If you live in DC and have not gone to Ceiba yet, I would highly suggest it. This restaurant features a fusion of Central and South American cuisine, blending specialties from the different regions in inventive ways. Better yet, I can actually find great dishes to eat here that fall within range of my eating restrictions. There were only a few things I could choose from, but I was so happy with both my appetizer and entrée that I actually forgot that I can’t eat 90% of the menu items.
We started with the grilled octopus salad and got a few for the table. I was eating with 5 people and we all agreed this is one of the best octopus dishes we’ve ever had (including DC and NYC restaurants). It was cooked perfectly, soft and not even slightly rubbery. This is in contrast to another Latin restaurant in DC where the octopus dish should have been served with a steak knife to cut and t-rex jaws to eat. Ceiba’s dish was in a gazpacho vinaigrette and was complimented by a little red onion and celery for crunch and a tiny drop of Queso Fresco. (I know- dairy is a no-no, but I let it slide when it’s what I consider to be a negligible amount of which I can control how much I consume.)
My entree was Atlantic Salmon (didn’t ask if it was wild), in a Jamaican jerk sauce with sautéed spinach over Fufu mash. Fufu is smashed plantain dish that Ceiba prepared as a combination of sweet potato and plantain mashed together with a whipped consistency like traditional mashed potatoes. This likely means it had some butter in there, but I would make it with olive oil and onions in food processor and believe I can get the same texture.
While this dinner wasn’t as good for me as if I ate a homemade meal with controlled amounts of cooking oils and starches, it was highly encouraging that I could eat such a fantastic meal and not feel guilty about breaking too many food rules. Also, I know that 80% of the time, I eat meals that I make myself and know every single ingredient in them is diet-friendly. So, instead of posting a picture of a meal produced by a professionally trained chef, today I will show you the two meals I made for breakfast and dinner. First, the infamous daily smoothie and second, a dinner made of a hodge-podge of items I cooked today. 
Yes, the smoothie usually is green in color which is actually preferable to the dirt-brown it becomes with darker berries or strawberries are added. Note: if you are trying a green powder in a smoothie for the first time, be prepared that it will look like the image above. As for my dinner, I bought arugula at the farmers market today because I was so excited to see it back in action. However, if you remember by restrictions, raw food is not allowed. I saw a sign underneath the arugula suggesting to make a pesto so that’s exactly what I did- with pine nuts, olive oil, salt, and a drop of pecorino cheese (again, negligible). This is only the second food processor item I’ve made and I was extremely excited. I paired that with a portabello mushroom and a little brown rice. I probably should have cooked up another green vegetable with this, but I’ve been dying to try making sweet potato fries for a few weeks. Those were baked for about 40 min with olive oil, salt and pepper at 425 and came out great!
Food is my Frenemy 
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