The Jesus Diet: Week 3
Week 3 started off nicely. Breakfast was simple: grapes. Lunch was only
slightly less humble: arugula & baby spinach with some sheep cheese
and walnuts. Dinner was lovely. A very, very small helping of chicken
breast sauteed in half & half and spinach. On the side, some
hummus-pesto, with baby carrots, a little bit of chopped up romaine
lettuce and sauteed chickpeas.
On the second day of the week when I got home from work I tried going for a walk...
But that didn't happen. See above video for reason.
Sliced cucumber is the vegetable of choice for this dish; sauteed chickpeas; and the main star of the show, scrambled eggs with spinach, garlic, half & half and a little bit of sheep cheese on top. Week 3 went by just as quickly as week 2, with my standard fruits for breakfast and salads for lunch. The dinners were what you have already seen, but week 4 turned out to be much more interesting!
But before I started Week 4 (just kidding, we're not there yet), my Sunday prior was spent cooking a fabulous lunch and dinner. Pictures and recipes below.
Recipes for Week 3:
Talipia Fish & Sauteed Radicchio
Ingredients:
1 fillet of talipia fish
3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
juice of 1/2 lemon
For Sauteed Radicchio:
1/2 head of small organic radicchio
1/2 package organic baby spinach
1/4 cup dry white wine
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste
less than 1/4 cup dry, all natural pine nuts
Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F
2. On a baking sheet, spread tin foil, add fillet of fish
3. Add minced garlic and juice of lemon on top with white wine
4. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes (until fish is fully cooked, flaky by fork check)
5. In a frying pan, add olive oil and minced garlic
6. Stir until light brown; add spinach and chopped radicchio; turn down burner to low-med heat
7. Stir until all vegetables are wilted
8. Add white wine
8. Add pine nuts
9. Serve with fish, add lemon slices on top for garnish
If Jesus Were Italian: Ragu di Gesù
Ingredients:
1 pound ground 100% grass-fed lamb
1 white onion
2 medium carrots, washed, peeled
1 stalk celery, washed and diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced + 1 clove, peeled
fresh basil leaves (4 oz.)
salt to taste
olive oil
3-4 zucchinis (1 is enough for one helping of the dish)
hard sheep cheese
1/4 cup fresh, natural pine nuts
1 bottle of red wine, your choice (though I recommend Chianti)
Instructions:
1. Heat a large pot with olive oil.
2. Add white onion, diced, celery, and carrots (which should be peeled beforehand; not just the outer layer; you must peel the carrots completely, instead of dicing them)
3. After stirring continuously, wait until onions become transparent, and then add minced garlic
4. Continue to stir, until garlic turns a nice light brown
5. Add lamb meat; continue to stir until all of the meat turns a grey shade
6. Add 1-1 1/2 cups red wine; turn burner down to a medium heat
7. Add salt, 3-4 leaves of fresh basil and 1/4 cup water
8. In a food processor, make pesto:
combine reserved basil leaves, with stems removed, salt to taste, olive oil, and 1 peeled clove of garlic. Set to low until creamy and smooth; set aside
9. If your ragu has begun to boil, turn it down to low, and add another 1/2 cup of red wine; let the ragu cook for approximately 45 minutes - 2 hours, depending on how long you would like it to simmer. Keep in mind, the longer you let it cook. the tastier the effect.
10. For the zucchini, I used a spiralizer to create the spiraled strands; use 1 zucchini per helping
11. Once ragu is finished cooking, place zucchini on plate, add the ragu on top, followed by pesto (to replace tomato sauce), and finally shave some hard sheep cheese on top. Serve with a delicious glass of Chianti.
To accompany the dish, I made a healthier version of garlic bread. I heated up some olive oil with approximately 5 cloves of minced garlic. Once it was cooked, I spread it on top of my homemade flatbread (this time I used wheat flour), and baked it in the oven at 400 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes until it was crisp
And for the healthy side,I made a radicchio salad. Basically radicchio is super bitter, and I would not recommend it on its own. Definitely an acquired taste, which I have not developed as of yet. However, I found that arugula went with it perfectly (both Italian ingredients by the way which were available in Jesus' day), and I developed my own dressing.
I made a radicchio salad. Basically radicchio is super bitter, and I would not recommend it on its own. Definitely an acquired taste, which I have not developed as of yet. However, I found that arugula went with it perfectly (both Italian ingredients by the way which were available in Jesus' day), and I developed my own dressing.
2 tsp honey, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1 clove of garlic minced, 1 tbsp olive oil, juice of 1/2 a lemon, and a pinch of salt. Wow, did that make a difference!
Creamy Spinach Chicken
Ingredients:
1/2 a chicken breast fillet, cubed (100% cage-free, vegetarian-fed; no hormones or antibiotics)
1/4 cup organic half & half
salt to taste
1/2 package organic baby spinach
olive oil
Instructions:
1. In a frying pan, heat olive oil
2. Add chicken breast, and salt to taste
3. Continue to stir until both sides are a light brown
4. Add spinach and half & half; Stir continuously
5. Once spinach has sufficiently wilted, turn heat down to low
6. Allow to cook for several minutes until chicken is cooked thoroughly
Spinach Scrambled Eggs
Ingredients:
1/2 package organic baby spinach
3 cage-free eggs
salt to taste
1/4 cup half & half
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
A few slices of hard sheep cheese (optional)
Instructions:
1. In a frying pan heat olive oil with garlic
2. Once garlic is light brown in color, add spinach
3. While stirring, let the leaves wilt then bring down the heat
4. Add the eggs, and the half & half; add salt to taste
5. Stir all together until eggs are done
6. Add cheese on top
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