Yay! I am celebrating my first detox week. And I truly have to say, other than the three day caffeine withdrawal headache, it hasn't been to gosh darn bad. Today it got even better as I discovered the detox mecca, Whole Foods!!! I go to Whole Foods on a fairly regular basis to pick up single ingredients, normally my proteins, for a dinner that I am making. However, I haven't spent a whole lot of time wandering the aisles and today I had the best detox field trip ever. There are a few things that I was really missing on this detox and I had all of my needs and wants met. I am simple girl so they are:

1. Bacon-with no nitrates and no pork on this detox, bacon was off the list. But hallelujah I found beef bacon with no nitrates!!! Glory be to God!!


2. Salad dressing-normally I put olive oil and balsamic vinegar on my salads, however with vinegar being axed from the list, well olive oil and lemon just wasn't cutting it. But vegan blue cheese (dairy free) is a beautiful thing!!


3. Bread-I have three vices and they are bread, cheese and wine, all of which I miss. However, I love toast in the morning, so discovering gluten free bread really made me happy.

4. Yogurt-I found yogurt made with coconut milk. Curious to see how it tastes, but I love the idea of it!!

Yup this is what my life has become-food celebrations of food that are hard to find, expensive and devoid of alcohol, gluten, dairy, sugar and caffeine. Love it!!

For breakfast this morning, I had another smoothie and it was awesome to have that punch of protein before spinning. I came home to a hot shower and a bowl of Rice Chex with almond milk. Yum! My new addiction!

I did discover today that sometimes when you are out and about it is a little more challenging finding someplace that you can grab food to go. So my lunch consisted of brown rice cakes and a Odwalla Strawberry C Monster drink. Both made me happy, but they weren't the most substantial and creative.


So for dinner I decided to do something a little more exciting. I found a recipe in Clean Eating, which if you haven't read it, is a great magazine with some great recipes and good ideas for detox eating and every day cooking. I made Poblano Rice with Shrimp and this was a great recipe! You basically make a poblano pepper pesto that you mix into brown rice and serve with blanched shrimp. It was healthy, it has a lot of great flavor and a little kick to it from the peppers.


So first of all make the pesto. Put the jalapeno and poblano in the broiler and broil until the skin on the peppers start to blister. The recipe says 5 minutes, but I found that it was closer to 8 minutes. However, this could have been due to the fact that I broiled them whole and the recipe says to cut them in half. I decided to keep them whole because I thought it would be easier to peel them after they came out of the broiler, but that was just my opinion.


After they come out of the broiler, put the peppers in a boil, cover with plastic wrap and let them sit for 10 minutes. This allows them to sweat and steam and makes it easier to just peel the skin off.

Add both peppers and the green onions into a food processor. Pulse until pureed. Add the sunflower seeds and pulse in the mixture is a paste like consistency. I found that it was hard to get all of the seeds broken up so I still had some in my rice, which actually added a nice little crunch.


Next add the cilantro, lime juice and olive oil and pulse until it is incorporated.

Meanwhile, cook the brown rice. This was one of those areas that my experience did not match the recipe. The recipe says to boil 1 1/4 cups of water to a boil and add 1 cup of long grain brown rice, turn down and simmer for 15 minutes. The bag of rice, however said to boil 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice and to cook for 45-50 minutes. When I looked at the rice after 15 minutes there was still a lot of water in the rice so I let it continue to cook. In my experience, it probably took closer to 30 minutes to cook the rice, but that was just me. Once the rice has cooked, let it sit for 5 minutes, fluff it with a fork and then add the poblano pesto to it.


Bring a large pot or pan of water to a boil. Add the shrimp to the boiling water and cook for approximately 3 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Remove with a slotted spoon. Again in my experience the time was off, my shrimp were done in approximately 1 1/2-2 minutes. And I truly believe if I had blanched them for longer they would have been over cooked and rubbery and no one wants that.

Serve the rice and shrimp with chopped red onion, extra cilantro and lime slices.

Here is the actual recipe:


1 large poblano pepper, halved lengthwise, seeded and stem discarded
1 jalapeño pepper, halved lengthwise, seeded and stem discarded
2 scallions, trimmed
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, gently packed, plus additional for garnish
Juice 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup long-grain brown rice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 lb frozen jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 count), deveined, tail on
1 small red onion, finely chopped, optional, for garnish
Lime wedges, optional
INSTRUCTIONS:

Set broiler. Place both peppers, skin side up, on a broiler pan with scallions. Broil until blistered, about 5 minutes. Remove poblano to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow poblano to steam for 10 minutes; remove skin.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine peppers and scallions; pulse until pureed. Add sunflower seeds; pulse to make a paste. Add cilantro, lime juice and oil; pulsing until cilantro is incorporated. Scrape bowl as needed. Remove pesto and reserve.
Bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil. Add rice and salt; reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove rice from heat and allow to steam for 5 additional minutes, then use a fork to fluff. Add pesto to rice, a little at a time, and continue to toss gently with a fork until combined.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add shrimp, return to a boil, and cook until pink and lightly curled; about 3 minutes. Remove from heat with a slotted spoon. When cool enough to handle, remove shells from shrimp.
Spoon rice onto large serving platter and place shrimp on top, garnish with additional cilantro. Serve with onion and lime wedges, if desired.


I have to say, other than the tostadas, this was probably my second favorite detox meal, thus far. Happy Friday and have a fabulous weekend! Cheers with Sleepy Time tea!