Purple Sunrise Smoothie

I am a big fan of breakfast. It's the one meal I won't ever forget to eat and most days, I actually have two or three breakfasts. I know you other endurance athletes hear me on that one! Usually, I grab a Lara bar before I ride, have recovery drink after my ride (Vega Recovery Accelerator), and then have a real breakfast when I sit down at my desk and start to do work with coffee. Lately though, I've gotten tired of taking the time to pack, and then lugging around the breakfast, lunch, snacks, and sometimes even dinner that I take with me into MIT to get me through my day. I almost never buy food on campus so with the amount of food one has to eat if you're doing a lot of training, this gets old really fast! So that I can get away with packing less, I've started making smoothies in the morning, even if I haven't gone riding since it's something I can "eat" while getting ready. i.e. One less thing that I need to take with me! It's a throw-back to high school, when during swim season, my Mom would have my brother and I drink Carnation Instant Breakfast along with our "real" breakfasts just so that we wouldn't get too hungry before it was time for lunch. This smoothie recipe has been my favorite lately. It's only 4 ingredients (blueberries, spinach, protein powder, and almond milk) and with those packs in a serving of fruit, a serving of vegetables, and some good quality protein. With my vegetable smoothies, I've been using a sweetened protein powder, specifically Vega One Nutritional Shake. This protein powder is fortified with extra nutrients including omega-3 fatty acids, chlorella, antioxidants, and probiotics, which helps me forgive the addition of stevia. Also, adding spinach or another non-sweet ingredient helps cut what I consider to be the excessive sweetness offered by the stevia. I hope you enjoy it!

Purple Sunrise Smoothie

3/4c frozen blueberries
3/4c frozen spinach (or fresh spinach if you don't have a high speed blender)
3/4 scoop sweetened vanilla protein powder (For this, I've been using Vanilla Vega One Nutritional Shake)
1/2- 1c vanilla almond milk and/ or water (I usually do half and half)

Blend or food process all ingredients until smooth. This will take a bit longer than usual because of the spinach. If you don't have a high speed blender, use fresh spinach, as the result will be too stringy with the frozen spinach. Check the viscosity and add additional water if necessary. Enjoy the sunrise with a nutritious start to your day!

Nut Butter Matchup & PB Sorbet

In recent months, almond butter has stolen the place in my heart reserved for my favorite nut butter. But between the almond butter in my pre-ride breakfast, and almond milk in my post-ride smoothies, and the almonds that I like as a snack, I started wondering if I was missing something by devoting so much attention to almonds. Instinctually, I knew the answer was "yes" as variety is the spice of life and the secret to good nutrition and health. But how do the different nut butter stack up? Doing a little research, here's my Final Four nut butters, ranked on the quality of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and micronutrients in a 2T serving. It's a bit qualitative, but hopefully it gives enough data that you can look further into it yourself!

4. Peanut Butter. 

190 calories

16g fat (8g monounsaturated/ 3g saturated fat, 25mg omega-3, 5406mg omega-6)

8g protein (protein completeness score: 66, deficient in lysine & the branched amino acid threonine)

14% Vitamin E, 21% Niacin, 9% Vitamin B6, 12% Magnesium, 23% Manganese, 3% Selenium

3. Almond Butter.

200 calories

18g fat (12g monounsaturated/ 2g saturated fat, 135mg omega-3, 2802mg omega-6)

5g protein (protein completeness score: 66, deficient in lysine)

42% Vitamin E, 12% Riboflavin, 8% Calcium, 6% Iron, 24% Magnesium, 28% Manganese, 2% Selenium

2. Sunflower Seed Butter.

185 calories

15g fat (3g monounsaturated/ 2g saturated fat, 22mg omega-3, 1056mg omega-6)

6g protein (protein completeness score: 81, deficient in lysine)

12% Vitamin B6, 18% Folate, 8% Iron, 30% Magnesium, 24% Phosphorous, 12% Zinc, 30% Copper, 34% Manganese

And the Nut Butter April (seriously, it was in April this year!) Madness winner is...

