I've decided to adopt the Wahls Diet in stages. It's a little too intense to just jump in cold turkey. This week I am focusing eating all the servings of vegetables, meat and minerals. Over the next couple of weeks I'll work on eliminating gluten and dairy.
My first challenge was figuring out what to eat for breakfast when gluten is out and lots of vegetables need to be added in. This egg skillet has been my go to breakfast. If you missed it here's my introductory post on starting the Wahls Diet. In short it is a nutrient intense diet aimed at getting your body all it needs to run optimally. I'm calling this series Brain Food.
Here's a little video from Dr. Wahls herself on how to get started:
After doing some trial recipes between Thanksgiving and Christmas I realized in order to eat all this nutrient dense food every meal would have to count. This egg skillet is the perfect way to front load your vegetables for the day.
I'm still not sure what the final word is on eggs and the Wahls Diet. Some places in Minding My Mitochondria advocate for them and then others state eggs are restricted. My personal interpretation is that some folks have allergies or food sensitivities to eggs. If you are actively suffering taking eggs out of your diet is a good precaution and may help.
However, since I'm healthy and I don't have any current health issues I'll keep eating eggs. I am choosing the best quality of fresh eggs from a local farmer. They are a cheap source of protein. And I know the Weston A. Price Foundation promotes eggs as an excellent source of complete protein.
Above is a plate with two servings. Jeff and I usually split a plate so we get about two eggs each plus two or three cups of vegetables. I change up the vegetables depending on what we have on hand. This time of year I'm using a lot of the produce I put up frozen peppers, dehydrated cherry tomatoes, onion, purple cabbage and frozen kale. Other veggies that occasionally make an appearance are leeks, spinach, mushroom and chard.
Above is another example of a skillet. This one has spinach instead of kale and cabbage. One serving of these skillets has:
- 1/2 cup onion/mushroom (daily goal 1 cup)
- 1 cup cuciferous/greens (daily goal 3 cups)
- 1/2 cup brightly colored veggies (daily goal 3 cups)
- 1/2 tablespoon minerals (daily goal 1 teaspoon)
Not too shabby. Depending on how you combine the veggies you could fit even more in there.
There are two rather unusual ingredients I like to add to my skillets. They are miso paste and dried seaweed flakes.
Miso is from Japan and is a made by fermenting soybeans. You may also see it made from barley, rice or other grains. The most common application is as part of the broth in miso soup. Here I'm using it like a bullion to add flavor to the veggies. Notice I found a variety that is MSG free and low salt. Fermented foods help keep your gut healthy. Here's a blog post from Dr. Wahls on how that works: Your Gut and Auto Immune Disease.
I also add a tablespoon of dried dulse flakes. Dulse is a type of seaweed. One of the daily goals of the Wahls Diet is a teaspoon of minerals and dried seaweed counts. In particular seaweed has iodine and zinc as well as other trace minerals. I notice the smell more than the taste when I add in the dulse. It smells a little fishy. Fishy in a good way. Kind of the same way the nori wrapped around sushi isn't a strong flavor. I bought both of the miso and seaweed off amazon. If you have an Asian food store near you or a decent co-op you might be able to find them on the shelves. Here's the link online if you are interested:
They are a little pricey, the miso in particular but they both go a long way because they are used in small amounts. And if you don't have them on hand, they aren't integral to the recipe. You could substitute with some flavorful herbs.
This skillet is a cinch to cook and it comes together quickly in about 20 minutes.
Brain Food Breakfast Skillet
Serves 2
4 eggs1 onion, chopped1 red or orange pepper, chopped1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated2 cups purple cabbage, shredded2 cups greens like kale, spinach or chard1 tablespoon miso paste1 tablespoon dried seaweed flakes like dulse1 tablespoon solid fat like lard, tallow or coconut oil
- Over medium heat in a large skillet saute the onions and peppers in half of the fat until the onions are glassy.
- Add the cabbage and miso and continue cooking until the cabbage is starting to go limp.
- Mix in the sun-dried tomatoes and greens give them a quick stir then push all the veggies to the edges.
- Melt the remaining fat in the now empty center of the skillet to coat. Reduce the heat to low and add the eggs. Cook the eggs in the center until just set.
- Sprinkle the seaweed flakes over the top and you're ready to serve.
My other posts in this series:
Brain Food: Adopting the Wahls Diet
Brain Food: Warm Butternut Chickpea Salad - Recipe
Brain Food: What I ate today on the Wahls Diet
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