Foam Rollers and Colorful Food

Happy Monday! Again, it is raining here. I'm really glad I managed to get in a 9 mile run on Sunday right before the rain (which will continue until Wednesday) started. On that note, today I ordered a foam roller. I had noticed a tiny twinge in my knee, and I think it might be a tight IT band. I have heard some bad stories about IT band trouble, so to nip this in the bud I ordered the foam roller. It works like a massage for your muscles and tendons, loosening tight spots and relaxing them. From what I hear, foam rolling hurts a bit, but in a good way, and the feeling in your muscles when you're done is supposed to be great. I also did a little research and found some stretches and strengthening exercises to do. So, here's to hoping nothing problematic is at hand. I have a 5k this Saturday and the half marathon in just over a month!

Onto the food. Tonight I made the recipe I posted in my first real post in this blog; Roasted Tomato Soup. I also toasted up a whole wheat dinner roll, sliced, with garlic and oregano on top. Of course, I made a salad to go alongside dinner with romaine, cucumber, carrot, dried cranberries, and pine nuts, with a walnut vinaigrette. For dessert I recreated one of my favorite smoothies from the local health food store. I blended up apple juice, ripe banana, maca, spirulina, and frozen blueberries. Great deep color on this one thanks to the berries and spirulina! I also treated myself to one of the cookies I made yesterday. I'm still making my way through Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and have yet to make a bad recipe. Last night I made the almond pignoli nut cookies. These are divine. I am a HUGE almond fan; regular almonds, almond extract, almond paste. Needless to say, I love this recipe. It's a challenge to not eat more than one of two of these at a time!
I'm happy to say I actually planned a bunch of meals and snacks before I grocery shopped yesterday. Expect some new recipes this week!

Soup with a Little Bit of Everything

I typically do a big grocery shop once every two weeks, and try to avoid hitting the grocery store in between. I make some exceptions, especially for certain kinds of produce that spoil quickly, but by and large the twice monthly grocery shop gets me through. That being said, I'm approaching the tail end of those two weeks between shops, and my pantry is getting pretty limited. In instances like this, I have a great soup recipe (if you can even call it that) that uses up items commonly in your refrigerator and pantry. You'll also have a few servings of leftovers, which works out well for tiding yourself over until shopping. It was inspired by this recipe, but I made a few tweaks. I served this soup with a salad made from my last head of romaine and some straggling carrots and celery that were in the crisper drawer.

Little Bit of Everything Soup
-olive oil
-half an onion, small diced
-3 carrots, small diced
-3 celery stalks, small diced
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped (use 1 tbsp dried if you don't have fresh)
-2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (same as above)
-1 tbsp dried basil
-salt and pepper
-6 cups vegetable stock, water, or a combination
-1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
-2 15 oz. cans of beans, rinsed and drained (any kind will do, I used cannellini and red kidney)
-4-8 oz. small pasta (I had about a third of a box of small shells)

-Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot and put over medium heat.
-Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 8-10 minutes, until softened.
-Add the garlic, thyme, rosemary, and basil. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring. Season with salt and pepper.
-Add the vegetable stock/water and the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
-Add the beans and pasta, and bring back to a boil. Cook, stirring often, until the pasta is cooked. Serve.

Black Bean Soup and a Training Update

Everyone knows that beans are an athlete's best friend. Packed with protein, fiber, antioxidants, and iron, beans cover a lot of nutritional bases and make a great recovery food. Black beans are at the top of my favorite bean list, and I use them a lot. Tonight I made a simple soup that's quick to whip up and is super flavorful. I also had corn tortillas that needed to be used, so I sliced them up, fried them quickly in canola oil, and used them as dippers for the soup. Avocado slices or sliced scallions would also make tasty garnishes.

Simple Black Bean Soup
-olive oil
-half a large onion, diced
-half a red bell pepper, diced
-half a green bell pepper, diced
-1 jalapeno pepper, minced
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-1 tbsp chili powder
-2 tbsp cumin
-1 tsp oregano
-1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice
-1 25 oz. can black beans, with liquid
-2 cups vegetable stock
-salt and pepper
-1/3 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
-juice of 1 lime

-Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook for 5-7 minutes, until the veggies start to get tender.
-Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
-Add the tomatoes with their juice, the beans with their liquid, and the vegetable stock to the pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, covered.
-Add the cilantro and lime juice and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve, garnished with cilantro leaves and tortilla strips.
Now for a quick training update. As you know, I am running the Long Branch Half Marathon on May 2nd. On Monday this week, I got an email; it was the first of ten emails (one for each week until the race) covering race details and updates. That really put those 10 weeks in perspective! I'm happy to say the first 2 weeks of training have gone really well. I've already started bumping up my paces since my body is used to this again, and the weekend long runs really start ramping up now. I still have a long way to go, but I know it's going to go fast. I don't think I will do any races in March, but I'm planning on doing three in April. It will be good for a change of pace in my workouts and for getting back into the racing mentality. I'll keep you posted!