1. Cashew Butter. 

190 calories 

16g fat (10g monounsaturated/ 3g saturated fat, 55mg omega-3, 2614mg omega-6)

6g protein (protein completeness score: 105)

14% Vitamin K, 8% Iron, 20% Magnesium, 12% Zinc, 36% Copper

Surprised that cashews are the only one of the four to offer a complete source of protein? I sure was. I feel like cashews are the least flavorful nut which is why they nicely add creaminess to things like vegan magic cheese. Despite this high quality protein, I probably won't start buying cashew butter, but I will start making a concerted effort to use cashews in more of my recipes. Meanwhile, sunflower seed butter offers the widest variety of micronutrients, almond butter offers the best quality fat, and peanut butter offers the most protein. So while there may not be a clear-cut winner in this challenge, you are the winner since now you know the nutritional differences between the most popular nut butters!

Peanut Butter (Mango) Sorbet

1.5c frozen cubed mango

4T PB2 powdered peanut butter*

3-4T vanilla almond milk

Food process mango & PB2 to a fine powder (best done in a high speed blender, but food processor also works!). Add almond milk 1T at a time, food processing after each addition until your desired consistency is reached. This recipe yields two servings of creamy deliciousness with 125 calories, 5g protein, and all natural sugars. Just like Arctic Zero except made of all natural ingredients instead of fake junk!

*PB2 is interesting stuff. Basically, peanuts are dehydrated, defatted, and ground to produce a fine powder. A 45 calorie serving of this stuff offers most of the nutrients of regular peanut butter, with only 1.5g fat and 5g protein. Another tasty peanut butter alternative!

Spring has finally sprung here in Massachusetts! At least for this week...

Gifts from the Kitchen: Fancy Roast Nuts

Today's a first that I think you'll be excited for... I'm trying out my first give-away! I often hear that you would like me to make my recipes for you and I'd like to give you, my readers, a holiday present this year. So I will be making an extra jar of fancy roast nuts, and giving it away to one lucky reader. To enter, simply comment below. You can comment/ enter as many times as you would like between now and Sunday 12/15 at 5pm EST. I will announce the winner in the post next Monday. Even if you don't like nuts, I'd be happy to make a personalized jar that you can give away as a gift!

Anyways, homemade roast nuts are a great holiday present. Nuts contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and are great for hearth health, so this is really a gift that keeps on giving! If you can figure out a good source for raw nuts and package them in a repurposed jar, this can be a really cost effective gift too. In Cambridge, raw almonds are $2.99/ package at Market Basket and raw sunflower seeds are $1.99/ package at Trader Joe's. Peanuts can also usually be found on the cheap! Below are two of my favorite recipes that I've developed. If you like the idea, but are worried about nut allergies, sunflower seeds work great for any of the coatings!

Maple Cinnamon Pumpkin Nuts (I recommend almonds and cashews!)

1/2c pumpkin puree
1/4c brown sugar
1/4c maple syrup
1T brown sugar
2-3c raw nuts

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix all of the ingredients except the nuts in a bowl until smooth. Add the nuts and stir to coat. Spread the mixture evenly on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. The nuts will still feel soft when you take them out, but they will harden upon cooling!

Chocolate Cinnamon Nuts (This works great with sunflower seeds and hazelnuts!)

1/3c cocoa powder
1/3c brown sugar
1/4c warm tap water (the warmth melts the oil and helps everything combine more smoothly)
1T cinnamon
1T coconut oil
2-3c raw nuts

Follow the directions above, using the chocolate ingredients. Same thing goes, they will be soft even when they are ready, so resist the temptation to over cook!

