Day 2 of the Food Lover’s Cleanse started out great and ended especially deliciously. I learned some new cooking techniques and flavor combinations, which was one of my main goals in following this program.
Breakfast: Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa; kefir. This was really good and I look forward to eating the other half in the morning. I halved the recipe and that amount was perfect. I also used black quinoa – new to me, as I usually eat red quinoa – which had a nuttier texture. I replaced the frozen blackberries with frozen blueberries, as the blueberries were more sustainably grown than the blackberries.
Fortunately, I had some raw kefir on hand – it’s quite sour, so I added a little maple syrup to it. I enjoyed it today moreso than in other times, so I think I’ll be drinking kefir regularly.
Lunch: Leftover couscous and vegetables, celery root and apple salad. I have so much leftover couscous that it made sense to eat it for lunch. The celery root salad was really good, but I’m a huge fan of celery root, nom. The mixture of the mild celery flavor, sweet-tart apples, and nutty walnuts was a total winning combination.
Snack: yogurt with tangerines and shaved chocolate. Was very busy and didn’t find time to snack this afternoon! My loss because this combo sounds very tasty.
Dinner: Salmon in a bengali mustard sauce, black-eyed pea curry, roasted butternut squash with curry leaves and mustard seed. The salmon and curry were both amazing, the squash was good but didn’t blow me away. The salmon came from my salmon CSA, so it’s incredibly nourishing. The curry got super rave reviews in my household, so I will definitely make it again. I loved how easy the execution of these dishes was, and I think that’s because my mise-en-place was in order. Lots of spices and ingredients in these recipes!
After Dinner Snack: 1 ounce of dark chocolate and rooibos tea with honey. I had some raw chocolate that I got in Washington (I’d put it in the freezer when I got home), so that’s what I ate. It is so tasty, and contains coconut (dark chocolate and coconut is a great combo). No tea for me, just not in the mood.
It will be interesting to see how I’ll manage this cleanse program with my work schedule (read: less hours in the day to cook) starting tomorrow. Thank goodness for the dishwasher, too – it has made the cleanup part of this so easy!
And last, it’s been fun to see what other people are doing with this cleanse. I’m keeping an eye on both the progress of Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef, and Lexi from after apple-picking. You should check them out, too!