Asian Feast and Race Prep

Last night Mark and two of our good friends, Jimbo and Greg, made a veritable feast for dinner. Jimbo came by and we went up to the local Asian market to get supplies. We picked up lots of fresh produce and a bunch of other items we needed to make dinner, and I got a few basics that I was low on in my pantry. Then we came back and started cooking. We made a delicious vegetarian version of a Thai soup called tom yum. We put in tofu, shiitaki mushrooms, peppers, onions, napa cabbage, and extra lemongrass, and we topped it with fresh cilantro. This was super spicy, but so delicious you just wanted to keep on eating. We also had a stir fry. We used Chinese broccoli, long beans, peppers, onions, and baby corns, and cooked it in a sauce made with soy sauce, sriracha, sesame oil, and fermented black bean paste. We served it over thin rice noodles. This meal was awesome, satisfying, and yielded enough leftovers for everyone.

As you know, my comeback race is less than a week away. In preparation, I ran twice over this long weekend. I also signed up with a pretty awesome website, Daily Mile. This site allows you to track your training and races by letting you map your route and enter your time. It provides your pace, and gives you a space to say a few words about your workout. I think this will be a really good tool to use throughout the year, both for historical tracking and for staying motivated. I also like to think that in a year's time, I will be able to look back and see my all my effort totaled up.

Today was grocery day, so expect to see some tasty recipes posted this coming week!

New Year's in Vermont

Happy new year, all! Here's to a brand new year full of possibilities and potential. I rung in the new year up in Vermont. My good friend Chris and his wonderful parents were gracious enough to host Mark and I for the long weekend. Besides a great weekend with great friends, record snowfall, and heated mattress pads (!!!), I also enjoyed some seriously tasty eats and drinks.

I'll begin with The Vermont Pub and Brewery. We come here, without fail, every time we visit Burlington. This place brews some of the best beer I've ever had. Everything they serve is brewed on-site in small batches. I always get a glass of Forbidden Fruit, a raspberry beer, since it's my favorite. Mark and I decided to expand our horizons on this trip and also order some samples. We tried a seasonal ale, a sour red, a smoked stout, and a black IPA. All were delicious, but I think the black IPA was my favorite. Of course, we had to have a snack with our beer, so we ordered what we believe to be the best sweet potato fries anywhere. These are fried in vegetable oil perfectly and are SO good. They come with a honey mustard sauce, but I prefer them with ketchup. Not a shock, since I think most things are better with ketchup.
Another local favorite is Stone Soup. It's a home-style soup and sandwich place that is very vegan friendly. They always have at least one vegan soup on, tons of freshly baked bread, and a stocked hot and cold bar. They will also make any sandwich vegan if you ask; they have tempeh, seitan, and tofu options. On this trip, I enjoyed a huge bowl of curried yellow lentil soup and some hunks of french bread. The soups are always filling and hearty, and they really are a meal with the bread on the side. If I had the room, I would have splurged on an apple cranberry muffin or a chocolate chip coconut banana scone, the vegan baked goods of the day. If you find yourself in Burlington and looking for lunch, check out Stone Soup.

Finally, for our last meal in town, we went to Magnolia Bistro. This is hands down the best breakfast in Burlington, and it has something for everyone, including vegans. The menu is clearly demarcated with icons for vegan and gluten-free options, which is really helpful. Another really cool thing about Magnolia is the fact that it is a green certified restaurant. This is based on the food, trash practices, sustainability in construction and energy use, and pollution reduction. So that is a pretty cool added bonus. But first and foremost, the food is fantastic. I enjoyed a monster plate of Mexican tofu scram (topped with Vermont made hot sauce), home fries, and sourdough toast with homemade strawberry preserves. So delicious and filling. Magnolia Bistro is a must-eat!
So, the new year is off to a good start. Let's hope it continues to be as great as the first weekend was! Happy eating!

Winter Solstice Soup

What does this picture of my house covered in snow make you want to eat? Soup!

This weekend we got a pretty intense snowstorm. We ended up with almost two feet of snow! I love snow and winter so needless to say I was thrilled. It's so nice to have snow on the ground, considering today is winter solstice! Luckily I had gone grocery shopping on Friday and missed most of the crowds (whenever it snows around here people seem to feel the need to stock up like the apocalypse is coming) and got plenty of stuff to cook and bake with. Tonight I was in the mood for a thick, creamy soup. You might remember the the soup recipe I posted a little while back that was going to be carrot soup but turned into carrot and butternut squash soup. Tonight, I went for the carrot soup that I originally intended. This soup is so thick and rich that you will never miss the cream. Serve it with a big slice of crusty bread for dipping.