Apple Cinnamon French Toast

I did it! I finally did it! I made vegan french toast on Sunday and it was so good, I can't stop thinking about it. Previous attempts have been disastrous or at best, pretty much regular toast-textured. I've been trying hard though because french toast is one of my all time favorite foods, and it was one of the first breakfast food recipes I perfected back in college. My french toast was made with egg whites, so it was high in protein and low in fat. I found it easy to digest too, so I would often eat it before crew practice in the mornings. The crispy outside and soft inside, paired with the flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple are hard to resist... These days, I have a waffle maker, an awesome pancake recipe, and we don't keep eggs around. Fiancé says the cholesterol is bad (though this logic fails since there's no cholesterol in the whites) but until the eggs come from happy chickens that live in my back yard, I've become skeptical. So I've been challenging myself to try to create vegan french toast so that this old favorite can again become a regular part of my life.

Sunday morning, we woke up to a cold, wet, dreary day. The type of day that's best for sitting inside with a warm breakfast and cup of coffee watching the rain fall (you know, before you go out and ride your bike for a few hours in it.) We had made pumpkin waffles on Saturday (coming soon!) and I wasn't in the mood for pancakes. So I did a little research and decided to give vegan french toast one more shot. I decided to make my batter with apple sauce, protein powder, and flax seed, since the blogs I trusted most seemed to be using banana and I personally really like flax as an egg replacer. Banana unfortunately makes me gag, but I had an opened container of apple sauce in the fridge that I thought might be close enough. I added Life Basic's vanilla unsweetened protein powder, since I always need a protein boost in the mornings. This particular protein powder is pretty palatable and it's a complete source of all of the essential amino acids! The vanilla adds to the cozy flavor nicely. The flax seeds were also a good choice for their omega-3 fatty acids and nutritional profile, as well as the hearty, nutty taste they bring to the table. The final, critical tip for cooking these... make sure you use a generous amount of vegetable or canola oil to grease your pan! Otherwise they will stick and become a soggy mess.

Apple Cinnamon French Toast

3/4c vanilla almond milk
1/2c unsweetened apple sauce
1/3c vanilla unsweetened protein powder (I used this one)
1T ground flax seeds
1T cinnamon
3T maple syrup
6 slices bread (whole wheat, multi grain or Udi's gluten free)
canola or vegetable oil to grease the pan

1. Preheat skillet to medium heat. Add a generous amount of vegetable oil and swirl to spread it. Skillet is ready when water droplets sizzle when added.
2. Mix all of the ingredients except the bread together in a large bowl.
3. Dip bread in batter. This is a bit thicker than regular french toast batter, so you may have to spread it a little with a finger or a knife to make sure it's fully coated.
4. Cook french toast on skillet. The first side will take 2-3 minutes and the second will take 1-2 minutes. Don't try to flip it early or it will stick! Cooking times will vary, but it'll be easier to recover from a slightly black piece than a soggy-all-over-your-pan piece (which will require you to cool & clean your skillet to start over)
5. Remove from skillet and let cool. Regrease your pan for every piece you make, it's crucial for it to come out right! Serve with additional maple syrup, nuts, and/ or chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Cranberry Kale Salad

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I sure did! I finished the first draft of my 3rd and final proposal, so today and over the weekend, I just need to work on "TOC" style images, presentation, finding typos, and refining my brilliance. After a solid, long work day, I shared Thanksgiving dinner with my two best friends. After dinner-- the menu was shared with you this week-- we ate warm gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (they work amazingly with oat flour!), a brandy drink I developed that we entitled Pumpkin Desirrrrre, and watched Legally Blonde. What a great celebration! I really look forward to hosting Thanksgiving at my house when I own one and am "grown-up."

To close out the week, I'm sharing the recipe for our Cranberry Kale salad. Kale salads can be a bit mystifying at first, since the leaves are so hearty in comparison to other salad greens and many people have trouble digesting it when it's eaten raw. However, a raw kale salad can be quite tasty! Kale also has the benefit that it keeps with dressing on amazingly: this is a salad you can make with dressing the night before and have no worries about finding a soggy mess in your lunch box the next day. Plus, at least once a week, I tell you about the nutritional benefits of kale and cruciferous vegetables, so you already know how much of a nutritional punch this salad will deliver! Paired with sunflower seeds and olive oil for the healthy fats, this salad is a real winner, especially if you feel you still need to recover yesterday's feast.

