Fast Foodie Bibimbap

At the beginning of this year, I was motivated. I was driven. I was ready to establish my food writing as consistent and present. I wanted to share my love for cooking, my navigation through my eating special needs and my support of my nutritional needs from endurance sport. I thought and still think I have something unique to offer. But I have fallen short in my follow through. Good intentions only take you so far, commitment and doing the work produce results. I have dreams, no goals of writing as a living, both food and sport. But in order to make that happen, I have to dig in and do the work. Much like my running. There are many good reasons I have not been as consistent as I like, but none of them are good and none of them will produce the results I want. Now that things have simmered down, I have had time to think about what I really do want. And I have renewed my commitment to my goals. They are goals, not pipe dreams. I have spent a good amount of time in the past 5 years waiting for the right moment, or trying to figure out the right direction, or mostly just trying to make it through the day. But inherently, all that brooding produces no tangible results, no change, nothing. So what is the answer? Just do it. I just have to put myself on the line, do the work and put one foot in front of the other. I am taking a page out of my own book (of running) and going after my goals.

What that means, my dear reader is that I am back, I am committed and I will be here and present. Doing what I love, cooking up a storm, writing amazing delicious, nutritious (and special needs) recipes, working on my food memoir, taking food photography and bringing it all to you here! Stay tuned.

To start myself off, after a 2 day-60 mile weekend, I decided to make a rendition of bibimbap. I have been reading Hungry Monkey and he talks about making bibimbap with his daughter. There is also a children’s book by the same name (Bee-Bim Bop by Linda Sue Park) which I really liked to read to my preschoolers when I was doing storytime at the Seattle Public Library. Wikipedia defines:  Bibimbap (Korean pronunciation: [pibimp͈ap̚] ) is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means “mixed rice” or “mixed meal.” Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating.It can be served either cold or hot. That is my kind of definition, so I decided to build my own and the results were super tasty. I strayed away from some of the traditional Korean flavor profiles, kept it vegan and gluten free and threw on some spicy kim chee. It was delicious, simple and filling.

Bibimbap

1 cup saffron rice, cooked
1 tbsp. peanut oil
1 cup broccoli , diced
1 cup brussel sprouts, diced
1 cup braising greens, diced
½ cup green beans, diced
¼ cup bell pepper, diced
1 pkg hot and spicy baked tofu
2 tbsp. cilantro
¼ cup kim chee

Directions:
Cook saffron rice according to directions.

In a large skillet, heat peanut oil over medium high heat. Add in all the vegetables (chopped small) and sautee until crisp tender. Spice with chili powder, 5 spice and salt (or whatever spices you choose!). Stir in 1 cup of cooked rice and cook for a minute.

Top with baked tofu, cilantro and kim chee.

Triple Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes

Ah the pleasures of the flesh. No silly, not that kind of flesh. Potatoes. Come on, this is a food blog, the only porn you’ll ever see on here is food porn (unless a sneaky spam bot successfully gets itself into my comments…). Yesterday mid morning, I was struck by an intense desire to eat (another) something I haven’t had for a seriously long time. In fact, the last time I ate it, my sister cooked it for me, which is saying something since she doesn’t much like to cook, but this is one of the things she does and can do. Twice Baked Potatoes. Our mom use to make them for us. They were routinely our requested food for birthdays and holidays. They are my favorite comfort food. I would like to be able to spin it and find a way to make this more healthy or even more tasty, but frankly my mom had it right from the start. Some people might find the combination of potato, cheese and sour cream the anti-health, but if you pair this with a nice fresh salad and indulge in moderation, then you are good to go. I think that is one thing people need to remember, if you are cooking with good, organic, fresh ingredients, like I am, you should feel free to indulge once in a while, again in moderation. There is a place for organic chocolate cake in our lives just as there is a place for a delicious kale carrot salad. Ironically, that is exactly what I was craving this morning, along with twice baked potatoes. Since I wasn’t able to have my twice baked potatoes yesterday, I decided to make them this morning. I paired the triple cheese twice baked potatoes in an east meets west pairing and made a Spicy Asian Kale Carrot Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing. Frankly, the salad was so delicious and healthy, I didn’t have any desire to overindulge or stuff myself on the potatoes. In fact, I only at 1 half and was satisfied. As I mentioned in a previous post, breakfast has been a quandary for me and despite this being a funny thing to eat for breakfast, it was phenomenal. It is a perfect rounded dinner and you can feel free to indulge anytime of the day or night, supposing you can wait that long. And another reminder, it is never a bad time to remind your family how much you love, value and appreciate your family for how much they influence you and even your day to day life. My family rocks thank you (and them) very much.

