The Polar Vortex is back at full swing and it is freezing right now in New York City. I’ve never experienced mornings where it feels like -5ยฐF and I’ll tell you that drinking cold smoothies on cold mornings isn’t as enjoyable as it was just a week ago.
I mentioned in an early post about Winter Detoxes, that in the winter it’s important to keep a certain internal temperature, so right after my smoothies, I make sure to warm myself up with herbal teas. And then in the cold, there is no way I’m going to eat a salad. That’s when some of these hot and clean lunches come in.
My staples for lunch is mainly made up of grounded turkey, salmon, zucchini, carrots and kale. Honestly these meals look pretty “Paleo” to me since I’ve skipped the grain during these meals. My favorite of these lunches is the Turkey & Kale soup.
The picture above shows turkey meatballs, but I found that when I cooked turkey meatballs in the soup for 30 minutes, it became way too dry. So the next time around, I stir-fried the turkey quickly and removed the cooked meat before finishing off the soup with vegetables. Added it back in at the end and it turned out perfectly. Nice and piping hot just in time for winter.
I’ve also been obsessed with my spiralizer which has been great at making zucchini noodles. It gives me a great serving of vegetables, while fulfilling my love for noodles. To accompany the noodles, I made a quick grounded turkey stir-fry and added the zucchini noodles. Even J found this filling and delicious.
I also quickly cooked the noodles with garlic and served it with a side of roasted salmon.
Another discovery that I’ve made during the cleanse is this amazing Basilicotta at Whole Foods, made only with 4 simple ingredients – cashews, basil, lemon juice and salt – it’s sooooo good with brown rice snaps (make sure it’s brown rice only) and also as a sauce with brown rice pasta. If you can find the Basilicotta, buy it and thank me later.
That said, just keep warm and keep cleansing. This Cali girl is doing whatever it takes to keep warm here, and if that means wearing a sweater, hat, scarf, and hood, I’m going to do it.
