People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically.
Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the Fast Diet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.
There is an idea that this dish was created in Rome during the 1940s with ingredients from American GIs, since ‘bacon n eggs’ are so American. Not so, says Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Rather, it is traditional food of country men who go into the woods for days on end to burn charcoal in the hills outside of Rome. Since that activity involves flat-out work during days of living rough, there was a need for a meal that was quick to prepare from portable ingredients: dried ham, pasta, Romano cheese. Thus this is the pasta of il carbonaio, the charcoal maker. I’ve tried recipes with more ingredients that claimed to be authentic, but this is the dish that I will prepare again and again.
| Sv 8 | Sv 2 | |
| 2 Tsp EVOO 6 thin slices pancetta | ½ tsp EVOO 1½ slices pancetta | Cut meat into ¼“ strips. Heat oil and pancetta over medium, and cook until meat is crisp but not burnt. Take off heat, cover, set aside. |
| 4 two-oz eggs 2 tsp grated Romano salt + pepper | 1 two-oz egg 1 tsp grated Romano cheese salt + pepper | Grate the cheese to produce 4 oz [for 8 servings] or 1 oz [for 2 people]. Remove a bit for now and save the rest. Beat cheese into eggs, and add seasonings. |
| Boiling salted water 1# spaghetti | Boiling salted water 4oz wh-wh spaghetti | Cook pasta until tender but undercooked. Drain into a bowl and measure ¼ cup of pasta water. |
| ¼ c pasta water cooked pancetta | 3 Tbsp pasta water cooked pancetta | Add pasta water to the pancetta in its pan and reheat, scraping up the brown glaze from the bottom. |
| Cooked pasta | Cooked pasta | Add cooked pasta to pan and stir to combine. |
| Beaten eggs ground black pepper | Beaten eggs ground black pepper | Stir eggs into the pan until eggs are cooked and clinging to the pasta. Season with lots of pepper. |
| Scant 4 oz. Romano | Scant 1 oz Romano | Sprinkle with cheese and stir to combine. Plate, serve. |
Eating well, with creative recipes, to follow the Fasting Lifestyle according to Michael Mosley's "Fast Diet." 