I thought I would share a recipe of a salad I made recently that I found particularly tasty, within the contraints of food choices I was making. I am not a dietician or medical professional, this recipe is simply given as an option for those who might be looking for something with this particular focus and blend of properties.
This last week I have been using a plan that focuses on changing eating mainly green vegetables, white chicken/fish meats, and some eggs for protein. The unique signature of this plan is that it allows for little to no consumption of salt, sugars (refined or natural), carbohydrates, fruits (which contain natural sugars), dairies or fats. This particular combination of do's and don'ts have become popularly known as the "Brentwood" diet, but it essentially is just a very healthful selection of food types to use and avoid for concentrated times to help break old habits and perhaps lose weight.
That list of abstained food types strikes deep into the core of our North American food habits, and for this person, it was a drastic change. The change didn't overwhelm me initially, since I've made changes to eating in the past over long periods of time (fasting etc). But once I began using the food regimen, I found a challenge.
The first four days were mentally challenging due to the headaches from the body's reaction to the source changes in the food supply.
The real difficulty became not the body strain of the food change, or even my fortitude to sticking to a diet amidst temptation to eat regular tastey foods. Instead the real problem was that eating on my new regimen required me to eat 4 or 5 times a day. My plan broke down to breakfast of 3 scrambled eggs, lunch of salad, dinner with a chicken filet and more salad. This was fine, but I had to have another one or two smaller salads (of the same ingredient choices) in order to stay energized enough to continue my normal life. Maintaining a plentiful supply of good foods to eat is difficult. My solution- make a large salad and grilled chicken breasts each day, then eat off of it 2 or 3 times for the day.
One of the best tasting recipes I built to fit in this plan is this healthy, tasty grilled chicken salad.
Start by chopping up the following:
- onions
- green onions
- radishes
- cucumbers
- celery
- fresh mushrooms
I took and put them in a container and placed them back into the fridge while I prepare the other items.
Next, I took 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Using just a half tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil I cooked them in a non-stick skillet.
I am not a cook, so I have no idea how these things are normally done, but since I am not allowed to add any salt at this point, I wasn't really able to add any flavoring or other additives to it.
I cooked the chicken until it was almost done, basically white, but not charred or even brown. To add some variety, I added a bag of frozen peas to the mostly cooked chicken, and finished cooking the chicken and warming the peas together.
Once finished, I used the largest salad bowl you have and add both a healthy portion of spinach greens and lettuce greens (I used romaine). Fill the bowl half way with greens, then add the previous chopped vegetables.
Toss the salad ingredients thus far, gently.
Finally, once that is ready, add the warm chicken and peas to the salad until it is a good balance/variety of the foods. You will likely have some chicken and peas remaining- keep those and add them later to the remaining salad base, and add more greens with them to make more of your already built salad base.
I found this particular salad is very good tasting, especially when the chicken is still warm. I add a half teaspoon of balsamic vinegarette dressing to the salad meal on serving. This makes my meal enjoyable. The salad can be added to with the same ingredients and kept for a couple days. I loved it. I hope it helps you if you are using some similar techniques.
Again, this entry is simply a recipe explanation- not an endorsement of a food regimen or dietary suggestion of any kind. I hope you love it. I did!
good eating...
Kim Gentes