Bulked Up

When it comes to salad, I tend to think of it as a side dish, or acceptable lunch entreé, but rarely as the focus of dinner. My main reasoning for that is simple – I eat, a lot. I’ve come to learn that with the right ingredients a salad can be quite filling and in fact be a very appropriate dinner. Of course I made some frozen french fries just in case the salad wasn’t filling, but it was! We even wound up having leftovers that I was able to take for lunch the next day.

The recipe comes from Betty Crocker, and I was drawn to it because it had vegetarian in the title. Since the beginning of my vegetarian month wasn’t very successful, I’ve been sure to stick to it since then. I couldn’t help but laugh out-loud when reading the first ingredient was chicken broth. There were a few comments on the recipe bemoaning the vegetarian title, since obviously chicken broth is far from it. That was easy enough to adjust with vegetable broth to make it a truly vegetarian dish. In all honesty, that probably could have been omitted as well, and the bulgur could have been cooked in water.

This was actually my first time making bulgur wheat, and I’ve only ever had it before in tabouleh. If we’re going to be honest here, it smells like bird food before it’s cooked. It kind of looks like it too. But thankfully after cooking, it doesn’t have much of a flavor – if anything it’s a bit nutty, and for this particular salad it added a nice contrast. The other surprise of the salad was the dressing – it had a nice kick and was flavorful without being too oily or too salty (something I find a lot with “Asian inspired” dressings).

While I wouldn’t recommend this being your dinner after a full day of work and a workout, I think it’s appropriate for those rest days. Conveniently my entire week was a rest day. I like to use the excuse that I was adjusting to my new schedule. The truth of the matter is that it was cold, windy, and I was exhausted. Once the snow clears I’ll be back out on the roads – April’s half marathon isn’t going to PR itself.

Bang for your buck

It’s no secret that I’m a planner. Not only do I religiously keep my Google Calendar up to date, I also tote around a physical planner with me, just in case. Naturally this trait of mine has spilled over into the food realm, making me a big meal planner as well. As you can see below, this is just a snip-it of last week and next two weeks in terms of our planned meals, my runs, homework assignments, and any other noteworthy events (the green is dinner and there are some holes that need to be filled):

Now that I’m student teaching, even though I’m home earlier, those hours are spent doing homework for my seminar course, studying for the Praxis II, and a fun little thing called lesson planning. Last week was my first week and there wasn’t any lesson planning, but that changed this past weekend. It’s a good thing it snowed Saturday – I had no excuse. So, I’ve been trying to find meals that I can make on Sunday and then use in different ways throughout the week.

This week, I made Bon Appétite’s Cannellini Beans with Kale, that I decided to serve over brown rice on Monday evening. At first I wasn’t sure if there would be enough flavor, but I was pleasantly surprised. The recipe is actually intended to be used for a spin on bruschetta, but it was just as delicious served over rice.

On Wednesday, I took the cooking liquid from the original recipe and 3 1/2 cups of the cannellini beans and kale, and turned into a soup using this recipe. Being able to take something so simple and use it in two completely different ways was not only a time, but also a money saver. Since the weather has actually felt like winter the past few days, this hearty soup was perfect.

I’m definitely on the hunt for more recipes like this, where I can buy a bunch of ingredients and re-use them in multiple ways.

Easy Dinner

It was only a matter of time before the cold weather arrived, and it decided to come with fanfare this week. On my run the day after Christmas I wore a t-shirt and shorts. That day last year we had a blizzard that I attempted to run through, and had to quit at 9 miles because my entire face was on the verge of frostbite. I couldn’t believe it was so warm, but kept my mouth shut – I didn’t want to jinx things, but I knew the cold was coming. Between yesterday and today, the temperature hasn’t reached above 20 degrees, and with the wind chill it has been closer to 10 and below (it “felt like” 1 degree when I woke up this morning). For a lot of people, that’s nothing. But for my tri-state area bones, that’s cold!

