This Morning

After an amazing long weekend in New Orleans with friends from college, I'm rejoining real life gradually, i.e. at a lazier pace. 

Breakfast today was a revamp of last night's dinner.  We had my lovely organic chicken livers with onion, garlic, lemon and a balsamic glaze last night, along with broccoli and garlic seared in coconut oil and grass-fed butter.  I served myself the remnants of the broccoli cold from the fridge, then whipped the cold liver into a mousse with my ancient food processor.  It was fantastic atop a sprouted muffin.

Odds 'n' Ends

We all know planning is key as we strive for success with the Wahls' Protocol.  But let's face it -- sometimes our best intentions falter in the face of life's frenetic pace.  It happens to me more often than I'd like, but leftovers and high quality canned goods fill the planning void adroitly.

Here, on a bed of fresh spinach and chopped celery, cold leftover sauteed dino kale, mushrooms and garlic made a delicious salad.  On top of that, canned Portuguese sardines and capers rounded out the flavors and nutrition.  A little lemon was lovely over all of it.

"That's a Pretty Soup"

That's what my daughter said as I sat down with my warmed leftover poaching liquid and vegetables from the night before.  I'd poached some lovely wild caught Copper River Salmon in bone broth, sauteed onions, garlic, peppers and coconut milk the night before.  It made a delicious, easy soup the next day with some fresh greens added.

Waste Not, Want Not

Striving for plenty of 9-cups-of-veg days full of healthy proteins and fats, I'm always looking for opportunities to squeeze in what I need.
Last night I poached a couple of Vital Choice Wild King Salmon fillets in coconut milk and wine, with a sliced onion and a cup of sliced mushrooms.  The fish was so delicious, but I was left with a panful of omega-3 infused broth.  Realizing it was a wonderful soup-starter for the next day, after dinner I saved it in the fridge.

This morning for breakfast, I warmed the broth and vegetables along with some sliced bok choy and carrots, and enriched it with bone broth and garlic.  This "poaching liquid veggie soup" was a wonderful way to start the day, and get a head start on today's 9!

[Note:  I receive no compensation from Vital Choice.  The company was recommended by my Functional Medicine Physician and I am very impressed with them.  The fish is amazing, and it's good to share what works.]

Double Wahls

Both of these recipes are from The Wahls' Protocol:  Liver and Onions and Algerian Chicken (in this case Algerian Vegetarian, which is an option in the book).  Since dairy is not a part of the Wahls Protocol, anything in her book she deems "vegetarian" is actually also vegan.

I've made Dr. Wahls' liver recipe many, many times, and often I'm the only one eating it, which is fine with me.  As such, I've found I love it cold from the 'fridge as well as I do hot out of the pan -- for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  This was the last little bit of the liver which overlapped with my next foray into the Protocol:  Algerian Vegetarian.  The flavors of this dish are lovely and deep, and I was surprised I liked the mixture of these two strongly flavored dishes together, but I did.  You may not, so if you make these, consider serving them one at a time, maybe with some Quinoa and Red Peppers, also from The Wahls' Protocol.  I will say that whatever I've made from the book, I've loved.

Easter + Grinch Soup

Easter was wonderful. We had our son home from college, it was just the four of us in our pajamas all day watching movies together. Since dinner was going to be heavier, I decided to make something light and health-giving to offset the morning's sugar-binge (I didn't have sugar, just the rest of them). This is my Green Soup, which changes according to whatever I have on hand. Here is how I made it this time:

Green Soup (Grinch Soup)
1 bunch kale, stems removed, torn into pieces
1 bunch collard greens, stems removed, torn into pieces
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
1/2 c. cooked rice
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
4 Tbsp. cooking sherry
a few shakes of chipotle powder
a few shakes of nutmeg
salt and pepper
purified water
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Over medium-low heat, saute the onions in the coconut oil. Allow the garlic to sit on the cutting board while the onions slowly caramelize. Dr. Wahls says this allows the sulfur to stabilize so that less of it is lost in the cooking process. Once the onions are translucent and browned on the edges, stir in the garlic, greens and rice. turn the heat up to medium and cover the greens, stirring occasionally until they reduce in volume. Once they have cooked down, add enough water to just cover them. Simmer until the greens and rice have softened. Stir in the sherry. Season with chipotle powder (careful - a little goes a long way), nutmeg (you can add plenty of this, which goes nicely with a creamy soup) and salt and pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender or other blender, blend the soup until smooth and creamy. Adjust seasonings and finish by stirring in the olive oil.

For dinner we grilled filets mignon, roasted asparagus and risotto:

This is Alicia Silverstone's Risotto with Leeks and Spring Peas from her The Kind Diet. Everyone loved it and I made the leftovers into a Chicken and Cheese Casserole for the dairy-eaters in my home to eat the next day. It's self-explanatory: the risotto + cooked chicken + shredded cheese, reheated and melted all together. It was also a hit.

I decided that Grinch Soup made sense for Easter because the Grinch is associated with Christmas which is all about Jesus so, by the transitive property . . .

Thursday

When will I blog in close-to-real-time? Not sure. There's a pretty big learning curve here and I'm documenting everything while still reading the book, figuring this out on the fly -- recording mistakes and all, so I can track any patterns when the results come flying in. Truly, it would be better for me to catch up a bit since memory fades if too much time goes by. A jotted note and a blurry snapshot isn't enough sometimes.

Here we go:  Thursday morning, after the stew extravaganza of the evening before, I had another bloated and sluggish start. TMI perhaps but I feel I should clarify: when I say "bloated and sluggish" I do not mean constipated -- everything has just slowed from the instantaneous digestion of the vegan days, not stopped -- I just literally mean bloated and sluggish in terms of energy level. Lucky for me, I had just enough steamed baby bok choy leftovers to cut that sluggishness with a clean-veg vibe. No protein though -- I wasn't feelin' it. I ate two cups of b.b.choy cold. It was delicious and my body was happy. For a little treat, I ate about half a cup of frozen mixed berries. I like them still icy.

By lunchtime I was ready to pile on the heavy food again. I fixed a big bowlful of mashed cauliflower, raw spinach and oxtail stew leftovers: one cup each. The stew was mostly devoid of meat at this point, but I did gnaw on a couple little cartilaginous bones. Since I was watching the final episode of Breaking Bad, I kept eating, slowly -- a few seaweed snacks and a store-bought Kombucha. WOW! What a finish to an amazing show.

For dinner, my husband was grilling chicken thighs. Here is where my vegan>Wahls Protocol psychology doesn't make sense: I cannot bring myself to eat chicken (it just doesn't appeal and feels more anatomy-apparent) but yet I happily gnawed on cartilaginous tailbone during Breaking Bad. Since I wasn't having the chicken, I made a big pot of garlic (about 5 cloves) and collards, sauteed in coconut oil with {cheat} navy beans. I can almost hear you: Of course you are bloated and miserable. Why not try the real Protocol? I hear you -- I'm working my way there and tracking the changes and my mistakes as I lean in. Gluten-free is a huge step, and I'm putting that ahead of ridding the pantry of beans.

It was really, really good. You can see it's mostly greens. Some of those white specks are garlic. I am justifying, spinning, but this is my daughter's favorite thing I make. Jury's still out about giving up this dish. Needing a little more beastly, anti-chicken protein, I found this in the freezer:

Doesn't that seem to fit the bill? I even prepared it in the oven instead of the microwave. The grains and veggies were pretty good, but the salmon was disappointing -- only food as medicine. I love salmon, and prepare it well when I have a plan. Moral of the story is . . . get a plan.

Veggie tally for the day? another strong 6 and a half cups, with seaweed bonus!