Cranberry Kale Salad

1 bag fresh kale
3T balsamic vinegar
3T olive oil
fresh cracked black pepper and garlic to taste
dash of fresh cracked sea salt
1/3c sunflower seeds
1/3c dried cranberries

In a large bowl, combine kale, oil, vinegar, and spices. Reach your hands in to vigorously massage the kale to help the leaves absorb the flavors. Top with cranberries and sunflower seeds. (They'll drift down anyways as your serve it, so don't mix it up or you'll get a concentration at the bottom.) Serve and enjoy!

Fall Superfood Feast

If you've been following me for a few weeks, you know that I like to save Fridays for special recipes. You know, a reward for making it through the week inspiration for the weekend when you actually have time to cook. And if I may say so, this Friday you are going to hit the jackpot! Today I'm sharing the menu from last night's "roommate night." I am lucky enough to live with my best friend. This fall has been pretty intense for us so we started setting aside a night each week to hang out, cook dinner, and chill.

Today I'll be sharing recipes for... Kale-Sunflower Pesto with Spaghetti Squash and Apple Crisp.

Conception of this week's dinner started last week, when I was doing a little light reading on the omega-3 fatty acids in nuts. Most of us have heard that walnuts have omega-3 fatty acids, but did you know that sunflower seeds are just as potent a source? That in combination with the fact that sunflower seeds cost $1.99/ lb,* compared to the $6.99/ lb for walnuts inspired me to create a recipe where sunflower seeds took the center stage. Sunflower seeds are also rich in iron, selenium, and vitamin E which are good for healing and reducing inflammation, respectively.
(*For those who don't know, postdoctoral associates make about as much as a first year public school teacher. Couple that with my fiance's ever-growing medical school loans and that will explain why many of my recipes are fairly cost effective.)

The next ingredient was inspired by National Kale Day, which was 10/2. I'm a little late for the celebration, but it's never too late to serve up a recipe with this superfood. Kale is rich in fiber, calcium, and potassium, as well as vitamins A, C and K. Additionally, kale is a cruciferous vegetable, which means it will deliver potent anti-cancer agents.

Up next... spaghetti squash. It's just as delicious as it sounds. Many of my recipes rely heavily on grains: I personally feel like I need their caloric density because I ride my bike a lot. I make an exception for this squash though. Spaghetti squash has about 1/5 of the calories of the same amount of whole grain pasta and has more fiber and vitamin C. The taste is amazing! I look forward to this squash every fall. (Although this fall it is quite expensive, hopefully the cost will come down as the season progresses.)

The final fall favorite included in today's recipes are freshly picked apples. Apple season is well underway in New England and even though I haven't made it to an orchard yet, my brother and his girlfriend did me a favor and shared some of their recent bounty with me. I've healthied up my family's recipe by using Earth Balance buttery spread in place of butter. Earth Balance is made from vegetable oils and delivers a lot of omega-3 fatty acids instead of the saturated fat in butter. With this apple crisp, I'm sure that an apple a day will keep the doctor away!

Kale-Sunflower Pesto

5c fresh kale
1c sunflower seeds (I used roasted, salted seeds)
3T olive oil
1/2c nutritional yeast
1/4c balsamic vinegar
garlic, black pepper, ginger, and salt to taste
water to thin as necessary

Combine kale, sunflower seeds, and nutritional yeast in food processor. Add spices, olive oil, and balsamic. Continue to process until a pesto texture is achieved. Add water or additional olive oil to thin as necessary (I like to limit the amount of oil, since there's already plenty omega-3 fatty acids in the sunflower seeds which is why I use the water.)

Spaghetti Squash

This is even easier to cook than pasta. Simply poke some holes in the spaghetti squash with a fork and microwave on high for 8-10 minutes, rotating occasionally, until soft. Then cut in half and scoop out the "spaghetti" removing the seeds.
Please don't worry about the safety of microwaves. The radiation your food will experience is less than it would receive if you listened to the radio while you were eating dinner or if you received a cell phone call. Additionally, all the microwaves (ie the radiation waves) are doing is exciting the water molecules in the food, which cause them to heat up. They are gone by the time you eat your food.

