Jambalaya & Basil Lemonade

Basil Lemonade

This meal marks our fifth day of the detox. To be honest, the jambalaya was a little bland. I usually make it with Andouille sausage, which gives it spice, flavor and the great meaty texture. Apparently I have been relying on it to really 'make' my jambalaya. :( Which I was aware of. I tried to make up for it by adding smoked paprika, chili powder, parsley but it wasn't quite the same. If the jambalaya was so-so everything else was good, especially the atmosphere.

Basil Lemonade:

2 cups water

1 c. basil leaves (roughly)

1 tsp. honey (or more to taste)

Bring water and honey to boil. Stir. Add basil. Set aside until cooled. Ice + basil water + lemon juice to taste = yummy.

A meal for two

Jambalaya

Grape-licious

Thai Endive Boats

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Delish! Zucchini, Onion, Pepper sautéed in coconut oil. I added a splash of fish sauce and chili oil for seasoning, and topped it with fresh tomatoes and cilantro. The peanut sauce was the star. *sigh* I'm really loving coconut milk.

Peanut sauce:

1/2 can lite coconut milk

1/4 c. peanut butter

1/4 tahini

2 Tb. rice vinegar

2 Tb. sesame oil

2 cloves garlic

red pepper flakes to taste

Toss in blender. Heat in sauce pot. 'nuf said.

Corn Potato Chowder with Asian Pear Salad

The Corn Potato Chowder (aka leftover soup) was leftover corn chowder, veggie broth, stir fried celery, potatoes, garlic, shallot, onion, and carrot, topped with scallions and green pepper. We cooked it for a good bit so the corn soup got really starchy from the potatoes. Very satisfying soup. I added cumin to mine.

I got the Asian Pear Salad recipe from Vegetarian Times' Starter Kit. For two servings:

1 pear

1 green pepper

4 scallions

1 bunch of watercress

sesame seeds for topping

This recipe called for fennel which as soon as I cut it up I realized that I didn't like it. It's tastes like licorice. Yuck.

I usually only make one type of salad (the one previously posted) but holy cow this was good. I was however very disappointed with their dressing they told me to use. Vegetable oil and lime. Blah! I say. So instead I used olive oil, honey, ginger, lime, crushed black pepper (which are now stuck in my braces. Every once in awhile one will lodge loose and I get a POW! of pepper. It's keeping me on my toes). I loved the dressing. Loved it. I'm an olive oil and balsamic vinegar girl, but I will make this again. I've never (knowingly) had watercress. It's a more tender/delicate spinach, will definitely have it again.

Jalepeno Creamed Corn Soup

This recipe was taken directly from Girl Cooks World. Definitely out of my box. We are not exactly corn people, especially after Michael Pollan-ism, but sometimes my appetite doesn't want to make a political statement. Plus we happened to have a bunch of frozen corn on hand, nice thing Case noticed since I was going to buy some.

And for dessert:

Salad Days

Salad Buffet

Week number one we are going vegan, something we never thought we'd be able to do. To make it fun, Case has decided to forgo bread and pasta too. He himself is going low-to-no sodium. I finally put my foot down. Our first salad of the detox. Radishes, cucumbers, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, boston lettuce. Dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, topped with sesame seeds.

Radishes

Detox.....again

Last detox was mildly successful. We are giving it another go, for three whole weeks. :(. Okay I am somewhat excited. The Medjool Dates were my last meal of sorts, and this morning I start with oatmeal. YUM! Talk about a flavortastic snack and a totally bland breakfast. I know, negative thinking. Dinner was very good though. I picked a recipe from my Cafe Flora cookbook and ended up changing it, and changing it some more until it no longer resembled the original at all. Eventually I ended making brown rice with tomato and shallots and topping it with lentils bathed in a zesty/creamy coconut sauce. The coconut sauce was taken directly from the Cafe Flora cookbook with some mild changes (loved it!)

3 star anise

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

8 whole cloves

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

2 14 oz. cans coconut milk (I only used one)

1 Tb. Tamari

1 tsp. honey

1 Tb. tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

Put first five spices in sauce pan until mustard pops. Add rest of ingredients, bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Mine simmered way longer as I wanted more intense flavors and a thicker sauce.

Considering that I can't have any dairy I was impressed with the creamy texture of this sauce. Detoxing always encourages using unique ingredients! The picture looks pretty blah but it was a kick in the mouth.

Candy

Amazing-ness. x10! Prosciutto-wrapped-goat cheese stuffed Medjool dates. Salty and sweet, crunchy and soft, juicy, oohhh! So damn good. I ate every single one of them!

Matcha Eclairs

Puff Pastry turned out good. However this recipe called for vanilla pudding and I didn't choose a very good one and the matcha didn't integrate very well with it. This was for a bake sale and I was in a bit of rush so I couldn't properly let it congeal in the fridge. And lastly I wasn't hungry when I made these so I didn't eat one. So who knows what they tasted like...