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...

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Growing up, I loved veggie burgers. My favorite were Boca burgers, but in hindsight, I'm not sure why... they kind of have a funky taste and are probably the least tasty of all the veggie burgers that I've tried! None the less, I've always liked protein-rich veggie patties as a substitute for a run-of-the-mill beef burger. (Except for when it comes to pairing them with mushrooms & swiss cheese... I am still on a quest to solve this problem and will share the solution when I do!) Until 2012, I had no idea how one would go about making a veggie burger and was relegated to options from Morning Star, Boca, and Trader Joe's. However, one time when visiting my fiancé's family I was served the most delicious black bean burger and my future mother-in-law generously share the recipe! Since I was shown the light (and bought a food processor), last summer I went on on a veggie burger-creating spree, trying all kinds of combinations of beans, veggies, spices, and fillers. Sometimes I just add what I have on hand, but this recipe is one that I've honed and perfected and has been given the title of "the best burger I've ever made" by my fiancé.

While I've made many different veggie burgers, I have yet to share any of my veggie burger recipes on this blog. This is because I truly believe that a good veggie burger is best enjoyed outside in the warm sunshine. This past weekend called for sunny days and temperatures near 60F. While "grilling weather" was not quite realized, I was feeling overzealous and hopeful about the approach of summer and made both black bean and sweet potato-chickpea burgers (my other favorite) this past weekend. The two biggest tricks I've found are to add cornstarch to help the burgers stick together and to add mushrooms, which lend a meaty texture. Other than that, it's just about sticking roughly to a formulaic base (I really like the formula suggested by No Meat Athlete) and adding your favorite veggies and spices! I always make up a large batch of veggie burgers as the extras will keep perfectly in the freezer for weeks. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! Keep your fingers crossed for the coming of spring and "grilling weather."

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

1c + 1/2c rolled oats (quick cook or regular)
1T cornstarch
1/2 small sweet onion
5 cloves garlic
1T liquid smoke
2T sirracha
5oz baby bella mushrooms (1/2 package)
2c dry black beans, cooked to yield 5c cooked black beans (or 2 cans)
1c sweet yellow corn, cooked

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Add 1c rolled and cornstarch to food processor. Food process into a fine powder. I prefer quick cook rolled oats, since the regular can make the outsides of the burger a bit tough.
3. Add onion and garlic, then mushrooms. Food process to combine.
4. Add liquid smoke, sirracha, remaining 1/2c rolled oats, and 4c black beans. Food process to a coarse mixture.
5. Stir or mash in remaining 1c black beans and corn. I don't food process this last part as leaving some black beans and the corn whole adds good texture.
6. Form into patties and place on baking sheet. This should yield 8 good sized patties.
7. Bake for 40' at 350F, flipping halfway through to cook evenly.
8. Top with your favorite burger toppings and enjoy!

Why Vegetarian?

So today I decided that I would address the elephant in the room... why I chose to eat a vegetarian diet. I really frequently get the questions like Does it hurt your athletic performance? and Don't you miss meat? I've been interested in vegetarianism since I was a child, but with two parents working, I was told that it was not an option. This was reasonable, since I grew up in Pennsylvania and meat was almost always central to our supper. It would have created a ton of work for my poor mother! As I got older, I offered to cook for myself, but my parents were hesitant to trust me in the kitchen. I was too "creative" and "expansive." So I grew up liking vegetarian food when I could get it, but I didn't have my first committed vegetarian experience until college. I gave up meat for lent in 2004 and liked it, but it didn't stick. It wasn't until I moved to Cambridge where the vegetarian options are plentiful that creeping vegetarianism started to catch up with me. Trader Joe's was just around the corner and their soy nuggets became a staple for lunches on my grad student salary. (To be clear, these are not especially healthy but they are soooooooo good!)

I started to eat less meat because there were so many other options as I learned about "plant-based" nutrition. The idea of a plant based meal really appealed to me because I've always loved my veggies! However, the real tipping point came when my fiancé suggested that we watch Forks Over Knives. I remember that we had planned to make bacon-wrapped flounder that evening (sounds amazing, right?!!) but once the documentary was over, I informed him that we would instead be making black bean tacos. The documentary Forks Over Knives is based on The China Study, which finds that increased consumption of animal based products (this includes eggs and dairy, but not fish) can be tied to an increased incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and many types of cancer to name a few. The documentary also mentioned the reduced environmental impact of a plant-based diet, which is huge. Further studies show that eating a plant-based diet is actually more beneficial for the environment than driving a Prius! Plus, there's still the part of me that wanted to become vegetarian at 8 because of my small furry friends.

