Isn’t this a strange little plate? I found it in a rummage store.

It’s cleanse time! Have you ever noticed that with summer comes a lot of sugar? Not that I regret a single mouthful of sour cherry and chocolate gelato or even one of the 300 juice-squirting peaches, but most years by about this time I notice that my skin and I are both a little tired and my sugar cravings have gone from mildly bratty to full-blown obnoxious. For me, that means a cleanse is in order. The timing is perfect: there’s still lots of gorgeous, locally grown produce, I’m not yet struggling with the vastly-reduced light we experience in the wintertime here on the ‘wet’ coast and the slight chill in the air makes me feel energized and alive, rather than just chilly.
This spinach recipe is great for getting started on a cleanse. It’s adapted from a website of meticulously sourced international recipes that I absolutely LOVE called whats4eats.com. The original recipe is great but I wanted mine to be vegan. The coconut milk isn’t on my cleanse(no tropical fruit, no canned foods) so I left it out this time. If you want to do the same, you may want to consider reducing the spices if you’re not used to them. I love them, so I added extra, particularly turmeric to help my joints stop creaking and popping and cayenne as it’s a powerful detoxifyer.  Served over brown rice, this dish always makes me feel luxuriously light yet satisfied and like I’m not missing a thing. Wishing you a clean and delicious week. xo Jasmine

Vegan Indian Creamed Spinach
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 lb spinach, chopped and washed
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp virgin coconut oil
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/3 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4-1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper(optional)
1-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup filtered water
1/2 cup coconut milk

Directions
Over a medium-high flame melt coconut oil. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently till onions are translucent. Reduce heat to medium. Add ginger, garlic, salt, coriander powder, turmeric powder and cayenne if you are using it. Stir continuously for 2 minutes. Add water and spinach and bring to a boil. Cover and cook until spinach is wilted, 4-5 minutes. Now If you’re smart you’ll wait until the spinach has cooled before blending it. Needless to say, I’ve never done this. I put on a big apron and my sunglasses to protect my eyes from splatters, tilt the pot to make the spinach deeper and blend it up right in the pot with my hand blender.
Like, I said, you can always cool, blend and re-heat. Either way, stir the coconut milk into the hot spinach and serve. Dee-licous!