Here is a scrumptious and healthy alkaline rich beet and orange salad with refreshing lemon zest and your choice of protein and toppings.

Try silky light tofu, or organic cottage cheese, crumbled feta, or plain. To top it off try fresh thyme or rosemary. I happen to have a blood orange I threw into the mix, so get creative and treat yourself to this healthy root vegetable and citrus salad.

Below is the recipe and an example menu to pair this nutritious side dish with.

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Shown here is a simple organic baby bok choy dish with fresh local shiitakes I was lucky enough to find at the farmer’s market last weekend.  Shiitake mushroom happens to be a well studied, potent healing medicinal super food known in the orient for many millennia. If you can’t find them at your local organic farmer’s market stand, then there are plenty of organic growing kits online. Shiitake is known to be a:

• Kidney and Liver Supporter
• Cholesterol Reducer
• Libido Booster
• Adaptagen
• Immune Enhancer
• & Antiviral

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Cranberries: As you may already know, cranberries are body purifiers, low in calories, have no fat and are a nice source of Vitamin C. This health blog states:

“some of the health benefits of eating cranberries:

* prevent bacteria in the bladder, kidneys and prostate
* supports optimum urinary tract health
* may prevent kidney stones
* have both antiviral and antibacterial properties

Here are some fun facts about cranberries:

* More than 85% of the weight of cranberries is water!
* Native Americans used a brewed a cranberry mixture to draw poison from arrow wounds..”

Tomatoes: Pureed, cooked, stewed, in sauce, stored as a sundried treat or marinade, lycophene rich tomatoes are super healing for the body.

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Working local, seasonal foods into your diet is an easy and delicious way to reduce your carbon footprint. The average food item travels 1,500 miles to get to your plate. Local food uses far less gas to get from farm to table. On top of that, local food is usually fresher than something that’s traveled a long time and distance. If you hit your average grocery store chain it seems nearly impossible to stock up on local eats. With a few handy resources, though, it’s as easy as (organic, locally-grown apple) pie!

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Here’s a summary of Jack Hedin’s story. He farms 100 acres in southern Minnesota, and has found that demand for his organic produce is so strong that he can’t meet it on his land. So last year, he rented 25 acres from two nearby corn farmers, and planted fruits and vegetables on the extra land. It wasn’t long before his landlords ran into trouble with the commodity farm program. This program subsidizes commodity crops, paying farmers who grow corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, cotton, and several others.

While the program was set up to guarantee farmers who grow commodity crops a certain income, it turns out that it also penalizes farmers who then switch to growing fruits and vegetables on “commodity base” acres. This is what happened to the farmers who had rented him the 25 acres. They found themselves out of compliance with the commodity farm program, and would be penalized not only for the subsidy that year for that acreage, but also for the market value of the “illicit” crops.

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