Inspiring Ways To Make A Clean Start

I've never been much for New Year's resolutions or diets or sweeping changes. What works for me instead are ways to improve my habits. I like to be inspired and taught, not browbeaten and shamed. And inspiration is what I got reading through "Clean Start" by Terry Walters. It's got basic, sensible advice on eating food that's better for both our bodies and our planet -- if you're a Michael Pollan fan you're already on board. The book is attractive and has a nice solid feel. But what really got me was my slow realization, after browsing through recipes like crunchy wasabi-spiked green beans and polenta pizzas, that the recipes are all (1) vegetarian (2) dairy-free (3) gluten-free (4) free of refined sugars. 

Whoa.

Frankly, although I own and love many vegetarian cookbooks, eat less meat than your average person, and enjoy many gluten-free and dairy-free recipes, I would have passed on a book that blared all those properties on the cover. The combined list wouldn't have sounded tempting. It would have sounded, to a person with no allergies or intolerances, like a lecture.

I'm not sure why this is true. "Good for you" shouldn't carry that whisper of suspicion with it. Regardless, I'd rather make recipes like Daikon Carrot Salad with Cilantro and Peanuts because they sound so good, not just because they're so good for me.

Got any insights? Ponder and share while brewing one of Walters' "Heart Warming Winter Drinks":

Green Tea With Lemongrass and Ginger

Ingredients:

2 stalks lemongrass (bottom 4 inches only)
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cups water
4 green-tea teabags
1 tablespoon pomegranate juice

Directions:

1. Trim dry ends from lemongrass and discard. Peel outer leaves, and slice remaining stalks lengthwise into thin strips.

2. Place strips of lemongrass in pot, add ginger and water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Add teabags to mixture and steep 3-4 more minutes (longer steeping will yield a more bitter tea).

4. Remove tea bags, lemongrass and ginger and discard. Stir in pomegranate juice and serve.

Serves 4.

-- From "Clean Start" by Terry Walters

-- Photo credit: Gentl & Hyers

-- Rebekah Denn 

Comments

[iş ilanları on February 07, 2011 at 10:21 PM]

We are an excitable group method. We like to be inspired and hope to inspire right rear. So here we are, almost the first month of a new decade, and we thought we would share some of the things and people that inspire us now to make a great start cleaning.

[care for elderly on February 08, 2011 at 08:58 PM]

I need all the help I can get.I used to be a neat freak,now I can't seem to get things done.This concept,introduced to me by my colleague,Thomas Leonard,challenged readers to take such good care of themselves that at times the program even felt a bit self-indulgent.