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Appetites and Adventures

Chickpeas + Spiced Tomato Sauce

By

The Tough Mudder is just over a week away and I’m only up to 5 miles!

 

 

Stats

Distance: 5 miles

Total time: 42:32

Pace: 8.46

It was a hard 5 miles.  I blame this windy weather.  Is this Chicago or Atlanta?

Did I mention the obstacle course is 11 miles??? I’m getting nervous.

 

In much less-stressful news, Atlanta is finally getting a vegan restaurant.  Welcome, Dulce Vegan Bakery and Café!!! (1994 Hosea L Williams Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30317)

According to What Now Atlanta’s article, the restaurant will open in Kirkwood late this month.  They will serve the typical 3 S menu (soup-salad-sandwich), but they aim to have gluten-free and RAW options.

The raw aspect is most exciting to me.  I love the creativity that goes into raw food and the “high” you feel after eating such a clean meal (can we get a San Fran-like Cafe Gratitude???).

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I put off St. Patrick’s Day food in favor of continuing with my Indian week.  Chickpeas, tomato sauce, and a spaghetti squash were the inspiration.

What had happened was… I wanted spaghetti squash.  I love to eat it with marinara, but after a 5 mile run I needed more bulk.  And garlic spices!

I’ve done spaghetti squash a lot this winter.  You can either cook it in the oven or microwave until soft (8-10 mins).  This time I chose the oven… but I honestly don’t think it matters.

Spaghetti Squash

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. Cut the squash in half (soften in microwave first if it’s too hard to cut) and remove the seeds.

3. Place in a glass baking dish, cut side down, in about 1 in of water.  Cook for ~40 mins, or until shell is tender when pierced with a fork.

4. Remove the flesh with a fork.  Place the “spaghetti” in serving bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

 


Chickpeas + Spiced Tomato Sauce

 

  • 1T EVOO
  • 1T coconut oil
  • 1 large shallot, chopped
  • 8 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tsp (~1-inch piece) fresh ginger, chopped
  • 26.5 oz canned chopped tomatoes (1 box Pomi)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
  • S + P, to taste

In a large skillet, heat the oils.  Add the shallot and cook over medium-high heat until translucent, ~3-4 mins.  Reduce to medium heat and add the garlic and ginger.  Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, ~2 mins.  Add the tomatoes, stirring to combine.  Followed by the bay leaf, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne, again stirring to combine.

Simmer over low-medium heat until thickened, ~10 minutes.  Add the lemon juice and chickpeas, continuing to simmer until the chickpeas are softened and flavors are combined (~7-8 mins).  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve alone in a bowl, or over spaghetti squash (or actual pasta).

Nutritional Approximations (sans squash): 214 cals, 8g fat, 29g carbs, 9g fiber, 6.6g sugar, 6.6g protein (and a good source of vitamin B-6 and Manganese!)

***

Have you done a race you weren’t quite ready for?

Last minute training tips are appreciated. 🙂


Repeat Thursday

By

For those of you in the South (or who are lucky enough to have a Chick-fil-a nearby), I have 2 important news items:

1. Tomorrow is FREE FryDay.  All you have to do is go to Chick-fil-a between 2 and 4p and ask for Heinz Dip & Squeeze-free FryDay promotion.  You will be rewarded with a free medium order of yummy waffle fries.  Apparently all this is thanks to the new Heinz Dip & Squeeze Ketchup package, which holds 3x more ketchup than the packets.

2. While you’re there… Chick-fil-a has a new Banana Pudding Milkshake.  This could be heaven.  Never mind the 780 calories and 104g sugar.  That’s in the small size.

Who wants to split one???

If the shake isn’t on your diet, try out this guilt-free Overnight Banana-Cashew Pudding.  I’ve made it two days in a row.  This morning I heated my bowl and OMG was it good.

I also re-made my Mexican Black Bean Brownies.

I reduced the egg and sugar (they are even healthier!), took a new pic (why is dark-colored food SO hard to photograph?!), and improved the instructions.

The latest estimation is that they have around 150 calories per serving (makes 20 healthy-size brownies) 3g of protein!

