Indian-Inspired Tofu Scramble

July 30, 2011 By Laura

Impromptu dinner parties are the best.

My friend Jessica stopped over to share a bottle of wine and dinner. She’s pretty brave, as I was trying a new recipe.

How I’ve never made a tofu scramble before, I do not know. What I do know is that I’ll be doing these a lot more in the future! Much like scrambled eggs, you can throw basically anything into them.

My first scramble had a decidedly Indian flare (surprise, surprise… it’s a little bit of an obsession).

Garam masala with sautéed onion, fennel, and garlic were my starting points and I amped it fom there.

Red pepper flakes, turmeric, cumin, paprika… I’m hoping I remember it all! Despite all of the spices, ~~for once~~ I didn’t add so much that Jessica’s mouth caught fire.

It turned out really well! I loved the Indian flavors and the texture of the scrambled tofu against the crunch of the fennel.

She was an awesome guest and brought over some Whole Foods mango-pineapple salsa (if you haven’t had it, I highly recommend!), as well as dessert!

Red cherries and American Grafrutti Coconut-Chocolate balls!

Side note: American Gra-frutti is a great local gluten-free bakery with items that can be found at Whole Foods. Try out their pimento cheese too – and my mini-review here!

The wine we shared was a 2008 Bodegas Ateca Garnacha “Atteca“ from Calatayud, Spain.

It was a great bottle, especially after it had a few minutes to open up. Very drinkable, even with the spicier food. The long finish was especially pleasing and I loved how the rich, berry flavor stood out when paired with the cherries for dessert.

Indian-Inspired Tofu Scramble

1/2 T EVOO
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp coriander
1 (14 oz) package extra firm tofu
1/4 C cilantro
S+P, to taste

Add olive oil to large skillet over med-high heat. Stir in the spices, then quickly add onions and fennel. Saute until onions soften (3-4 mins). Stir in garlic, cooking until just before then brown (~1-2 mins).

Add crumbled tofu, stirring to combine. Cook until warmed through (~5-6 mins). Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro.

Plate and enjoy!

Makes: 2 mains or 4 sides.

***

What’s your favorite scramble?

Have you ever scrambled tofu?

Breakfast Bulgur + a Giveaway!

July 29, 2011 By Laura

Promises, promises.

Do you ever get yourself out the door to run by promising your body you only have to do 3 miles?

That’s what I had to do yesterday. And then this happened.

Stats:

Distance – 9 miles
Time – 1:12:51
Average pace – 8:06

That calls for a substantial breakfast.

Thankfully I’d planned ahead (unknowingly, but I’ll take what I can get!). As I was eating my Blueberry Cilantro Bulgur Salad the other night, it occurred to me that bulgur is a lot like oatmeal.

It has a similar flavor profile. It’s only a bit nuttier, which is a plus in my book. Another plus is the protein content – 1 serving has 5g!

Using a bit of almond extract here with the NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia and vanilla extract highlights the bulgur’s nuttiness and makes the dish even more rich.

This was one hearty, satisfying breakfast!

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I’ve been playing a lot with the samples NuNaturals sent me lately. I’ve truly been impressed with the quality – it doesn’t leave an artificial taste in my mouth, even when added to smoothies!

Some of my favorite uses so far:

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Raw-ish) Banana Nut Bars
Mocha Banana Shake (it’s not in the original recipe, but I added ~10 drops of the coco liquid Stevia and it defintiely made this yumminess even better!)

NuNaturals sweetened their package (ha ha – get it? sweetened? 🙂 ) by offering to giveaway products to 4 readers!

The Fantastic 4 Winners will receive:

1 box of NuStevia Packets

and …

1 bottle of NuNaturals Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia (my favorite!)

To enter:

Leave a comment telling me the kitchen creation you’d like to try making with NuNatural Stevia
Follow me on Twitter (@Sprint2thetable)
Tweet about this give away (you might say “@Sprint2theTable is giving away 2 @NuNaturals products to 4 readers! http://wp.me/p16jDn-DF #GIVEAWAY”)

Leave a separate comment telling me you did each of these items for multiple entries!

The contest will end Sunday night at 11:59pm.

Winners announced Monday morning!!! Good luck!

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Banana Bulgur Breakfast Bowl

1/2 C cooked bulgur
1/2 large banana, mashed
1/4 C Greek-style yogurt
1/4 C unsweetened almond milk
1 T goji berries
1 tsp cinnamon
10 drops NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia Liquid
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Splash of almond extract
Shake of salt

Mix everything together in a bowl and refrigerate overnight. Wait until morning (or at least 3-4 hours). Devour.

