“When food is wrong, medicine is of no use. When food is right, medicine is of no need.” - Ayurvedic Proverb and the mantra of Casa de Luz.  

For the Branch Basics 10-Day Stay, breakfast, lunch, and dinner were eaten at Casa de Luz in Austin, Texas. Casa de Luz is a rare gem of a restaurant that focuses on organic, whole-food, plant-based recipes! Their focus is to serve foods as close as possible to their natural state—pesticide-free and free of factory processing.   

In our Toss the Toxins course, we focus on identifying and tossing harmful chemicals from the diet. The 10-Day Stay Casa de Luz diet contains no harmful chemicals, is balanced with all five tastes—salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and pungent—and is a micronutrient-rich elimination diet. 

Elimination diets typically remove the most common food allergens and dietary irritants (gluten, corn, dairy products, eggs, peanuts/tree nuts, fish/shellfish, animal foods, nightshade vegetables, caffeine, and alcohol) from the diet for 6-8 weeks. 

The Casa 10-Day Stay diet eliminated dairy, eggs, gluten, animal foods, fish, nightshades, shellfish, fruit, specific high-oxalate vegetables (spinach and Swiss chard), caffeine, and alcohol.  

Each meal included a soup, a whole grain, a bean/legume, a sea vegetable, a colorful vegetable dish, greens and sauce, a salad and dressing, a pickle or sauerkraut, and a tea to enhance digestion. 

The beautiful, and frankly miraculous, principle is that the body immediately enters a strong healing mode when interferences (harmful chemical exposures) are removed. This meal plan is designed to upregulate the diet to accommodate detoxification and facilitate even faster healing and restoration.

Do you need to forever eat as if you were at Casa de Luz? No, absolutely not!

The 10-day stay is designed to illustrate how harmful chemicals in the diet and environment undermine our health in obvious and subtle ways. It’s also designed to demonstrate that if you eat a balanced diet, you won't crave sugar or junk food.

You can use food as medicine to upregulate your diet and environment when necessary, especially during times of cleansing, stress, and sickness. The goal is to continue eating a whole-food, balanced diet with no processed foods containing harmful chemicals.

Below are a few of the favorite recipes experienced by those who participated in the 10-Day Stay in Austin! 

The Recipes 

Soups

Soup is included in every meal to prepare the stomach for digestion.  Warm soup relaxes the muscles in the digestive tract and improves gut motility. The ingredient options may alkalize and strengthen the blood quality, provide valuable fiber that is easy to digest, and provide prebiotics and probiotics that feed gut bacteria.

Creamy Sweet Potato Ginger Soup 

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 6 cups of water
• 3 cups of chopped sweet potato - Variety is the spice of life - try the many sweet potato varieties to eat the rainbow! 
  • Japanese Sweet Potatoes - white
  • Purple Sweet Potatoes - are especially medicinal - native to several blue zones
  • Garnet Sweet Potatoes - golden orange
  • Hannah Sweet Potato - yellow
  • Jewel Sweet Potato - orange
• ½ teaspoon of salt
  • Healthy Salt with no additives is very important to the body. It can be used as medicine for the kidneys and adrenal glands. Raw salt is hard on the kidneys - cooked salt is preferable. Roast sea salt in a pan for 3-5 minutes (stirring constantly) or at 400 degrees in the oven for 5 minutes – cool and store for use at the table.
  • Variety is the spice of life—rotate your salts.
    • Masu Sea Salt - medicinal sea salt used raw in cooking. Pan or oven roast for table use.. 
    • Si Salt - medicinal sea salt used raw in cooking. Pan or oven-roast for table use
    • Premier Research Pink Salt – can be used raw at the table or in cooking (no need to roast)
• 1 tablespoon of ginger juice (or more to taste) squeezed from finely grated  ginger
• ½ cup of organic coconut milk (optional) - Make your own additive free coconut milk in minutes (omit the dates for this recipe)

1. Bring the first three ingredients to a boil.
2. Reduce to a simmer until the sweet potato is tender.
3. Make coconut milk, if making your own.  Add to the cooking water.
4. Allow to cool a little, and then combine with coconut milk in a blender and process until smooth
5. Return batches to the clean pot and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, stirring well
6. Stir in ginger juice
7. Remove from heat and serve with thinly sliced scallions for garnish