In the spirit of repeats, I’m about to enjoy the last of my Garam Masala Daal for lunch.

Lentils are still really good leftover.  They are not photogenic. Be sure to add some water when you re-heat to avoid drying.

Tomorrow I promise something more original.  And St. Patrick’s Day worthy.

Get excited.

***

I’m taking a lunchtime run!  Being able to break up the computer-screen daze is a rare – yet welcome – treat.

Do you need a break midday?  How do you escape?


Garam Masala Daal + Banana Cashew Chia Pudding

By

Today marks the THIRD day in a row I’ve woken up early and worked out.  

This is nothing short of a miracle.

This morning I did my favorite bike-elliptical-treadmill intervals while watching GMA recap Charlie Sheen’s craziness.

Yes, I do have the app to help wake me in the right sleep cycle… this morning I also had a little added motivation.

Breakfast.

I made an overnight cashew-vanilla banana pudding.  I swear to you, it tastes like banana pudding.

Overnight Banana Cashew Pudding

  • 1 banana, mashed
  • 1 T cashew butter
  • 1/4 C coconut milk (So Delicious unsweetened)
  • 1 T chia seeds
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mash and mix together and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the fridge in the morning and enter breakfast heaven.

Last night I scored a huge win in the kitchen.  With lentils, no less.  After the cleanse, I swore them off.  These are an exception – I’d eat this every day. Black Beluga Lentils.  Yep – like the caviar.  While they do resemble beluga caviar, but don’t be scared.  Their flavor is more bean-nutty than fish-salty.

Unlike “regular” lentils, Black Belugas hold their shape and a bit more structure when cooked.  They’re smaller, and therefore cook more quickly.  Watch out – easy to over-cook/dry out!

I wasn’t kidding about this being Indian Week.

I haven’t found a good explanation of what exactly allows one to call Indian-spiced lentils “Daal.”  So I’m taking liberties with it.  Bwhahaha! Pictures, notsogood.  Daal, incredible.

If I were you, I would make this. TONIGHT. Full of flavor, fun to experiment with, and plenty filling. Due to my love of spice, I added red pepper flakes.  It really wasn’t too spicy, but you always leave it out.  Definitely don’t leave out the bay leaf.  It adds a great depth of flavor.

Garam Masala Daal

(Inspired by this from Angela @ Oh She Glows)

  • 1 cup uncooked black beluga lentils
  • 2-3 cups water
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 chopped medium red onion (~3/4 C)
  • 1/2 garam masala
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/4 tsp fresh ginger, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 T fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup tomatoes, diced
  • S + P, to taste
  • 2 T fresh parsley, chopped

Rinse the lentils and place them in a medium pot with 2 cups of water.  Bring them to a boil, add a few pinches of salt, and reduce to a simmer.  Cook until tender, about 30 minutes.  Add more water as need to avoid burning – I added 1/2 C with ~10 mins to go.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the onion and saute until just translucent, ~5 mins.  Now add in the spices (garam masala, turmeric, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf), stirring and cooking ~2-3 mins to combine flavors.

Add in the minced ginger, garlic, and lemon juice and stir.  Cook over low heat for another 2-3 mins.  Add in the tomatoes, salt, and pepper.  Stir and cook until slightly reduced, 8-10 mins. Stir in the cooked lentils.  Allow to cook for another min or two.

Place in bowls, drizzling with a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil and flaky salt (I use basil-infused olive oil and lemon salt – v. good).

***

Did you watch Charlie Sheen’s interview last night?  What was your favorite Charlie quote?

In case you need help understanding Sheen, check out the Charlie Sheen Dictionary.

Indian Week

By

PSA: Sleep Cycle is the best app ever.

 

Wild ass claim…

From their website, Sleep Cycle is a “bio-alarm clock that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase.” Since using it, I have woken up on time (or early!) and not pressed snooze the first time.

By far, the most useful app I’ve downloaded to-date.  I’d give it an Oscar. For the second morning in a row… I had time to go to the gym!!!

