Preparing for the fruit cleanse with a pre-cleanse

The fruit cleanse has begun, or it feels that way. I don't start the fruit-only menu until Friday, but I have made lots of lists about fruit, bought fruit and made more lists about the "clean" food I'll be eating pre- and post-cleanse. The verdict so far: cleansing is exhausting.

I'm relying on Baron Baptiste's "Journey Into the Power," which has a loose guide to cleansing. He recommends eating "clean" two days before and two days after the cleanse, eliminating rich meats, dairy and sugar and instead eating steamed or baked lean proteins, lots of greens and whole grains. My schedule is harried this week, so I started early and made my favorite vegetable soup on Sunday. It's a basic Italian white bean soup, built on a base of onions, carrots and tomatoes and hearty with wheatberries and kale. Dried morels add an earthy, savory touch.

 Cleanse-approved vegetable soup

I ate the soup for lunch, then that night went to a wedding and ate prime rib, coconut shrimp and pink champagne cake.

For good measure, I threw in a rich meal of Shanghai noodles, salt and pepper crispy chicken and dry-cooked green beans tonight at one of my favorite restaurants, Chiang's Gourmet. Now that my body is officially oversaturated, cleansing can commence.

I often go veg when I have overindulged on rich foods so I'm happy about the "clean days" when I plan to eat a meal of steamed chicken thighs (I'm cheating a little, but thighs taste better), rainbow chard and brown rice and one night of tomatoes cooked with corn and tofu and quinoa. Fruit feels a little harder. But I have a game plan of sorts, which I'll lay out later this week.

In the meantime, because I'm a word nerd, I want to start sharing new yoga words here. I spend a lot of time in class listening for new ways to describe where I want a pose to go. With a new "word of the week" I hope more of these words sink in and emerge from my mouth. This week's word: channel. As in channel your breath, channel your energy, channel your thoughts to the present.

Or, channel your thoughts to vegetable soup. For anyone looking for a great, hearty vegetarian soup, I highly recommend this one.
Farro Soup
Modified from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."
1/4 c. virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 tbl. minced garlic
1 c. dried white beans, preferably soaked overnight
1 c. farro, spelt, wheatberries or rye berries
2 c. chopped canned tomato, including liquid
Handful dried morels, soaked in 1 c. hot water, chopped, preserving liquid
6 c. water or vegetable stock
Handful fresh parsley or basil

Put oil in a large, deep stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add onion, carrots, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions have softened, 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and stir, add farro, beans, tomato, morels, soaking liquid and stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about an hour until farro and beans are tender, adding stock or water as necessary. Stir in chopped parsley or basil. Optional: serve topped with freshly grated Parmesan.