BA Food Lover's Cleanse Day 1

While I was in Mexico for NYE, my grandma emailed me a link to the Bon Appetit "2016 Food Lover's Cleanse." Between bites of tacos and sips of margaritas I read through the recipes and was intrigued with the idea of kicking off the new year post-Mexico with not only healthy recipes, but a cooking challenge. This "cleanse" appealed to me in part because it's only 2 weeks, it allows for 4 drinks a week, and it includes snack and dessert recipes for each day. I'm trying to be realistic. I will be posting the recipes of the meals I make, but for a link to the full menu, calendar and grocery shopping list, click here.

My intention is to stick to their recipe schedule as much as possible, while tweaking the recipes to fit my tastes and accounting for having a small social life (ex. I already know I have a work dinner at Spruce on Tuesday). 

The cleanse also features a few guidelines aside from the recipes. Among these are:

Alcohol: (like I mention above) only 4 drinks a week

Water: drink 2 liters a day

Coffee: only drink one cup in the morning, then swap for tea afterwards

Dairy: drop it, aside from yogurt 

Among others...

Day 1

~ Breakfast: Old fashioned oats, dried black mission figs, roasted pecan pieces and cinnamon with almond milk. Dash of salt. 

~ Lunch: (Technically the first day of the cleanse started with dinner) My lunch was a kale and chicken caesar salad wrap from the Bay Club. 

~ Snacks: Navel orange, 5 dark chocolate chips.

~ Dinner: Mahi-Mahi with smashed white beans and sage, side of spinach with sautéed shiitake mushrooms.

~ Dessert: Thawed frozen pineapple, toasted coconut and freshly cracked pepper (or it was going to be but I was too full to eat it!)

Mahi-Mahi with Smashed White Beans and Sage

½ teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 pounds skinless mahi-mahi fillets,
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoons finely chopped sage leaves
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

• Mix together rosemary, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. black pepper, and orange zest. Sprinkle onto mahi-mahi and let stand at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes before cooking.
• In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add garlic, sage, and chile and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beans and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring and smashing some of the beans with a spoon or spatula as they cook until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Add stock and continue to mash to a thick purée (beans should retain some shape and texture). Turn off heat and stir in lemon juice and zest, season with salt and pepper. Transfer beans to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
• Wipe out skillet and heat remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over medium-high heat. Blot fish dry with paper towels and add to skillet. Cook until fish is browned on both sides and just opaque at the center, 5–8 minutes.