Sunday Funday

This is crazy having so much free time.  Case in point-- writing blog posts daily.  Although I like following certain food/lifestyle blogs, I've never been able to actually write them myself.  Now, I actually have some time (and motivation) to finally do this.  Right now, I'm still finding it fun to post pics of what we're eating.

This weekend, we have really tried to eat healthy and avoid that weekend motivation vacuum.  Usually, I can be great on Monday-Wednesday in terms of eating habits and working out.  However, once the end of the week rolls around, I get lazier and don't feel like cooking anymore or using self-control either.  That burger looks damn good on Friday nights.  When Sunday night rolls around, I have to pep  the self-control up again and the cycle continues.

Today, we got brunch at Bagel Deli, which has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  I got the Very Veggie Eggs with everything bagel and chive cream cheese, and Greg got the Greek Eggs with onion bagel and cream cheese.  Sooooo delish and vegetarian!

For dinner, we made quinoa salad with roasted Brussel sprouts and kale chips.  This quinoa recipe is quite easy and delicious.  It was quite filling and filled to the brim with superfoods. oh yeahhhh.  This made plenty of leftovers for future lunches, another perk.

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Brussel Sprouts
      -adapted from Once Upon a Cutting Board

INGREDIENTS

1-1/4 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup raisins (or dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds)
1/2 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

For the Dressing:
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoon pure maple syrup or honey
1.5 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Toss brussels sprouts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until browned and tender, tossing once.
2. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add quinoa, cover, reduce heat to simmer and let simmer 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes, covered, then fluff with a fork.
3. Prepare the dressing by whisking together the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Taste and adjust any amounts to your liking. 
4. Mix together the quinoa, brussels sprouts, walnuts, cranberries, and chickpeas.  Drizzle the dressing overtop and toss.  Serve warm.

Salad Saturday

Happy Weekend to us! I've grown to savor every weekend off since residency began, and it still seems like a treat to be able to have two whole days off in a row.  Unlike most Coloradoans, we don't rush off immediately each weekend to the mountains for skiing.  Skiing has never really appealed to me- it's expensive as balls, your entire body is sore afterwards, and it's dangerous at times. However,  we keep saying we'll have to give it a good ol' college try-- unfortunately, being a complete white person's sport, it's like $150 to even try if you take into account the day ski pass and rentals in peak season. Whatever, Greg and I are enjoying a lovely, warm and sunny weekend in Denver without risk of avalanche, broken bones, or subdural hematomas. 

This morning we went for our first run of 2013.  Wooo weee, are we out of shape.  We were running fairly regularly up until November/December when the holidays and cold weather/early night fall hit. Evidently, sitting on your ass all break is not conducive to staying in shape.  We bundled up and ran/walk around City Park for a grand total of 28 mins, huffing and puffing most of the way.  Hopefully the weather stays this nice so we can run more frequently. 

After our run, we were ready for some lunch. The nice thing about exercise is that it usually guilts you into eating somewhat healthy afterwards cuz who wants to undo all that work?  Greg and I whipped up a Greek-inspired salad, which I had been craving recently.  I've found that I like dressing the entire salad, so it all gets some flavor.  I like trying to make our own dressing as well as it is so easy and often healthier.   Salad Saturday?  Can we make this a thing like Meatless Mondays?!

Greek Salad

INGREDIENTS
1/2 head of leafy green lettuce, washed
generous handful of cherry tomatoes, each sliced in half
1/4 of a cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 of a red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/3 cup of kalamata olives
3 Tablespoons feta cheese

Dressing
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons EVOO
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk dressing ingredients together in small bowl and set aside.  If you already have your cucumbers sliced, place them in bowl for a little marinade. If you have a red onion, this would also be great. 
2. Spin lettuce in salad spinner to get off as much moisture as possible
3. Combine salad ingredients in large bowl
4. Pour dressing over salad, and toss to coat well
5. Sprinkle feta cheese over everything and serve immediately.

Medi Veggie 'Za

Still riding the veggie train over here, though we did have a pit stop in pork town yesterday (ok, only I did, but it was by accident-- the veggies covered the meat, and it was free food) at The Hornet recruitment dinner.  After a cray-cray day in clinic, I was super excited to come home to my wonderful husband, who had prepped for pizza tonight.  I've had a craving for  'za since I was ogling the menu at Rackhouse Pub last night for trivia (going to 2 bars on a Thursday night--- what?!!).  They have several  delicious- sounding pizzas on their menu, and they're referred to as 'Za, hence the title.   Veggie pizza is the best; load it up with all fresh toppings, and you barely need cheese.  I learned to use hummus on pizza instead of tomato sauce from Greg-- it's an ideal sauce for homemade pizza as it is not too wet and adds great subtle flavor that's not so in yo' face as tomato for when you really want the toppings to shine.    For the dough, we've used the recipe from Best New Recipe with great success for a while now.  Homemade pizza is so easy and delicious, and obviously infinitely customizable. With what we had at home, we went with mediterranean style toppings and gobbled it up. 

Veggie Pizza

INGREDIENTS
1/2 of recipe of pizza dough (recipe from Best New Recipe)
homemade hummus (adapted from BNR-- we made ours especially garlic-y)
Fresh chopped veggies: we used onions, red bell pepper, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and olives
Feta cheese
Parmesan or asiago cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Make pizza dough according to BNR recipe.  While dough is resting/rising, prepare hummus. 
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Place some semolina flour or cornmeal on baking sheet to prevent dough from sticking.  Roll out dough on sheet, it should stretch to size of large baking sheet.  
4. Liberally spread hummus on dough.
5. Scatter toppings to your heart's content. 
6. Add cheese in a random, but beautiful pattern
7. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 mins.  Cool for a few mins, transfer to cutting board and cut into slices. 

This will usually feed the two of us easily with some leftovers. 

Vegetarian Start to 2013

On a veggie kick for the new year.  First stop-- Sprouts for massive amount of produce with absolutely no recipes in mind-- check.   Next--- browsing online for palatable veggie recipes.  There are lots of them out there, evidently.   Also trying to incorporate more forms of grain into our daily diets like barley, quinoa, etc.  For the this month, we are trying to be pescatarians and possibly gluten-free (but more just avoid processed carbs). 

First recipe of the new year:  Lentil soup!  With what we had on hand,  I basically used Alton Brown's recipe as a base with some input from the Barefoot Contessa's recipe, and then added more garlic as obviously garlic is delicious in everything and a shogun splash of kale for some bright green-ness.   This soup is delicious and filling. Would definitely make it again

Lentil Soup
-- based off Alton Brown and Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 inely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
• 1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes (I used 1/2 of 28 oz can of tomatoes)
• 2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3-4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or red wine
• handful of kale

Directions

1. Place the olive oil into a large Dutch oven and set over medium heat. 

2. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery and salt and sweat until the onions are translucent, approximately 6 to 7 minutes.  

3. Add spices and garlic, cook until fragrant ~about 2 mins.  

4. Add the lentils, tomatoes, broth and and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency. 

5. Add red wine vinegar and kale, cook until kale is wilted and softened.  Serve immediately.