Big Boy’s Brunch

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I having a bit of a detox and internal cleanse at the moment, in the gap between Christmas visitors and post-New Year visitors. It is the first time we have tried this lark so we sought advice from friends who have done such things and have gone with a product called The Ultimate Cleanse.

The idea is that you prepare for the cleanse over a few days during which you avoid proteins, grains and refined foods. After a couple of days of that, you start taking capsules of four herbal products (anti-inflamatory, high fibre laxative, stimulating laxative and nutritional supplement) while eating meals based on the ‘delicious recipe ideas’ before returning to a normal diet after you’ve finished the capsules.

Though you can spread this programme out over fifty days by taking just 4 capsules twice a day, there’s no way that we can go for a month and a half without bread, pulses, diary products and, in my case, meat. This being so, we decided to go for the ‘power’ cleanse and do whole the thing in 8-10 days. It was only on the fourth morning, when I broke the seal on the containers of capsules, that it dawned on the ‘power’ cleanse option means chugging between 32 and 40 capsules morning and night! Ho hum.

So, for the last five days, breakfasts have been fruit smoothies and lunch and dinner a rotation of vegetable soups and salads. Snacks are made up of fresh or dried fruit or, well, more vegetables. I have to say that I am finding the restrictions of the required diet trying; no doubt, the lack of stimulants like caffeine and alcohol play their part in this.

However, in the spirit of the venture, we are trying to find new ways to make the allowed foods interesting. Tonight, I made a dish consisting of a bed of cos lettuce, covered with a Roma tomato and onion salad, topped with sliced avocados. I served this with a yoghurt dressing I whipped up to add some contrast and zing to the salad.

I really miss the texture of freshly baked ciabatta, the snap of a sausage against my teeth and the aroma of coffee so, with the weekend without the distractions of work just hours away, it remains to be seen whether I can go another five days without them.

Yoghurt Dressing

As with most things, this can be adapted to suit your taste and the components of the salad. Dill would work well with smoked mackerel or paprika or cayenne pepper with chicken. Alternatively, try roasted garlic to soften the flavour. You can adjust the consistency too; thicker for tossing in a bowl or thinner to drizzle over plated salad.

½ cup organic raw yoghurt
½ lemon, squeezed to juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh lemon basil
1 tsp chopped fresh mint
½ tsp cumin
pepper
salt

Combined all ingredients in a bowl or jug and mix thoroughly with a spoon.