This recipe comes from Valerie, and old family friend who always seems to be at least three years ahead of everyone else when it comes to health-related food crazes. And I write this coming from one of the hotbeds of health foods. It’s true that there is a lot of flakiness when it comes to trends and west coast-style “well being and spirituality,” but that does not make it all bad. Eating local is an example of a fabulous trend right now. Likewise, this salad  hits the nail on the head.

This salad is scrumptious, cooling, tangy, creamy, and very good for digestion.

• Sauerkraut
• Sprouts
• Ripe avocado

Take  equal portions of each ingredient, and mix together, mashing the avocado well. Adjust to taste.

I recommend using raw (unpasturized) sauerkraut, or making it yourself (I understand it’s easy to do this, but have failed at it myself thus far…). Use the raw stuff, because sauerkraut has great digestive enzymes in it that are killed during pasturization.

Also, sprout notes…. Unlike the sauerkraut, I do successfully grow sprouts in my kitchen. You basically put some seeds or beans in a jar with good drainage and rinse them twice a day, keeping them in the dark. Then, three days later, voila. If you buy sprouts from the store, I have a trick! There’s a little number printed onto every package of sprouts that represents the day they were packaged on. January 1 is #1 and it counts up all the way to December 31 which is #365. So if you want fresher sprouts, choose the package with the lower digit.

Bon appetit.