I know I am a strange person. That is not news to anyone who knows me.

Yesterday I was reminded again that the things I eat and the foods I crave are also not normal. I was doing an interview for DailyMile and we were discussing food and I mentioned craving salads and vegetables which produced a quizzical look. Later on that day, when I was talking to Scott my massage therapist at Psoas, he said “I never crave fruits and vegetables, just fatty food or sugar, etc”. Never? Really?!

I thought about it for a while since honest to goodness I don’t have sugar cravings, in fact I wouldn’t really say I have cravings at all. Usually on my long runs I start thinking about the food I will refuel with and get particularly fixated on something but it’s not a true craving and even if it were, well, I usually have earned it. On my 34.5 mile run this Sunday I got fixated on the idea of having roast chicken and salad for dinner and ultimately that is what we had. Rotisserie chicken from Limon and a big leaf salad. Really hit the spot.

After all the talk of food cravings or not, last night all I could think about was a big green salad. Not your restaurant style green salad which is usually just beautiful greens plus a delicious dressing. I am talking greens, green vegetables and even a herb-y dressing. Yes, I was craving it. I needed to tame that green monster.

And wow was it good. I actually ate WAY slower than I usually do so I could savor each and every bite. The only things that weren’t green in this salad were the baked tofu and the sauerkraut. I felt like a superhero after eating this salad. I felt invigorated and satisfied. It is definitely one that I will be making again and again. Salad may not be rocket science, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be profound on occasion.

Greener than Green Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup broccoli, lightly steamed (to make it less gas producing)

2 stalks of kale, cut into ribbons

4-6 cups of greens including arugula, spinach

2 tbsp fresh cilantro

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 cup sauerkraut

1 package baked tofu

1/2 avocado

1 cup rice vinegar

4 cloves garlic minced

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp fresh ginger

2-3 tbsp mixed fresh herbs

1/2 cup+ peanut oil

Directions:

Mix vinegar, garlic, herbs, sesame oil, ginger in a blender. With the motor running, add in peanut oil until dressing emulsifies.

In a large bowl, put the cut kale into the bowl and add 2 tbsps dressing. With clean bare hands, massage the kale for 30 seconds until the leaves slightly soften. Add in greens, spinach, arugula, cilantro, and green onions. Toss to coat with dressing adding more to taste. Top with steamed broccoli, avocado, tofu and sauerkraut. Enjoy. This salad is definitely a meal, split it into two and have it as a side.

Speaking of weird cravings, last week I was seriously jonesing for chickpeas. I mean really, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I decided for Wednesday dinner that I would call on my inner Greek and make some recipes from Vefa’s Kitchen which I had gotten over the weekend. I made Vegetable and Garbanzo Bean Casserole as well as Chicken Souvlaki. Both were delicious and I am super keen to try more recipes from the cookbook. It is a good one, a classic and a compendium of Greek Food (it’s been called the bible of traditional Greek Food). I won’t share the recipes, but I will share a few photos of the delicious final product!

I am so happy. I love where I live. California rocks. Seriously.

View of the Pacific Ocean from Point Lobos

Over the weekend, I headed down the coast for a super secret mission that involved a trip to the Monterey Aquarium, wine tasting, and all sorts of adventures from San Francisco down to Monterey. There was Whale Spotting from Point Lobos Wildlife Reserve, Porchetta Sandwiches from Roli Roti and a Saturday night picnic of fresh greens, pickled vegetables (Happy Girl Kitchen), and roast chicken & potatoes (also Roli Roti) from the San Francisco Saturday Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. Lunch in Santa Cruz at Walnut Ave Cafe of tofu scrambles and potatoes. There was a perfect run up the Skyline-to-Sea trail and watching the sun go down over the Pacific Ocean. I am sure I am missing a fresh from the market persimmon and loads of Jer’s Chocolate Peanut Butter in there too. It was fantastic. It was the kind of weekend where at the end you sigh and say, “wow, we live in an amazing place”. I ate good food, ran in amazing places, slept in the biggest bed ever, and pulled off the birthday surprise of the century. Ok, well maybe not the century, but I kept a secret for like a month and that is a big deal. While the weekend sounds packed, it was actually the most fun relaxed weekend I have had in a long long time. After the stress of the holidays, we all need a little vacation right?

Looking up and forward to the new year.

After the weekends activities, actually for about a week before and even now, I have been seriously hankering for hearty, pickled vegetable laden salads. Probably post-holiday balancing after eating a few things my body doesn’t like (gluten). I ate really healthy and light for most of the holiday season, but ate my mom’s Stollen that she makes every year and a super secret sugar cookie or two as well. As we were driving back, salad was on our minds and I suggested a salad I had been playing with over the course of the week. Fresh greens, arugula, sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, roast onion and a very bright herb dressing. After a bit of brainstorming, we decided that the additions of a nice soft cheese and avocado would take it to the next level. It was awesome.