Kabocha Squash Soup

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 8 cups of chopped kabocha squash
• 12 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of ginger juice (or more to taste) squeezed from finely grated  ginger - optional
• 1 cup of coconut milk - optional 

1. Place kabocha squash, water, and salt on high heat in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil 
2. Reduce the heat to medium and stir occasionally
3. Make coconut milk, if making your own.
4. Once the ingredients start to become thick and creamy, add in the coconut milk and stir until it is well combined with the other 
5. Bring to a boil for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat
6. Add ginger juice to taste if desired.
7. Serve with thinly sliced chives or scallions for garnish

Whole Grains

Whole grains are complex carbohydrates and are considered the most balanced foods in Traditional Medicinal cooking. Whole grains should be chewed thoroughly (until liquid) to take pressure off the digestive system, as they can be fully digested by enzymes in saliva.  

Millet with Butternut Squash

Millet is a gluten-free grain that nourishes the spleen/pancreas and stomach. Millet is used in medicinal cooking for those with metabolic syndrome, diabetes, blood sugar issues, and other conditions. It is also helpful for improving eyesight.  

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 5-6 cups of water
• 2 cups of millet
• 2 cups of cubed butternut squash, peeled
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• ¼ cup of pecans, pepita/pumpkin, or sunflower seeds, toasted or sprouted (raw)

1. Wash and drain the millet
2. Soak overnight in water to cover with 1 T. lemon juice.
3. Add millet and water to the pot and bring to a boil 
4. Add squash and salt to the pot and cook over medium heat until millet and squash are tender to the desired consistency - about 30 minutes
5. Use a masher to blend millet and squash
6. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes or so until the texture firms up
7. Add raw sprouted or roasted pepitas (or other seed or nut choice) to roast -heat an iron skillet and dry roast for a few minutes until golden (lightly toasted)
8. Keep pepitas moving in the pan to avoid scorching
9. Remove from heat and serve over millet as a garnish

Cool Quinoa Vegetable Salad

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 6 cups of water
• 3 cups of quinoa
• 1 teaspoon of salt or ume plum vinegar
• Ume plum vinegar is alkalizing to the body, stimulates digestion, neutralizes fatigue, and promotes the elimination of toxins.

• ¼ cup of shredded carrots
• ¼ cup of diced celery
• ¼ cup of green onions
• ¼ cup of shredded red radish
• ¼ cup of slivered almonds, lightly roasted
• ¼ cup of lemon juice
• ¼ cup of chopped fresh parsley

1. Rinse quinoa well and drain
2. Soak overnight in water to cover and 1 T. lemon juice
3. Drain soaking water
4. Bring water to a boil in a 3-liter pot over medium-high heat
5. Add quinoa to the pot and return to a boil
6. Adjust the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes
7. Remove from heat and transfer quinoa to a bowl
8. Once quinoa has cooled, add the remaining ingredients and gently stir

Beans/Legumes 

Beans are a food for today’s toxic world because they offer us a way to upregulate our body’s detoxification potential. Beans have the highest content of soluble fiber of all foods. The soluble fiber in beans binds with toxins in the bile and takes them out of the body through the bowel!

Beans are used in food as medicine to help balance hormones, lower cholesterol, reduce anxiety, calm allergic reactions, detox heavy metals, clear pesticides, and help prevent heart disease, cancer, dementia, diabetes, and obesity! Beans are medicine for the kidneys. If trying to recover from chronic illness, eating beans at each meal, or even more often, is often recommended to help reduce the toxic load.

Adzuki Beans

Adzuki beans are strong medicine for reproductive health, pregnancy, the kidneys, and the heart.  They act as a diuretic, enhance detoxification, lower “bad” cholesterol levels, boost digestion, balance hormones, and improve metabolic and heart health. Adzuki beans are high in B vitamins, especially folate, which can prevent birth defects and upregulate detoxification. 