***

Please tell me these accidental crazy runs happen to you too?!

If you’re looking for something new to try this weekend, check out Pea & Crayons new (awesome) round up:

What are you doing this weekend? (Besides entering my giveaway.)

Have you tried natural sugar alternatives yet?

Eggplant Shirataki + WIAW

July 20, 2011 By Laura

In honor of my crazy work week(s)…

I’m copying the growing wordless WIAW* trend. Does good food really need words? I think not.

*As usual (except for last week), Wednesday = Tuesday eats.

But first, a run. I don’t know why I stopped posting these breakdowns… I like to look back at them. Nevermind the fact that you have to suffer through them. 😉

Stats:

Distance – 4 miles
Time – 32:37 mins
Pace – 8:09 mins

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Breakfast

I did say it is almost worldess WIAW, right?

The delicious Chocolate Breakfast Pudding. So. Good.

Lunch

Salad topped with carrots, celery, Purple Haze goat cheese, a Lightlife Chick’n Cutlet. A bit chewy, but it wasn’t bad!

Snack

Cottage cheese tastes really, really good with peanut butter. Someone call Intervention.

Not pictured: celery and hummus, Think Thin bar, and random handfuls of cereal.

Dinner

Big. Win.

Mom recently told me about Shirataki Noodles – apparently it is just tofu pressed into noodles. It’s gluten-free, vegan, low-cal, and – most importantly – a QUICK-FIX.

The only downside is the smell when you first remove them from the package, but that does go away once you rinse them (thoroughly) and pop them in the microwave for a minute.

To go with my noodles, I roasted some eggplant, red onion, and garlic in a quick vinaigrette. Then tossed it all with an heirloom tomato (because I didn’t get enough at the tomato festival) and more Purple Haze goat cheese.

Perfect light dinner for a summer day!!!

…followed by a little something I like to call…

Dessert

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Roasted Eggplant with Tofu Noodles

1 medium eggplant, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic
1T EVOO
1T marsala wine
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp herbes de provence
1 tsp red pepper flakes (reduce to 1/2 if you are sensitive to spicy foods)
1 package Shirataki noodles (or 2 servings of pasta)
S+P, to taste
Optional toppings: fresh tomato, cheese (I used goat)

Preheat oven to 425.

Cut eggplants into 1/2 inch slices. Generously salt the slices, allowing them to sit for 15-20 mins. Wiping away the beads of water that form (this process removes excess moisture – which makes ggplant “slimey” – and bitterness).

Meanwhile, whisk together the oil, marsala, vineger, herbs, and pepper flakes.

Cut the eggplant slices into 1/2 inch cubes and toss in a large bowl with the garlic, red onion, and vinaigrette. Spread eggplant onto foil-lined baking sheet and roast for ~3o minutes, tossing once halfway through.

Prepare noodles as instructed on package.

Divide among two plates, adding extra toppings as desired (I loved how the goat cheese melted and clung to mine!).

Makes 2 servings (or 4 sides).

***

I’ve taken to working from Starbucks lately. They have a the bar where I can stand and a constant supply of caffine… perfection.

Do you find you get more work done from a “third-party” location?

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten today?

Winning Trifecta

July 16, 2011 By Laura

Today is a winning day!

My birthday party (we gonna party like it’s your birthday…)
The Auria earbud winner is announced
MY BEST FRIEND’S WATER BROKE!!! There’s going to be a baby boy today!

Clearly, I have things to do. 🙂 Here are a couple of birthday highlights:

: Fried Ice Cream “Cake”

: Mom’s Red Velvet Cupcakes

: Awesome, wine-themed present from Mom and Baby Sis

BUT… you want a winner.

The lucky winner (chosen by Mom) is….

Katy @ notjustacarnivore!!!

Congrats, Katy!

***

I’m off for a quick sweat at kickboxing before continuing with party prep and waiting on a baby!

What are you doing this weekend?

Did it cool off where you live? It’s only going to be 80 here today!

My Birthday Banana Bars

July 15, 2011 By Laura

Today I am 28.

Just 2 years away from the dreaded age of 30. Surprisingly, I don’t really care about turning 30. In fact, I am looking forward to it.

It seems like a solid age. One where you’re more established in your career and people take you seriously. ~~This should be fun to look back at in 2 years…~~ 🙂

But I digress (progress?). Today I am only 28.

I was going to pontificate on 28 things I’ve learned or do some equally inspiring; however, I was up most the night working.

Kidding, kidding... I still love my job. Now pass the caffeine.

