Uruguay

Today is day 1 in South America.

We are going to be landing in Buenos Aries (BA) and heading straight to Uruguay. It’s a quick flight from the BA airport, so we opted to do that straight away – jet lag be damned! More on the reason we chose Uruguay tomorrow…

Today’s guest post if from my good friend and fellow blogger (my Blend!) Heather @ Better With Veggies. If you don’t know her, you are missing out. Not only is she a rockstar endurance athlete, but she also does it all on a vegan diet. The dishes she creates would give any carnivore gourmet a run for their money! Also, she addicted to kale. 🙂

Hi Sprint 2 The Table readers!!

I’m Heather, a 30-something food & fitness enthusiast living an active life fueled by a plant-based diet. I’m a Digital Strategy Director by day, runner and multisport athlete by night. My husband (Kirk) and I also coach running, triathlon and duathlon to athletes of all levels. And when I’m not doing either, I enjoy writing about my adventures on Better With Veggies!

While Laura is off enjoying her exotic vacation in Argentina, I’m honored to be sharing a few new recipes with you today! In Atlanta, we’re firmly in grilling season — although we have been known to grill year-round at our house. Inspired by the popular bourbon & brown sugar glazed entrees, this plant-based version is bursting with flavors and perfect for summer grilling!

Let’s start with the drink. As with most cocktails in our house, Kirk created this one to match what I was cooking. I had bought a bag of peaches early in the week and it was time to eat them before they turned to mush. Fresh peach juice is a great way to put that sweet flavor to very good use! A little southern twist on the traditional Manhattan cocktail, this is one drink I know we’ll be enjoyed again this summer.

Redneck Manhattan

by Kirk Blackmon

Keywords: beverage

Ingredients (Serves 2)

40ml fresh squeezed peach juice
80ml bourbon
dash of angostura bitters

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in shaker 2/3 full of crushed ice. Shake well and strain into 2 cordial glasses or 1 martini glass.

While you’re sipping the cocktail, you’ll have plenty of time to prep & assemble dinner. Lots of grilling going on in this dish, just using the oven to roast garlic for that delicious sweet flavor to come out. Steaming the tempeh is a trick I learned from Laura (I think), that really helps the tempeh absorb even more of the delicious marinade and remove the bitterness that some people taste from tempeh. As with most marinades, the longer you let it soak, the deeper the flavor – but 15 minutes is enough if you’re pressed for time.

Grilled Peach-Drunk Tempeh

by Heather Blackmon

Keywords: grill bake entree vegan vegetarian tempeh summer

Ingredients (Serves 4)

8 ounces tempeh
1/4 cup rum or bourbon
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 sweet onion
1 tablespoon balsamic
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
3 peaches
1 head garlic
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
3 cups arugula

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat Grill to 450 degrees.

Steam tempeh for 15 minutes. Cut into at least 8 slices and place in a shallow dish. Slice mushrooms and add to dish.

Mix together rum (or bourbon) and desired brown sugar. Add mixture to tempeh & mushrooms, cover & shake well to coat. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Remove outer casing from garlic and chop top off with a sharp knife (just enough that tops of the cloves are exposed). Place entire head onto a piece of aluminum foil and fold into pouch with no openings. Place on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 30 minutes.

Vertically slice 1/2 onion and pile onto a piece of aluminum foil. Add balsamic & 1 tablespoon olive oil and fold foil into pouch, with a small opening on top for steam to escape. Grill for 20 minutes.

Place mixture on aluminum foil and fold into pouch. Grill for 15 minutes.

Slice peaches in half and discard the pits. Place cut side up on grill for 5 minutes, flip and grill for additional 5 minutes. Set aside.

Divide arugula among 4 plates. Top with tempeh mixture, then onions. Add peaches & roasted garlic to the top or sides of plate.

Serve both the cocktail and entrée together for a fantastic combination of flavors. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy these recipes – and that you’ll check out other recipes on Better With Veggies.

***

I’m dedicating today finding the perfect Uruguayan drink to pair with this in honor of Heather. 🙂

Who wants to crash Heather’s house for dinner with me?

Do you like grilled fruit? I love peaches and watermelon on the grill.

Don’t cry for me, Argentina…

I recently decided on my 2012 international trip and there’s no crying here! Two of my best friends from grad school and I are going to Argentina AND Uruguay! Leaving just 6 weeks from today!!!

Here’s my dilemma: Argentina is known for meat. I love to travel and try new foods, and I always said that whatever veggie-food thing I have going is out the window when I travel. No restrictions. But now I am scared I’ll get sick… and meat just doesn’t appeal to me like it used it.

