Rosemary Roast Brussels Sprouts

Just a quick post to give you an interesting, quick, and healthy recipe to bring to an upcoming Thanksgiving celebration! Most people overlook Brussels sprouts, with bad memories of their bitter leaves from childhood. Did you know that many bitter vegetables sweeten as you roast them though? While many people think that you need oil to roast vegetables, that's not true! I made a simple glaze of balsamic vinegar, vegetable broth, garlic, and rosemary, which skipped the oil & definitely filled the house with some happy smells as it was cooking. If that's not enough to convince you to try this recipe, may I remind you of the health benefits of cruciferous vegetables, including a correlation with cancer prevention?

Rosemary Roast Brussels Sprouts

4c fresh Brussels sprouts
1 large onion
1c vegetable broth
1/4c balsamic vinegar
2T nutritional yeast
1/2T powdered garlic
1/2T dried rosemary
salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Meanwhile, quarter fresh Brussels sprouts, slice the onion, and add both to a mixing bowl.
3. Add vegetable broth, balsamic vinegar, nutritional yeast, garlic, rosemary, and salt to bowl. Stir to coat the vegetables.
4. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spread vegetables evenly across sheet.
5. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring halfway to ensure homogenous baking. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cornbread

It's (unfortunately still) winter, so I have been making up a big crock pot full of chili just about every other week. I think chili is an intensely personal thing. I shared one of my chili recipes early on, but really I switch it up just about every time I make it, and most of the time I just wing it with whatever ingredients and spices I am feeling. Besides the tomatoes, the only other thing that I usually have with my chili is cornbread. I just love cornbread! Unfortunately, most cornbread has a good amount of sugar and oil in it, which isn't the best for you. So, I took it upon myself to create a cornbread that still satisfied but you could feel good about eating. After many iterations of pretty bad sugar and oil free cornbread, I finally discovered the secret ingredient. Pumpkin puree! Using applesauce to replace the sugar and pumpkin to replace the oil gives a moist and slightly sweet cornbread, without leaving the cornbread too bitter or apple-y. It's the perfect complement to a good chili or soup on a cold winter day!

Pumpkin Cornbread

1 1/4c whole wheat flour
3/4c cornmeal
2t baking powder
1T flaxmeal soaked in 2T water
1/2c almond milk
1/2c water
1/4c apple sauce
1/4c pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix dry ingredients, then add in wet. Add batter to a greased 9 inch round pan (or take it up a notch with a cast iron pan). Bake 20 minutes or so until a toothpick comes out clean. Split 8 ways, each piece of this cornbread is only 100 calories with 1g fat, down from 170 calories and 7g fat in the original recipe. Delicious!

Louisiana Hot Hummus

Since moving to Pittsburgh, I've been quite lazy about making my own hummus. I live a 3 minute walk (downhill) from Greek Gourmet, which is reputed to have the best hummus in Pittsburgh. Spoiler alert: they do in fact have the best hummus! My favorites are their Garlic, Sweet Potato, and Honey Habanero hummuses, which are all so good that I could practically drink them. Unfortunately, some weeks I just can't get there before they close at 7pm so I have to fall back on my own hummus making skills. I've found that I prefer savory white bean hummuses when I make my own (again, inspired by Greek Gourmet's amazing Smoked White Bean hummus) because I can get a creamier texture without adding a ton of oil. Plus, like chickpeas, white beans are a complete protein, and deliver good doses of vitamins B, C, E, K, and calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. Wow! This week, instead of just trying to replicate Greek Gourmet's smoked hummus flavor, I decided to kick it up a notch. Through most of grad school, I was obsessed with Sriracha as my hot sauce of choice, but being back in Pittsburgh reminded me of my old favorite, Louisiana hot sauce. The vinegary taste of this hot sauce takes this hummus up to the next level, making it good enough to get me through until my next run to Greek Gourmet!

Louisiana Hot Hummus

1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
3T Louisiana hot sauce
1T liquid smoke
1T smoked paprika
3 cloves garlic
1t apple cider vinegar
1t powdered onion
sea salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor. Process until smooth, then enjoy with veggies, pitas, or on a sandwich!

