I ran a marathon a couple weeks ago and that left me feeling pretty beat up and depleted. So I decided a nice cleanse would be a great way to reset my body and remove any inflammation. 

Here are my cleanse guidelines 

1. No sugar, alcohol, flour or animal products (or anything that contains those ingredients)

2. It’s not about starving myself,  so I eat as much as I need to in order to have energy and feel good. 

This week I am eating lots of “green smoothies”. There is no right or wrong way to make a green smoothie. There are no exact measurements or ingredients. But this is what I put in mine (this week anyway):

These burgers are so full of protein and delicious even non-vegans love them! I always trash my kitchen making them but it’s totally worth it because in the end I have dinner for a week plus extra for the freezer!

Adapted from Appetite for Reduction

A little olive oil

2 small red onions diced

1 pound zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2 inch thick

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups lightly packed cilantro, chopped (stems and leaves)

2 15oz cans black beans

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 cup bread crumbs (I just save the heels from my bread and chop them up for this)

1/2 cup chipotles in adobo sauce, seeds removed (wear gloves when removing seeds and chopping chipotles!)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Sauté the onion in a large pan over medium high heat for about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, garlic, cilantro and a pinch of salt, sauté 7-10 minutes until the zucchini is soft.

Transfer the zucchini mixture to a food processor, pulse until mostly smooth then transfer mixture to a very large mixing bowl.

Now add the rest of the ingredients except for the bread crumbs and quinoa to the food processor. Process until smooth then add that mixture to the large mixing bowl.

Last, add the quinoa & bread crumbs to the mixing bowl and mix. If the mixture is too wet add a little flour or more bread crumbs. They will dry out a little in the oven so don’t get them too dry. They should feel kind of like a sloppy joe at this point.

Shape the mixture into patties (it should make about 12-14 burgers) and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, or until patties slightly crisp on top. Flip patties with a spatula and bake 10 more minutes.