(Lesson learned #1: the “real” world doesn’t care that it’s your birthday – you still have to get yer shizz done.)

Instead, I’ll share with you a special delivery I got last night right when I was about to have a nervous breakdown around 11pm:

Sea salt and olive oil on the side

This is my favorite cake. Sweet, salty, fudgy deliciousness. Midnight snack worthy, fo’ sho’.

Part 2 of the delivery is the book you see in the background – Vino Italiano. I cannot WAIT to devour this one.

Did I mention I’m going to a wine/food trip to Italy this fall?! More on that later. 🙂

So what if I spent the beginning of my 28th year up all night working?

This year the July 15th is under a Capricorn full moon (insert Twilight Zone music here) and that apparently means abundance, career, and money. I can get on board with that.

Tomorrow my awesome mom throwing me a birthday party at her house. Think: pool, corn hole, grilling Big Green Egg-style, and mas cerveza y vino and 30+ friends. ~~There may not be any photo evidence.~~

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On top of all that, I invented my new favorite granola bar (which I’m munching on as I write – ‘scuse the crumbs).

It’s bananas. Nutty. No sugar added. Crunchy and almost raw. (Almost = “dehydrated” in the oven at 170 degrees.)

Try it out with your favorite nuts and seeds. I used Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, and cashews.

For a little bit of added sweetness, I used NuNatural Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia (yes, they sent me samples… no, I wouldn’t lie to you).

I love how the vanilla scent it added went with the banana flavor! (B-A-N-A-N-A-S! I was trying realllly hard not to do that – blame Gwen Stephani.)

Vegan and gluten-free, ya’ll.

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Banana Nut Bars

1 ripe banana
25 drops NuNaturals Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia
1 T nut butter (I used PB)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2T chia seeds
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/4 C cashews
10 Brazil nuts

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Place first 4 ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add seeds and nuts, pulsing until seeds are beginning to break up and incorporate into the banana paste.

Spread batter onto parchment-lined baking sheet to desired thickness (mine was about 1/4 inch thick).

Place in oven for 6-8 hours, flipping 2-3 times after first 3-4 hours. Turn oven off and allow to continue drying out overnight (~7 hours).

Break into pieces/bars and enjoy!

***

EXCEPT I will post the winner of the awesome earbud giveaway! If you’re a runner/walker, you should especially check these out – they won’t wiggle out and the music quality rocks.

You have until midnight tonight to enter – good luck!!!

What’s your favorite way to celebrate your birthday?

Are you a big party-type of person or an intimate dinner? Somewhere in between?

Overpronation, Procrastination, and WIAW

July 14, 2011 By Laura

Active.com is a great resource for runners.

I enjoy their weekly emails with tips on issues such as: how to fuel your body, preventing various injuries, and working out in sweltering heat.

Today’s email included an interesting article on overpronation.

Overpronation is when one’s ankles roll inward too much.

It is widely believed that this can lead to over-use type pain or injury (shin splints, joint pain). Many people (myself included) get specially fitted for running shoes and/on inserts in hopes to correcting the “problem.”

Today’s article from Active asserts that corrections for over pronation should not always be made. They say:

“…doing so can and often does result in one symptom going away and another, usually a more complicated one, developing elsewhere.”

Here’s what really resonated with me:

Often over pronation is the symptom of another problem. Most common is a lack of normal ankle range of motion. If the foot/ankle isn’t bending properly, the knee is restricted and can’t “travel forward enough for the body to move its center of mass over the foot.”

The result? Overpronation. That pronation causes the knee to drift to the midline, which means the hip turns excessively inward. Snowball.

Correction through shoes and inserts either a) doesn’t work or b) makes the underlying cause worse because the overpronation “is a needed compensation for a lack of mobility elsewhere in the body. Taking this compensatory element away without first addressing and correcting the true underlying cause will inevitably force compensation (frequently accompanied by pain) in another part of the body.”

Source: http://bestrunningshoereport.com/

So what should you do?

See if you over pronate with a squat test. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and attempt a squat. Are your knees bent 90 degrees or less? Are your heels still on the ground? Are your feet still forward (not turning outward)?

No? If you can’t do the squat correctly, the article says your foot pronation is likely “due to inflexibility of your ankles and that is what should be corrected.”

Bottom line: Before you go out and buy special shoes or inserts, see a professional to have a complete evaluation (pelvis, hip, knee, ankle and foot) done by a professional.

On to my actual Wednesday eats in honor of WIAW.

1 day later than usual due to procrastination/over-sleepiness rather than the pursuit of true Wednesday eats.