raspberry lime chili sea salt

 So this is not your traditional Valentines Day recipe, but it kinda does fit...pink, a little sweet and spicy, this salt is guaranteed to heat up any dish on Valentines Day. Give a little jar along with a box of dark chocolate truffles to those that may need a little Valentines Day loving.

This salt would absolutely be incredible sprinkled over dark chocolate bark, sea salted brownies, as a cocktail rimmer or used in a salted caramel and drizzled over vanilla vegan ice cream!

 

Salt is one of the easiest ways to amp up the natural flavors of a dish, a little bit of good salt goes a long way. Personally, I love flaked sea salt and flavored salts- they lend an additional layer of flavor without adding unwanted fat and calories. I know we all should watch our salt intake, however when working with unprocessed food sometimes a little bit of salt is needed to make that natural goodness really shine.

Justin and I have never been big on Valentines Day; our very first Valentines days was spent at his apartment where I cooked up unintentionally super spicy enchiladas and he brought home a terrible bottle of grocery store wine. Never ones for fancy dinners out on Valentines Day or exorbitant gifts, we have kept the tradition of staying in and cooking together on Valentines Day. I remember one year Justin's gift  was a song he picked out from the latest Incubus Album which he played for us during dinner (with a burned copy of the CD of course!). I love this tradition and would never exchange it for a thousand Valentines Day fancy dinners. I guess I never understood why we choose to pick one day to celebrate our love for those closest to us when our love for them should be celebrated everyday.

One thing's for sure, we will never forget those spicy enchiladas or the terrible bottle of wine, we will also remember that we don't need fancy dinners or expensive nights out on Valentines Day to know how deeply we love one another. This Valentines Day we will be celebrating with homemade Chinese food (Justin's request) and a chilled bottle of Prosecco! I plan to end the night with a sweet & spicy treat; dark chocolate almond butter truffles with raspberry lime chili sea salt; say that ten times fast- recipe will be shared soon!

It seems people either love or dislike the thought of Valentines Day; what camp are you in?

I'd love to hear what you have planned for February 14th!

 Raspberry Lime Chili Sea Salt
makes about a 1/2 cup

you will need:
1/3 cup sea salt
1 small dried chili pepper - seeds removed for less heat

12 -15 freeze dried raspberries (can be found at Trader Joe's )

lime zest of 1  lime

assembly:
Place all items in a mini food processor (or large!) and process until raspberries and chili pepper are small.

Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!