Cheesy Mushroom Soup

While thinking about making food for the Superbowl this year, I became obsessed with the idea of vegan nacho cheese made from carrots. Sadly, this could not come to fruition because I didn't have potatoes on the day of the game. Fortunately, a couple days after the game, my husband came through with some potatoes for me so I gave it a go. And Oh. My. Goodness! It's not nacho cheese, but it is really, really good. Rather than dipping, I found myself going at the dip with a spoon. In a moment of genius (as I was trying to restrain myself between bites), I realized that I had mushrooms in the fridge. The one and only food I miss as a vegetarian is a delicious beef burger topped with with mushrooms and swiss cheese. (Yes... red meat and cheese, definitely the healthiest omnivore food, I know!) This taste is hard to recreate, but I knew that by pairing this delicious cheesy liquid with mushrooms, I had a chance. I sautéed up the mushrooms with some onions, garlic, and black pepper and mixed it in with my cheese sauce. So freaking good! Only one bowl made it to a bowl on my first trial of the recipe... I'll be making this creamy, cheesy, mushroomy goodness again soon!

Not a looker, but man this soup is good!

Cheesy Mushroom Soup

6 large carrots
4 potatoes
2 onions
Garlic, paprika, and salt to taste
2 cubes vegetable bullion
1/4c apple cider vinegar
1/2c nutritional yeast
2 packages (8oz) mushrooms
2 more onions
more garlic & black pepper to taste

1. Peel & cube potatoes. Slice carrots and onions.
2. In a large microwave safe bowl,  add 6c water, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Microwave on high until vegetables are tender. (~10 minutes depending on microwave)
3. Meanwhile, wash and slice mushrooms and additional onions.
4. In a large soup pot, sautee mushrooms and onions with garlic & black pepper, until tender. I use water to prevent sticking.
5. When your microwave bowl is done, transfer the water and vegetables to food processor/ blender. (Do it in batches or use an immersion blender.) Add bullion, garlic, paprika, and salt. Process until smooth.
6. Add contents of blender to your mushrooms and onions in the soup pot. Stir in apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast.
7. Add water to thin (if you desire) and enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving! (2015 Edition)

Since I last wrote, big changes have happened in my life. I got married, moved from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, started my dream job as a tenure track chemistry professor at Carnegie Mellon, upgraded to a Cat 1 road cyclist... I feel like the list goes on and on.  I have so much to be thankful for. My loving family and friends, a caring, sweet husband, my dream job, many fast bikes, a nice (rental) house in a good neighborhood, a wickedly smart and athletic rabbit, who might just be a psycho-killer if he was a human... However, with so many changes I feel like I'm still finding my footing in this new life. I don't know how and what to prioritize and if I didn't love everything so much, I would feel very overwhelmed. I don't yet know how to be the best wife I can be (although recently I learned that it does not involve keeping a spotless house. We are much happier when I accept that the house will be messy.) This Thanksgiving, my husband is working night shift. Thus, I decided not to travel so that I could be with him as he spent his first holiday outside of New England without his family. I feel like a huge disappointment to my own family, but since I'm married now, I have to put Aidan first and think about how I can best support him. And I think being here for him and getting caught up on sleep, chores, and work is the best way to do just that.

We aren't totally missing out though. Last weekend, our best friend came into town, since her parents live down the street from us, so we celebrated Thanksgiving with a delicious dinner with her family then. I am so thankful to have my best friend and really, her whole family in our lives. They are the type of people who know what you need and give it to you before you even ask or realize yourself that you need it. Thanks :) She truly gives meaning to the quote "friends are the family you get to pick out." To the dinner, I brought a Veggie Turkey and apple sweet potato burgers, as the vegetarian entree (recipe below). I was really proud of my veggie turkey, especially because I found it on Pinterest last year and actually remembered for a whole year that I wanted to make it and did! I must say, it is a fantastic contribution for a vegetarian to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner.

The most adorable veggie turkey.

But on the big day, what's a girl who loves to cook but doesn't have a Thanksgiving dinner planned to do? I have a ton a work and laundry, but I decided to indulge myself by making a few more elaborate recipes that I have been dying to make for some time. For the husband, I made cranberry-maple glazed salmon and apple crisp to take to his work potluck. I followed those up with a chestnut stuffing (to make use of some french and sourdough bread that had gone stale) and a sweet potato lentil shepherds pie. There's still many hours left in the day, so I might make a few more things, but I decided to take a moment to reflect and do one more thing that I gratuitously enjoy... sharing recipes with you!