Apple Crisp

8-10 fresh apples
1c rolled oat flour (created by food processing rolled oats)
1t cornstarch
1c quick cook oats
1c brown sugar
1/4c Earth Balance buttery spread, melted (or canola oil)
cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger (or pumpkin pie spice) to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cut apples into 1/2" chunks, leaving the skin on. (I used to skin the apples, but the first year I moved to Boston, I didn't own a peeler so we tried this recipe with the skins on. We liked it so much that we've never gone back!)
3. In a medium bowl, combine oat flour, oats, and brown sugar.
4. Melt the Earth Balance and add it to the flour mixture about 1T at a time. Add just enough to "wet" the dry ingredients. If you don't have earth balance, you can use canola oil but your crisp won't be quite as crispy. (It's still good though! We do it that way often.)
5. Spread the apples in a 9 by 13 baking pan.
6. Cover apples with the "crisp" mixture.
7. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until apples are soft and the crisp is crispy. Enjoy!

Butternut Alfredo Pasta

I'm so excited! Due to a tweak in my knee, I had to take a bus from MIT to Northeastern yesterday to visit a collaborator, as opposed to my usual bike trip. Well, the bus that I needed to be on never showed and of course the late bus got even later due to traffic so as usual my patience was stretched thin. But there was a huge silver lining! There was a sign on that bus advertising the 18th Annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. It's 10/26 and 27, just a short T ride away, and FREE. How great!

This has been a slow week in the kitchen since I'm still trying to catch up from being away all weekend. Well, not really. I've made veggie burgers, lentil soup, and some kick-@$$ gluten free cookies, I just haven't felt like blogging those recipes yet. I also tried to make my own almond butter! Almond butter is my favorite and is either super expensive (Whole Foods, regular grocery stores) or the supply is irregular (our Trader Joe's has been out for a month). I decided to try my hand at making it when I found a 10 oz bag of raw almonds for $2.99 earlier in the week. I managed to make jar of what I'll call almond paste... when I get it to turn into butter I will pass the recipe on to you!

Yesterday, this recipe caught my eye, but I found it to be lacking a little bit nutritionally. The cashews are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and iron, two nutrients I'm looking for to quiet inflammation and promote healing in my knee. Cashew protein is even a complete source of all of the essential amino acids. However, the full combination of ingredients resulted in something that was a bit too low in protein and high in fat to really fuel my day. Thus, my Butternut Alfredo Pasta was born!

Butternut Alfredo Pasta

1/2 package whole wheat or brown rice rotini
1/2 package frozen cubed butternut squash, cooked
1/2 cup cashews, soaked overnight
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (here's the extra protein!)
cinnamon, garlic, and crushed red pepper to taste

Make your pasta according to the directions. Cook butternut squash, either in the microwave, or by roasting for 30 minutes in the oven at 350F. Drain cashews and combine squash, cashews, nutritional yeast, and spices in a food processor. Blend until smooth (add water to thin as necessary). Serve warm over pasta.

Cranberry Walnut Quinoa

Today's post will feature a truly Great Grain: Quinoa. Quinoa is gluten free and a great, complete source of protein. For every 100 calories of quinoa, you get 2g fiber and 4g of protein. It's also a good source of manganese and folate. However, it's the amino acid composition of that protein that makes this grain shine. Quinoa is a complete protein, meaning that it contains all of the essential amino acids. Of the 21 naturally occurring amino acids, 9 are essential, meaning that our body isn't able to make them and if we don't get them through dietary sources, our body isn't able to make the proteins that incorporate them. For example: lysine is an essential amino acid and without it, we wouldn't be able to synthesize collagen with crosslinks. Without those crosslinks, we wouldn't have muscle and connective tissue! So making sure that you eat enough of all 9 essential amino acids is a crucial part of health and performance.

