I miss my friends and the exercise routine. We worked really hard but we had a lot of fun. Reposting this post in honour of my friends.

Our Zumba instructor, Bhavana, has been asking us to go on the GM diet for a few months. We always had excuses – dinner party, special lunches or travelling to places with amazing seafood. Even though I told her I eat in moderation, she thought it would be good to cleanse the system. It was three of us who decided to go on the diet and we decided to diet for 3 days, maybe 4, because we had a lunch on the 5th day and did not want to miss that. So you can see that we all love food! We had fun dieting (again not a word you think of when you think of the D word). Fun, because we dieted together, sharing food and sharing lots of laughs at our misery! So this recipe is dedicated to Bhavana, Uma and Ram. Thank you Bhavana for putting up with us and our moves. We are like Lucy in this video ‘I love Lucy’. https://youtu.be/XYvr6U5xv9w . We really feel for you but are so thankful to you for pushing us to exercise and eat healthy. I cannot believe I ate fruits while everyone else was eating pooris!

Diet conjures images of insipid food, boiled, tasteless, boring. But for me it was a challenge. How do I make food interesting, tasty, scrumptious even. The path to good food is flavour. I hardly used oil in this but packed it with flavour!

The first day was just fruits, except for bananas. My friend and I brought our cut fruits and ate it for snack and lunch. I made some fresh watermelon juice for the evening. Btw, if you prepare to eat fruits the whole day, be prepared to visit the restroom many times.

Day 2, was only vegetables, no potatoes except for breakfast. Food can never be boring for me. I went to the vegetable market and picked up different vegetables. Stir fry, it was. Cauliflower rice seems to be the craze in the USA, so I decided to try it out. Day 3, fruits and vegetables, no bananas and potatoes, so soup it was. The truth is I feel good. My stomach has gone down a bit, the weighing scale is being good to me. But of course I will start eating carbs and sweets again, but surely will add more fruit in my diet. Eat anything you want but in moderation is my motto!

Cauliflower Rice

• 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into flowerlets, washed and drainer
• 2 tbsp onion, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 tsp oil
• salt to taste

Directions

• Pulse cauliflower in a food processor. It should be powdery, not a paste
• In a pan, heat oil. Add onions and cauliflower and saute for a few minutes. Sprinkle some water, add salt and fry till cooked. It should not be overcooked.
• Serve instead of rice

Stir Fried Veggies

Pack it with flavours and you will not miss the oil, the soy sauce and the chilli sauce you might add otherwise. There is added sugar in almost everything processed, so read the labels.

• 2 cups of 3-6 veggies of your choice (carrot, beans, mushroom, capsicum, broccoli, baby corn), cleaned and cup into pieces
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, chopped
• 1/2 tsp oil (when on a diet; otherwise increase it if you want)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, 2 tbsp fresh chopped basil ( I had both, so added both. you can add just one)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

• Heat oil in a wok.
• Add onions and fry for a minute. Add chillies, garlic and ginger. Add vegetables according to their cooking time. Add the broccoli and capsicum last as you do not want them to overcook and get mushy. Add salt
• Fry till vegetables are cooked, not overcooked.
• Sprinkle and mix the herbs.
• Add lemon juice and mix. Taste for seasoning.
• Serve with cauliflower rice

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Throw It Together Vegetable Soup

How do I make soup with no readymade stock, my friend asked! Pack it with flavour, you do not need Maggi. Throw in vegetables you have, maybe some leftovers (you get my drift) and make a hearty soup. I always make a batch for atleast two meals. Since it had no stock, I made a paste of grilled tomatoes and eggplants to give it heartiness and depth. Grilling tomatoes brings out a sweetness

• 1 eggplant, grilled on stove and skin removed
• 3-4 tomatoes
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 green chillies
• veggies of your choice (I used the same as above).
• Also had some grilled pumpkin which i threw in (optional)
• 2-3 tbsp chopped onion
• 2 tbsp leftover cauliflower rice (optional)
• salt to taste
• 4-5 cups water
• 3-4 tbsp chopped coriander
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Directions

• Grill tomatoes and 3-4 cloves of garlic in the oven. Remove skin of tomatoes (Heat oven to 200ºC/400ºF, grill for 25-30 minutes)
• Grill eggplant, remove skin.
• Grind together grilled tomato, garlic and eggplant to a paste.
• Keep aside. (Add some olive oil, sumac or chilli poser and a dash of lemon juice and you can serve it as a dip)
• In a pot add onions, rest of the garlic, chillies and vegetables that take longer to cook. Save broccoli, capsicum for the last.
• Add 3-4 tbsp of the tomato – eggplant paste
• Add water and salt and let it cook on a low flame for 30 minutes
• Add rest of vegetables and cook for a few minutes
• Add chopped coriander and lemon juice
• Serve hot

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