RED QUINOA, ASPARAGUS, LENTILS, RADISHES, ALMOND MILK AND APPLE – OKINAWA DIET, THE EASY WAY
Kept in convalescence one summer for 2 months, I was not feeling very well when I came back to London at the end of the holiday: I did not do any sports (because I couldn’t) and my hectic French diet did not help at all. In addition with my very strong medication, I looked like hell.
I tried in any direction to find a way to fell better. It is so easy nowadays with the vegan diet, the not so vegan diet, the Paleo diet, the color diet, the juice only diet, the bowl diet, the what else diet? The trouble was that I felt dizzy most of the time because of vitamins and proteins deficiency in those “diets”. Certainly perfect when you are 20 years old but not when you are in recovery… It’s one afternoon, distressed and in front of my French TV watching a documentary that I saw this old man. He was a very depressed doctor in Okinawa. Depressed because of the new obesity faced by the inhabitants of its island, the fact that in longevity they were at the 23rd place instead of the 1st they used to be for so long!! Seeing this man so depressed, so like me… I began to look for anything about this place, their diet, the war, the American presence and I found what I was looking for in the “Okinawa way of life”. Gentle exercises were recommended with daily nap and a not -so- restrictive diet : I was able to eat meat, fish, raw, cooked, vegetables, fruits and indulge myself with a little bit of wine. Obviously, it was a challenge at the beginning because I could not find goya (little green melon), Shima rakkyo, tan root and shikwasa for example… Because the special tea I bought at my Japan Center for 64 pounds was NOT TO BE TAKEN with my medication… So I adapted and created everything the easy way. Now, I walk 3 miles a day, have a daily nap of 20-30 minutes (even in my car with an alarm on my phone…) and I prepare my meals with simple ingredients find in the Okinawa diet. No alcohol for 5 days in a row and I go to restaurants on week-ends eating whatever I wish with a nice glass of very good wine.
I do not feel dizzy, I have absolutely no craving. I do feel a little bit better. I am aware that it will take time but it’s a start…
I have created many meals, breakfast, snack, soups, etc that I will post from time to time.
Each of those meals will have simple ingredients (easily find at your supermarket) present in the Okinawa diet. Today I have taken quinoa in pouch and lentils in tins because they are easier to use in a salad and nutritiously exactly the same as the ones you cook for a long time… But you may cook your quinoa and your lentils as you wish…;)
A quick glance in your kitchen…
In your fridge
Asparagus tips
Radishes
Avocado
Almond milk
Apple
In your cupboard
Red and white quinoa from a pouch
Lentils cooked or from a tin
Mustard
Olive oil
Sesame oil
Black sesame
Serves 1
120g 4,2 oz of red and white quinoa (cooked from a pouch)
6 asparagus tips
4 radishes sliced
1 small avocado Hass cut in half
100g 3,5 oz of cooked lentils (or from a tin)
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tbsp of mustard
Black sesame
1 glass of almond milk
1 apple
Bring to the boil water cook the asparagus for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing in a little bowl with the olive oil, sesame oil and mustard.
Dispose the quinoa on the plate with the lentils, radishes and avocado.
Add the asparagus cooked and drizzle with the dressing mixing well.
Sprinkle with black sesame.
Serve with a glass of almond milk and the apple for dessert.
Okinawa facile : quinoa rouge, asperges, lentilles, radis, lait d’amande et pomme
Pour 1 personne
