A Complete Guide To HCG, A Diet Plan and Recipe

Produced by the body during pregnancy, HCG is a hormone that plays a key role. It helps maintain the production of important hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, which are crucial for the development of the embryo and the fetus. This hormone can also be used as a remedy for fertility problems in both men and women. Apart from that, it’s also believed to promote weight loss by boosting metabolism.

Low levels of HCG can mean an unhealthy pregnancy, which may lead to further complications for both the mother and the unborn child. Fortunately, this can be remedied naturally with an effective diet plan.

The HCG Diet Plan

The HCG diet plan seeks to restore the user’s HCG hormone to healthy levels. The diet plan relies on food and HCG supplements to do its job. The meals that one consumes in this diet must be below 500 calories per serving.

Home Chef

This is one of the best online meal kit providers in 2020 besides Sun Basket and Hello Fresh. It offers a wide range of delicious and easy-to-make meal kits suitable for the HCG diet plan. These include chimichurri and sweet potato bowl with chickpeas and chayote squash, which contains only 432 calories per serving.

Source: homechef.com

You may wonder how does this meal delivery service work? What are its meal kit prices? What’s the customer service experience like? For these and other similar questions, be sure to read their insightful review post. It covers everything about Home Chef, including the pros and cons of the service and it can be found here. Now let’s move on to their chimichurri and sweet potato bowl with chickpeas and chayote squash meal kit plus a recipe. This is an excellent HCG diet plan option you can make by following the quick recipe below:

Chimichurri and Sweet Potato Bowl with Chickpeas and Chayote Squash Recipe

First things first, the word “chimichurri” refers to a marinade or piquant sauce traditionally used on grilled meat. Made from vinegar, parsley, olive oil, flakes of chili pepper, and garlic, this sauce is very synonymous with Argentinian cooking.

Having said that, this chimichurri and sweet potato bowl with chickpeas and chayote squash recipe is quite easy and ready in just 25- 35 minutes. The best part is that Home Chef eliminates the hassle of shopping for the necessary ingredients by sending you a meal kit that contains nearly all of them. And those that it lacks are probably already available in your kitchen.

What You Will Need

• An oven.
• A baking sheet.
• A large mixing bowl.
• 1 wire-mesh strainer.
• A medium non-stick pan.
• A paper towel.
• Aluminum foil.
• A wire mesh strainer.

Ingredients Contained In the Meal Kit

• 15½ oz. canned chickpeas
• 14 oz. sweet potatoes
• 12 parsley sprigs
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 oz. baby arugula
• 1 chayote( green pear-shaped succulent tropical fruit with a cucumber-like flavour)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano.
• ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
• ½ fl. oz. red wine vinegar

Ingredients Not Present In the Meal Kit

• Olive oil
• Cooking spray
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preliminary steps:

1. Wash and rinse your fresh produce, patting them dry with your paper towel.
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
3. Then, line the baking sheet with the aluminium foil smeared with cooking spray.

Next, prepare your ingredients and roast garlic by following the steps below:

1. Halve garlic and wrap in a piece of aluminium foil smeared with 1 tsp. olive oil, making sure to leave an opening on top.
2. Next, place the foil directly on the oven rack and let garlic roast until tender and lightly browned, or for15 minutes.
3. Then, halve chayote, removing seed from each half.
4. After that, halve chayote pieces lengthwise, slicing across the width to create several ¼-inch pieces.
5. Place the wire mesh strainer on the sink and drain as well as rinse chickpeas.
6. Then, stem and mince the parsley.

The third step is to roast sweet potatoes by following the following procedure:

1. Cut your sweet potato into several ¼-inch dice, placing them on the baking sheet you prepared earlier.
2. Next, toss to coat your potato dice with 1 tsp. olive oil, plus salt and pepper.
3. Now, spread your potatoes into a single layer and roast until tender and lightly browned, or for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the chimichurri sauce. To do so:

1. Place the roasted garlic in the mixing bowl and mash it into a paste.
2. Then, add 3 tbsp. olive oil, red wine vinegar, parsley, red pepper flakes (to taste), and oregano and stir then season with salt and pepper (to taste). Set that aside.

Now, toast the chickpeas:

1. In the medium non-stick pan, heat 1 tsp. olive oil over medium heat until hot enough.
2. Next, add chickpeas and cook while stirring frequently, until lightly toasted, or for about 6 minutes.
3. Then, season chickpeas with salt and pepper(to taste) before transferring them to the bowl that contains chimichurri sauce.

Now, cook the chayote:

1. To the same pan you used to toast chickpeas, add 1 tsp. olive oil and heat over medium heat until hot enough.
2. Next, add chayote and cook, while stirring often, until softened and slightly caramelised, or for about 4 minutes.
3. Now, season the cooked chayote with salt and red pepper flakes (to taste).
4. Then, transfer the seasoned chayote to the bowl that contains chimichurri and chickpeas.

Finally, your dish is ready to serve:

1. Start by adding cooked potatoes to the chickpeas and chayote, tossing to coat.
2. Then, season the mixture with salt and pepper(to taste).
3. Next, stir in arugula gently.
4. Finally, transfer to individual plates or bowls and enjoy while still warm.

Nutritional Value Per Serving

• Calories—432 kcal
• Carbs—84 g
• Protein—17 g
• Fat—4 g
• Sodium—311 mg

Final Thoughts

Having low levels of HCG during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage and other complications. The good news is that this can be corrected by taking HCG supplements and a diet plan, which consists of foods that are below 500 calories per serving. One such meal is the chimichurri and sweet potato bowl with chickpeas and chayote squash. Not only is this very healthy for pregnant women with HCG challenges, but it’s also quite delicious and exciting to make. To do so, just use the recipe above.