And make a tasty breakfast:

Roasted grapefruit with fresh nutmeg, cinnamon, and coriander.  Side of Greek yogurt + chia seeds.  Coffee.

If you’ve never tried a roasted grapefruit, I highly recommend it.  It is an easy and grapefruit is in season right now.

For a “how-to,” check out this post.

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This week has inadvertently become Indian cuisine week… (more after the jump)   … 

Read More »

Pumpkin Ice Cream: Vegan-Style

By

Previously I posted about a special soup delivery from my teammate/Local 3.  This week I was thrilled to try out the restaurant… errrrr… from inside the restaurant. 🙂

Our server, Lauren, was very nice and just the right amount of attentive.  She made a couple of fantastic wine recommendations and was knowledgable about the menu. She certainly didn’t steer me wrong!

The duck fat-fried Hushpuppy + Sambal Aioli “snack” was good (mayyyybe a bit more solid than I could chew, but worth it!).  I love the crunchy flakes of salt sprinkled on top.

For dinner I ordered 2 appetizers: the Sweet Potato Soup (new on the menu and VERY good) and the Oven Roasted Mushrooms w/ Polenta and Truffle Jus.

The polenta was some of the best I have had.  Perfectly creamy, not even a hint of a lump to be found (often a problem with restaurant mass-production).  The truffle jus gave it a rich, decadent taste that played well with the perfectly roasted mushrooms.

Of course, I forgot to take pictures until dessert.

Banana Creme Brulee with a slice of sticky banana bread. It tasted like banana pudding.

We may or may not have made reservations for the below before we left… 3 weeks from now when I can fully chew… Don’t judge me.

On Monday nights Local 3 will have “Chef & Coolio’s Fantastic Monday Night Voyages*”.  A 3-course family-style dinner with beer/wine pairings.  Only $35.  16 seatings.  Beat that, Atlanta restaurants.

*Apparently Coolio refers to a rubber chicken, not the rapper.

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This Christmas, Santa brought me an ice cream maker.  Despite not being able to chew, it has taken me this long to use it.  (Sad, I know.)

It was worth the wait for this pumpkin pie bowl.

Ready to be ice creamed!

I’m still amazed at how easy this was.  Just blend, cool, pour, mix, eat.

Now that I have that sequence down, the sky is the limit!  I love savory desserts, so I’ll definitely be ice creaming up a bunch this spring!

Like pumpkin pie in a bowl.  On ice.  And vegan-ized.

You get the idea.  It was good.  Eat this:

Pumpkin Pie Vegan Ice Cream

  • 1/3 C raw cashews
  • 1 15-oz can pure pumpkin puree
  • 3/4 C water
  • 1/2 C unsweetened coconut milk (a la So Delicious)
  • 1 tsp pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 Stevia packet
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp guar gum
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until well-chilled.  Place in ice cream maker and process according to instructions.

Spoon out and enjoy!

Tasty toppings: dark chocolate syrup, caramel, crumbled ginger cookies (or Biscoff), cacao nibs, pumpkin seeds, etc.

Makes 3-4 servings.

***

What is your favorite dessert?  Do you like a salty-sweet?  Fruity?  Sugary?


Mojo and Sunshine

By

You know you live in the city when…

…you notice brand-new, yet-to-be-bolted-down park benches and the first thought you have is:

I can’t believe no one has stolen those yet!

🙂

The new benches were noticed along my lunchtime run.  The run I was NOT motivated to go on, despite the lovely weather.

The only advice I have to pushing through a run is to break it down, 1 mile at a time.

  • Set a short goal (mine was 2 miles)
  • At that mark, re-assess (I decided to do a 5K)
  • Still not feeling it?  Walk for a minute, or run some stairs to break it up.
  • Determine the end goal (I did enough for an even 4 miles)

Today’s run:

  • Distance: 4 miles
  • Time: 35:50
  • Pace: 8:88/mi

I’m really proud of my time given the fact that it was SO windy out there!

You should always reward yourself after a run like that.

I recommend doing so with this:

How does Angela @ Oh She Glows come up with this stuff?!

Try her Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole.  You won’t be sorry.