Apple Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

1c oatmeal, ground to oat flour

1T cornstarch

1 large or two small onions

2 cans chickpeas

1 large apple diced

1 large sweet potato, cubed

garlic, ginger, cinnamon, salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Roast sweet potato cubes on parchment paper for 30 minutes or until just starting to soften.

3. Make oat flour by food processing oats. Add the cornstarch. Add spices.

4. Dice onions and add them to the food processor. 

5. Wash & drain chickpeas. Add 1/2 of them to the food processor. Pulse to make a course paste. Transfer to a large bowl.

6. When the sweet potatoes are done, add them to the food processor. Add remaining chickpeas and apple chunks and process coarse lay. Add to bowl.

7. Mix mixture in bowl with hands (like working clay) Taste to see if you need to add any additional spices.

8. Shape into patties (this should make 10). Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350F. Flip burgers at 25 minutes to evenly brown.

9. Serve with cranberry sauce (or honey mustard). Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chestnut Stuffing

1 lb chestnuts
~1 loaf stale bread (I use whole wheat bread ends, a stale Italian loaf, and stale sourdough rolls to use)
1 small onion, diced
1 16oz package mushrooms, chopped
2 stalks celery
2c vegetable broth
Black pepper, garlic, parsley to taste

1. Preheat over to 350F.
2. Cut an "x" into the top of each chestnut. Roast in over at 350 for 40 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, chisel (ok, or cut if your bread isn't like rocks) bread into chunks. Dice onion, celery, mushrooms. Place in 9x 13 pan.
4. Once your chestnuts are done and cooled, harvest as much chestnut meat as you can. Add to pan.
5. Add spices and pour broth over stuffing mixture. If using fresh bread, use less
5. Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, or until bread is desired crispiness and mushrooms & onions are tender.

I. love. bread. Yum! Carbs are speed!

Sweet Potato Lentil Shepherd's Pie

2 large sweet potatoes
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1c dried lentils, cooked
1 package (16 oz) mushrooms
1c unsweetened original almond milk
basil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, parsley to taste

1. Preheat over to 350F (Hint: these are all at 350 by design, so if you wanted to make a Thanksgiving feast, you could do them all at once!)
2. Wash lentils, then cook in ample water. You can flavor the water with bullion or vegemite for more flavor.
3. Poke holes with a fork in the sweet potatoes. Microwave for 10 minutes, or until soft.
4. Saute 3/4 diced onion and mushrooms in a large pan, using water to prevent from sticking. Add spices.
5. In a small food processor, food process 1/4 onion, 3 cloves garlic and parsley.
6. Once lentils are done, drain. Add to mushrooms and onions and sauté for another 5 to 10 minutes.
7. When sweet potatoes are soft and no longer scorching hot, cut open, and scoop the flesh out into a small bowl. Add almond milk with spices from the blender and mash with a potato masher.
8. Add lentils to a cassarole dish. Spoon on a top layer of sweet potato mash. Bake for 20 minutes until the top just starts to brown.


Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! More vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes can be found in my 2013 Thanksgiving week post. Enjoy and be thankful!

Alvocado-Lemon-Dill Potato Salad

Hi guys! Sorry I've been so bad at posting this month. I have a confession to make: I've been working on writing a review paper, and I actually missed my first deadline ever. I was supposed to have my part done almost two weeks ago, but alas! I am still putting the finishing touches on it. So that's why I haven't had the chance to write much here. Lots has been going on, even though June has been a light month for bike racing. I also will be moving from Cambridge to Somerville over the next month, so watch out! The madness continues. Really though, despite the added stresses my summer has gotten off to a great start.

Last weekend, my fiancé and I went to Vermont for his grandma's funeral and memorial service. This was my fiancé's mom's mom and I never had a chance to meet her. From the memories and pictures shared at the service, it was clear that she was a wonderful, loving woman who had a big impact on the family and it made me feel even more honored that my fiancé has chosen me as a partner, knowing that she was a standard to which I was held. The service, while lovely, was a bit awkward for me, because well, it was held exactly four years (to the day) after I had learned that my best friend passed away. So I was in a vulnerable state: the minute Aidan started crying it took every ounce of my willpower to prevent myself from sobbing. I managed to hold myself almost together, but I will confess I was very relieved to leave the church and put my sunglasses on.

