Detox: Day 1 {Fennel+Grapefruit / Beet+Miso Soup}

The first day of a detox should feel pretty good. It's only one day without the usual stimulants and toxins, so my energy levels were just fine. The only noticeable difference being the amount of time spent in the kitchen - waaaay longer chopping and rinsing all that veg!

Breakfast was a plate of thinly sliced fennel and grapefruit segments, spritzed with lemon juice. I make this as a salad normally, with mixed greens, parmesan shavings, and dressed with lemon/olive oil. But during a detox, just the fennel/grapefruit make for a refreshing, and filling, brekkie. With a nice cup of green tea of course. If you can find a blend with Ginkgo, that should be good for focus and concentration, along with the bit caffeine from the green tea. You might not even miss that coffee!



Lunch was had in a hurry...nothing special, just a plate of fresh greens, tomatoes, and ground pepper followed by some braised brussels sprouts with lemon and my Spike seasoning blend.

Afternoon saw more tea and some mandarins. My detox blend from a Czech bio shop is actually pretty tasty, even without honey.

Dinner saw a bit more of the above-mentioned chopping action - a creamy miso-beet soup with (more) brussels sprouts. It was amazing! The miso flavour is not as pronounced as a typical miso soup, but rather fills in where salt left off. A great write-up on miso for salt is here at Culinate.

The soup was adapted from a fellow detoxing blogger, Honest Fare, who came up with it last year as an unblended soup with asparagus - which she also photographed beautifully! Mine was made at night, and the blending makes it a bit mucky looking in front of the lens.

Since it's November, and there's an abundance of brussels sprouts (for which I've developed a new-found affection), a few substitutions were made. I also wanted something a bit heartier than a light broth with floating veg, so in went the stick blender. It's easy to make, and tastes great on the second day as well.

The day finished with more tea and fruit. It turns out that pomegranates are great as a movie snack - a big bowl of them keeps the hands busy just like popcorn!

Detox Series:
Detox: The Rules

Day 1: Fennel+Grapefruit / Miso+Beet Soup

Day 2: Strawberries+Ginger / Moonblush Tomatoes / Ratatouille

Day 3: Roasted Root Vegetables+Squash

Continue to Recipe...

Recipe: Miso-Beet Soup with Brussels Sprouts

Adapted from Honest Fare

Serves 2-4

Time 30-40 mins

1 leek, sliced (how-to video here, if new to leeks)

stalks/fronds of 1 fennel (or 1 celery stalk)

a few drops of grapeseed oil*

1 med-large beet - peeled and diced

1 large carrot - diced

1/2 red chili - minced and deseeded

2 Tb chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 Tb grated ginger

5 cups (1 1/8 liter) water

3 Tb miso paste

1 sheet nori seaweed, cut into 1cm squares

2 cups brussels sprouts, any bottom tough stem bits cut off, and then sliced in half. The leaves will fall apart, but that's okay, as it gives a more delicate flavour, and less concentrated

* I know my rule is no oil, but I really couldn't figure out how to do this without just a teeny-tiny bit. If I had a nice cast iron dutch oven, sure I could manage, but I don't. And didn't I mention that rules are made to be broken? ;)

1) In a big pot, heat up the oil and slowly cook the leek and fennel stalks. When softened, add in the beet, carrot, chili, parsley, ginger, and water. Crank the heat up and bring to boil, bring it down and simmer for a good 20 minutes.

2) After 10 minutes of simmering, scoop a cup of the liquid into a separate little bowl. This is for dissolving the miso. I have little experience with this, but over at Honest Fare they suggest this in order to reduce the possibility of clumping. I trust this. So, whisk the miso paste into the water. 

3) After the soup's had it's 20mins, stick in an immersion/stick blender and puree the soup about 75%. That is, leave a few veggie bits intact. Add the miso liquid in along with the brussels sprouts. Add the nori snippings into the pot as well. Simmer another 5 minutes, until the sprouts are just softened.

Dobrou Chut'/ Enjoy.
-- Jo