The Heat is On, in more ways than one!

We've been having a mini heat wave so I've been sweating my ass off in the gym, and making iced tea and fruit smoothies!
Green Tea and Papaya Smoothie

Slice papayas as you would melons, cut into smaller chinks and spread them on a small baking sheet lined with parchment, (or foil), and freeze. Combine frozen papaya chunks, tea, squeeze of 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp. sugar or honey, 1/2-1 c. ice, in blender. (I add 2tbl. pysillum fiber to mine)

Papayas are not that sweet, so combining them with another, more sweet fruit is also a good idea, like 1/2 mango, 1/2 banana, sweet strawberries, pineapple, etc. Pictured above is a Mexican papaya (large, dark orange), and a Hawaiian papaya (smaller, more yellow, more expensive, lol!)

************************************************************************************* Roasting Jalapenos

Just before I got to make my first shopping trip on Thursday to Whole Foods, I had an abundance of jalapenos, so I roasted them not knowing exactly what I was going to do with them, but I knew that I could always freeze them to use another time.

I had black beans in my pantry and a frozen smoked turkey leg in my freezer, so I was thinking black bean soup w/smoked turkey and roasted jalapeno cream, which I made Friday morning in my pressure cooker, before going to yoga! Thank goodness I picked up my secruity veggies...celery and carrots...and I got one bunch of collard greens in my CSA box that I also added to the soup.

Place jalapenos on grate over open flame on gas stove, turning, until the skin becomes charred on all sides, using tongs. Place charred peppers in plastic bag for 5-10 minutes, so the heat can steam and loosen the skin.
Cut of all four sides of roasted jalapenos, leaving the seeds with the stem. Scrape off charred skin.
Cut into strips to top tacos, bean dip, crostini, toss with pasta, throw into salads, or just eat them on they're own!
I put them in a food processor with plain yogurt and a pinch of salt to make roasted jalapeno cream to top my black bean and turkey soup. (Also good as a topping for any mexican dish, like tacos, enchilada, burritos, etc.)

Black Bean Soup

onion, diced
celery, diced
carrot, diced
red bell, diced
garlic, crushed
cumin, oregano, 2 tsp.
4-6 c. water (or stock)
black beans, 1 1/2 c. pre soaked
smoked turkey leg or thigh
collard greens, 1 bunch de-stemmed and sliced into ribbons.

This soup is made in the classic order....Saute diced veggies for 5-10 min., adding garlic in the last minute (seasoning with salt should be a "given"). Add spices and cook for one more additional minute. Add water, beans, turkey, and cook according to pot. Pressure cook bringing to high pressure and cook for 25 min, letting pressure come down naturally, or in stockpot, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 1-1/2 hours, (check beans for doneness). I added collard greens to hot soup, turned off heat, and put the lid on for 15-20 min.

I used water instead of stock because the turkey had a bone to flavor the soup.