Anyways, while we were in beautiful Vermont, I made my fiancé take a side trip with me for a short hike to see Ft. Dummer. The park was beautiful and it was nice to finally be out in the woods, however, only once reaching the lookout point did we learn that Ft. Dummer had been flooded when a dam was built in 1908. What a bummer! The view was still pretty though.

Somewhere under that water, lies the remains of Fort Dummer...

After the funeral, we took a day to go visit my fiancé's parent's and while there, I had a chance to look through the new Oh She Glows Cookbook. You should definitely check out the cookbook too, so many delicious recipes! While flipping through though, a recipe for potato salad using avocado rather than mayonnaise caught my eye. In Pennsylvania, potato salad is a delicious affair, and my favorite recipes are light on the mayo and heavy on the bacon and bacon fat (seriously, google "Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Salad" and you'll see!) As such, I've found potato salad lack-luster since becoming a vegetarian. However, a potato salad filled with crave-able avocado definitely sounded like something I could get behind! I changed the recipe from the book, adding celery for more crunch and chickpeas for more protein. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Alvocado-Lemon-Dill Potato Salad

Sauce:
1 ripe alvocado
5 scallions
juice of two lemons
1 bunch dill
freshly cracked black pepper
~1/4c water

Salad:
2lb red potatoes
1 bunch asparagus
4 stalks celery
3 scallions
2 cans chickpeas, drained and thoroughly washed.
salt and black pepper to taste
(optional: olive oil)

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Dice potatoes to 1/2" cubes, slice asparagus, celery, and scallions.
3. Add potatoes to roasting pan, adding a touch of olive oil, if you desire, and plenty of salt and black pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and the desired consistency. (Pro tip: Microwaving lemons before juicing helps you get more juice out!)
5. For the last 10 minutes of the potato roasting, add in the asparagus.
6. Add celery, scallions, and chickpeas to a bowl. Add sauce, and once the potatoes and asparagus are done roasting.

Serving choices: as an entree, as a side, or on an arugula salad!

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!

Beet Fries

By now anyone who's been reading somewhat regularly knows the benefits of beets. Beets (specifically, the nitrates in beet juice) have been shown to legally and significantly improve your athletic performance. These days, everyone's talking about it and if you haven't read up on it yet, you literally spend the rest of the week trying to read it all. Beets might just be my biggest discovery since I started drinking coffee before racing! I've found the weeks that I take the time to put beets on my evening salad, my performance on the bike is almost always better.

The funny thing about beets is that just two years ago, I had no idea what to do with them. I had a farm share, and apparently beets are very easy to grow in Massachusetts because I ended up with a ton of them. In the end, I tried to make beet chips, which was an utter failure without a dehydrator or frier. Making beet chips just does not work in the oven! Since then, I've mostly stuck to eating the steamed baby beets from Trader Joe's. However, last week I noticed that the farmers market had some raw beets on sale for a good price, so I picked a few up. After eating them raw in a salad, I was struck by how carrot-like they were in the raw state and while pondering it, realized that beets are a root vegetable (duh) just like carrots... and potatoes. So I started wondering... could I make beet fries? The answer of course, is yes! Read on to find out how...

Wait, what? It's a picture of my adorable bunny and not beet fries?!

Beet Fries

2 large beets
sea salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Peel your beets, just like you would a potato, using a vegetable peeler. Take care as to what you're wearing as beet juice stains!
3. Slice the beet into fry-sized strips. I found that for the best  beet fries, I need to cut them a little thinner than I would potato fries. (Less than 1/4" thick)
4. Put raw beet slices in a bowl and add some salt. Stir to coat.
5. Spread beets out on a greased baking sheet.
6. Bake for 1 hour. Be patient! These will take much longer than potato or sweet potato fries but are worth it!

I hope you enjoy them! We ate them plain, but usually a good dipping sauce really increases my enjoyment of a fry-eating experience. This honey mustard sauce would go well!

Oh, here are the beet fries. Not very photogenic, but disappearing quickly!