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 2 cups of adzuki beans
• Consider batch cooking. 
• Beans freeze very well!
• 6 - 8 cups of water
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 strip of kombu     
• 1 - 2 teaspoons salt or to taste  (start with 1 teaspoon and add more to taste
• 1 - 3 tsp. gluten free shoyu/ tamari 

1. Rinse adzuki beans well and drain
2. Soak beans in water to cover and 1 T. lemon juice for 8 hours or overnight
3. Chop onion into small pieces - see chopping video 
4. Drain and rinse beans
5. Rinse the strip of kombu
6. Add chopped onions to about an inch of water - water saute for about 5 minutes.
7. Add beans, a strip of kombu, and 6-8 cups of water to the pot over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil.
8. Lower the heat and simmer until the beans are soft.  Start checking at 45 minutes to an hour.  Sometimes adzuki beans get soft relatively quickly. 
9. Do not add salt until the beans are fully soft.  If you add salt before they are done, they will never get soft and will not be digestible.
10. Add 1 t. salt and cook 30 minutes more.
11. Add more or less water—this can be made into a soup or a bean dish that can be used in tacos or tortillas.
12. Taste for salt - add more salt 
13. Add tamari to taste
14. Serve with a garnish of thinly sliced green onions or a sprig of parsley

Colorful Vegetable Dish

Emphasize colorful vegetables—make your plate look like a rainbow! A micronutrient-rich, colorful mix of vegetables will supply the body with a wide variety of phytochemicals/nutrients that are antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, support immune and reproductive function, aid detoxification, support brain health, and more. The more deeply pigmented the vegetable, the greater the benefits. Consider eating thirty different plant foods in a week – this is really not hard, considering all the wonderful options we have. The key is not to repeat the same vegetables day after day. 

Water Saute with Green Bean, Carrots, Yellow Squash, Celery & Green Onion

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 1 cup of yellow squash, matchstick cut
• 1 cup of carrots, matchstick cut
• 4 cups of green beans cut into 1-inch long pieces
• 1 cup celery matchsticks, cut into thinly sliced diagonals
• 1 cup of green onions, halved long-ways then cut into 1-inch lengths
• Pinch salt
• Shoyu or tamari to taste

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of water and a small pinch of salt in a frying pan over medium-low heat
2. Add celery and carrots
3. Water saute for about 4-5 minutes
4. Add yellow squash and green beans, and saute another 3-4 minutes
5. Add green onions and shoyu, and saute 1 minute more
6. Toss well, remove from heat, and serve

Dark Leafy Greens

During the 10-Day Stay, it was important to eat about 3 cups of cooked, nutrient-dense dark leafy greens each day. These include kale (dinosaur kale, purple kale, curly kale, red kale), dandelion greens, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, daikon greens, and bok choy.

Dark leafy greens are a vitamin and mineral powerhouse providing bioavailable magnesium, calcium, potassium, and vitamins in just the balance the body needs.  A daily dose of dark leafy greens is standard when using food as medicine or to upregulate your detoxification capacity.

Water Sauteed Greens

Ingredients (all organic)

• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 2 Tablespoons toasted brown sesame seeds
• 1 bunch of chopped greens (choose from the list above)
• Pinch Salt
• Splash of Balsamic vinegar - optional

1. Rinse and drain the sesame seeds. 
2. Toast the sesame seeds in a skillet. See this video  and this video
3. Pour toasted seeds on a plate to cool. 
4. Heat the mustard seeds in the pan you will be cooking the greens in. Stir constantly, until they start to pop.
5. Add a small amount of water, a pinch of salt, and the greens
6. Sauté the greens, stirring constantly. Cook until fork-tender and still bright green.
7. Add more water if necessary to avoid burning.
8. When the greens are cooked, add the cooled toasted sesame seeds. 
9. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, if desired.
10. Toss and serve.

Blanched Mixed Greens

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 7-8 cups of water
• 3 collard green leaves, thinly sliced
• 3 kale green leaves, thinly sliced
• 5 cups of thinly sliced Napa cabbage
• 1 cup of thinly sliced daikon greens

1. Remove stems from collards and kale and slice thinly
2. Place the napa cabbage at the bottom of the pot
3. Cover with the rest of the greens and add 7 to 8 cups of water
4. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil
5. Lower to medium heat and cook for 2 - 5 minutes
6. The greens should be bright green and fork-tender
7. Use a strainer to remove the greens from the pot, then drain.
8. Save the liquid for soups or as a warm mineral-rich drink.
9. Top with a dollop of one of the savory sauces (see next recipe!)

Sauces

For the 10-Day Stay, we used no oils. Our fats/oils for dressing and sauces came from nuts and seeds blended into sauces.