I did eat 3 bites of meat at dinner tonight… so far so good.

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Meat dilemmas aside, Jenn (who called me a genius last night) @ Peas and Crayons is hosting What I Ate Wednesday this month in the theme of veggies:

Check out my veggie eats (plus a couple of meats) below; then click here to see what everyone else enjoyed for WIAW.

Breakfast:

This morning I woke up feeling jumpy… in a plyo way. I bounced out of bed and down to the gym for 60 mins of Plyo with Tony Horton (from P90X). In case you haven’t tried it yet, this plyo DVD with kick your butt. It left me hot, sweaty, and STARVING.

I ran up to my condo for a tasty Banana-Maple-Ginger Smoothie accompanied by a (vegan) Raw Cookie Dough Ball, compliments of this recipe by Lisa @ Healthful Sense (I always keep a batch in the freezer for a quick snack or smoothie topping).

Banana-Maple-Ginger Smoothie

1 small banana
1 C spinach
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tsp maca (optional)
1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
1 T ground flax seed
5-6 drops vanilla liquid Stevia
1/2 in piece of fresh ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp maple extract

Lunch:

Working from home makes me happy because I get to MOVE so much more. Bring chained to a desk is really hard for me. In the interest of movement, I walked to one of my favorite spots – MetroFresh – to meet a friend for lunch.

MetroFresh’s menu changes daily, but they always offer 5-6 soups, 7-8 salads/sides, and a couple of sandwiches. They also designate which items are vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free. Love that.

Today I had a Swiss Chard and White Bean Stew and a Maple-Citrus Wild Rice Salad with Mushrooms, Feta, Cucumber, Black Wheatberries, and Dried Cranberries. Finger-lickin’ good.

Side note: Did anyone watch Doogie Howser or Party of 5 growing up? The owner of MetroFresh, Mitchell Anderson, played roles in both hit shows!

Snacks:

My lunch was pretty filling, and I knew I was going out for dinner so I was a little light on the snacks today. I did enjoy a Kombucha, a banana (topped with a failed attempt at chocolate-peanut butter – the texture was nasty), and a piece of chocolate (to help me feel better after the PB fail).

Dinner:

Apparently is was a day for dining out. I had dinner with my mom and cousin at a local Indian spot called Cardamom Hill. This place is amazing – I blogged about it here when they first opened, and they have only gotten better since.

For appetizers we ordered Pork Vindaloo (pork shoulder slow-cooked in a flavorful vinegar sauce with turmeric and cardamom served with a side of appam), Coconut Curry Vegetable Stew, and a Squid special that was cooked in a red chili sauce and served with a side of fried plantains.

I did take a bite of everything… it was the first time I’ve had pork in months. It was delicious, but I still couldn’t imagine eating a whole order. The vegetable curry soup was my favorite!

Remembering how delicious it was the first time there, I ordered the Vegetable Platter. It wasn’t quiiiite as good, but that is a preference thing. They do change-up pieces of the dish, and on my first trip there was more heat incorporated. I love spicy food.

From L to R: Avail (lightly steamed vegetables in a shaved coconut sauce), Sambhar (a stew with okra, carrots, and potatoes), stack of sliced warm Beets layered with housemade yogurt and mustard seeds, and seasoned rice.

My favorite was the Avail. That shaved coconut sauce was perfect – not too sweet or heavy, complimenting the root veggies it was served over.

The winner was my mom’s dish (unpictured). She ordered the Kerala-Style Fried Chicken, served over vegetable pileau (rice with veggies). Yup, I took another bite of meat… I don’t regret it. This chicken was among the best I’ve ever tasted. Don’t skip it if you are in the neighborhood (and you eat meat).

Dessert:

Someone once said there is a whole separate part of your stomach for dessert. They weren’t kidding. I should have been stuffed after all of that… yet I came home and enjoyed a So Delicious coconut ice cream bar. The bar is dairy-free and contains only 1g of sugar… and you would never be able to tell.

So Delicious, indeed.

***

Another reminder to enter my NuNaturals giveaway – there are 4 chances to win the new NuNaturals Orange and Lemon Liquid Stevias! Contest ends Thursday at 11:59pm EST. Click here to enter.

Have you ever been to Argentina, or South America? Any suggestions?

Have you ever gone back to eating meat? How did you ease back in to it?

Summer Grilling + Cocktails, Southern Style

Contemplating Carnivore + WIAW

Breakfast:

Banana-Maple-Ginger Smoothie

Lunch:

Snacks:

Dinner:

Dessert:

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