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!

Fiesta-slaw

I imagine that this actually won't be a terribly popular post. But who cares! This is my blog and I want to write about my new find/ creation/ revelation. My readers who choose not to read this are missing out! Anyways, I mentioned last week when I used thai peanut sauce on a red cabbage salad that I have been very into non-traditional salads lately. This week, it's another version on the same theme. Using these hardier greens lets me prepare a salad on Sunday and take some for lunch on Thursday, when I'll still be able to enjoy the crispiness. Traditional salads get soggy when you try to prepare them the night before! Anyways, I've been strapped for time lately so I chose the easy out this week: bags of pre-shredded green cabbage and carrots from Trader Joe's. Green cabbage doesn't have quite the antioxidant profile of red cabbage, but it's still chock full of fiber as well as vitamins C, K, and B. Green cabbage is also more mild, so spiced it up with chili pepper, cilantro, and lime and pared it with the fiesta flavors of corn, green pepper, and scallions. To top it off, I prepared a simple, spicy black bean mole sauce as a dressing, which enhances the flavor as well as the protein content. I hope you give this recipe a try!

Fiesta-slaw

For the salad...
1 package shredded green cabbage
3c matchstick carrots
1c sweet frozen corn (or two small ears of fresh corn)
1 large green pepper, cubed
3 scallions, cut into thin slices
1 bunch cilantro, diced
juice of 1/2 lime

For the mole sauce...
1 can black beans, washed and drained
1c water
sirracha sauce (~3T or to taste)

In the food processor, combine the ingredients for the mole sauce. Food process until smooth. In a large bowl, combine all vegetables and cilantro. Toss to mix. Top with lime juice and mole sauce and stir to mix. Serve alone as a side, or over wild rice with black beans as a complete meal. Enjoy!

Thai Peanut Cabbage Salad

I've been very into what I've been calling "super salads" lately. This is not my original super salad, I'm saving that recipe to go with my long-awaited injury prevention post. My definition of a super salad is a salad based on a green other than lettuce, in this case it's red cabbage. I've been fascinated by red cabbage since Sam's guest posts, however, my local Trade Joe's doesn't routinely carry it. However, last week I went out of my way to find some and then I spent a few days brainstorming recipes. Last night, I was thinking about turning it into coleslaw, and even went to far as to figure out how to make home-made plant-based mayo, but in the end... my peanut sauce was calling and I fell for this thai-inspired flavorful salad.

Red cabbage offers a plethora of nutritional benefits. The deep red color comes from polyphenols, which are antioxidants that are protective against inflammation. Like other cruciferous vegetables, cabbage is a source of glucosinolates, a compound which is thought to help prevent cancer. To top that off, red cabbage offers impressive doses of vitamins A, C, and K. To top the salad, I made a gluten free, soy free peanut sauce which results in a very tasty sauce that I want to eat with a spoon. Instead of soy sauce and sugar, I use molasses, which adds a healthy dose of iron, potassium, calcium, and B vitamins. The peanut butter adds cravable flavor, as well as protein. However, for peanut allergies, I imagine that this salad would be good with sunflower butter! I complete the protein in this salad with chickpeas, however, in hindsight edamame may have been a more authentic choice.

For the Salad
one head red cabbage
5 carrots, peeled
2 cans chickpeas, washed and drained

Thai Peanut Sauce

1/2c peanut butter
1/3c rice vinegar
1/4c molasses
1/2c water
thumb-sized piece fresh ginger (plus extra dried ginger to taste)
4 cloves garlic
Siracha chili sauce to taste (~3T)

1. Peel carrots and shred in food processor. Transfer to large salad bowl.
2. Wash cabbage and cut into 8ths, removing the core. Food process to shred. Do this in stages, as it won't all fit in at once! Also, a disclaimer: this is tougher than it sounds. I made a mess. Once diced, transfer to bowl with carrots.
3. Add all sauce ingredients to food processor and blend. This will serve to mix the sauce, as well as pick up the shredded vegetables stuck to the sides.
4. Add peanut sauce to bowl of shredded cabbage and carrots. Stir to mix. Top with chickpeas to make it a filling one-pot dinner and enjoy!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bread