Crisp and delicious combination of carrots, kale and broccoli sprouts

Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 large baking potato
2 tablespoons shredded gouda
⅓ cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
2 tablespoons parmiganio reggiano
¼ cup organic cultured sour cream
1 tsp. salt
pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Prick baking potato with a fork, rub with olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake for an hour to hour thirty depending on the size of the potato.

Remove from the oven and very carefully cut in half. You want to keep the skins in tact so that you can refill them. Scoop the flesh out of the skin and into a bowl. Combine the potato flesh with the gouda and cheddar cheese and sour cream, mashing until creamed together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture back into potato skins and place on a baking sheet or foil. Sprinkle Parmigiano Reggiano over the top. Bake at 375 for another 15 minutes to heat through. Then open the oven door a crack and turn the oven up to broil and brown the cheese.

Serve hot. Optional Garnish include chopped parsley, chervil or scallions.

Spicy Asian Carrot Kale Salad

Ingredients:
½ bunch kale, chiffonade
1 carrot, shredded
1 scallion, diced
½ cup broccoli sprouts
1 tbsp. gomashio
Optional: 3 ounces baked tofu, chopped

Directions:
In a large bowl combine salad ingredients and toss together. Dress with 2 TBSP of Ginger Peanut Dressing.

Ginger Peanut Dressing

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. ginger, minced
5 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
1 tsp. brown rice syrup
1 tsp. wheat free tamari
1 ½ tablespoons brown miso
¼ cup peanut oil

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl or blender. Stir or blend to combine. While whisking (or with motor running) slowly drizzle in peanut oil to emulsify.

To dress, pour 2 tbsp over salad.

The perfect pair

So good it deserves a second, third or fourth look

Ah how time gets away from me! I had a really awesome last end to my week and great weekend and haven’t had a chance to blog about it! Shame shame…. I am traveling now and got busy with work so the pics I took will have to be updated later…but nonetheless, onward to review….

Running, week 3
In only my third week back training I made it to 71 miles this past week, which is pretty excited. I did a “gradual” rebuilding of mileage, starting out week one with 58, then 68, now 71. I am pretty pleased with it, especially since I had such great variety over the week including freezing snow and rain on Monday on what would have been a really nice 12 miler, SRC club run on Tuesday running with Alan, SRC tempo run on Thursday, Capitol Peaks Fatass on Saturday and a follow “long”run the next day.

Capitol Peaks, a brief review and more importantly, dinner…
On friday afternoon, I hopped in my car and headed south after getting my haircut for the first time in over 6 months. I have this tendency to forget these things until they randomly pop into my head and I decide, well I should probably do something about that… So I got my hair cut at Rudy’s Barbershop by a awesome guy with a handlebar mustache….Got to love Rudy’s Barbershop, $26 bucks for a great cut and no wait! I then go in the car about 2:45 and headed towards Olympia for the night to stay with Alison and James before the Capitol Peaks Mega Fatass. The hour drive took me two hours as a lot of people seemed to be heading out of town for the long weekend. I got to their house around 5 and Alison and I decided to hit up the local co-op to get some ingredients to make Potato-Kale Enchiladas from a recipe Alison had photocopied out of my Veganomicon. I sous-cheffed for Alison, roasting the chilis for the sauce…. These enchiladas put the other enchiladas I had made to shame. A crying crying shame. I am throughly enamored with Veganomicon and feel like I should make every single recipe in the book just to see if there is a single bad one. Well, the only “bad ones” for me will be the ones containing wheat, gluten or soy, so those might not make the list. I have been having bad problems with soy, so am taking a month off from it… I put the recipe in the next section. They were amazing fabulous and delicious. I was blown away by Alison’s masterful cooking , we then went for a ride to see Alison’s new massage studio (cool!), the other co-op and some other errands.

