Turmeric pan potatoes with cilantro holy basil pesto – elimination diet

Having struggled since my teen years with abdominal inflammation, it was high time I got it sorted out.

My yoga practice made me realize that this was pretty serious and need tackling right away.

I decided to get some help working with a Naturopath who gave me a sheet of elimination diet instructions.

An elimination diet is just that. You first eliminate all foods that may cause reactions. Organic brown rice and organic olive oil are considered baseline foods that most people can handle in week 1.

Week 1 was brown rice and veggies to get the body back to baseline. I thought it wouldn’t be easy with my traveling job and hotel food. But everywhere I went hotel staff and friends went out of their way to make meals appropriate for my poor little belly. A wonderful friend brought over some food to my hotel in San Antonio. This restaurant server was so careful about my diet, he made the most amazing guacamole and refused to let me pay for it 🙂 other coworkers wanted to hang out with me wherever I went in the hope that they would get freebies too.

Week 2 has started. This is when I start to introduce various foods one at a time to test their reaction. Right now my body’s intelligence is so shot that anything I eat creates a reaction. For a foodie like me, that’s not good news. But a foodie like me was also able to find creative ways to fire up my stove.

Today is day 4 of the week 2 diet. I made turmeric pan potatoes with a cilantro holy basil pesto. This was an amazing combination I had to share. Antioxidant rich turmeric pairs so well with detox cilantro. Did you know cilantro is nature’s natural detox. If you don’t like it raw, try it my way in a pesto.

I’ve learnt so much about diet, nutrition, the complex human body, stresses/chemicals that cause the liver to get out of whack. My recipe uses organic as much as possible as I’m in the process of resetting my body. Feel free to use regular foods if they agree with your body.

Turmeric pan potatoes

You need 1 cup washed, peeled and cubed red potatoes 1 tsp organic olive oil

Spice Mix Pinch mustard seeds 1 tsp curry leaves ½ tsp turmeric Sea Salt to taste

How to

• Pat dry the cubed potatoes on clean kitchen towel. Very imp to dry potatoes completely to get that outer crunch and inner soft texture.
• Heat up cast iron pan over stove. When hot drizzle in olive oil and add mustard seeds.
• When mustard seeds pop, add curry leaves and turmeric
• Give everything a good stir, then drop in cubed potatoes.
• Add sea salt and stir again. Cover and let cook on medium heat.
• Watch stove and give a stir every now and then so all the potatoes get a chance to hit heat so they are evenly roasted.
• Turn heat off when done and serve hot.
• •Meanwhile start prepping the pesto.

Cilantro holy basil pesto

You need 1 cup washed fresh cilantro, I Used the leaf & stem, but stems can sometimes carry a bitter taste if cilantro is not young, so feel free to use simply the leaves. 2 tsp organic holy basil 1 tsp organic olive oil

Spice Mix Pinch mustard seeds 1 tsp fresh lime juice Sea Salt to taste

How to

• Wash fresh cilantro and fresh holy basil thoroughly. Don’t mistake holy basil for basil. These are 2 distinctly separate herbs. In my home holy basil grows with abandon. If you live anywhere in the Toronto area & need some, drop me a comment. I would be happy to share some of mine with you. You can also choose to skip it if you are not in the Toronto area or don’t have this herb growing at home.
• Heat oil in pan. Add mustard seeds and then drop in the washed cilantro & holy basil(if using).
• Add sea salt and let the herbs wilt. Stir a few times.
• Take off stove and let cool.
• Add freshly squeezed lime (or lemon) juice.
• Run in food processor with 2 tbsp water or more depending on your texture preference to coarsely grind the pesto.
• Mix pesto with cooked organic brown rice and drizzle olive oil on top.
• Serve turmeric pan potatoes with the rice pesto.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe. Give it a try, its simple and uses few ingredients. Its also tasty, plus its antioxidant and detox quality will make you feel so good.

Tomorrow I start day 5 of week 2 and lentils are going to be introduced. I’m so looking forward to them. Stay tuned for my recipes for that food group.

–charuyoga–

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