While out in California, most of the time off the bike was spent dealing with food and cooking. (Favorites of my own devising were lentil loaf and pumpkin curry.) Towards the end of the week, we had a surprising surplus of two amazing ingredients: cinnamon and chocolate chips. Looking for a portable manner in which to allow easier consumption of these ingredients, a friend and I brainstormed the idea of a cinnamon chocolate chip quick bread. Unfortunately for the other MIT cyclists out in California, I was too tired and the single oven was overbooked for our last evening, so this cinnamon chocolate chip bread was not realized until last week, when I was back in my Cambridge kitchen. Cinnamon is a real gem among ingredients and I have been known to throw it in everything from salads to chili to chocolate chip cookies. I am a real fan of it's flavor and it turns out it has great health benefits as well! Cinnamon is potently anti-inflammatory and may help stabilize blood sugar too. So give this quick bread a try, I'm sure you'll like it as much as I do!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bread

2 1/2c wheat flour
1/2c brown sugar
3T freshly ground cinnamon (or if your cinnamon is old, up to 1/4c)
1t baking soda
1 1/2c water
1/2c almond milk
1/4c maple syrup
few drops vanilla
1c chocolate chips (Raisins could be good in this recipe as well)
1T apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda. I used freshly ground cinnamon for it's kick so you may need to add more if you're using a pre-ground bottle from the store.
3. Add water, almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.
4. Fold in apple cider vinegar, then chocolate chips. A cinnamon raisin bread could also be really good!
5. Bake for 1 hour in a greased loaf pan. Bread is ready when a toothpick or fork comes out of the center clean. Enjoy!

New Year's Black Eyed Peas

Happy New Year! Polish (and German/ Pennsylvania Dutch) tradition states that on New Year's Day you must eat pork and sauerkraut, usually in the form of pork kielbasa. Pork is thought to enhance forward thinking and bring new adventures in the new year since pigs forge forward and cabbage is thought to bring prosperity. Since I don't eat meat any more, I replaced the pork with black eyed peas, which are a southern tradition thought to bring prosperity in the new year. Using the pork seasoning though, left the dish really bland, so I made up a new twist this year! I served it with Tofukry kielbasa, an arugula salad, and fresh bread. Bring on 2014!

Maple Cinnamon Black-Eyed Peas and Sauerkraut

2lb sauerkraut
2 granny smith apples, cubed
2c black eyed peas
cinnamon, garlic, cloves to taste
1/4c maple syrup

Add all ingredients to a crock pot. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or 10 hours on low. Enjoy!

Winter sun in the woods on a recent ride :)

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

You know that delicious (somewhat unhealthy) green bean casserole that is topped with the crunchy fried onions? It's always been a Thanksgiving favorite of mine, and yup! That's what we're making today. The traditional casserole is somewhat of a bummer if you're lactose or gluten intolerant, since the cream of mushroom soup contains both milk and wheat. Well, since I wanted to share with ALL of my friends, I went ahead and made my own cream of mushroom soup, which is free of cream. Now this dish is vegan and easy to make gluten free! The one thing you still have to watch out for, is that most of the crunchy fried onions are still made with gluten. If you can't find gluten free fried onions, you can fry up your own, or use a crunchy topping of broken up tortilla chips and nutritional yeast. If you happen to find gluten free fried onions though, let me know!

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 white potatoes
1 12oz package sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 leek, sliced into coins, then cut in half
1 stalk of celery, sliced
3c water
1T Vegemite or vegetable boullion
garlic & black pepper to taste

1. Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Boil until soft.
2. Meanwhile, dice leek and celery.
3. In a large soup pot, sautee mushrooms, leeks, celery, and spices in 1/2c broth until tender.
4. Once potatoes are soft, drain and food process into a paste. Add 2c water and Vegemite or bullion and continue to process until smooth.
5. Add the potato broth directly to the pot with the mushrooms.
6. Add the remaining water and bring to a boil.

Casserole

Cream of Mushroom Soup (above)
1 package french fried onions
(OR 1 3/4c crushed tortilla chips plus 1/4c nutritional yeast for the gluten free version)
1.5lb frozen green beans

Preheat oven to 350F. Add green beans into the pot with your soup, along with 1c french fried onions. Bake for 30 minutes. Top with remaining fried onions and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!