I followed her directions exactly, except I halved the banana called for, nixed the maple syrup (I used vanilla almond milk, which I find to be sweeter) and made them in 4 ramekins.

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Good news!

At my follow up appointment, the oral surgeon said I can eat items that I can mush with my tongue.  My tofu is getting its mojo back!

If you’re like me, you open a can of chipoltes in adobo sauce, use 2 or 3, and then forget you still have half the can in the fridge.  Use the other half for this mojo marinade!  It was fantastic.  I used half of the marinade on chicken (for the non-tofu lovers), and remainder in tofu.  I’m told the chicken was good and I know the tofu was.

The marinade does have a kick, but it isn’t bad after marinating/cooking.

In need of a side, I got creative with the sunchokes and sweet potato.  I have never cooked a sunchoke before, but had eaten puréed or sauteed sunchokes at several places (Holeman & Finch does a stand-up sunchoke sauté).

 

 

Sunchokes (a.k.a. Jerusalem artichokes) are the root of a sunflower. Raw, they look a like ginger root and can be found at your local farmer’s/speciality market.  Sunchokes have an earthy, almost nutty taste and a potato-like texture upon cooking.

They are good for the intestines, and a source of Vitamin C, potassium, and Iron.  And they taste good!

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Mojo-Marinated Tofu

(slightly adjusted from Tyler Florence)

  • 1 block extra firm tofu
  • 1 blood orange, juiced
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • 3 T EVOO
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 chipolte chiles, in adobo sauce
  • 3 T cilantro leaves, chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Drain tofu and pat dry.  Cut in half horizontally, placed between towels, and press for 10 mins.  (I placed a large iron skillet on top of mine.)

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients.  Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth.

Pour over pressed tofu in a bowl or baggie, tossing to coat. Refrigerate for an hour hour, allowing flavors to combine.

Preheat a ridged grill pan on medium heat.  Lightly oil the grill pan.  Drain excess marinade from tofu and grill the over medium heat, cooking for ~4 mins on each side.

***

Sweet Potato Sunchoke Purée

  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled
  • 1 large piece of sunchoke, peeled (about 4 in)
  • 1/2 large or 1 small yellow onion
  • 1/4 C plain non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
  • S + P, to taste

Dice the the potato, sunchoke, and onion.  Cut into 2 in cubes and place in a medium pot and cover with water.

Add 1/4 tsp salt, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 mins, until tender.  

Drain the vegetables and return to the pan.  Stir in yogurt, milk, nutmeg.  

Using an immersion blender, combine all ingredients until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.

***

What new food have you tried lately?  Are you more likely to try it at a restaurant or devise your own concoction at home?


Wild Mushroom Soup

By

Many, many people have (thankfully) already blogged about the It Gets Better Project.

It began in 2010, when there seemed to be an epidemic of kids taking their lives after being bullied (many for being gay).  This project is aimed at showing young people that life DOES get better.

Growing up it hard, but getting to the the other side is so worth it.  I promise.

Here is a video of the Cincinnati Rollergirls; more awesome people who’ve known what it is to be bullied, and are living proof that It Gets Better.

Speaking of growing up…

One of the strangest phenomena for me as a 20-something involves my taste buds.  Most of my life I’ve been the pickiest eater to walk this Earth.  At my pickiest, I didn’t even like cheese (too bad that couldn’t have stuck!).

Other items I refused to ingest:

  • ANY cooked veggie
  • Legumes
  • Ketchup
  • French fries
  • Fast food
  • Seafood
  • Red meat
  • Tofu
  • Mexican food (what was I thinking?!)
  • Asian food
  • Coffee
  • Sweet tea
  • Gin (thanks to an unfortunate experience)

Sometime around my about 24th birthday I developed a love of avocados and kalamata olives.  That was just the beginning!

At the ripe ‘ol age of 27, I crave: spinach, winter squash, tofu, chickpeas, coffee, MEXICAN… just about everything on the previous list.