Of course not realizing just how cold it was going to be, I didn’t plan this week’s meals accordingly. A big bowl of chili would have been nice, but instead this week’s menu is all about quick and easy with minimal ingredients, since we’re heading down to Disney on Friday. Even though last night’s dinner wasn’t a cold weather specific meal, it was delicious. After making it I realized it was very much like a Snackwrap you’d get at McDonald’s, but this was better – much better. You can really do whatever you want with the ingredients depending on what you’re in the mood for and what you have on hand. This particular dinner stemmed from the fact that we were having veggie burgers, and we didn’t have any buns.

Healthified Snackwrap
– makes 4 wraps –

Ingredients:
4 fajita size flour tortillas
4 veggie burgers (I used Morningstar Farm’s spicy black bean)
1 cup of Quick Guacamole for each wrap (recipe below)
4 Tbsp shredded cheese
4 Tbsp your favorite salsa
Any other fixin’s (lettuce, tomato, etc.)

Directions:
1. Cook veggie burgers according to package
2. Heat tortillas in microwave, about 20 seconds
3. Cut veggie burgers in half.
4. In each tortilla, layer 2 halves of the veggie burger. Top with 2-3 Tbsp of guacamole, 1 Tbsp cheese, salsa, and any other toppings

Quick Guacamole
– makes 1 1/2 cups –

Ingredients:
2 ripe Haas avocados
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 jalapeno, diced
1/4 white onion, diced
2 Tbsp cilantro

Directions:
1. Scoop out avocado flesh into a medium-sized bowl. Mash with a fork.
2. Mix-in remaining ingredients (lemon juice, jalapeno, onion, cilantro).

Halfway Happiness

For those of you that remember, back in October I started my own little Happiness Project, outlining the next four months. I guess you could say it was like doing my resolutions early, and differently. I’m not a big resolution person, because it’s usually a way for me to set myself up for failure. I find myself with grandiose ideas and plans in my head, but usually too lazy to actually carry them out. Creativity seeps from my pores – I just need someone else to carry out the projects for me.

Anyway, December was the month of running. I wanted to run as much as I could, regardless of the distance in preparation for the Goofy Challenge next weekend. I realized that there was little I could do to prepare myself for running 39.3 miles in 2 days, but I figured running as frequently as possible would help give me a confidence boost. I log all my mileage over at DailyMile, and am happy to report that I ran 4 times a week every week in December as promised, except for the week of Christmas. BUT, I ran 5 times the week before – so that evens out, right? Without doing any super long runs (longest was 16 miles), I was able to log my heaviest mileage month in awhile. I’ve steadily been going up since October, and hope to keep it that way.

Yes, I opened presents post sweaty run. These sweet socks will totally keep me running through the winter!

My plan is to keep my mileage relatively even throughout January, and then try to pick things up a bit come February for an April half marathon. My husband has his eyes set on a full marathon in early June, but I’m not looking for another marathon until next fall. Hopefully, though, I can keep my mileage respectable and run closer 4 hours instead of 4:30 next marathon. But we’ll see – I just need to keep myself injury free.

January has started, and that means it’s a new goal – going vegetarian. My husband giggled at me on New Year’s Day when I moaned that I wanted pudding, but wasn’t allowed to eat it because of the gelatin. I quickly ran to the pudding asile of the grocery store to discover that instant mousse is an acceptable treat. I plan on attempting to satiate my pudding craving with some mousse in the near future. It might seem odd for someone that loves burgers so much to try out a vegetarian lifestyle, and especially just for one month. Eating less meat is something that has been on my mind for awhile, and I figured this little project would be the perfect opportunity to give it a shot for a month. Who knows if I’ll continue it after January or not, but I will have at least given it a try.

(source)

I already have a ton of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks in my possession, and have already made so many delicious things from Oh She Glows, Post Punk Kitchen, Daily Garnish, and other veggie friendly blogs. If anyone has any other great resources for recipes (especially things to eat for lunch) that would be great! I’m looking forward to a month full of veggies, beans, and grains. To be honest, that’s most of my dishes these days anyway, but forcing myself not to cop-out and have something easier (usually involving meat) should be interesting. Since I’m the cooker of the household, I am still going to prepare any meat related dish my husband wants – I’ll just leave the meat out for myself. But, since I am in charge in the kitchen, he doesn’t eat much meat anyway. It should be an interesting month!

