Midwinter eating!

Well, just because it's winter doesn't mean we have to be boring, does it?

This week in Boston Organics I got a beautiful, deep, luscious-red watermelon radish.  Sweet on the outside, spicy on the outside.   And, of course, citrus!

So what to do?   Make a lightly-pickled watermelon salad with citrus dressing!  Place up the sweet/spicy/tangy flavors of the vegetable itself.   Yum.

Ingredients:
1 large thinly sliced watermelon radish
1 small white onion (thinly sliced)
Juice from one small orange (about 1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil (I used light-tasting)
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
splash rice wine vinegar (optional)

Mix everything together.   Store in a bowl in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours).   Eat!
Source:
http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/10/meet-watermelon-radish.html

Update, Recipes for a Paleo Week + shopping list

  (Impatient people: Go to end of post for shopping list)
Well, it's been about 3 months of my modified diet...I have to say that I remain happy with the results, and have been feeling good about the balance of my life with food right now.   Still sleeping well, my skin looks good, my flexibility is still improved, muscle pain decreased, energy where I want it to be.   I did fall off the sugar wagon HARD over the holidays, but started a second "whole 30" this month, and I am keeping the sugar dragon at bay (mostly :).  I sorta miss some foods, but in a distant, "oh-yeah, I used to really like that" kind of way.    Dairy has made me feel so gosh-darn awful that pizza and ice cream don't look like fun anymore, but I am trying to add back in some cheeses, just to see if I can opt to do that without feeling terrible for days (so far, chedder & parm = OK).   I have also started to acclimate myself to the whole cooking/cleaning regimen - that's starting to feel OK, especially with help from a super-sweet partner (although I've been on break, so we'll see when work starts up again).  One more unexpected side effect is that, since I've lost almost 20 lbs. (!), the changes in me have become super-duper visible to friends and family, and this diet has been spreading like a virus.   My noble Fiancee, who loves sugar almost as much as life, agreed to try giving it up for 30 days and follow the diet; my dad, who has Type I diabetes and a milk allergy that he has spent years finding soy alternatives for, also agreed to give it a shot!