One of My Favorite Healthy Fats and Races!

I have never done more than one race in a single week, until now. Last Thursday I attended the first of six 5k races in the Jersey Shore Running Club Summer Series, and the Saturday after that I ran the George Sheehan Classic 5 mile race. Summer Series was really fun. About 100 people came out. I finished a few seconds under 25 minutes, which was not a PR or anything, but I did come in first in my (minimally represented) age group. I'm looking forward to the next race tomorrow, even though it's supposed to be 94 degrees out. The Sheehan Classic is one of my favorite races. It's right in my town, so I don't even need to worry about leaving early or parking or anything. I had a bit of an upset stomach that morning, but I was able to get over it in time to race, and ran a PR! I finished in 42:31, which I was thrilled about since this course is pretty hilly compared to the course I ran my previous best time on. I don't have any more big races scheduled for a few weeks, so it will be nice to use the weekends to get some longer runs in.

In case you were wondering if I feel guilty eating fat, well, I can assure you that I do not. Fat gets such a bad name, when in reality, it's a really important part of everyone's diet. Of course, some fats are better than others, and coconut is one of my go-to healthy fats. I find that coconut is great in both sweet and savory dishes. Last night, I used coconut milk to make a hearty curry dish. This is a great meal to make on a weeknight when time is an issue. My favorite part of this meal was the delicious snow peas that I picked up at the farmer's market this past weekend. They were so crunchy and sweet, so much more delicious than what you get at the grocery store. I served the curry over brown rice, which soaked up the coconut milk. Yum. This makes about 4 servings, and the leftovers are great. In fact, Mark took them to work for dinner tonight.

Tofu and Veggie Curry over Rice
-1 cup brown rice
-2 tbsp canola oil
-1 lb. package extra firm tofu, diced
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-4 red skinned potatoes, diced
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-1 cup snow peas, ends trimmed
-2 tbsp curry paste (I used green, but you could use red)
-1 15 oz. can coconut milk (don't buy light!)

-Get going on preparing the rice first, whether on the stove or in the microwave.
-Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat. Add the canola oil, then add the tofu. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until golden, then flip and cook another side until golden. Remove the tofu and drain on a paper towel.
-Add the potatoes, peppers, and peas to the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.
-Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Then add the curry paste, and stir to incorporate.
-Add the coconut milk to the pan. Bring everything to a simmer, then cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Add the tofu and toss to coat with the curry sauce.
-Serve the curry over the cooked brown rice immediately, or refrigerate for a few days.

Spring Lake 5 and Stir Fry

In my last post I talked about my most recent race, The Spring Lake 5. I am happy to report that I set a new PR! It was a perfect day for racing, despite the heat that had plagued us during the week or so leading up to it. It was overcast, a little sprinkly, and not hot at all. This race was huge; about 7,500 people finished it. This also provided me with a good lesson learned - I am faster than I give myself credit for, and I should not start THAT far back in the pack. I got pretty stuck during the first mile due to crowds, and ended up running it in 9:20. Luckily the pack started to spread out, and I was able to pick up the pace for the rest of the race. I finished in 42:55, which was 492nd out of 3512 women racers. I am psyched! I felt really good and strong the whole time, and was really happy to come in under 43 minutes. Now onto the next race. This Saturday I am running the Pre-Father's Day 5k with my Dad. I am excited that we get to do the race together, even though I intend to beat him handily! Ha. I set a new 5k PR back in April, so we will see what I can do this time around.

Last night, after a hard workout at the track (400m repeats, ouch), I made a huge pan of stir fry. I eat stir fry a lot, probably once a week, since it is so versatile and never gets old to me. You can find my base recipe for the stir fry sauce here. I used tofu as my protein and for vegetables I used onion, red bell pepper, shiitake mushrooms, and boy choy stems and leaves. The boy choy was so delicious. It almost takes on a little sweetness as it cooks, and it's nice to have two totally different textural elements (crunchy stems, wilted leaves) in one vegetable. For my sauce, I left out the ginger and garlic that the base recipe calls for and instead added some fermented black bean garlic paste. YUM. This stuff is super flavorful and gave the sauce a whole new spin. I served all this over brown rice. If you still haven't experimented with stir fry, now is the time! With all the tasty spring and early summer vegetables we have available now, you will have all kinds of creative options to make it yours.

Peanut Noodles

One of my favorite comfort foods on a rainy, windy day is noodles. I like noodles any which way, and I use them often. Sometimes I'll make vegetable lo mein with udon noodles, other times a spicy Asian soup with cellophane noodles. Last night (which was appropriately drab weather-wise), I chose to use soba, or buckwheat, noodles to make dinner. Besides tasting really good, these noodles are a source of multiple amino acids and are easily digestible since they are wheat free. My favorite way to use this kind of noodle is with a peanut based sauce; for whatever reason, a peanut sauce coats soba perfectly. After trying more sauce recipes than I can count on two hands, I figured out my own version of peanut sauce that I really love. You can simply boil the soba, dress in peanut sauce, and enjoy for a simple and fast meal. But I added a few tasty extras to mine - tofu and a mixture of veggies. A big bonus of this recipe is that it is equally delicious hot, room temperature, or cold. It makes for great leftovers.
Soba with Peanut Sauce, Tofu, and Vegetables
-8-10 oz. soba noodles, cooked, drained, and rinsed
-canola oil
-1 14 oz. package extra firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
-2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
-1 bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
-1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame
-2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-1 clove garlic, grated
-2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-1 tbsp agave nectar
-1 tbsp sriracha
-2 scallions, chopped
-2 tbsp sesame seeds

