My Hallelujah Diet Day. . .Plus recipes for Eggplant Steaks, Sauteed Plantains, Garlic and Rosemary Fries, and Strawberry Walnut Salad

My small group at church is learning to adapt healthy eating habits and exercise based on the Hallelujah Diet (hacres.com). This week we were challenged to follow the whole plant-based food diet for an entire day. 

I started the day with a large glass of water with lemon and chili pepper. The HD recommends that you don't eat first thing in the morning because your body needs those first few hours for cleansing. After a few hours of being awake, I ate some oatmeal soaked in almond milk with walnuts and strawberries.

I snacked on raw veggies like carrots and grape tomatoes throughout the day. Most of the Hallelujah Diet requires eating raw food (because raw veggies have enzymes that get destroyed when cooked), but you are allowed to have one cooked meal a day.

This was my cooked meal: Eggplant Steaks, sauteed plantains, garlic and rosemary fries, and a strawberry/walnut salad. 

(**Disclaimer - Below is a picture of my husband's lunch. I put Gorgonzola on his steaks, but left it off mine since it is animal product. The picture of mine is at the end.)

GARLIC AND ROSEMARY FRIES

Ingredients: Olive oil, minced garlic, one chopped up onion, rosemary, a bag of Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1/4" pieces. 

Directions: Drizzle olive oil onto two baking pans. Put potatoes, onion, and garlic into the pan and mix with your fingers till it's about even. Sprinkle rosemary and drizzle a little more olive oil on top. Broil the pans on 500 for about 20 to 30 minutes--checking every 10.

EGGPLANT STEAKS

Ingredients: Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, hot sauce, olive oil, honey, apple sauce, parsley, onion flakes, (Gorgonzola or Parmesan optional), and an eggplant cut into 1/2" slices.

Directions:  Mix the sauces and spices together so you have enough to spoon a little over both sides of your eggplant pieces. (Don't spoon yet!) Go easy on the first three sauces as they can be high in sodium. Coat one or two baking pans with a light amount of olive oil. Arrange the eggplant in the pans and spoon a little mixture on the face up side of each piece. Broil on 500 for 4 minutes. Flip the pieces over and spoon the rest of the mixture over each piece. If you want to add cheese, do that now, but be sparing. Broil for another 4 minutes. If you want the steaks more tender, cook for a bit longer.

SAUTEED PLANTAINS

Ingredients: Nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, chili pepper, olive oil, one plantain cut into 1/8" slices. 

Directions: Coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and let sit over medium heat for a few minutes. Place plantains pieces into the pan and start seasoning, drizzling oil as needed, and flipping every few seconds. When they are the desired color of translucent yellow. . .stop.

STRAWBERRY AND WALNUT SALAD

Ingredients: Baby spinach, cut up strawberry, grape tomatoes, walnuts, light balsamic vinaigrette

Directions: If you don't know how to make a salad, I don't know what to tell you. . .

This was my plate. Everything is the same except no Gorgonzola.

And for dinner I will have a raw vegetable smoothie like I always do! Yay!

THE END!