The next morning we woke, relatively on-time/late and made a swifty exit from the house and headed out in the rain to the race start. We arrived a few minutes before 8 after driving down some dodgey pothole ridden rodes in the rain and cold. It was not shaping up to be a nice day and Alison and I quickly abandoned our plans to even think about doing the full 34 miles. It was gross out and I was glad to have a rain coat. We gathered at the start, a bit damp and cold, but not too cold. There would be snow at the top of the course but what does one expect after a 1200 foot climb? We mingled at the start with the other 100 + runners. I saw Matt H, Justin A (among the brave souls who did the full 34), Piper (who was full of energy as usual), Van Phan. It was nice. And we were off, Alison lead me out quickly to get in front of the mob as it quickly becomes single track. We headed up up up through some clear cutting and around on the Lost Loop. I had eaten some gluten free quinoa bread and almond butter in the car ride over and had not had enough time to digest. It instead flopped around in my stomach and threatened to come speeding out at either end at any moment (eww, I know, but its the truth). Alison paced along well, despite feeling not quite right between body pains and the hinting of a cold coming on. We mucked along much like the previous weekend at Bridal Trails (though this time not horse poop…). Finally, I couldn’t take it any more and had to jump off the trail and dive behind a huge tree to use the bathroom. Much relieved I got back on the trail and we (Alison, James and I) ran the remaining mile +/- back to the start/finish area. Alison and James opted out at this point and I stood there for a good 5 minutes trying to decide if my stomach had settled enough to go on. What the hell I thought, and off I went. They told me that the second part of the course was uphill to the top of the mountain and back down the other side, so I figured that I just had to gut out the first half of the loop and then ease on it.

I headed out and immediately realized that my bathroom break had rendered me without any energy stores and I hadn’t brought anything along. I battled with some lightheadedness and feelings of low blood sugar as I made my way up up and up. After crossing the road and heading into a field of clear cutting, I saw behind me two people coming up the trail to pass me, one was a man and the other a woman. Despite feeling bad and not thinking I am a competitive person, I had the sudden feeling of, “oh heck no, I am not getting beat by a(nother) girl”. I let them pass me but knew if I could get it together that I would use my downhilling skills to pull them back in. I knew I was getting to the top when the snow started to fall, and then found myself in a strange combination of deep snow, mud and frozen snow. I made it full and went blazing down the trail. The feeling of passing out had passed, so I started moving. Within 3 minutes I had caught everyone who had passed me at the aid station, on course, etc. I sped down the mountain, through crazy combinations of mud and terrain, finally flying into the finish with a time of 2:55, considering the bathroom break and the time in aid station, that put me running at about 2:46-2:47 which is not a bad outing at all. I was the first woman and despite this not being a true race, I liked the sound of that.

Food, nutrition and eating….

