Detoxing... or how can a foodie survive like this!?

I decided to do a detox after a rather overindulgent four days in the Cotswolds where a friend of mine, Kristina Mascher-Turner, and I decided to see how much it was possible to eat and drink. The rationale being that we were doing lots of walking everyday and taking a massage course which would detox us at the end. Actually, we both had a hard time sleeping the last night due to food malaise. So I took 3 days and ate only fruit, yogurt and vegetables and seemed to recover well- but as soon as I had some wheat on the 4th day, I felt rubbish again. So I'm on a longer detox... Vegan diet, no wheat, alcohol, or caffine and limited gluten, sugar, and soy products. So what is possible to eat? Actually, quite a lot...

Last night I made Khichri, an Indian curried lentil and rice dish, cauliflower cooked with tomatoes, ginger, nigella, and cumin, and boiled little potatoes with caramelized onions. Tasted great!

Khichri (from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery)
1/3 cup yellow split peas (I used Urid Dhal, it only needs to soak with the rice)
2 cups of long grain rice (I used brown, it needs an extra 1/2 cup of water during cooking and an
extra 20 minutes of cooking)
3 tablespoons of oil (I used olive, although vegetable- or ghee- is more traditional)
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala (or curry powder)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4 tablespoons of corriander
2 2/3 cups of water (3 1/3 or a little less for brown rice)

Soak the peas in water for 3 hours, drain. Wash rice several times, soak in water 1 hour (or if using lentils or Urid Dhal soak together for 1 hour). Drain.

Heat the oil in a pot on medium. When hot, put the cumin in and stir for a few seconds. Now add peas and rice. Stir and saute 2-3 minutes until coated in oil. Add garam masala or curry, salt and corriander. Stir and saute another minute or so. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and cook 25 minutes (45 minutes for brown rice). Turn off the heat and let sit, undisturbed, 10 minutes. Take off the lid and gently stir before serving.

Cauliflower (my own recipe)
1 head cauliflower, broken into pieces
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 knob of ginger, minced
1tsp nigella (black onion seeds)
1 tsp cumin
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 can cubed tomatoes
1 tsp sugar

on med-high, heat the oil and add the garlic and ginger. Stir a few seconds, then add the nigella and cumin and stir briefly. Add the cauliflower and cook for a couple minutes, stirring. Add the can of tomatoes and a splash of water. Sprinkle over the teaspoon of sugar. Cook with a lid on, stirring regularly, for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is cooked, but not mushy. Salt to taste.

Potatoes with onions
500 g small potatoes
2 onions
olive oil
salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes in their skins until just done. Drain.

Slice the onions into half moons and cook on med-high in the olive oil until very soft. Add the potatoes and continue to cook until the onions caramelize. season with salt and pepper. (you can add in some cumin seeds with the onions when you start if you want a stronger flavor.)

I think we'll have fava beans and rice tonight, vegetable tagine tomorrow, and some kind of Japanese food the next night. So it is possible to survive this! We'll see how long it lasts, though!