Things I still don’t like:

  • Seafood
  • Certain cooked veggies (potatoes, yellow squash, carrots)
  • Ketchup
  • Fast food (with the exception of Chick-fil-a)
  • Sweet tea
  • Gin (it was a really bad experience)

My favorite 20-something taste bud find would have to be mushrooms.  Truffles, morels, shiitakes, hen of the woods… you name the ‘shroom, I probably have positively passionate feelings about it.  (No, not the magical ones…)

This has been paid for by the Council of Mushroom-love.

I can’t chew them right now, but I can slurp them!  This soup was earthy and rich.  It is a thicker soup, but you can add water/more broth as needed.  I like the thickness – it feels more like chewing.

Mushrooms are low in calories, fat-free, cholesterol-free and low in sodium.  They provide nutrients such as: selenium, potassium, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, and calcium.

Wild Mushroom Soup

by Laura Hall

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Keywords: soup/stew gluten-free low-carb vegan vegetarian soy-free leek mushroom fall winter

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • 3 C wild mushrooms (portabella, oyster, morels, etc), roughly chopped
  • 2 leeks, chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 1/4 C white onion, diced
  • 1 T EVOO
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 1/4 C vermouth cooking wine
  • 1/2 C veggie broth
  • 2 T goat butter (use coconut butter to make it vegan!)
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • S & P to taste

Instructions

In medium pot, saute first 5 ingredients until tender, about 10 mins. Add garlic during the last 5 mins, so as not to burn it.

Add remaining ingredients, seasoning to taste with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.

Ladle in bowls and top with grated cheese (Gruyere or a nutty parmesan-esque cheese is delish) and freshly ground black pepper. I would have used black truffle shavings or truffle oil if I had it!

Powered by Recipage

***

Thankfully, my sister grew out of picking her nose… 😉

Have you grown out of something funny/odd?

Roasted Soup

By

One of my favorite things to do is catch an improve show.  

 

Atlanta is lucky to have a variety of great places to see improv.

This naturally translates into my love of improv cooking.

During my Farmer’s Market raid, I purchased a poblano pepper with the intention of trying my hand at stuffed peppers.  The whole jaw thing interfered with that plan, but I did have a red pepper, jalapenos, lots of fresh garlic, roasted tomatoes…

Whose line is it?  Roasted Pepper-Garlic-Tomato Soup!

 

And a beer ’cause this smoothness is SPICY.  A cold one is tasty and refreshing with a little heat!

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale is awesome, btw.  Nutty, rich flavor without being too heavy.

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Roasted Pepper-Garlic-Tomato Soup

  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 poblano pepper
  • 2 jalapeno peppers
  • 1 green pepper
  • 2 heads of garlic
  • 2 T EVOO
  • 3/4 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 C vegetable stock
  • 28 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 2 T balsamic vinegar
  • Fresh rosemary
  • Fresh parsley
  • S & P, to taste
  • Water, as needed

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.  Prepare garlic heads to roast (great “how to” here) and rubbing exposed top lightly with EVOO and wrapping in foil. Lightly coat peppers with EVOO.  Place garlic and peppers on foil-lined baking sheet and roast in oven for 45-60 mins, rotating peppers occasionally to be sure all sides roast.

Meanwhile, heat 1T EVOO in large pot.  Dice onion, add to pot, sauteing for 8-9 mins (until translucent).  Add tomatoes and broth, stirring to combine.

When peppers and garlic are done roasting, remove and allow to cool a bit.  Remove seeds from the peppers (if you like it spicy, leave some jalapeno seeds behind… I did) and remove their charred skins.  Chop peppers roughly and squeeze roasted garlic out of shells into the soup.

Add herbs and balsamic, stir, and cook 5-10 mins more before pureeing with an immersion blender or regular blender.  Add water as needed, depending on how thick you’d like soup to be.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Heat through and allow flavors to combine, adjusting as spices as needed.

Serve, garnishing with grated cheese of your choice, parsley, drizzle of olive oil, sour cream, etc.

It’s also tasty with some hummus mixed in (and cuts the heat if you made it a teensy bit too hot – not that I did that).

***

Who has fun weekend plans?  Is the anything random your city has a lot of?

Atlanta definitely has the market cornered on improv!

.


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