Georgian Red Bean Salad

This recipe comes from the fabulous Russian cookbook "Please to the Table" by Anya Von Bremzen and John Welchman.

1&1/3 cups small red beans (I used Kidney instead)
soaked overnight
1 onion, peeled
1 medium sized carrot
3 inches of a celery rib
salt to taste
5 pitted prunes
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. Tamarind concentrate or
2 Tbs. unsweetened plume butter
1 teaspoon Chinese chili and garlic paste
( I used Sambal)
1/3 cup EX olive oil
3/4 tsp. coriander seeds, crushed
1/4 tsp. ground fenugreek
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Combine beans, onion, carrot,and celery in a soup pot. Add enough water to cover the beans by three inches and bring to a boil. Add salt, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook the beans until tender but not mushy.
Meanwhile, combine the prunes and the balsamic vinegar in a nonreactive saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove the prunes and chop finely. Add the tamarind concentrate to the vinegar and let stand about 10 minutes until it dissolves. Whisk in the chili paste, coriander, fenugreek and olive oil.
Drain the beans and discard the onion, carrot, and celery. Let cool.
Toss the beans with the tamarind mixture and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

No slow introduction

We finished and celebrated last night at Doug and Emily's house with roasted chicken, cheesy fixins', chocolate and ice cream, and booze of all kinds. I pretty much expected to feel like hell this morning. Beyond light sleep during the early hours( due mostly to the wine) I felt good. The meal in fact was deeply satisfying. I hold the chicken responsible for that one.
I stuck with the morning routine today and will continue this until it seems to be a hassle. I really like letting my digestive system relax in this way. Jeff and I are also going to continue eating a salad once a day as well as cooking with more grains. We have also decided to eat out less frequently and choose the places that we do eat at wisely. Interestingly Jeff and I split a linguica, egg and cheese bagel this morning and it was bland. It was a similar feeling to the first time I had eating fast food after a couple of years. Some how it should be really good since it is purely meat, fat and carbs but there is no depth of flavor and it doesn't quite hit the right spot either.
Of note:
We saved money this month. We eat out too offten and it really adds up here on the island. Our Total food bill from the month came to about $800. This probably could be cut down some but it is Martha's Vineyard. Also, though I have not jumped on a scale yet I do feel like I might have lost a little weight.
I would definitely do something similar to this once a year. Maybe tweak the herbs and the food criteria some. It has opened my eyes to the finer qualities that food has on my body, like the effect of eating so much roughage. I like salads but to much and it really dries me out.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all of you who are finishing today or tomorrow! Trixie and I won't be finished till Tuesday. But this conclusion also marks the beginning of a phase just as difficult as the regimen we've just completed.

Trixie and I have lost about ten pounds each, and my blood pressure has fallen between ten and fifteen points within three days of starting. So how will we reintroduce the foods that have been prohibited? Very slowly, very cautiously. I'm going to drop the lemon, but continue with the cranberry, pectin, and psyllium followed by fruit. Perhaps my blood pressure will skyrocket. If not, I'll drop the cran, p, and p. I'll begin to reintroduce fish, chicken, beef; a little more salt; then wheat; finally dairy (cheese and cream). Doug and Emily have access to fresh goat milk and cheese, and that may have a very different impact than the consumption of those same items from cows.

I'll try to be aware of my old habits creeping back: cheese and pasta, bread, and bagels, which are quick and convenient and easy to overdo. Also, I'll be paying attention to the impact of foods processed with a fair amount of additives like bacon or salami. Coffee, pu-erh, wine, beer‑‑what effect will they have? I've felt clearer, brighter, and less bloated these last three-and-a-half weeks. I'd like to make that my benchmark when determining which of the foods that have been excluded can now be re-included in my post-detox routine. I know it's not simply a matter of what foods, but also what combinations and what quantities.

Did you see the duck? Or the rabbit first? It's said that you can't see them simultaneously. Try it yourself. Sometimes I think that cheese, wheat, and meat are one aspect, and that vegetables, grains (other than wheat), and legumes are another. If I start eating the former, will I ever go back to the latter?

I'm hoping that for the next several weeks you all will continue to post your observations on this transitional phase. It's been a pleasure. I can honestly tell you that we would not have done it without you.