Week 2: Fish, Beans, and Soy

This week of the Whole Living 21 Day Challenge has been absolutely amazing. Slogging through such a difficult first week of only fruits and veggies was totally worth it, because it prepared me for this: feeling completely satisfied with smaller portions, and feeling like I'm treating myself when I'm just eating high quality protein and produce. Every recipe I made this week was intensely delicious (i.e., things I'd eat in Real Life scenarios), my energy levels are way up, and my mind is no longer foggy but sharp and clear. So, on to the food! Above is breakfast: A roasted sweet potato with sea salt, walnuts, and half an orange. I squeezed some orange juice over the potato. Filling and super tasty.

Lunch! Two tacos (corn tortillas are okay because they only contain masa harina and lime).The one on the left is a salad of tomatoes, lime juice, scallions, radish, avocado, cilantro, olive oil, garlic, and salt. The other half has some bean salad (that's also really good on its own) and some roasted salmon. The bean salad is from a Mollie Katzen recipe that my mom made when I was growing up, and I still love it. It has almost all of the colors of the rainbow: Red bell pepper, orange carrots, yellow corn, green parsley, cilantro, and basil, and purple onion. The dressing (similar to the tomato salad) is lime juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. It's best after marinating in the fridge overnight.

Snacks: Probably the most awesome thing I've learned to make during this cleanse is kale chips, pictured here with with lemon juice, salt, and sesame seeds. Kale chips might sound weird, but they are seriously better than any other chip ever. They're salty, crispy, tangy, and a bit bitter. Make them. Here's the recipe.

On to dinner. Here are all the vegetables before being peeled, diced, and roasted: Brussels sprouts, radishes, carrots, garlic, leeks, and parsnips.

And here they are after, caramelized in a balsamic reduction with cannellini beans. Add a sprinkling of red peppers flakes and there you have it. So good I had to keep myself from having thirds. The leeks especially got really soft, buttery, and unctuous. And roasting brussels sprouts is really the only way to do them justice.

To accompany the roast, a salad of cherry tomatoes, wilted basil, garlic, 1.5 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, and 1 teaspoon olive oil.

So, I'm mildly excited for eggs and gluten-free grains on Tuesday, but I seriously think I could be happy eating the way I did this week forever and ever. Today I made red lentil soup with tomato and oregano, and it was so satisfying. However, despite extolling the virtues of these recipes, I did slip up once this week: I had a cookie and a brownie at a friend's birthday party (both of which are a no-go because they contain processed sugar, gluten, and dairy). I told myself it was an experiment, but really, it was just because I wanted them. They tasted good--as in I could imagine how I would have really liked them before beginning this whole shebang. However, the cane sugar made my mouth and teeth hurt, and afterwards all I really wanted was an apple. My body seems like it might be learning what's best for it.