This salad balances the light crisp flavors of the greens, dressing, sauerkraut and arugula with the hearthy, warm winter vegetables of sweet potato and roast onion. Profoundly good for being profoundly simple. This salad is a keeper.

Sauerkraut, Sweet Potato and Roast Onion Salad

5 cups salad greens
3 cups arugula
2 sweet potato
2 small red onion, sliced
2 cups sauerkraut
2 small avocado, chopped
½ cup soft cheese, crumbled
red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Baked Sweet Potatoes until tender. With about 10 minutes left before the sweet potatoes are done, roast red onions on a baking sheet with parchment paper until tender.

Compose salad in large bowls. Toss greens and arugula with red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients to taste.

Herb Salad with toasted walnuts and goat cheese

On Halloween night when everyone else was heading out, I was tucking in for a very nice home alone. By choice, I had a date. A hot date with myself. It was a perfect Saturday night. Sunday night supper was already planned and out of my hands, so I decided to cook for myself and do a “cook the book” from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home. I love Jamie Oliver and his cooking style. He does uncomplicated but powerfully flavorful dishes. He uses the best ingredients, often grown in his own backyard (the “at home” part). Listening to my strong, nagging, unrelenting desire for warming foods, I picked grilled mushroom risotto. I decided to have accompany it with a Herb Salad with toasted walnuts and goat cheese, Peri-Peri Whole Roast Chicken (a page from my own cookbook), and some caramelized brussels sprouts.

Peri Peri Roast Chicken and Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

It was a really enjoyable menu. One I would gladly put in front of a guest or large group of guests. That said, it was nice to treat myself as well as I would treat others. I am currently big into reading food memoirs and a few of them specifically talk about the things we will cook for ourselves that we wouldn’t dare share with anyone else, the secret guilty pleasures eaten over the sink. While it is true that I nosh on my oddities when it is just me, I actually think I am the most adventurous when cooking for myself. When I know my audience is just me, I have no fear of failure. I am willing to dive in and go big, go out of my comfort zone and risk the whole thing going in the bin. And though that has never happened, I don’t cook for others usually with the same reckless abandon. It’s a curious thing to have such performance anxiety with something I do so often, am trained for and loved. Maybe its because of all those things that I want to impress people with what I can do and leave the experimenting for on myself. I am sure in time that will change. As I turn my little ship towards my culinary dreams and goals, I know I will need to relinquish that fear and self-doubt. Plus, it is unfounded, nights like Halloween remind me that I have got some great skills and I can cook things that have my exclaiming (out loud into an empty house), “good lord that is tasty!”. It was indeed a tasty reminder to have a little faith in myself. I am gaining a good deal of momentum in my own cooking and look forward to building on that through more original recipes, cook the book postings, sunday night suppers and restaurant reviews. And from there even more content and casting my net even further! Such a delicious journey I am on!

Grilled Mushroom Risotto

grilled mushroom risotto from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home.

main courses | serves 4-6
A mushroom risotto can be taken in many different ways, depending on what kind of mushrooms you have and whether they are introduced at the very beginning of cooking or just added at the end, as I’m going to do here. The inspiration for this recipe came when I was in Japan and saw mushrooms being cooked completely dry on a barbecue or griddle pan. This way of cooking brings out a really fresh and nutty flavour in them; perfect for being dressed lightly with olive oil, salt and lemon juice or stirred into a risotto at the last minute before serving.

Heat your stock in a saucepan and keep it on a low simmer. Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour in just enough hot stock to cover. Leave for a couple of minutes until they’ve softened. Fish them out of the stock and chop them, reserving the soaking liquid.

In a large pan, heat a glug of olive oil and add the onion and celery. Slowly fry without colouring them for at least 10 minutes, then turn the heat up and add the rice. Give it a stir. Stir in the vermouth or wine – it’ll smell fantastic! Keep stirring until the liquid has cooked into the rice. Now pour the porcini soaking liquid through a sieve into the pan and add the chopped porcini, a good pinch of salt and your first ladle of hot stock. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and massaging the starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next.

Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. This will take about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, get a dry griddle pan hot and grill the wild mushrooms until soft. If your pan isn’t big enough, do this in batches. Put them into a bowl and add the chopped herbs, a pinch of salt and the lemon juice. Using your hands, get stuck in and toss everything together – this is going to be incredible!

Take the risotto off the heat and check the seasoning carefully. Stir in the butter and the Parmesan. You want it to be creamy and oozy in texture, so add a bit more stock if you think it needs it. Put a lid on and leave the risotto to relax for about 3 minutes.

Take your risotto and add a little more seasoning or Parmesan if you like. Serve a good dollop of risotto topped with some grilled dressed mushrooms, a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.