After the race, I enjoyed an amazing and perfect post-race meal. Menu included:
1) roast vegetables: brussel sprouts, broccoli, onion (roast with some evoo at 400 degrees)
2) mashed blue potatoes: blue potatoes boiled in mushroom stomach and mashed with some of the mushroom stock (ummm….yummy!)
3) vegetarian baked beans
4) small avocado

Here’s a picture:

Another great throw together I had last week was an Asian Stir Fry with Tempeh:

And here is the recipe for the Enchiladas:

Here is the recipe for the Potato Kale Enchiladas as reprinted on http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=2062

Potato Kale Enchiladas With Roasted Chili Sauce prep time: | cooking time: 1 hour | makes 4-6 servings Just like tamales are to sandwiches, enchiladas are a gift from Mexican cooking that requires just a little extra work than most casseroles do. Enchiladas taste even better the next day and even your kitchen-fearing domestic partner or kids could reheat without having to call 911. In this alternative to traditional fillings, mashed potatoes and tender braised kale are spiked with lime, chile, and toasted pepitas, all wrapped in corn tortillas and a flavorful chile sauce. Accompany individual servings with a dollop of guacamole. Tip: There’s a dozen different ways to assemble enchiladas, but we prefer intersecting two lightly toasted, sauce-soaked tortillas like a spicy red Venn diagram to form one big tortilla so that we can get as much filling as possible into each enchilada. Tip: If you can’t find any fresh green chiles, a 4-ounce can of green roasted chiles will do in a pinch. Equipment:Ingredients For the Enchilada Chile Sauce: 2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil 1 onion, cut into small dice 3 large green chiles (such as Anaheim or even Italian-style long green peppers), roasted, seeded, peeled (see page XX), and chopped coarsely 2–3 teaspoons chile powder, preferably ancho 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon marjoram or Mexican oregano (epazote) 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (roasted preferred) 1 teaspoons sugar 1 1/2–2 teaspoons salt For the Potato and Kale Filling: 1 pound waxy potatoes (Yukon gold or red) 1/2 pound kale, washed, trimmed, and chopped finely 3 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 cup vegetable stock or water 3 tablespoons lime juice 1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds, page XX), chopped coarsely, plus additional for garnish 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste 12–14 corn tortillas Directions Preheat the oven to 375°F and have ready a shallow casserole dish, at least 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches. Prepare the enchilada sauce first: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions is oil for 4 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer, and remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled enough, taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Puree with an immersion or regular blender until the mixture is smooth and even. Prepare the filling: Peel and diced the potatoes, then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cook the grapeseed oil and minced garlic in a saucepot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is sizzling and slightly browned (be careful not to let it burn). Add the kale, sprinkle with a little salt, and raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly to cover the kale with the oil and garlic. Partially cover the pot to steam the kale until it has wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the lid and mix in the potatoes, vegetable stock, lime juice, pumpkin seeds, and salt. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the potatoes. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more salt or lime juice to taste. Create an enchilada assembly line: Have ready a pie plate filled with about 3⁄4 cup of enchilada sauce, a casserole dish, a stack of corn tortillas, a lightly greased, heated griddle or cast-iron pan (for softening the tortillas), and the potato and kale filling. Ladle a little bit of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish and spread it around. Take a corn tortilla, place it on the heated griddle for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat until the tortilla has become soft and pliable. Drop the softened tortilla into the pie plate filled with sauce; allow it to get completely covered in sauce, flip it over, and coat the other side. Now, place the tortilla either in the casserole dish (the easiest way) or on an additional plate. Layer it with another heated, sauce-covered tortilla or just use one per enchilada; either way, run the potato filling down the middle and roll it up. Continue with rest of tortillas, tightly packing enchiladas next to each other. Pour about a cup of sauce over the top (reserving some for later), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until edges of the tortillas poking out of sauce look just a little browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top individual servings with any remaining enchilada sauce, warmed slightly.

On Sunday evening, I got together with my mom (because I hadn’t seen her in 2 weeks!!) and I cooked for her. I again made a great menu from Veganomicon:

Parsnip & Beet salad with a pineapple vinaigrette
Messy Rice
Creole Stuffed Bell Peppers

This was one of the those occasions where I was kicking myself throughly for forgetting my camera! It was not only delicious but beautiful too!