Sweet Potato/Almond Butter Sauce 

Almonds and sweet potatoes are paired to make a delicious, hearty sauce. Serve over greens or grains!

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 1 medium sweet potato (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 4 ounces of almond butter (1/2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon of shoyu
• 1 tablespoon of lime juice
• Pinch of salt
• Filtered water as needed

1. Wash sweet potato and cut into 2” chunks (or use leftover baked sweet potatoes)
2. Place in a heavy pan with ¾ cup of water
3. Bring to a simmer over low heat until tender
4. Remove from heat, reserve any leftover cooking water
5. Allow to cool
6. Place cooled sweet potatoes, cooking water, almond butter, shoyu, and lime juice in a blender and puree until smooth
7. Add a bit more water and salt if desired, and serve

Sun Cheese

Serve this cool and creamy condiment over grains, enchiladas, pasta, or greens.

Ingredients (all organic)  - cut recipe in half if desired.

• 4 cups of sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup of lemon juice
• ¼ cup of ume vinegar
• ½ cup of filtered water
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of salt

1. Soak 4 cups of sunflower seeds overnight in 1 T. lemon juice and water to cover. 
2. After soaking overnight, wash the sunflower seeds and remove shells from the seeds
3. Once washed, blend sunflower seeds with water, ume vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and garlic
4. Blend ingredients together until smooth and creamy
5. Serve! 

No-Tomato Red Sauce

Serve this no-tomato red sauce over pasta, polenta, or pizza. You can use it as the base for Bolognese Sauce to pack in the veggies!

Makes 3-4 cups

Prep and Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 1 medium onion
• 1 small beet
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 clove garlic
• * Pinch of sea salt
• 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs (thyme, basil, oregano, or rosemary)
• 1 cup of filtered water
• 1 tablespoon of barley or sweet white miso
• 1 tablespoon of ume vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

1. Coarsely chop onions, beets, carrots, celery, and garlic
2. Crush herbs to bring out flavor
3. Place vegetables and herbs in a pan, pressure cooker, or Instant Pot with water and a pinch of sea salt
4. Bring to pressure or to a boil if not pressure cooking
5. Cook for 20 minutes (or put in a pot on the stove covered until soft  for about 25 minutes)
6. Remove heat and let pressure come down
7. Place cooked vegetables and cooking water in a blender and puree to a sauce consistency (make sure the vegetables are cooled if you are using a plastic blender)
8. Place back in the pot and flavor with miso (white miso for sweet flavor, barley miso for more body), lemon juice, ume vinegar, and apple cider vinegar. Mix the miso with a little water and stir it in.  Cook on very low for 5 minutes. You don’t want to boil miso (kills the good bacteria) or eat raw miso.

Sea Vegetables

Sea vegetables are a treasure chest of trace minerals and vitamins A, C, E, and K. They strengthen bones and teeth, aid digestion, support the gut microbiome, are alkalizing, strengthen the immune system, improve metabolic function, reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and stimulate the liver, kidneys, intestines, and skin to drive stored toxins out of the body. 

Sea vegetables are the best dietary source of iodine, which protects against radiation poisoning and is essential for thyroid function. Sea vegetables are only needed in small amounts to be effective. More is not better!

In using food as medicine and at Casa, sea vegetables are incorporated into dishes and sometimes are a side in a meal.  Sea vegetables are always used when cooking beans and may be used in soups. 

Arame Seaweed with Carrots and Onions

Arame is used in many medicinal recipes, especially for thyroid, breast, and hormone health.

Ingredients (all organic) Note - if a package of sea vegetables says organic and it is from the sea, it may be marketing hype to get you to buy the product.  There is no such thing as organic sea vegetables from the sea, although some seaweeds are cultivated under special conditions or in what is considered protected waters.