To answer the question about athletic performance, further research into plant-based nutrition showed that there are a ton of elite endurance athletes who credit veganism for their success. Perhaps the most notable among these are Brendan Brasier and Scott Jurlek. To investigate, I bought Brendan's book "Thrive," but while it was clear he carefully thought out his decisions, the book was not backed by enough hard science for my liking. Also, his recipes were pretty high in fat and low in carbs, which is the opposite of everything I want to eat in my life. (Although as I've been thinking about this more, there probably is something behind that. More exploration of those ideas to come!) Despite this, I decided to try a totally vegan diet for a month. It was great! I really loved the creative food options I was trying and my performance on the bike started to pick up. Then, shortly after reincorporating cheese and eggs, I got really lethargic and sick and finally learned that I had iron deficiency anemia. To be clear, I had been exhibiting these symptoms every few months for a few years, but the label of "vegetarian" caused my doctor to finally run the test. I definitely do not think vegetarianism was the cause for my anemia, in fact I credit it as part of the solution.

Not wanting to accept the dogma that eating red red meat would cure my anemia, I did my research. I learned about heme versus non-heme based iron and that many shellfish were in fact higher in iron than red meat by several times and had many beneficial nutrients. Shellfish have the vitamin B12 that is not available in vegan sources and are also a potent source of omega-3 fatty acids that are not available in plants. Fish are also not tied to many of the terrible diseases that land based animal products are tied to in the China Study. Thus I made the decision that I would incorporate fish into my diet occasionally when I feel depleted. Now, I am convinced that a totally plant based diet is the best option for a lot of people. However, right now I'm pretty sure it's not for me. I'm also pretty convinced that there are fewer notable female vegan athletes because of women's increased need for iron.

So did switching to vegetarianism improve my athletic performance? The facts are: I had an awesome cycling season in 2013 and my workouts this winter suggest that an even better season is on it's way! In addition to great performances, I also managed to avoid a new overuse injuries for the first time since 2009. However, the pinnacle of my athletic performance was definitely in 2009 when I made the US Rowing national team and was an omnivore. So in the end, I think time will tell! I definitely don't think vegetarianism hurts athletic performance, as long as you pay attention to all of your essential amino acids, as well as your iron and vitamin B levels.

Anyways, to address the question Do I miss meat? Mostly no; to be honest, I really prefer soy to chicken. However, I still get my usual biannual craving for a burger with mushrooms and swiss cheese. Even when I was eating meat, this was a fairly infrequent craving that was easily satiated by going to Friendly's and getting that burger. Now I try to tell myself that it's really the mushrooms and cheese that I want. This is a blatant lie, and it resulted in a few weeks last summer where I was making portabello mushrooms almost every day. I tried to eat my mushrooms on a veggie burger, but that just did not cut it, but I did find that balsamic marinated portabello mushrooms will do the trick. I can't wait to start making this again once the weather turns warmer!

XPot Reflections & A Green Smoothie

This weekend was by far the most challenging and exhilarating race that I've ever been involved in planning. While some events go well because everything going according to plan, this was the first time that I've run an event that was a success despite all odds. The first day of XPot 2014 went according to plan, with excellent conditions for the ITT in the morning (some sun and calm winds!) although rain in the afternoon made the sharp turns in the crit course less than desirable. Looking at the forecast for the next day, the volunteer coordinator (remember, Sam the guest blogger? That's him!) and I worked out plans that would allow us to run our Sunday RR race safely despite ice, heavy rain, and flooding. We felt great about it!

The next morning, I drove out to the RR course before dawn in heavy rain, but wasn't worried, because we had a re-route of the course planned to avoid any potential flooding. I started checking out the course, at the point where I thought flooding would be the worst. Not too bad, but personally I wouldn't have been thrilled to race in it, so I went on to check out our re-route. This was where the disaster started! The flood-proof re-route basically looked like there was a waterfall running down the street. At this point, I still didn't panic because the original course wasn't so bad and the rain was easing up, and one of our plans allowed us to postpone races until the afternoon. I made some calls and let people know that we'd be postponing start times. For good measure at this point, I drove back to inspect the whole course from the beginning. Well, I was in for a big surprise! At the bottom of our big, fast descent a river was running across the road! It was deep, wide, and moving fast enough that I was worried about driving my Subaru through it. There was no way in h*ll that I was going to let people race through that! While there was a small chance that it would dry up, I knew that we needed to find another course asap. Immediately, I remembered the course 6.5 mile we used for the TTT last year: it was significantly uphill from the planned RR course and offered rolling terrain that wasn't as awesome as the planned course, but wouldn't be completely terrible. I set out to check out those roads and found some hope! No flooding and only 1 sandy corner.