So I’m halfway there – I baked my way through November and ran my way through December. January will be meat free, and then February will hopefully be the month of yoga. Who knows what will be next, but I’m enjoying these little monthly goals.

This Week in Yum

This past week was all about meatless meals and sweet treats!

With a craving for something with tangy buffalo sauce, I thought I’d give buffalo tempeh eggrolls a shot. It was super easy, and really delicious. All you need to do is steam a package of tempeh for about 5 minutes, toss it in your favorite buffalo sauce (4 Tbsp), combine it with some slaw mix, and roll them up in wonton wrappers. They only need to bake for about 12 minutes at 425, and you’ve got yourself dinner! Or a really good party snack. Of course, you need some extra buffalo sauce for dipping on the side, and maybe some blue cheese.

Staying with the meatless kick, I made tofu balls as substitutes for meatballs to have with pasta. It sounds weird, and the flavors are definitely interesting, but they are really good. I could even see having these with some type of stir-fry, since there’s peanut butter and soy sauce mixed in. I found the recipe over at the always delicious Post-Punk Kitchen.

Earlier in the week I decided to check out Gilt Taste, which is a dangerously delicious counter-part to Gilt Groupe, which has amazing sample sales. As you can guess, Gilt Taste is basically a foodie’s sample sale heaven. You name it, they have it, and it all looks absolutely amazing. There were a few things I decided to order as Christmas gifts, and figured a treat for myself (and my husband) would be appropriate as well. If you’ve never had popcorn mixed in with candy and chocolate, you are seriously missing out. I’ve had a few different variations, and when I saw The Hampton Popcorn Company’s peanut butter cup popcorn, I just had to have it. I don’t know how long this tin is going to last…

I spent Saturday with my parents, and took a trip to Trader Joe’s, since they have one in their town. In addition to picking up some things for my Foodie Pen Pal, I stumbled upon Cookie Butter, and had to grab a jar. Oh. My. Goodness. There really aren’t even words to describe how delicious it is. It sounds weird, I know, but it’s really good. Christmas in your mouth good. I really hope it isn’t a short-lived thing, because I need to go back and stock up. It’s already been eaten by the spoonful, and mixed in oatmeal. I have grand plans for this little jar.

I’ve also managed to stick to December’s goal of running at least 4 times a week. This past week I ran 5 times! Granted two of those runs were only 2 milers, but it isn’t about the distance – it’s about being out there. I ended the week at 25 miles, which isn’t quite as much as I was hoping for, but still not bad. I need to get in a super long run (15-20 miles) this weekend in order to feel remotely prepared for Goofy.

The week ahead is looking busy, albeit yummy. I have some promising dinners planned, miles to run, and Holiday parties to attend. Who doesn’t love the Holiday season?

Creamy Avocado Quinoa

On Tuesday, I had grand plans to head to the gym after work. I packed my bag the night before and left it right by the door. All that preparing was great, especially when I walked right past the bag on my way out the door that morning. Since my husband and I work together, we take turns driving and Tuesdays are my day. After battling typical New Jersey traffic in the rain, we arrived at the gym, and I was anxious to get inside and hopefully score a treadmill. I went to reach for my gym bag… and there was nothing there. I had driven past our house in rush hour traffic for nothing.

So we turned right around, drove home, and suited up for a run in the rain. It turned out to only be a light drizzle, but I was nervous since it was already 6:45p and dark. Thankfully the weather has been unseasonably warm, so I wore a white t-shirt and as much reflective gear I could find, and squeezed in 4 miles. Rain and dark can’t keep me from running – this Goofy Challenge isn’t going to run itself in January!

While the whole wasting time driving to the gym and then driving back home kind of bummed me out, the run itself was a nice boost, as was our dinner. We’ve had about a cup of quinoa sitting in our pantry for who knows how long, so I decided to finally use it. My husband isn’t a big fan of the grain, but I figured mixing it with some of his favorite ingredients would make it better. I think it also helped that there was a jalapeno in it, making it nice and spicy while he had his foot in an ice bath.

