Have any of you seen Bon Appetite’s new Foodie Lover’s cleanse yet? The plan aims to help food lovers get back on a healthy food track after a holiday of feasting. This isn’t a boring diet, or a “diet” for that matter, made up of bland foods but the the kind of menu you can look forward to eating. It’s a menu you would imagine chefs preparing but the appeal is that the recipes are easy enough for home cooks to make. The only drawback is the long shopping list and some of the ingredients aren’t items you would normally stock but hey, you can substitute items so no big deal. The idea is to eat healthy and enjoy every minute of it!
I reviewed the entire list and found I had about 75-80 percent of the items which wasn’t too bad so decided to make a few dishes. It’s a two week plan of fresh vegetables, fruits, seafood and poultry, and all the sides the body needs to recover from a few weeks of parties, dinners, cookies and cocktails! I actually don’t like following meal plans or getting on a schedule but do understand the value and benefits it can bring in the long run so will be making a few and adding my own. I, of course, had to go through the entire plan and find all the dishes with a good amount of spices and will be sharing some with you here.
I made the yogurt chicken with ginger cilantro chutney the other day and have found a new favorite recipe! The flavor was pretty amazing. The chicken had a little tang from the yogurt and the ginger cilantro chutney had a nice spicy bite. This sauce would be great as a dip, with shrimp or spread on a sandwich as a condiment. I’m not going to post the recipe since you can get it from the Bon Appetit site, besides I just substituted a few items and didn’t change the process much. I did however up the hot paprika and cayenne on the chicken…yes, I used both and it was gooood! Here is what I did with the rest. I substituted the black rice for brown rice and added crushed pistachios instead of almonds and apricots and it all worked just fine. The rice dish would be great with golden raisins which I may try the next time.
Another thing I like about this plan is that leftovers can be used for completely new dish the next day. I made a kale salad using a sherry vinaigrette found in the plan as well to go with the chicken and carrot leftovers the next day! Check the cleanse out and left me know what you think.
If you have seen the plan already, did you find the shopping list overwhelming? We’re you discouraged from making any of the dishes because you didn’t have ingredients in stock?