I returned to the school where the rest of the committee was congregated and delivered the news. We got ahold of the police chief (bless his soul, answering our phone calls on a Sunday morning!) and somehow convinced him to give us permission to run the races on these roads. Mind you, this course included a few miles on a major road aptly named "Central Turnpike" so I'm not sure how we did it! We rearranged the schedule and the volunteers yet again, collect the signs from the original course, set out signs for the new course, sent out people to sweep the corners, and the announcement was made that the race would start at 11am on the new course.

That all sounds good and miraculous, but it wasn't time for a happy ending yet! At 10:30am on our way out to put the police and officials in place we found that... surprise! There was now flooding on course #3 of the day. Things looked pretty bleak as I drove around looking for more options. There was a beautiful climb uphill from the school, but the roads were in no way in good enough shape to run a mass start race. The only other option was to run the race through the town center, on roads that encircled the police and fire stations. Given how picky the citizens of the town were about our race, I figured there was no way that we were going to get away with running the race. I nervously returned to the school and reported my findings to the officials and ECCC coordinators. I told them I thought we'd need to run a TT. I was told that we would have to cancel unless we could run a mass start! Seeing cancellation as failure, and knowing that it wasn't an option, I found the courage to persuade the police that running the race through the town center and for three miles down "Central Turnpike" would not be disruptive, since the roads were wide and there would be no change in the traffic flow. Somehow this worked! Thirty minutes before the start of racing, we got our permissions, found an extra police officer, replanned volunteer schedules, sent people out to mark & sweep the new course, and re-put officials, officers, and volunteers in place.

Races went off at noon with wet roads and a light drizzle. None of the categories even had to be cancelled, and the feedback on the course was that it was "fun" and "safe." Not bad! Even better, at the end of the day the conference coordinator suggested that next year, we could run a circuit race, rather than our dreaded crit. The first ever XPot Stage Race! While this was supposed to be my last year as XPot promoter, I definitely now want to stick around to see that to fruition.

Me in my XPot shirt standing in a waterfall last summer. Strangely appropriate, as the water rushing over the flooded streets looked just like this!

I'm still winding down from that exciting weekend, and have been distracted all week thus far by the prospect of my own racing season starting soon! But I wanted to share a very simple recipe. My first green smoothie! This simple beauty contains mango, spinach, vanilla protein powder, and almond milk. Before my Ninja blender, I had bad luck with adding greens, but with the Ninja, I found that the spinach nicely balances the sweetness of the mango. Starting last summer, smoothies have been my thing when I get back from rides. You can't beat 'em as a recovery food!

Green Mango Smoothie

3/4c frozen mango cubes
2c fresh or 1/3c frozen spinach (I like it better with fresh!)
1/2 scoop unsweetened vanilla protein powder
1c vanilla almond milk

Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Figgy Cookies

I won't lie... the lack of sugar in my cupboard hasn't stopped me from my engaging in my life-long passion of designing new cookie recipes. I really enjoyed my PB&J cookies and these figgy cookies (you know... like figgy pudding!) are a variation on my dried fruit cookie theme. Here though, I use figs to carry the flavor and accent it with cinnamon and vanilla. The result is like a delightful cross between fig newtons and oatmeal cookies. I hope you enjoy them!

Figgy Cookies

8 dried figs
1/4c raisins
1/2c vanilla almond milk
1 heaping cup oats
1T cornstarch
1/2t baking soda
1T cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Food process oats, cornstarch, baking soda, & cinnamon to a coarse powder.
3. Add raisins, figs, and almond milk and process until the mixture balls up like a dough.
4. Drop rounded spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Enjoy!

Sorry for the short post today! My bike race starts about 40 hours so we are in crunch time!

Ice Cream for Dinner!

We've all had those days. You know, where the day has been so stressful that you don't feel like making anything and all you're in the mood to eat is ice cream. Ok in all honesty... sometimes even when it's not "one of those days" I find that all I want for dinner is ice cream! I'll confess that I occasionally do eat ice cream for dinner (sorry Mom!) and actually when I was rowing on the national team, the US lightweights would go out for frozen yogurt for dinner together. Of course not always, but Twist in Princeton NJ was our dive!

