Peachy Keen

There’s no other way to say it: I made peach salsa on Sunday and it was awesome. Using ingredients from my fresh box, I threw together a flavorful peach salsa that took a total of 10 minutes to prepare. The great thing about salsas like this, is that the longer they sit around, the better they taste.

While this is the case for salsa, the same principle cannot be said for my running. On Sunday I had 12 miles scheduled. The temperature was deceptively cool; I figured it would be easy to get through and I’d be ready to really up my mileage this week. I’ve been struggling trying to slow myself down on my long runs, so my goal was to stay within the 9 minute mile pace – I didn’t care if it was 9:01 or 9:59, I just wanted to be slower than 8, but faster than 10. Because it rained so much the day before, the tow path alongside the Raritan River was super muggy which made the run much harder than it seemed at the time. By the time I finished 7 miles and was back in the park, I was dripping with sweat and had to stop at a water fountain (I mean soaked to the point where the brim of my hat was dripping!). The next three miles were not so fun.

I got through another 3.5 miles, but called it quits at 10.5. I knew I needed to get my 12 for the day, so 5 hours later after preparing the oh-so-delicious salsa, I set back out for another light jog. It was misting and looked like it could downpour at any moment, but I managed to get through 2.5 miles with an 8:05 average to round myself out to 13 miles for the day. It’s nice to know that only a few hours after a run I struggled through, I was able to not only run again, but do it in a somewhat fast manner. And, I saw two rainbows on the run!

But back to the salsa. I decided to use the salsa as a topping for some simple grilled salmon. I didn’t season the salmon at all – I threw it on the grill for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat (about 5 minutes on each side) and the salsa provided the rest of the flavor. Paired with some grilled corn on the cob and mashed potatoes, this meal was a serious winner.

The recipe is really easy and straight forward, and it’ll last you a few days. As long as it’s stored in an air-tight container, you can keep it refrigerated for about a week… if it lasts you that long!

Spicy Peach Salsa
Makes about 3-4 cups – 

Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes
2 large peaches
1 jalapeño (deseed it if you don’t want it spicy)
1/2 medium white onion
1/4 cup cilantro
Juice from one lemon

Directions:
1. Dice tomatoes, peaches, jalapeño, onion, and cilantro and combine in a medium sized bowl. 
2. Squeeze the lemon juice and mix to combine. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes – but the longer, the better!  

Homemade fruit smoothie!

Since it’s summertime, I figured a fruit smoothie would be the perfect way to enjoy something cool, refreshing, and nutritious post-sweltering run. So, while I was at the store earlier this week I grabbed myself some almond milk, frozen fruit, and plain Greek yogurt. My fiancé is a huge smoothie fan, so I figured he’d be down with the idea as well, and of course he was!

We decided to go with the “deluxe mixed berry” fruit mix, which has blueberries, rasberries, blackberries and some strawberries in it. As I mentioned, the Greek yogurt (Chobani brand) was plain, and I got vanilla flavored almond milk (Breeze brand) to add some extra flavor dimension. I only needed to blend it all together with some ice for a few seconds, and voila! I decided to serve it up in our Firecracker Four Miler glasses, since we’ll be running that beauty on Sunday, also I will be using dry ice to keep it cold for a longer time! My only qualm about my particular homemade recipe was it was a bit too liquid-y. I’m not quite sure what I could use to thicken it up, though. More yogurt? A powder of sorts? Any suggestions are welcome!

Smoothies really are quite diverse. Breakfast, lunch, snack, dessert, you name it they can be worked into a meal. I definitely plan on tweaking and “perfecting” this recipe, because let’s be honest, a $5 Jamba Juice smoothie is a treat, and we should be able to have smoothies more than just once in awhile!

Homemade Fruit Smoothie
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
1 cup vanilla flavored almond milk
1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon of honey (I usually get this Tupelo Honey for Sale)
1 1/2 cups frozen (or fresh!) fruit (any variety)
10 ice cubes

Directions:
1. Measure all ingredients, pour into blender
2. Pulse on “max ice crush” until frothy and smooth
3. Enjoy!