parsley brown rice salad / cherry extract

i’ve finally done a lot of good cooking. no new recipes, but feeling good about it. i made amy chaplin’s parsley brown rice salad. it’s: parsley, brown and sweet rice, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, shallots, and toasted sesame seeds. dressed with ume plum and brown rice vinegars, flax oil, and soy sauce.

after that, i made amy chaplin’s red lentil soup with spinach, lemon, and black pepper. it’s so simple yet satisfying (recipe here). it requires only chopping an onion and garlic, and having the rest of ingredients on hand (spinach, red lentils, lemon, and pepper mainly!).

[it’s been an intense few days of paying way too much attention to the news. thank god for Biden… trump is a certifiable sociopath, and i’ve really enjoy watching Biden more often. i never realized he had overcome a speech impediment! trump is clearly unwell, and exposing dozens if not hundreds of others to the virus in the white house by setting up ‘hospital’ there. a super stupid move to leave the hospital in general… and to spread the dangerous idea that you can beat this disease in 3 days, so don’t worry about it, to americans!]

all of that is to say, last night i made a very strongly brewed herbal tisane. mugwort was one of the ingredients in it, along with chamomile… both of which i love so much that i’ve written blog posts about them. mugwort is related to vivid dreams and sleeping well and chamomile is associated with being relaxed.

while the herbal tisane was brewing strongly, i had a glass of water with cherry extract. i bought this cherry extract from the farmer’s market in jack london square probably over a year ago! i never realized cherries had so many health benefits, so i thought i’d share them here with you… straight from the bottle itself!

the bottle says: cherries= antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, melatonin, fights arthritis, gout, cancer, heart healthy, promotes sleep! seems like a lovely addition to an evening glass of water.