Well, this is the last week leading up to XPot 4.0, the collegiate cycling race weekend which I organize. Anyone who has planned a big event knows that even with the best planning, this week is crunch time. On top of that I have a lot of work to do in lab and am dealing with trying to get a particularly frustrating instrument fixed. (Thank goodness I'm not an analytical or physical chemist! I don't have the patience for fixing instruments.) After a nuts day, I came home last night and didn't feel like making anything for dinner. I wanted chocolate, but since I gave up sugar for lent, that wasn't an option. I have however, been making a fantastic mango-bluberry-vanilla sorbet in my Ninja blender so I decided I'd try to pack a little more nutrition into that. Well, with 2 servings of fruit, a serving of vegetables, and 15g of protein I'd say that this sweet, cold, creamy bowl of goodness delivers in the nutrition department! I'd say this "ice cream" may actually be better than many other dinner options. I hope you enjoy it!

Ice Cream for Dinner!

3/4c frozen cubed mango
1/2c frozen blueberries
1/2c frozen spinach (or 1.5c fresh)
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use this because it provides a complete complement of amino acids)
~1/2c vanilla almond milk

1. Add frozen ingredients and protein powder to your high speed blender. Process until your mixture resembles a fine powder. I stir every 20 seconds or so to make sure nothing is getting stuck at the top or bottom.
Note: Unfortunately, a food processor or regular blender will not do! Best to wait and try this with a Ninja or the like. If you want to try it in a regular blender or food processor, I'd omit the spinach as it will stay too stringy to be enjoyable
2. Add 1/2c almond milk and continue to process until mixture starts to flow with a viscosity like freshly churned sorbet. Add a bit more water or almond milk until you get the texture right.
3. Enjoy! This recipe yields one generous dinner-sized bowl.
Note 2: Since I've given up sugar for lent, this seems plenty sweet to me. The mango is quite sweet and really carries it. However, after 21 long days without sugar my tastebuds may be desensitized. Feel free to add some brown sugar if you feel like it would benefit from it.
Note 3: I bet this would also be delicious if you added in a few T cocoa powder. Chocolate sorbet for dinner!

Meet Biscuit, the new furry addition to my family!

Smoky Collard Wraps

The Whole Foods paper bags in Cambridge now claim that "Collard greens are the new kale" and they may very well be right! I picked up a bunch of collard greens at the on-campus market last week, having finished the last of the halupki that I had frozen and being intrigued by the large, dark green leaves. Collard greens may have the greatest cholesterol lowering ability of all of the cruciferous vegetables and they pack the same cancer-fighting punch that you've come to know & love from the cruciferous family. They are strongly anti-inflammatory, with high doses of phytonutrients (antioxidants), vitamin K, and omega-3 fatty acids. Additionally, collard greens pack a monster dose of vitamins A, B, C, K and calcium, iron, and magnesium. I bet you didn't know all of that about this super food! This recipe serves them up stuffed with wild rice, lentils, sunflower seeds, and carrots for a savory and nutritionally dense hand-held meal.

Speaking of super foods, one of the girls who I rowed with on the national team and at Riverside writes a (very good) blog and this week she covered 8 Power Foods for Athletes. Esther is an Olympic gold medalist and has made the national team more times than I can count, so I'd say she knows a thing or two! Head over to her site to check it out!

Smoky Collard Wraps

1c brown rice
1/2c wild rice
1c dried green lentils
1/2c raw sunflower seeds
3c baby carrots or 6 large carrots, shredded
1/2 onion
6 cloves garlic
smoked paprika
liquid smoke
sirracha
salt (optional)
1 large bunch collard greens

1. Prepare rices and lentils as directed on the package in boiling water
2. Bring an additional large pot of water to a boil. This will be for blanching the collard greens.
3. In a food processor, shred carrots, then add the garlic, then the onions. Transfer this to a large pot for sautéing and add spices to taste. Add sunflower seeds and cook until carrots are tender.
4. Separate out large, untorn collard leaves. Cut off the stem and blanch in boiling water until the stalks are tender (~8 minutes). You can do 4-5 leaves at a time. Dry with a paper towel once removing from the boiling water.
5. In a large bowl, combine rices, lentils, and carrot mixture. Add additional spices to taste.
6. Place ~1/3c filling in the center of the collard green and wrap up like a present! As the wraps cool, they will further conform to their folder shape.
7. Enjoy immediately or save as leftovers. I can guarantee that these won't last for long!