So I made it through week two of my detox/cleanse, and am continuing to feel de-groovy. I broke my caffeine-free kick and ended up having some chai tea on both tablehopper deadline nights (I don't think you're supposed to be up until 3:30am during a cleanse), but otherwise I've really stuck to the plan. Oh yeah, I had a few bites of my mother's almond-rhubarb snack cake on Sunday (I blame Flo Braker—the damned thing was really and truly irresistible). It was a delightful and momentary fall from grace.
All week I have been giving serious thanks to the Bay Area, and the bounty of beautiful (and organic) produce we have access to here. Let's just say I wouldn't be super stoked to be doing this detox in Nebraska—I'd have to get products flown in just to survive.
I trekked over to the new ~BEAUTIFULL!~ in Laurel Village last week to check it out. Good for them, they were packed. I have to admit, it was nice to take a break from doing all my own cooking for the night. A friend compared it to the Whole Foods hot counter, but healthier, and everything I tried was mild enough for kids to eat. The grab-and-go section was rather extensive, and I was especially pleased with the carrot-ginger soup (great with a little garnish at home—I put a dollop of spicy mint-date dressing on it, voila!). The butter bean tagine was tasty and wonderfully lo-cal, and the Indian vegetable curry had good flavor, with chickpeas, carrot, zucchini, and a side of brown rice. However, the hominy and chickpea chili needed some fine-tuning (crunchy chunks of uncooked onion), and the red quinoa and edamame salad was quite bland. Most items average around $8.99/lb., with meat and poultry items hitting $11.99/lb. or so. It wasn't necessarily food I'd crave, but on nights I wasn't cooking, I'd certainly prefer it to typically unhealthy take-out options. And it was refreshing to have so many options considering my rather limited diet at the moment. 3401 California St. at Laurel, 415-728-9080.
A few things I've really enjoyed this week: first, I was seriously missing my wine with dinner, so it was a treat to pop open a bottle of ~GOLDEN STAR TEA~ one night as a change-up from water or my Mighty Leaf detox tea. While a touch on the sweeter side (it's made with white jasmine tea), the fizziness was light on the palate and refreshing—it was almost sake-like. Yay, it helped me keep my Champagne flutes from getting dusty. (photo: Matthew Carden)
I was already hooked on kombucha before this cleanse, but boy, have I been loving it even more. I was usually drinking it to make up for the ills of my profession (too much wine and heavy meals) on “day afters,” or when I was rundown or coming down with a cold, but it's been a pleasure to enjoy it while I'm feeling good. Unfortunately bottles of the stuff add up fast, so my Berkeley buddy hooked me up with my very own scoby! I know, I have a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast growing in a bottle in my apartment—and will soon be making my own kombucha. Yay, a food-meets-science project. It's like making hippie non-alcoholic beer! In the meantime, while that thing grows, I will continue my addiction to ~GT'S RAW ORGANIC GINGERADE KOMBUCHA~.
I was sent this helpful link for inspiration for healthy vegetarian meals, the ~CAFE VEGNEWS BLOG~. They have a vegan staff lunch each day at VegNews, and then blog about in. Definitely some healthy meal ideas on there.