-Coat the bottom of a large pan with canola oil and put over medium-high heat. Add the tofu cubes and cook for 7-8 minutes. Once golden, flip the tofu and cook for another 7-8 minutes so you have two golden sides. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel.
-Leave the heat on the pan. Add the carrots, peppers, and edamame. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring. Add 1 tbsp of grated ginger and cook for 1 more minute. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
-While the tofu and vegetables cook, prepare the peanut sauce. Combine the peanut butter (softened in the microwave if needed), soy sauce, 1 tbsp of the grated ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, agave nectar, and sriracha. Whisk well to combine. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of warm water to get the sauce nice and smooth.
-Toss the soba noodles with the prepared peanut sauce in a large bowl. Top with the cooked tofu and vegetables, and sprinkle scallions and sesame seeds over the top. Serve.

Summer Rolls in the Winter

Maybe it's because spring was in the air over the past couple of days (and by this I mean not freezing temps and some sun!), but I really have been craving light, summery food. I think I just needed a break from the heavier, richer winter dishes. In any case, I decided to try my hand at one of my favorite light dishes - summer rolls. I based my recipe loosely on this recipe on VeganYumYum. These rolls were definitely labor intensive; don't plan on making these unless you have at least a solid hour available. But if you have the time, these are well worth it! I'd recommend serving this with a Thai sweet chili sauce for dipping.

Tofu and Veggie Summer Rolls
-canola oil
-1 14 oz. package extra firm tofu, cut into wide matchsticks
-1 cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
-2 carrots, peeled and grated
-1 ripe avocado, sliced and tossed with juice from half a lime
-1 1/2 cups spinach, chopped finely
-1 small package cellophane noodles
-rice paper wrappers
-2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
-1/4 cup Vegannaise
-2 tsp sriracha
-juice of half a lime
-salt and pepper
-Heat a couple tablespoons of canola oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Pan fry the tofu until golden on two sides, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the pan, drain on a paper towel, and set aside.
-Boil a pot of water, add the cellophane noodles, and turn off heat. Stir noodles until soft, 3-4 minutes. Drain, rinse, and drain again.
-In a small bowl, mix together the cilantro, Vegannaise, sriracha, lime juice, and salt and pepper. Add the noodles to the sauce and stir to combine. Set aside.
-In the pot, add about an inch of water and heat over low heat. The water should be warm, but not hot enough that you can't put your fingers in the water.
-Soften a rice paper wrapper in the warm water; this should take about 10 seconds. Lay the wrapper flat on a plate. Fill the center with noodles, tofu, cucumber, carrot, spinach, and avocado. Fold the rice paper around the pile like a burrito.
-Repeat the above process until your ingredients are gone. I got 8 rolls (and one mess up!) out of these ingredients.
-Serve with dipping sauce of your choice. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

A Weekly Stir Fry

Not many meals are quicker and easier to put together than a traditional stir fry. Not many are as versatile either; you can put together nearly any combination of proteins and vegetables and create a tasty meal. Stir fry is a weekly staple in my house. This may come as a surprise since I typically don't post about them here; this is a direct result of me throwing these together quickly, usually without measuring much. But tonight, I measured, so now I can share with you! This recipe is very well rounded thanks to a range of ingredients - tofu, broccoli, peppers, ginger, soba (buckwheat) noodles, and more. But think of this recipe as a starting point. Like I said, the specifics are flexible. Maybe you would switch out peppers for mushrooms, or soba noodles for rice. Maybe you'd add some miso paste to the sauce. Be creative! You'll find that stir fries are a great meal to add to your weekly repertoire.

Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry
-1 8 oz. package soba noodles
-1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
-2 tbsp canola oil
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 large crowns broccoli, cut into bit size florets
-1 red bell pepper, sliced
-3 scallions, chopped
-1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbsp sesame seeds
-5 tbsp soy sauce
-2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-1 tbsp sriracha
-1 tsp agave nectar

-Cook the soba noodles according to the package. Rinse with cold water, drain, and set aside.
-Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add cubed tofu and pan fry for 5-7 minutes, until browned. Flip the tofu cubes and repeat on another side. Remove tofu from the pan to a paper towel lined bowl and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.-In the meantime, blanch the broccoli florets for about 3 minutes in boiling water. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
-In a small bowl, make the stir fry sauce. Whisk together the ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sriracha, and agave nectar. Set aside.-Heat the same pan you fried to the tofu in over medium high heat again. Add the peppers and cook, tossing, for 4-5 minutes, until they start to get tender. Add the cooked broccoli and tofu and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to heat through.
-Add the scallions and prepared sauce to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 3 more minutes until everything is coated.
-Toss the stir fry with the cooked soba noodles to coat, and serve immediately.

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.