This entire meal can be ready in the time it takes for the quinoa to cook (about 10-20 minutes), so it’s perfect for a weeknight. I also think this would be really great in a burrito. But, you can do what I did and just throw it in a bowl and go to town. It’s an odd green color, but I promise it tastes delicious.

Creamy Avocado Quinoa
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 Spanish onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, diced (more or less depending on your preferred spice level)
1 cup black beans
1 avocado
1/4 cup cilantro
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp oil

Directions:
1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil with the quinoa, and let simmer for about 10-20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet and satuee the onions over medium-high heat, about five minutes. Add jalapeno and beans, cooking for an additional 5 minutes.
3. In a food processor or blender, combine avocado, garlic, and cilantro. Pulse until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the cooked quinoa to the skillet, being sure to mix fully, and allow to cook for an additional minute or two.
5. Remove from heat and add the avocado sauce, stirring to combine.

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

It’s no secret that I love a good burger. Since I’m trying to not eat meat too frequently, I’ve been on a quest for a really good veggie burger. I’ve made a whole bunch of them since the creation of the blog, but I haven’t been super successful, until the other night. I had made a version with lentils and black beans and they were almost perfect, but needed a little more work. After making Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s cajun bean balls, I realized I could apply the same technique (no eggs, mushed and not food-processed beans, etc.), to a burger.

The hardest part for me in creating a good veggie burger was the consistency. I always find the recipes make the burger either too wet, causing them to not stick together, or too dry, making them stick together at first, but eventually flake apart and require a lot of sauces to eat them. Everything always tasted good, but the process of cooking them based on their all-over-the-place consistency caused me kitchen-induced agita.

So, I tried to take the bits and pieces of recipes that I knew worked, and left out the things that didn’t really seem to work well. Both my husband and I love spicy foods, so I of course had to add some heat into the mix, opting for a jalapeno. After telling my husband I only used one, he immediately replied, “What? Just ONE?!” until he took a bite… that single pepper wasn’t messing around, especially because it isn’t cooked, and I of course don’t de-seed it (that’s where all the heat is!). So, depending on your spice preference you can use more, less, or completely omit the pepper. We enjoyed ours with some oven fries, and topped the burgers with chipotle salsa and sour cream. If we had avocados on hand, those would have been toppers as well.

Perfect marathon-week meal 🙂

Spicy Black Bean Burgers
– makes 4 burgers –

Ingredients:
1 150z. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 c plain breadcrumbs
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium sauté pan that’s been sprayed with cooking oil, and cook the diced onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chili and cumin and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl mush the beans, making sure there aren’t any whole beans, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Mix in the onion, jalapeño, and breadcrumbs until well combined.
4. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, and line with burgers. Make sure to coat the tops of the burgers with some cooking spray as well. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, flip the burgers, and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

This Week in Yum and a Winner!

As I mentioned last week, I’m thinking about doing a weekly post for all of those things that I ate and were noteworthy, but didn’t necessarily have a recipe for, or did, but it wasn’t my own and I really didn’t change anything.

The week was rather low-key in the kitchen. Since I spent the weekend up in Rochester, Sunday night’s dinner was quick and easy, and went unnoticed. We also didn’t have anything for dessert, which might as well be blasphemy in our household. I quickly remedied the situation for the rest of the week, though.

On Tuesday night I made a batch of Carrots ‘n Cake’s Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins, which were posted on FitSugar last week. They are perfect any time of day – breakfast, snack, dessert… and as you can imagine I’ve had one for each. I left out the nuts (simply because I didn’t have any), but they were delicious. You should make them.

The rest of the week was passable with the highlight being a re-do of these Mexican Stuffed Shells. They are one of my husband’s favorite dishes. This time, I swapped out the ground beef for beef soy crumbles, and they were still just as delicious. We had some homemade burritos, and then peirogis the other nights. We headed to Stuff Yer Face on Friday to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and I devoured my stromboli and washed it down with a Franziskaner Weissbier… yum.

