

In their garden they have a few greens that might not be readily palatable raw. In this case...

... celery leaves

 ... and parsley root leaves

As you can see, you want to chop all of the different components quite finely. It makes for a nicer texture and also will ensure that the short time spent on the stove will manage to tenderize them.

It's easier to transfer the various components into different bowls as these will go into the pot separately. You can certainly put all the greens together though if you'd like.

Other veggies you might want to throw into the hot part of the salad include carrots (which he had already julienned by the time I arrived), other types of greens, such as collard, beet tops or Swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, perhaps even squash.

Step 4: Heating the Hot Components
 Now that you've got all of your cold and hot components ready it's time to throw the latter on the stove.

You basically want to layer your veggies, starting with the ones you want most 'cooked', probably finishing up with your greens.

First the cabbage. If it were me I'd throw the onion at that stage as well.

Next came the carrots.

Then the leeks and the greens. At the last minute Matt decided to throw in some of the peppers.

More greens

Finally the onions. The last thing he did was add a couple good handfuls of raisins on top.

Then he covered the pot and returned it to the stove. Bring to a boil. Once it does that, turn the heat down a little and allow to cook for 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and remove the pot from the burner.

In the meantime Matt sliced some coconut palm sugar. He gets it in the form of little balls at the Asian market.

After the 3 minutes have passed, Matt stirs in the palm sugar (or sometime a blended orange), Celtic sea salt and a few tablespoons of some kind of fat to thicken up the broth. He really likes to use Coconut Cream - sold by Tropical Traditions for an amazing price. Make sure to keep an eye out for their two for one special! - and sometime coconut oil (his fave sources are Living Tree Community Foods and Coconut Oil Online.) He mixes everything thoroughly with chopsticks but I'm sure a knife or spoon would do just fine. ;-)

Step 5: Serving
Now is the moment we've been waiting for... To serve the Hot & Cold Salad, begin by scooping some of the hot components into bowls (without the broth).

Next add some of the cold components on top.

Sprinkle by hand some of the more intense herbs, such as mint, and top with chives.

He also threw in some finely sliced nasturtium leaves in there for a bit of a bite.

Finish off with more hot components, this time adding some of the broth.

Some pieces of avocado are also real nice.

You could stop here if you'd like, but now Matt added some of his favorite condiments: homemade Sauerkraut and Coconut Yogurt. He also complimented the dish with a scoop of his yummy reconstituted tomatoes; dehydrated tomatoes soaked for a few minutes in a little hot water, olive oil, palm sugar or honey for sweetness, Celtic sea salt and dried basil or Italian seasoning. You could also add a smidgen of KAL pure stevia extract if you'd like.

Just as an aside, I have to tell you that I've never been fond of stevia, primarily due to its aftertaste, and therefore have avoided it in recipes. When I learned that Matthew did use it quite a bit I set him the challenge of changing my mind. Well he did it! KAL pure stevia extract has virtually no aftertaste to speak of and is so concentrated that you only need a teeny amount. I'm glad I finally made peace with stevia (Yay!) as I know that it's such a healthier sweetener than most.

A few days later I just had to try my hand at creating my own H&C Salad. It went smoothly although it will take a bit of practice to get the spicing just right.

Soooo delish and satisfying!