Salmon and Avocado Brown Rice Bowl

Since the new year began, I've been on a bit of an inadvertent health kick. It all started when I got the worst stomach flu of all time back in the beginning of January. This stomach flu was the mother of all flus and had me throwing up for eight hours straight, unable to keep a mere sip of spring water down. That was followed by a fever. And then chills and aches. I thought I was surely dying a long, horrible death via some unknown dread disease à la Contagion. But lo and behold, turns out a flu is just a flu, and I would live to tell the tale.

That particularly brutal week forced me into an extreme cleanse of sorts since the thought of solid food induced violent gag reflexes in me. I basically lived on Juice Press smoothies and green juices for ten days straight. And then slowly, in small portions, I introduced fish back in. And then chicken. All was going well. I was seeing the light at the end of the starvation tunnel. But then, on one hungover weekend morning, I decided to go the whole hog, and order a big, old, delicious meal from my favorite Williamsburg Chinese place. It involved a lot of red meat and white rice, and after the last bite was consumed, I immediately felt like I'd been hit by a truck and took to bed. I felt so sick, in fact, that I spent a considerable amount of time wondering if I was somehow coming down with a second flu in as many weeks. And then I put two and two together, and realized that my body was probably reacting badly to the red meat. After not having it for so long, my system was showing me exactly how it felt when it wasn't desensitized to the process of trying to digest it. It was an "aha" moment for me, and since then, I've given up on red meat, refined sugar, and processed foods. And holy hell, has it made a difference. My energy levels are up, my skin is clearer and more glowy, and I've trimmed a few excess pounds I didn't need. I have no hard and fast rules--I'm going to London in a couple of days and I'll be damned if I don't have a bite of The EDITION Hotel's bacon sandwich, and I know that the day will come when a melty gooey chocolate chip cookie from The Smile will call my name in a way I won't be able to resist. But for the most part, I've learned to stay away from that stuff and love it. Because it makes me feel great, it makes my workouts longer and more efficient, and it makes me a better person somehow. Eating clean food will do that to you.

So, on that very long-winded note, I give you a favorite little concoction I like to whip up when I don't know what to make. It's a brown rice bowl (short grain), with pretty much whatever you like tossed into it. My particular combo of the moment is a piece of wild salmon (sautéed in organic coconut oil), along with some cubes of avocado, and a sprinkle of salmon caviar for some salty, umami goodness. I'll throw in some homemade sriracha too, if I'm feeling a bit saucy. There's barely any actual cooking involved (minus the brown rice and the extremely easy salmon sauté), so it's more about simple assembly here. Happy, healthy eating, loves. xo