Since Halloween is on Monday, the husband and I attended a party Saturday night. I of course went as my favorite baked good, a cupcake!

Sunday was an attempt at a long run (that wound up to be a failure thanks to some knee pain), and plenty of time spent in the kitchen. I whipped up a batch of The Post Punk Kitchen’s Scalloped Potatoes. Oh. my. goodness. These are absolutely delicious, easy, and even cooler, completely vegan. I’m psyched that we have leftovers! The only change I made to the recipe was instead of using eggplant bacon (Hubs isn’t a big fan of eggplant), we got tempeh (which he actually really enjoys) and I used some liquid smoke to add the “bacon” flavor.

I ended the week with some serious baking for Halloween in the office, but I’ll have to save that for another post!

So onto the winner of the Hormel limited edition chili and cheese and super cute football chip platter (I just got mine and can’t wait to use it)! Thanks to Random.org, the winner is Kat! Send me an e-mail with your address to foodosaurusrex [at] gmail [dot] com, and the goodies will be on their way!

Spicy Polenta Bake

Training for the Philadelphia Marathon has been a marathon in itself. My husband and I have had our share of setbacks and injuries over the past year, but are thankfully on the up and up. Neither of us have been able to tackle 20 miles yet, but it isn’t for lack of trying. Saturday was a 15 miler for me, and an 18 miler for my husband. Next week, I’m hoping to break 16 (my longest run yet) for at least 18 miles so I can get at least one 20 miler. Fingers crossed I can do it!

Since our mileage has been higher, we’ve definitely been hungrier. After Saturday’s 15 miler my husband insisted we had Five Guys for dinner. Since we had ran so much, I figured it was an acceptable treat, and really enjoyed it. After that indulgence, though, I was full aware that I needed something a little better for me on Sunday. So, after waking up and getting my husband to do yoga with me for the first time ever (he’s finally realizing how helpful it can be to stretch out), I decided to use up the little bit of pre-made polenta I had in the fridge.

This dish came in handy for a small brunch, followed by a late dinner, as we went to an Oktoberfest at a bar nearby, and enjoyed our fair share of German food and beers. It was just what I needed after mid-day Sunday drinking!

Spicy Polenta Bake
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
4 oz. pre-made polenta, sliced thin
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can corn, drained
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup salsa (I used Herdez chipotle flavor)
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp Adobo

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place sliced polenta on a greased baking sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet, and sautee onion until soft (about 5 minutes). Add chili powder, cumin, and adobo, sauteeing for an additional 3 minutes.
4. Add beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, and salsa and cook for 5 minutes, until heated through.
5. Grease a 9×11 dish and layer with cooked polenta and bean and corn mixture, and top with cheese.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

Meatless Monday: The TALT

There is something magical about a good sandwich. For me, it’s a little bit crunchy, a little bit creamy, and a whole lot of delicious. I’m a huge fan of club sandwiches, paninis, tortas, subs (also known as “hoagies”), and any other sandwich-like food. I grew up eating a sandwich pretty much every day for lunch, and I couldn’t complain – my dad makes a mean turkey and cheese with lettuce!

I had been craving a BLT for quite some time, but decided to make it meatless. Enter the TALT – tempeh, avocado, lettuce, and tomato. So simple, and so delicious. I used LightLife’s “Fakin’ Bacon” which has a smoky almost bacon-like taste when quickly fried in a little oil. For the rest of the sandwich, I just toasted some grain bread and topped the “bacon” with lettuce, tomato, and half an avocado. Perfect for a Monday night.

With the realization that sandwiches are perfectly acceptable dinners, I’m looking to incorporate them more in our weekly meals. If you happen to have any good sandwich “recipes” (I put this in quotes because sometimes, like above, sandwich making is a no-brainer), please feel free to pass them along!

I just recently ordered and received the Peas and Thank You cookbook, and also Appetite for Reduction. I’ve already bookmarked a bunch of recipes I can’t wait to try, and have been inspired to try and create my own concoctions from them. Hopefully this month will be full of cooking (and baking!), now that I’m finally a married woman with slightly more time.