Vegetarian ⬥ Gluten Free ⬥ Dairy Free ⬥ 17 Day Diet Compliant ⬥ Whole 30 Compliant
Last year I challenged myself to complete the 17 day diet, a program similar to Whole30 that eliminates gluten and sugar. It was very effective in terms of improving my overall feeling of health, dropping weight and losing fat from my waist, but I did really struggle to stick to the allowed foods list. I got very bored eating the same simple meals over and over again. I vowed that if I ever tried the program again, I would do extensive meal preparation in advance so that I had a variety of exciting meal options easily available to me.
I'm not strictly on the program at the moment, but I've started working on a series of exciting and delicious 17-day diet compliant recipes. I'm incorporating some of these meals into my regular weekly routine to help keep calories down and energy levels up.
Also, one of my 2018 resolutions is to replace some of the bread and meat in my diet with more vegetables. Like me, I've heard lots of other people online also ask about ways to sneak more vegetables into their diet. Well, this hash is the perfect way to load up on vegetables at breakfast time, a meal so often devoid of them.
The ingredients: spinach, onion, daikon, red pepper, zucchini, and carrot.
Ingredients
Makes 2
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 1 small zucchini, diced
- 1 small daikon, diced
- 1 small red pepper, diced
- 1 handful of spinach leaves
- 2-4 eggs, soft poached
- Olive oil for sauteing - I used 1 tablespoon
- Salt and pepper, season to taste
- Optional: ½ - 1 tablespoon chili paste. You could also use chopped fresh chili, dried chili flakes, or another sugar-free spicy sauce.
- Optional: Fresh herbs and smoked paprika to garnish.
Method
- Add the vegetables to a non-stick fry pan over low-medium heat, and season with salt and pepper.
- Saute the vegetables in olive oil under tender, 10-15 minutes.
- While your vegetables are cooking, prepare your poached eggs.
- Once your vegetables are tender, add the spinach and chili paste (if using) and saute until the spinach has cooked and wilted.
- Serve hash with 1-2 soft poached eggs on top, and garnish with fresh herbs and smoked paprika.
Cooking Notes
- This recipe works equally well with a variety of other vegetables like parsnip, turnip, brussels sprouts, cabbage, mushrooms, or celery. You want to end up with 1½ - 2 cups of vegetables per person.
- If you find poached eggs tricky, you could also serve with a fried egg.
- To save time in the morning, I chop up 2 portions of vegetables on the weekend and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for the week ahead. Then when I want to make the hash all I have to do is saute the vegetables and prepare the eggs - no chopping required! Any left over vegetables can be used for another meal.
P.S. An overview of the 17 Day Diet, my food diary, and my experience on the program.
