Hashbrowns and Lentil "Sausage"

Despite the lack of formal adventures last weekend, it was a delightful one. I took the weekend off from racing to rest up for Killington stage race next weekend, which is one of my "A" races for the season. Saturday started out very wet as I headed out for the local weekly hammer ride. The rain stopped by the time I got to the meet-up, but attendance was extremely low, presumably due to the combination of foreboding skies and the overlap of the popular Sunapee RR. My instructions for the morning were to do a hammer ride and "hit the hills hard." I was worried with this group that no one would want to push the pace, but after a few miles, it became obvious that at least a couple of the guys were feeling chipper, and well, no one shows up to this ride unless they expect to hammer so I worked up the courage to stretch my legs and try to push these guys a little bit. Now, contrary to what one may or may not believe about me, I feel no need to crush a guy's manhood unless he's done something to deserve it. (Basically, you deserve it if you've insulted me or someone else and I witnessed it.) If not, I understand that man-egos are delicate and for some reason it's devastating when a woman beats up on it. I don't understand why this is devastating because I am not a man, but I try to respect it. Well, I started taking pulls and punching up the hills as I was instructed. And before long... I had someone dropped all of the guys. Oops. After the hills, I was sitting up and waiting because I didn't want to be an a-hole and one guy kept chasing back on. Finally, after about 30 miles (the ride was supposed to be 42) he announced that he was cutting the ride short. Oops again. Respecting that he probably never wanted to see me again, I turned off and did a 20 minute interval with sprints every minute to finish off the hard work that I was supposed to do for the morning before heading home. Hopefully I can put in attacks that effective on the hills of Killington next weekend!

It's been a hard month of training, so Saturday I opted for a sandwich and to take a nap rather than making brunch for my fiancé and myself after the ride. (He was studying rather than making me brunch!) Sunday though, the sun was shining and I had a beautiful "OFF" written in my training plan so we slept in and then had brunch on the porch. My fiancé was in the mood for hashbrowns rather than waffles, so I made us hash browns, lentil sausage, and strawberry-mango smoothies. Perfect for brunch on the patio on a warm late spring morning!

Hashbrowns

3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 onion, diced
salt, pepper, smoked paprika to taste
3T olive oil

Place the potato chunks in the food processor and pulse a few times. I found that the size of the pieces are best if you put one potato at a time in the food processor. Add all ingredients to a large pan. Spread potatoes evenly across the bottom and turn the heat to medium high. Do not touch the potatoes for 5 minutes! (Set the timer.) This will ensure that you have a good crispy surface on the potatoes. Use a spatula to flip and continue to cook until potatoes are crispy and tender.

Lentil "Sausage"

1.5c dried red lentils
1/4c Dukkah spice
1T Vegemite
1/2 onion, diced
8oz baby bella mushrooms, diced
garlic, salt, pepper to taste

Cook the lentils by boiling in a large pot with ample water for ~10 minutes. When tender drain and rinse. Add lentils back to the pot along with other ingredients. Sauté for 10 minutes or so to infuse the flavors. Red lentils are great for this as some will start to mush together, to give a texture like sausage crumbles!