Pesto Green Beans and South Beach Diet Phase 1 Week 1 Update

Looks like I have been starting every other blog post with an apology. This time I have a genuine excuse for my tardiness. Over the past three months I have spent a good amount of time at the chiropractor’s office and with a physical therapist due to a constant pain in the neck. (And no, I am not figuratively speaking about Siv or my boss) I don’t want to bore you with all the details but I have been doing a lot of exercises as part of the Physical therapy to strengthen my muscles and last Thursday I hurt my right shoulder doing some PT move. Because of this I couldn’t type for more than a few minutes in a stretch for the past few days and of course I had to save all those precious minutes for my paying job. My neck and shoulders don’t really let me watch TV for long or sleep comfortably. Take away three of my favorite pastimes – TV, Computer and Sleep – life gets pretty boring. Luckily I could cook without much strain. My shoulder is a lot better now, but the neck doesn’t really let me type for long still, so here is an easy recipe (it’s stretching the meaning of the word) I can type quickly.

Pesto Green Beans is nothing but blanched French beans quick sauteed with some flavorful pesto, it is a fantastic side dish regardless of whether you are following a diet or not. It will work with store bought pesto or you can make your own. A pesto is the easiest thing in the world to make, all you need is some herbs and some nuts and garlic and olive oil, the possible variations and flavors are endless! I used a combo of spinach, mint and cilantro for herbs and pine nuts. I won’t type the pesto recipe as you can use any pesto you like.

Ingredients

• 1 lb green beans
• 2 tbsp pesto
• 1 tsp olive oil

Method

In a large sauce pan place enough water to cover the beans and bring to a boil. Add the beans and boil for 3 minutes. Remove and immediately plunge in a prepared ice water bath to stop the cooking. Drain. Blanching the beans brings out their bright green color.

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the blanched and drained green beans and just about heat the beans. Don’t overcook, we want to keep the crunch. Switch off the stove and add the pesto and toss well.

Here are a few pesto recipes for inspiration.

Arugula-Cilantro Pesto with Yogurt

Roasted Piquillo Pepper – Walnut pesto 

Sage Pesto

Garlic Spears – Almond Pesto
 

South Beach Diet Update

I am on second week of SBD phase 1 and very pleased with the first week results.

• Days on Diet – 8
• Weight loss - 3lb

Here is my daily menu for the last 6 days. Not very interesting, a lot of repeats, but just wanted to post this as it shows how easy it is to create an SBD phase 1 plan.

Day 1 Menu

Day 2 Menu 

Day 3 Menu (Thursday)

• Breakfast – 1 slice of the breakfast casserole + Coffee
• Midmorning Snack – 1 wedge laughing cow cheese
• Lunch – Grilled Salmon + Salad from Office Café
• Evening Snack – 15 almonds
• Dinner – Spicy sautéed chicken + Pesto Beans

Day 4 Menu (Friday – Stayed Home)

• Breakfast – 1 slice of the breakfast casserole + Coffee
• Midmorning Snack – Left over grilled mackerel + cauli-rice
• Lunch – Almond Crusted Tilapia + Pesto Beans
• Evening Snack – 15 almonds
• Dinner – Chickpea Flour Pizza with Pesto, Chicken Sausage, Grilled peppers, mushrooms & Mozzarella (Recipe coming up)

Day 5 Menu (Saturday – No Cooking, Leftover Day)

• Breakfast – 1 slice of the breakfast casserole + Coffee
• Midmorning Snack – 1 wedge laughing cow cheese
• Lunch – Left over grilled mackerel + Pesto Beans
• Evening Snack – Non-fat latte + 15 almonds
• Dinner – Leftover Chickpea Flour Pizza with Pesto, Chicken Sausage, Grilled peppers, mushrooms & Mozzarella (Recipe coming up)

Day 6 Menu (Sunday)

• Brunch – 2 egg Omelet with Chicken Sausage , spinach, mushrooms, peppers & Mozzarella + Coffee
• Afternoon Snack – 2 wedge laughing cow cheese
• Evening Snack – Non-fat latte + 15 almonds
• Dinner – Kerala style Pork Fry + Oven roasted French beans

Day 7 Menu (Monday)

• Breakfast – 2 egg Omelet with Mushrooms, Bell peppers and cheddar + 2 strips of bacon (from office café)
• Midmorning Snack – 15 almonds
• Lunch – Portabella mushroom salad (from office café)
• Evening Snack – None L
• Late Evening Snack – Left over Kerala style Pork Fry
• Late Dinner – White Beans and Spinach soup in light Coconut Milk (Recipe coming up)

Day 8 Menu (Tuesday)

• Breakfast – 2 egg Omelet with Mushrooms, Bell Peppers and Feta + Coffee
• Mid-morning snack – 1 wedge laughing cow cheese
• Lunch – Left over Kerala style Pork Fry + Oven roasted French beans
• Evening Snack – None L
• Dinner – Spanish Style Chicken + Sautéed Spinach

Well, so much for the short post I gotta go ice the neck now.

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Category: Beans, Phase 1, Side Dishes, South Beach Diet Friendly