Carrot Ginger Soup
-olive oil
-1 onion, diced
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-1 tbsp cumin
-1 tbsp coriander
-1 tbsp turmeric
-1 tbsp paprika
-salt and pepper
-2 1/2 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped
-5 cups vegetable stock
-1 15 oz can coconut milk

-Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and heat on medium.
-Add the onion and cook for 5-6 minutes, until translucent.
-Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
-Add all the spices and carrots and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
-Add the vegetable stock to the pot, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the carrots are fork tender.
-Remove the soup from the heat. Using an immersion blender (or regular blender, taking care not to overfill or seal the lid while blending), puree the soup until very smooth. Add the coconut milk as you puree. If the soup is too thick, you can add a bit of water as needed.
-Put the soup back over low heat to warm back through, and serve.

Hearty Soup and a Christmas Cookie Preview

I know what you're thinking - another soup? Does she eat anything else? Well yes, of course I do, but in the wintertime by favorite dinner food is a big bowl of hot soup. Luckily for me, the options for tasty soup recipes are pretty much endless. Tonight I made a recipe out of The Candle Cafe Cookbook, Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup.
I had half a package of wild rice leftover from Thanksgiving that I'd been meaning to use, and the rest of the ingredients are pretty standard items on my grocery list. And who doesn't love a dish where mushroom and thyme are the main flavor profile? A match made in heaven, in my opinion. This soup was just what I wanted this evening, and it was complemented by some toasted bread and a salad of romaine, arugula, carrot, and green apple with some basil vinaigrette.

Another wonderful thing about this season is the prospect of delicious holiday treats. I will preface this with the fact that I am a far more confident cook than I am baker. That said, I don't shy away from baking, and I really want to get better at it. Tonight I tried out a cookie recipe to see if it was up to snuff for holiday sharing. Sure enough, these cookies turned out to be just divine. I'll save the recipe and pictures for closer to when I make a bigger batch for gifting and sharing, but I'll leave you with the main flavors: banana, oat, nut, chocolate. All in one place!

Spicy Soup to Warm Up With

Last night I left work to find ridiculous wind gusts and a sprinkling of rain. All I wanted when I got home was to put on some sweats and eat something warm. I reached for an old standby: Moroccan chickpea soup. This is based on a recipe I found years ago on the Food Network website. I changed the spice profile a little bit, but other than that, I mostly follow the recipe. This recipe is great because besides being really flavorful (and quite spicy), it has only a few ingredients and keeps and reheats really well for leftovers. I served this soup with some oven toasted bread with olive oil, salt and pepper, along with a really tasty salad. I used romaine, carrots, green apples, and pecans, and made a lemon shallot dressing to top it with.


Moroccan Chickpea Soup
-olive oil
-1 yellow onion, diced
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tsp cumin
-2 tsp coriander
-1 tsp turmeric
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp paprika
-1 tsp cayenne pepper
-1/4 tsp nutmeg
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper
-1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice
-3 15 oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed
-4 cups vegetable broth
-5 oz. spinach leaves

-Coat the bottom of a soup pot with olive oil, and heat to medium.
-Add onion to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
-Add all the spices and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. It will be smelling amazing in your kitchen at this point.
-Add the tomatoes and juice, chickpeas, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 30 minutes so the chickpeas get tender and absorb the flavors.
-Add the spinach to the soup and stir to combine. Cook for just a minute or two until the spinach is wilted and vibrant green. Serve with toasty bread and salad.

More Soup

After making the Asian hot pot over the weekend, I started craving a thick, creamy, blended soup. So tonight, I planned on making carrot ginger soup. Then I remembered I not only had carrots on hand, but I had about half a butternut squash already chopped up (extra from another meal a few days ago). I figured I ought to use it, so I decided to add that to the soup too. I also had about a third of a loaf of (what was) fresh whole wheat bread. It was a little too far gone for slicing and toasting for dipping so instead I made some croutons. It added a nice crunch to the smooth soup.

Coconut Ginger Carrot Squash Soup
(If anyone can think of a shorter name for this, it would be appreciated!)

-olive oil
-1 medium onion, chopped
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-half a large butternut squash, cubed
-10 large carrots, chopped
-2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-4 cups vegetable stock
-salt and pepper
-1 15 oz. can coconut milk

-Heat some olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until they are getting tender.
-Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, until fragrant.
-Add the squash, carrots, and ginger. Stir to combine and distribute the ginger, and season with salt and pepper.

