I decided to do Joel Fuhrman’s ‘Eat To Live‘ six week ass smallening program because (a) it’s virtually the only diet book I could find in 2.25 minutes of Amazon clicking that wasn’t wholly chicken breast dependent, (b) Susan at Fat Free Vegan advocates it. I really like Susan’s recipes, and she’s my go-to when my heartbreakingly vegan best friend comes around for dinner, so if I got over the book I could turn to her for more, ahem, salad ideas. Dr Fuhrman advocates no animal protein, no oil, no salt, next to no grains and a lot of leafy greans. I only read the part of the book that tells you what you will and won’t be eating, as I don’t really care about his rationale. I get the feeling I just skipped page upon urgent page about cheese giving you cancer.
It’s day 5 now and I am very hungry. Large salads take willpower and discipline to get through, and that’s not really what I want to say about my lunch. But I am eating a hell of a lot more fruit and veg than I did on my previous dietary regime, which, as I mentioned, consisted largely of pastry.
Still, I have slipped up a couple of times. Last night my car broke down in Fitzroy and I was forced to have a kebab for dinner. And then today I was puddling around the house, tapping away at a seminar paper, when I became hungry. The kind of hungry that calls, no, screams for eggs. Dr Fuhrman would say that eggs will give me heart disease. I say they’re rich in Vitamin Shut Up, Fuhrman. So I rummaged around in the fridge for a while and came up with this, and so should you, and we will all be fat and happy.
Lunch Dish
Serves one
- Few handfuls of baby spinach, washed and dried
- Tin of chickpeas
- A lemon
- A garlic clove, crushed
- Salt and pepper
- Pinch of dried chilli flakes
- An egg, softly poached
Heat a slug of olive oil over medium-low heat in a small frypan and add the crushed garlic clove. Turn until it softens and becomes fragrant, but doesn’t colour or burn. Crack open your tin of chickpeas and pour around a tablespoon of the liquid into the pan, then drain in a colander and add to the garlic and oil. Increase the heat to medium and throw in a pinch of dried chilli and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas colour a little and become soft and smell amazing. Slice off a piece of lemon the width of your thumb and grate the rind over the pan, stirring it into the chickpeas, along with salt and pepper. Add your spinach and stir until wilted. Squeeze over the lemon juice, turn onto a plate and top with the egg.
