I’ve been on a cleanse for over the past two weeks now, purging my system of all the bad that’s gone into it during my heavy months of traveling, and tying to readjust the way I eat.  It's always best to get started on the New Year's dieting plan early rather than right in the moment, I like to believe it helps build momentum going in.  Not that I eat all too unhealthy to begin with — for the most part I eat organic, local, whole foods, drink lots of water, and make sure to take in as many healthy fats as possible — but, there have been moments (many moments) of weakness over the past six months where I’ve justified continual takeout orders, unconscious eating, and one too many nights filled with wine.  This tends to happen when I’m overwhelmed, stressed, busy, or sometimes bored, and it needed to stop quick.  I was seeing the effects on my skin and for the most part, I was starting to lack the self confidence.

Normally, when people hear “cleanse", they think sheer suffering — minimal quantitates of food, maximum restriction, and the ability to cave to any temptation.  This cleanse is different.  It's all about disciplining myself with food, and developing a healthier diet through conscious eating.  It consists of a combination of vegan shakes in the morning and two modified paleo meals throughout the day.  I've eliminated sugar, wheat, gluten, dairy, and soy from my diet for the past two weeks, swapping the occasional sugar cravings for a serving of berries, and the carb cravings for nori.  That alone has made a big difference, and my favorite have been some of the meals.  I've become more experimental, substituting with kelp noodles, creating homemade broths, and testing out new proteins.

This scallop dish was one of the simpler recipes on my list.  I happened to pop by my favorite fish monger at the Green Market over the weekend and ended up picking these small but flavorful scallops .  I lightly salted then seared the scallops with minimal coconut oil in a nonstick pan, created a chopped meyer lemon and avocado oil dressing to drizzle over a pile of fresh micro mesclun ad pea shoot salad.  A light but filling meal to fit into the plan.

Seared Scallops with Radish and Micro Mesclun Salad

4 Servings | 10 minutes; Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit The Food Lover's Cleanse

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of fresh sea scallops

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

Micro mesclun blend Pea shoots

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems

1 tablespoons olive oil

2 Meyer lemon

Himalayan sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

METHOD

Zest lemon peel into a small bowl, then supreme.  Chop the flesh and add to the bowl with zest.  Juice remaining lemon and add olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper; add more lemon juice if needed.

Season the sea scallops with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  Cook, undisturbed, until the underside is caramel brown, about 1 minute.  Turn the scallops and cook until warmed through but still a bit translucent in the center, another minute.

In a medium bowl, toss mesclun, peashoots, and parsley, and dress with Meyer lemon dressing.  Serve the salad with scallops and drizzle with additional dressing.