This recipe is a surprising favorite which combines sweet and savory for a dish that's just as good as the main even or on the side. With quinoa's complete protein, no additional protein is really necessary, but I threw in the walnuts for an additional boost and for the omega-3 fatty acids. Cranberries and cinnamon round out the festive fall flavor.

Cranberry Walnut Quinoa

1c red quinoa

2c water

1/3c walnuts

1/3c dried cranberries

cinnamon and garlic to taste

Rinse the quinoa (some people, myself included, have a reaction to one of the proteins on the shell of the quinoa so it should be rinsed off). Add the water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once the water is absorbed, remove from heat. Add cranberries, walnuts, garlic, and cinnamon to taste. Enjoy!

Fall Flavored Omega-3s

The main course of the birthday dinner was Maple-Balsamic Salmon served over Pumpkin Risotto. I've really started to love risottos and the pumpkin really adds to the creamy texture I adore. I used the traditional fall pumpkin spice complement to tie this dish together-- maple, cloves, and ginger in the fish and cinnamon and pumpkin in the risotto. The result was a perfectly matched fall dish!

If you choose not to eat fish, the pumpkin risotto is lovely on it's own. I choose to eat fish for several key nutrients, including its heme-based iron, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids. Heme-based iron and vitamin B12 can only be found in animal-based foods and a deficiency of these can lead to anemia, which I know from experience is not pleasant! We'll discuss those more in depth later. Today, we'll focus on the omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids play a key role in supporting brain function, cardiovascular health, reducing inflammation, and even easing depression. EPH and DHA, two potent omega-3s only found in animal sources have been most strongly linked to cardiovascular benefits.

So now that you know why this dish is amazing for you, dig in!

Pumpkin Risotto (If you don't eat fish, this makes a great main course by itself)

1 cup risotto/ arborio rice

1 can pumpkin puree (15.8oz)

3 to 4 cups water

1/4c Parmesan cheese or 1/4c nutritional yeast (to make the recipe vegan or for an additional protein boost)

red pepper flakes

cinnamon

garlic

2-3 scallions, diced (or a few slices of diced onion)

1 bullion cube (broken up)

1. Saute the scallions with a dash of garlic, cinnamon, the broken up bullion cube and a splash of water tom avoid greasing the pan.

2. Add in the risotto rice. Saute the rice for 1 minute.

3. Add 1 cup of water/ broth to the risotto. Stir until absorbed. (You don't need to stir quite constantly, but it's much more stirring than regular rice).

4. Repeat step 6 with the 2nd and 3rd cups of water.

5. After 3 cups, your risotto may be done, check the texture to see if it's to your taste. If it's still too firm, add the last 1/4 to 1 cup of water slowly in 1/4 cup increments. Stop when the risotto is firm enough for your liking.

6. Add the can of pumpkin puree and Parmesan cheese. Garnish with additional cinnamon and chili pepper.

Maple-Balsamic Glazed Salmon

1/4c maple syrup

2T balsamic vinegar

3T water

1/2t cloves

dash ginger (adding too much ginger will make this teriyaki-like)

wild caught Atlantic salmon fillets

Combine the maple, vinegar, cloves and ginger in a small bowl. As much as I love ginger, use a light hand, as adding too much will give this a teriyaki flavor rather than the fall medley we're going for. If it's too sweet or too tart for your tastes, add more vinegar or syrup (respectively) to your tastes. Once the glaze has been perfected, transfer it to a ziplock bag containing the salmon fillets. Close (removing as much air from the bag as possible) and let marinate in the fridge for a few hours. When you start the risotto, pre-heat the over to 375F. Transfer salmon to pan covered with excess aluminum foil. Curl up the edges of the aluminum foil and pour the extra marinade over the salmon. Form a "tent" over the salmon with the long edges of the aluminum foil to keep the moisture in. Cook 25 to 30 minutes until tender. Serve over the pumpkin risotto.