Master Cleanse Day 6: Veggie Puree

Feeling good, albeit hungry! I ate a lot of my veggie puree today, and spent the time in-between meals on mint tea. I guess I shouldn't be calling these posts "Master Cleanse" anymore since I am officially off it, but now I do not know what else to call them.

The veggie puree is still good and tasty though I have been craving some fat and protein. In the afternoon I had a few almonds to get me through until dinner. I also added a tiny bit of olive oil to my veggie puree in the evening.

Feeling good, though really craving something sweet, like fruit! Might have to introduce some to my diet tomorrow...

Master Cleanse Day 5: My Vegetable Soup Transition

I decided to transition back today. I feel bored with the lemonade and I've lost a lot of weight, though that wasn't my primary goal. My husband remarked that my skin was glowing, and the dark circles I normally have under my eyes are gone!

I started the day with the lemonade, mostly because there was basically nothing else to eat at home. After yoga class, I stopped at the farmer's market for fresh produce. I decided to break my fast with a vegetable broth and then puree the veggies into a soup I could consume for the next couple of days.

Ingredients:
3 carrots
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 large bunch of spinach
1 small head of broccoli
1 small cauliflower
4 cloves of garlic
1 large thumb of ginger
2 lemons, juiced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of rosemary
1 small sprig of mint
sea salt
cayenne pepper

1) Wash and chop the veggies into 1-inch chunks, so they cook faster. For the garlic cloves, just peel them. Slice the ginger. Quarter the onion and leave the tomatoes whole.

2) Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger and carrots to a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Add some sea salt to taste, and a bay leaf. Once the tomatoes start to loose their skin, remove the tomatoes to peel them and return them to the pot. Simmer.

3) After about 10-15 minutes, add the broccoli and cauliflower, including stems and leaves.

4) Once the toughest ingredients are soft, add the spinach, mint and rosemary. Turn the heat off and cover the pot so the leafy ingredients steam. Add the juice of two lemons, cayenne to taste, and adjust the salt.

I drank the light broth for lunch and pureed the rest of the soup for later. Notice there is no fat or any processed ingredients in the soup. I could taste the pure veggie goodness and not shock my body after the days of fasting.

Throughout the afternoon, I sipped mint tea as usual. In the evening I had a bowl of the veggie puree.

I felt hungrier on this diet than drinking the lemonade, but it felt good to taste something different and enjoy the new texture!

Brazilian Black Bean Soup with American Characteristics

As the weather begins to cool and the leaves begin to fall, it's wonderful to sit down to a warm and filling meal. Soups are some of my favorite dishes of the season, and I love how they can be used to deal with leftovers of all sorts. This black bean soup is hearty and healthy soup that is most accommodating of anything you want to throw in it!

I added fresh tomatoes and a dollop of plain yoghurt along with a drizzle of olive oil to my bowl, something distinctly un-Brazilian ;)

Usually, I make my black bean soup with the leftover black beans I have on rice, Brazilian style. All it takes is adding some broth and tossing the beans in a food processor or blender. It's up to you whether you want to puree the whole thing, or varying proportions of it, to achieve the desired blend of whole beans and thick soup.

Cooking Black-Beans:
Soak the desired amount of beans overnight. (I usually make a whole kilo at a time since the cooking process is so lengthy, and the beans do well frozen. Once cooked, you can use them in salads, stews, etc.)
Bring the beans to a boil in plenty of water, some salt, and a couple of bay leaves. It will take 1.5-2 hours to cook all the way through or, if you use a pressure cooker, just 45min. or so.
Once the beans are cooked, you can do a lot with them. You can also vary the amount of water you leave, to achieve the desired brothiness. The important thing now is to get the flavoring in!

Flavoring the Black Beans:
(I am sure you can do this in an infinite number of ways, but this is just a basic recipe you can vary.)
Sautee a finely chopped onion and 8 finely chopped cloves of garlic in some vegetable oil.
If you are not vegetarian, you can add a nice piece of Canadian bacon or fatty pork here for a delicious flavor boost!
You can also add diced carrots or cubes of squash/pumpkin here, for a vegetarian dish!
Sautee until the veggies begin to turn soft.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add the cooked beans to the sautee mix!
Add cumin (around 2 teaspoons) as well as Cayenne to taste.
Add a bit of orange juice! I swear it is delicious.
And feel free to experiment with other stuff as well. Like last time I tossed in some red bell peppers to the sautee.

Once these beans are ready, they can be served over rice or you can make them brothier and serve as soup. Either way, I usually put at least a couple of cups into the blender, and then mix that back into the beans so you have a heartier broth.

You can also add cooked pasta to the soup once it's ready, and I often add chopped tomatoes and plain yoghurt (instead of sour cream) to mine, along with a drizzle of olive oil. At lunch today I even added some fresh avocado. DELICIOUS.