-Add the vegetable stock. Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender. Turn off the heat.
-Using an immersion blender*, blend the soup until smooth. As you blend, add the coconut milk.
-Put the soup back over the heat until it's hot. Serve topped with croutons.

*The immersion blender might be my favorite kitchen tool. It is a must-have if you make a lot of soups. If you don't have one of these wonderful devices, you can blend the soup in a blender. Just be sure to work in batches, don't fill the blender more than half full, and never form a tight seal with the lid over hot blender contents. It could explode, I am not kidding.

A Quick Hot Meal for a Rainy Night

For the past few days we've had some rainy and cold weather here. Whenever it's like this outside I crave soup. But last night, I didn't have a ton of time, so I needed to make a soup that didn't require a long simmer. I ended up making an Asian hot pot. In reality, it really wasn't a true hot pot since I didn't cook the ingredients in the broth at the table. But hey, I was close enough since this whole cooking process happened pretty fast.
When I started making this recipe, I anticipated getting a rather brothy soup. But once I had everything in the pot, I was happy to find that this was heartier than I guessed it would be. Mark affirmed that this was great "cold, rainy night food". You don't need many ingredients here, and the leftovers are great too (I had them for lunch today). The recipe below is what I came up with after poking around various recipe sites and picking out my favorite Asian flavors. The only thing I felt that was missing here was heat. Next time I make this dish, I plan to stir some sriracha directly into the broth. This time, we just topped our bowls with it and stirred it in then.

Tofu and Vegetable Hot Pot
-4 cups vegetable broth
-1 1/2 cups water
-4 garlic cloves, smashed
-1 inch of peeled ginger, sliced
-canola or vegetable oil
-1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
-3 heads baby bok choy, stems and leaves separated, chopped
-3 oz. rice noodles (about half a package)
-1 package firm tofu, drained and cubed
-2 carrots, grated
-3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
-3 tbsp soy sauce
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-2 scallions, sliced

-Put the broth, water, garlic, and ginger in a large pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes to allow the garlic and ginger to infuse the liquid. Remove the garlic and ginger slices. *NOTE* It's a good idea to remember how many garlic cloves and ginger slices you put in, so you can ensure that you got them all out.
-While the broth is simmering, prepare the vegetables. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the oil, mushrooms, and bok choy stems. Saute for about 5 minutes, until tender.
-Add the mushrooms, bok choy stems, and rice noodles to the broth, and simmer for 2 minutes.
-Add the bok choy greens and tofu to the broth, simmer for 2 minutes.
-Add the carrots, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir to combine everything well, and serve topped with scallions.

Tomato Soup... in November!

I know that we all know and love our Jersey tomatoes. They are one of the finer points of summer and a staple at every farmer's market around. But once autumn rolls around, I usually find myself reaching for canned tomatoes. After a comment from my husband about the metallic taste of my last batch of tomato soup (which sadly, I had to agree with), I decided my next attempt would be made with fresh tomatoes. Happily, even in November, I'm still finding some! At my local grocery store I found some plump field tomatoes from New York state that I picked up. I supplemented these with a pint of cherry tomatoes; I figured these would be a good choice in case the field tomatoes weren't as sweet as they tend to be in summer. I don't think I had to worry. This soup came out delicious and silky! It's low on ingredients and easy on the wallet, and full of nutrients. Tomatoes are full of vitamin C and lycopene. I served this meal to my parents and my husband, and I had about half a serving of soup left over; if you're feeding a crowd, I would double this recipe. I served this soup with freshly baked sweet potato fries, a green salad, and sliced whole wheat bread.

Roasted Tomato Soup
-2 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes (a mix of whatever kind you like), quartered and cored
-1 large sweet onion, sliced
-4 cloves garlic, peeled
-4 springs thyme
-1/3 cup olive oil
-3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
-1/2 cup tightly backed basil leaves, torn
-salt and pepper

-Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
-Place the onions and garlic in the bottom of a large baking dish. Place the tomatoes on top of the onions and garlic, and place the thyme sprigs over the top of the tomatoes. Pour the olive oil over the vegetables. Bake for 30 minutes.
-After removing and discarding the thyme sprigs, transfer the contents of the baking dish, along with all the juices, into a soup pot.
-Add the vegetable stock to the pot, and bring the soup to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the soup condenses and thickens a bit. Add the basil in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time.
-Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it's as smooth as you can get it.
-Prepare another soup pot with a fine-mesh strainer over the top of it. Ladle the pureed soup into the strainer and use the ladle to work the soup through. This will remove any bits of basil and tomato seeds or membranes that didn't puree well.
-Heat the soup back up over medium heat. Ladle into bowls and serve.