When a book’s manifesto begins like this, you almost can’t help but love the author:
There is no ideal diet.
I believe you can benefit from a cleaner, greener diet. But that doesn’t mean you need to eat exactly what I eat. While there are some precepts for a clean, toxin-free eating…there are many ways to eat healthy.I’m not into labels. This isn’t about being a vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian. If you want to come up with a name for what this is, knock yourself out, but the most important thing is to eat foods that make your body feel good.
That is from my friend, Amie Valpone’s, new book, Eating Clean: The 21-Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation, and Reset Your Body, and it perfectly expresses who Amie is: compassionate, gentle, and genuine. She wants the best for you and me. Eating Clean is both cookbook and eating clean guide. In the first half, Amie dives into clean living: what ingredients might be causing you unwanted symptoms, why gluten, caffeine, dairy, and soy are problematic for many people, which household and beauty products might be negatively impacting the way you feel, and more. She shows you, in as loving a way as anyone can, how to clean up your diet and lifestyle and rid both of toxins. Her focus is on how much your health can improve once you get your body working for you, not against you. The second half of the book is filled with over 200 delicious and detox-approved vegetarian and vegan recipes–free of gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, eggs, corn, eggplant, white flour, refined sugar, and any ingredients that come from a can.
Amie believes in eating clean because she spent almost 10 years struggling with chronic illness. Her journey to just to feel well in the most basic sense has involved about a million tears, a near-death bed experience, dozens of specialists, false diagnoses, endless frustration, and years spent not knowing what exactly was wrong or how to treat any of her pain.
The only way she began to heal was when she focused on cleaning up her food and the environment around her–from her water to the cleaning products she used to her personal care and beauty products (and more).
Reading Amie’s long journey to slowly heal herself inspires me and reminds me just how much the food I eat impacts the way I feel. There comes a point for all of us when we recognize that the old adage, “It’s what on the inside that counts” applies to our health, too. Food can heal us and it can harm us, and either way, we’re responsible for our choices.
These Millet and Veggie Breakfast Tacos are straight from Amie’s book! They’re from the breakfast chapter, but I’d eat them anytime. The ingredients are pure, simple, and just about perfect when all together–a reminder that eating clean doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, it’s so vibrant, so fresh, and when the ingredients aren’t overpowered by a million layers of other things (like cheese, which I’m totally guilty of smothering everything in)–you can really taste them, and that’s pretty lovely. The millet is hearty and kind of grounding if you know what I mean. It’s chewy, warm, and satisfying because it gets a little sticky, like rice. The bell pepper is always so nicely sweet, and especially perfect with meaty slices of portobello mushroom. A little bit of flavor with cumin, chili powder, and fresh cilantro, and that’s all you need!
Amie’s book is such a charmer, full of incredible insight, and just gorgeous to look at. Go pick it up in stores today or order online here:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Millet and Veggie Breakfast Tacos
Ingredients
- 1½ cups cooked millet
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 8 gluten-free whole-grain tortillas corn-free
- 1 large ripe avocado pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
- 4 scallions thinly sliced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Portobello Mushroom and Red Bell Pepper Filling:
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large portobello mushroom cut into 8 slices
- 1 large red bell pepper cut into long strips
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch chipotle powder
- ¼ cup thinly sliced radish for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the millet, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Stir to combine and set aside.
- In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms in a single layer. Cover and cook for 4 minutes, then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the bell pepper, cumin, salt, black pepper, chipotle powder, and remaining oil, if needed. Cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through, stirring often. Garnish with the radish. Keep warm.
- To assemble, warm the tortillas on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven or in a dry skillet on the stovetop over medium heat. Place the warm tortillas on a platter or on individual plates. Divide the millet among the tortillas. Top each with the Portobello Mushroom and Red Pepper mixture. Top with the avocado slices, scallions, and salt and pepper to taste.
I think there is a hair in your bottom left taco :-/ I’d still eat it though!
I love that you are promoting Amie’s book! I’m reading it right now. It’s so encouraging when people I like share each other’s information – Thank you!
Thank you so much, love bug! YOU are amazing and I am so beyond grateful for your support. Thank you for being such a genuine, incredible friend and for all of your love. I can’t wait to hug you soon and I hope you are loving my book.
Big hugs, soul sister.
xox
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You are incredible, and I cannot express how grateful I am for all of the support you have given me. I want to thank you for being such a true and great friend, as well as for all of the love you have shown me.