8/4 Foodie Friday!

Coach Noah's last two classes are tonight at 5:30PM and Saturday at 9:00AM. Please join us in wishing him the very best of luck at Bastyr University. We'll miss you so much Noah! Thank you for helping us build our gym and taking such good care of our clients! 
It's Foodie Friday! We are in our first week of the Bozeman Locavore Challenge. It's so fun to see all of your posts on our public Facebook group! I hope more of you decide to take our challenge as we currently have more prizes than we do participants! 
Today's Foodie Friday recipe comes to us from one of my absolute favorite resources, The Splendid Table. The Splendid Table airs on Yellowstone Public Radio every Sunday at 9am. The Splendid Table is responsible for my locavore lifestyle and my passion for local, sustainable agriculture. 
In 2007 my life changed when I read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. I realized, after reading the book, that most of our environmental issues were caused by our huge, bloated and totally inefficient industrial food system. I made a personal commitment to eat locally. At the time I was living in Reno, Nevada, elevation 4500 ft, where we get an average of 8 inches of rain a year. No easy task.
Not long after I made this decision one of my favorite American Public Media radio programs, The Splendid Table, put out a call for volunteers for their Locavore Nation program. They wanted to follow people from all over the US as they tried to eat 80% of their food from within 500 miles of their home city. I applied.
The Splendid Table received 15,000 applications! They were totally overwhelmed. From those 15,000 they invited 150 people to write an essay as to why they should be selected for the Locavore Nation challenge. From those 150 applicants, 15 were selected and I was among them.
The Locavore Nation start January 1! Seriously, in the middle of winter, we started a local eating challenge. The best I could do was to make my own bread (ironically using Wheat Montana flour), yogurt from a friend who had a 4H dairy cow, goat cheese from the same friend with 4H goats, beer that James brewed and pickles I have made the previous summer. It was a pretty dismal start.
By the time the challenge ended, 365 days later, I was sourcing about 80% of my food from with 100 miles of Reno, much of it homegrown. My passion for growing my own and buying from local producers has not diminished. I am super excited to finally have a venue where I can, once again, encourage and support people who want to make growing, cooking, and eating a deliberate act of independence and self-sufficiency. I'm so happy to have Heather McDonnell of Whole and Nourished join me in this endeavor.
I hope you take on our 31-day Locavore Challenge this August. I think we're going to have lots of fun eating and sharing. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients
Make this a day ahead and keep it chilled.

• 1 2-1/2 pound intensely sweet-smelling ripe cantaloupe  - you can get local Montana Melons at Rosauers! 
• 2 cups ice cubes
• Generous pinch salt
• 4 or 5 grinds of black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Juice of 2 large limes (about 1/2 cup)
• Grated zest of 1/2 large lime

The Finish:

• 1 to 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and cut into fine dice
• 10 or 12 fresh basil leaves, coarse chopped
• 1/2 medium red onion, cut into 1/8-inch dice

Directions
 1. Cut the melon into quarters. Scoop out its seeds and trim away the rind. Slice it into chunks and put them into a food processor. Add the ice, salt, pepper, sugar, and the lime juice, and puree. Stir in the grated zest.  
 2. Place the chiles, basil, and onion in small serving bowls. Transfer the puree into individual soup bowls or into a pitcher for chilling. To serve, pour the soup into bowls and pass the condiments. The basil and chile are the essential finishes for the soup while the onion is an attractive option.
 
Variation: Cantaloupe-Jalapeño Cooler
When colleague Judy Graham gave this recipe a run-through, she went into overdrive and came up with this for brunch.  
Prepare the recipe as described above up to the point where it has been pureed. Before adding the lime zest, strain the soup. Then blend in the lime zest and 1 seeded and minced jalapeño.  
 Divide the blend between 4 to 6 tall glasses filled with ice. Add a splash of vodka to each one and stir. Serve garnished with wedges of lime or a sprig of basil. 

Click Here for the WOD