Hey there friends! So yesterday I shared an update how our garden is looking right now, but since I had actually taken the pictures a few days prior I've got another fun update today. We pulled our first beet! Besides the herbs, this is the first thing we've gotten to eat from the garden this year. Always fun to harvest the first items after the hard work that was put into getting everything going. Once again, shout out to 
Can you tell what part of the salad it's in? Once I show you what the beet looks like inside you should easily be able to pick it out. 😉 But first, a picture straight out of the soil!
A perfect specimen! I even used it as a prop in my #seven77 support on Twitter yesterday. But the real beauty of this Chioggia variety of beet lies within...
Sliced the opposite way the center looks like rings, but I kind of like it sliced this way, as well. Just too pretty to cook, as the color meld together once it's cooked. I decided to shred this little beauty up raw to retain some of the vibrant color. Plus it's in the 90's here right now, so raw is definitely on my radar to keep the kitchen cooler!
I already had chickpeas cooked, they just got thawed out from being in the freezer. I pretty much always have 1.5 cup portions cooked ahead of time (that's about the amount in one can). Which meant the only thing I had to heat up for this meal was the black rice. An easy 30 minutes on the stove top, as I prepared everything else while the grains cooked through! It was the last of the lovely black rice, which amounted to about 3/4 cup before cooking. The rest of the salad included:
- 1 shredded beet & the chopped greens
- 1 large carrot, trimmed & shredded
- 1/2 cup chopped celery stalks & leaves
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup each chopped fresh mint & parsley from the garden
- 2-3 tablespoons hemp hearts
- drizzle of key lime white balsamic
Luckily this made enough to last for tonight's evening meal, as well! Nothing beats a meal inspired by the garden. I hope for many more meals like this to come as the season progresses! The first squash are growing quickly, so they might be some of the next to grace our table. Though not before the blossoms which I am planning on plucking tomorrow for a vegan pizza. Stay tuned... 😉
Still not 100% sure, but this is starting to look a bit like butternut squash to me. Or as 
Before I go chow down on my salad, I also want to share really quickly how awesome it has been joining in with the group meditations in the 
I cordially invite you to Mindful Life community, which resides in the @naturalmedicine server here. We run group meditations and support each other as we grow through conscious awareness. With much love!
