These are my Tzatziki and Zaatar Sweet Potato Toasts and they are not only as delicious as they sound, but good FOR you. There has been this big misunderstanding about what a "detox" is because of the wellness industry ruining the term for marketing purposes. Detoxification is just the removal of toxins or harmful substances from the body out into urine or stool. Your body does this on a daily basis, otherwise we'd be screwed. Our liver has two different detoxification pathways and it's our job to continuously support these natural processes. Even though our bodies do this on their own, we can help keep these processes moving efficiently.
So, the real way to detox the body is actually by eating and I know that’s crazy to hear but that’s the reality. You've learned from the wellness industry that when you need to detox, you should either under eat or do a juice cleanse for 3 days straight. But, that's the complete opposite of what you should do. You actually need to feed your body even more. Say you come back from a trip and you're feeling a bit off, your digestive system is a bit "backed up". Or... you were just sick for awhile and want to get your body back to how it felt before, give it some good food since you weren't eating anything besides bread and soup. This is when you want to feed your body the proper foods to get your body to properly detox and have efficient digestion. There are foods that promote the natural processes of detoxification, so I wanted to make a recipe that does just this. Foods like arugula, onions, cilantro, and most fiber sources promote both detox and digestion.
Arugula is a bitter that helps stimulate digestion. Bitters trigger receptors along the GI tract to stimulate digestion, so these bitters in arugula will help promote a bowel movement. Onions contain sulfur, sulfur containing amino acids will create glutathione, which is known to be the body's "master antioxidant". This will help eliminate any toxins/heavy metals in the body. Cilantro needs to be studied more, but most studies have been showing a link between cilantro and metal chelation (aka removing metals from the body). Lastly, we know fiber is going to be the master of promoting digestion. Insoluble fiber is going to prevent the risk of constipation because it adds bulk to stool, so it will make it easier for stool to pass through the colon. Fiber is also able to bind to cholesterol, fat, toxins in the digestive tract and take it out into stool. So the fiber here are the chickpeas & sweet potato.
You can enjoy this recipe any time you want, for lunch or dinner. You also don't have to wait until you need to have a "detox". I just wanted to make a point that your body is constantly detoxing and that the best way to support your body's natural processes is by eating... and eating the right foods. This recipe does not take long to make and the best part is, you can make extra of the onion and tzatziki and save them for the next day. As for the sweet potato, you can choose to use already-prepped sweet potato toasts or slice them on your own. The brand I love is Roots Farm Fresh for sweet potato toasts. For the tzatziki, you can make your own, I used Love & Lemons' recipe or you can use store-bought. Feel free to double to triple the recipe, it's easy to make more of it. You are going to love this recipe!
1.Prep sweet potato & chickpeas: Preheat the oven to 400. Place sweet potato toasts & chickpeas onto baking sheet. Coat chickpeas with olive oil and season with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Add Zaatar. Mix seasonings in well. Bake in the oven until chickpeas are crispy, 20 minutes. Make sure to flip sweet potato toasts half way through.
2. Prep marinated onions: prep and place the thin strips of red onion into a serving bowl of choice. Add the olive oil, sumac, Aleppo pepper, and salt to the onions. Toss and allow onions to be coated evenly. Allow onions to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before adding to food.
3. Prep tzatziki: Place the cucumber on a towel and gently squeeze out a bit of the excess water. In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, dill, and mint, if using. Chill until ready to use. You can opt to buying read-made tzatziki if you don’t want to make the sauce as well.
4. Prep arugula: add arugula to a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, juice of lemon, and dash of salt. Mix and leave on to the side.
5. Serve: place sweet potato toasts onto a serving plate. Top each toast with arugula, roasted chickpeas, onion, and a dollop of tzatziki in that order. Enjoy!
I hope you love this recipe as much as I did, so if you do, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I always read through my suggestions and comments, so please let me know your thoughts. If you have any questions you can feel free to DM me here or through Instagram. Speaking of Instagram - please tag me in all of your creations! I love seeing how the recipes come out and seeing how talented you all are. Sending my love.
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