Ingredients 

• ½ cup of dry arame sea vegetable
• 1 cup of white. red, or yellow onion, sliced thin (See How-To video #1 or video #2)
• 1 cup of julienne or matchstick-cut carrots 
• ½ - 1 Tablespoon Wheat Free Tamari
• 2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• Sliced green onions or scallions for garnish

1. Rinse and drain the sesame seeds. 
2. Toast the sesame seeds in a skillet. (See this video  and this video)
3. Pour toasted seeds on a plate to cool. Store extras in an airtight container after fully cooled.
4. Rinse arame and hydrate by soaking in water to cover for 30 minutes
5. Rinse and drain
6. Add a small amount of water to the skillet
7. Add onions and water saute for 3 minutes in an open skillet - do not cover.
8. Add carrots, and saute for 3 more minutes
9. Add a little water to avoid burning
10. Add and mix in tamari - heat for a minute or two. Start with ½ T., taste and adjust.
11. Remove from heat
12. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and garnish with green onions or scallions sliced thin or on the diagonal..  See this blog for pictures of different cuts

Note: This recipe also makes a really nice summer dish with 1 - 2 cups organic corn (instead of or in addition to the carrots) cut from a cob or frozen. Add a bit of toasted sesame oil after cooking, if desired.

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is both a prebiotic (feeds the bacteria in the gut) and a probiotic.  A probiotic is live bacteria that adds diversity to the gut.  Probiotics boost the gut microbiome and immune system.

Sauerkraut (Red or Green)

Ingredients (all organic) 

• 10-12 pounds of shredded cabbage
• 5 or 6 tablespoons of salt
• 3 tablespoons of caraway seeds (optional)

1. Mix the cabbage, salt, and caraway seeds together
2. Crush it with your fist to bruise it and bring it out of the liquid

Note: this will take a little bit of time. There needs to be enough liquid released to cover the cabbage when it is pressed down

1. Put in wide-mouth jars or a ceramic pot
2. Put a plate on top, then fill another jar with water to use as a weight

Note: there should be enough liquid and weight for the liquid to cover the plate at least ¼ to ½ inch.

1. Cover with a clear cloth, holding it on with a rubber band or string

Note: the temperature should be kept between 60 and 85 degrees, the cooler the better. It can be left from 3 to 4 days to 3 to 4 months. At Casa de Luz, 4 weeks is average.

Note: Red cabbage is denser than green, so it should be left longer. Special ceramic crocks for making sauerkraut are available

Salad

Simple Green Salad

Ingredients - (all organic) 

Use one or more of the following

• 1 container  Spring Mix Greens - (triple prewashed and as fresh as you can find)
• 1 container Romaine Lettuce -  (triple prewashed and as fresh as you can find)
• 1 container Arugula Lettuce -  (triple prewashed and as fresh as you can find)
• Or any seasonal greens

Note: Choose from one or more of the three options above.  Prewashed lettuce saves so much time. For the 10 Day Stay, we did not include spinach. If you didn’t obtain prewashed greens, make sure you clean your lettuce and use a salad spinner to remove moisture to prevent a soggy salad!

• ½ - 1 cup red onion, sliced thin
• 1 cup finely grated carrot
• 1 container Broccoli sprouts. Only buy premade if it's bright dark green.  Do not buy the light green sprouts. This is an amazing brand that is dark green and lasts a long time, available in grocery stores and online.   If you want to grow your own - Sprout People
• 1 avocado diced
• 1 cucumber, sliced into thin rounds, quartered

1. Wash and prepare the vegetables for salad
2. Add the salad dressing below
3. Toss

Walnut Dill Sauce or Salad Dressing

Ingredients - All Organic

• 2 cups toasted (cooked) or sprouted (raw) walnuts
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 T. Umeboshi Vinegar
• 1 T. Rice Vinegar
• 1 T. Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp. Dill
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 cup water

1. Toast walnuts in a skillet until fragrant.  Stir continuously - watch so the walnuts don’t burn
2. Let walnuts cool.
3. Add all ingredients to the blender or food processor
4. Blend
5. Add more liquid/water if needed to thin for dressing

Juices

Our 10-Day Stay included drinking juices from Alchemy Juice in glass bottles twice a day!  Instead of snacking throughout the day, drinking fresh juice gives the digestive system a rest from digesting fiber. The juices chosen for the 10-Day Stay were low glycemic options: 

• Celery Juice
• Pure Greens
• Chlorophyll Beauty Water

We hope you like trying these nutritious meals this week!

• Remember to wash your produce safely.
• Find more nutrient-dense snacks through the Branch Basics guide.
• To get started with Branch Basics products and to learn more about all-natural, human-safe cleaning products, start here.
• Check out the Branch Basics Premium Starter Kit to clean your home without harsh chemicals, or try the Trial Kit to test it out.