What if you took the plunge? What if you decided to change everything in one week? Because adopting Clean Eating is not just theory but putting it into practice, right now!
What is Clean Eating again? It's eating "clean", good, healthy, delicious, joyful (let's not forget that). If it was indeed a trend , it has become a phenomenon and we want it to become... a reflex. Start by putting your cupboards, fridge, shopping carts, baskets and plates in order. Shall we give you a review? Yes to Clean Food such as organic, local, seasonal, planet-friendly foods, yes to fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grains, homemade, no to foods that are too sweet, too salty , too fatty, full of additives (the more it is processed by the food industry, the more there are!). In short, eating healthy and smart, cooking healthy and pretty... if you had known it was so easy, you would have already started! Instructions, day after day.
1 – Prepare your shopping list
In the grocery section, choose legumes and dried vegetables: green, coral, yellow lentils, split peas, chickpeas, white beans. Seeds and oilseeds: chia seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts. Cereals: oats, barley, millet, spelt, quinoa.
In the fresh produce section, herbs: basil, coriander, dill, chives. Vegetables and fruits (pretty much all of them!). Quality proteins: eggs, poultry, oily fish. Needless to say, all of this is seasonal, local and responsible!
2 – Find inspiration
Running out of ideas? Go and get some ideas from those who have some. Follow blogs and sites that offer healthy recipes ( recettehealthy.com , foodspring.fr ). Slip some gourmet podcasts into your ears ( On va goûter , by François-Régis Gaudry on France Inter, even if you don't cook you're salivating with happiness!). Don't miss Julie's Notebooks, on France 3, to discover local produce and healthy cooking. Sign up for master classes that praise the merits of healthy food and give you the inside scoop ( academy.happyngood.com by Julie Dumoulin, a pretty yogi heathy, hygieacademie.com , by the charismatic naturopath Lisa Salis). Create your Pinterest account and pin everything that makes you vibrate. Build your library with a few basics ( Cuisine Naturelle, by Marc le Quenven , Marabout, €24.90, Deliciously Ella au quotidien, Marabout, €19.91).
Create menus for a week. At first it will probably be an effort, then it will become more and more natural. Make a standard shopping list, which you leave in your basket. Make a duplicate and compose your menus with it in front of you. Take photos of the dishes you are super proud of and send them to your friends. Who knows, the next step might be your instafood account, your healthy blog and we will find you… here!
3 – Equip yourself with Clean Eating
It starts with this: good tools.
Equip yourself with a robot, and not necessarily too complicated. The goal: for it to mix, knead, slice, grate and grind. Good knives, a peeler and a cutting board to prepare fruits and vegetables in all their forms. A stainless steel sauté pan for low-temperature cooking, a set of stainless steel saucepans with lids, a multi-cooker for gentle cooking, a multi-tiered steamer, a juice extractor, a stainless steel mixing bowl for all your home-made culinary preparations and a scale for fans of precision (for example on arche-de-neo.com ).
4 – Put in your (good) grain of salt!
As a basic equipment, seasoning is part of what must be at hand, in the kitchen and not on the table: good oils (rapeseed and olive for cooking and seasoning, camelina and cold hemp oil), yellow and green lemons, turmeric and pepper which enhance their benefits, berries, fresh herbs, salt at a minimum (and especially in the cooking water for vegetables), pasta and rice, on the other hand do not salt legumes when cooking or they will harden. Consider swapping sugar for crushed dried apples for example, to enhance your desserts in a healthier way.
5 – Start with Breakfast
To get started with Clean Eating, start with breakfast.
With advice from Lisa Salis, naturopath, founder of the Hygie health academy: Get your fill of protein with:
- Scrambled eggs with spices (eg cinnamon), raisins or cranberries, spinach shoots and dried tomatoes;
- Turkey or chicken breast
- Gravlax salmon or sardines
- A smoothie with silken tofu.
If sugar (which is not recommended in the morning!) is essential for you, Lisa advises:
- Homemade pancakes (with gluten-free flour) with homemade hummus or lentil and date spread or nut purees
- Buckwheat pancakes
- Sourdough bread or whole grain rye bread with nut purees, hummus, etc.
- A porridge with oatmeal or azuki bean flakes in vegetable milk. A little touch of cinnamon or turmeric powder.
And she insists, "absolutely exclude: industrial cereals full of sugar, white bread with jam, rusks, industrial milk bread with spread, drinkable yogurts (or not) full of sugar."
And, the magic of the virtuous circle, this delicious, healthy and easy meal will serve as a trigger for your desire to prepare equally clean meals for lunch and dinner! To be continued…
