Thursday, July 19, 2012

Fried zucchini, gluten free

Recently I started doing a 21 day detox cleanse.  Having the CSA and access to lots of organic veggies definitely makes it easier.  And the timing was great - my father & step mother are on vacation for a week so I got their share last week and will again this week - TONS of organic veggies.

I don't want to get too into detail about the cleanse as it is a program that was purchased and there's probably copy-write infringement issues, but I can easily say its essentially an elimination diet with a focus on eating 'clean' foods; which is to say non-processed, organic, low allergen foods.

The list of what not to eat is pretty long, but I actually was unfazed by much of it - I don't eat a lot of processed foods, or packaged items, or sweeteners or sweetened things, or many of the other items listed.  Going wheat/gluten free is somewhat challenging but not terrible - I eat a relatively low gluten diet normally.  And I'd actually been cutting back on caffeine on my own for the last few months.  Going alcohol free for 3 weeks is a slight annoyance, only in that its a restriction, but in reality I go 3 week stretches without a drink all the time out of mere circumstance.  No nightshades could be a challenge, but luckily they aren't in season yet, so even though they are staples in my diet, lately not so much anyway.  But dairy?  Dairy free?  That one is hard.  I eat and cook with dairy daily; I love cheese!  And butter!  And milk!  Cheese in salads, and on sandwiches, and eggs, and with veggies, and on pasta. My usual lunch protein comes at least in part via a daily yogurt.  No dairy is my challenge.

But I committed to this and dang it I'm going to do it.

Dinner day 1 was actually rather regular.  Chicken breast, with a healthy sprinkling of curry powder, pan fried in coconut oil, served with brown rice and sauteed (in coconut oil, not my usual olive oil-butter (dairy!) blend) mixed veggies (chard, zucchini & onion).  Tasty, simple and typical.  And oh man cooking in coconut oil has the best smell!

Dinner day 2 dinner was, well less inspired for me.  I had some ground bison (a great choice of meats as US law required bison never be given antibiotics or hormones) which I cooked up with some kidney beans and garlic, some fresh thyme and a drop of oil (bison is very lean).  I served my fiance his on a roll with a few slices of delicious forbidden pepper jack cheese.  Mine I had over brown rice.  It was still delicious though, and probably if I hadn't had the pepper jack in the house I wouldn't have missed it so terribly.

Dinner day 3 was both lazy and experimental, and actually quite awesome.  Fried zucchini.  I sliced up a zuc and prepared two bowls - one with beaten egg and one with a blend of flax meal, chia seeds, garlic powder and salt.  I heated up some more of the delectable smelling coconut oil in a large pan and dunked my zucchini medallions in to egg, then my dry mix (both sides) and then into the pan.  They took about 7 minutes to cook, flipping mid-way through.  I transferred them onto a paper towel and then onto a plate for munching.  

They had a nice nutty flavor and the chia seeds added a bit of crunch but not in an unpleasant way.  I ate them as is, with no dipping sauce or adornments as I couldn't think of any non-processed, nightshade or dairy sauces to make.  The chia seeds and flax meal added protein as well as adding to the fiber, and overall it was like having a decadent appetizer for dinner... minus a chipotle aioli dipping sauce (chipotles are alas, nighshades).

No comments:

Post a Comment