I love the fall and daylight savings time is probably my favorite day of the fall since I get to wake up early with the sun coming up like I do in the summer, without sacrificing it being my favorite part of the year. The changing of the seasons never ceases to change my appetite drastically. Where in the summer the thought of “stick to your ribs” food is a rarity, in the fall and winter, I somehow find myself dreaming after warmer, denser, heartier foods. In the summer smoothies and bowls of fruit do just fine for breakfast. Salads with lean protein for lunch. Fresh spicy food for dinner. In the fall and winter, that just won’t do. I mean as hearty as a salad can be has one ever warmed you up? When you are hoofing it through a winter (or fall) snow storm are you dreaming of leafy greens with a whisper of dressing to stave off the cold? Hardly! I want soups, chili, curry, roast vegetables, comfort foods (made healthy of course!) Especially since I am prone to being cold anyways, I need something warmer to keep me sustained especially when I am running 100-120 miles in a week in the cool fall air. And just because something is warming and comforting doesn’t mean it has to be bad for you.

Over the weekend, I headed to Cibo post-run for a late breakfast and dug into a bowl of granola with yogurt and stewed fruit. The stewed fruit especially was absolutely the perfect fall breakfast. I decided to take the idea home and create something that would fit my foodie model. Must taste great, but also not just be loaded with sugar or without additional health benefits. I decided to notch down the level of oil and sweetener in the granola and boost up the dried fruit and nuts. I also used agave nectar instead of brown sugar It was not overly sweet but got a great golden toastiness that I adore. The fruit stewed in POM Wonderful juice (which is what I had on hand thanks to them sending me some!) or any juice will do. The stewed fruit will be plenty sweet to balance out the granola. I thought it potentially could be too sweet but this breakfast was a home run.

Stewed Fruit

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 apples, diced
2 pears, diced
2 persimmons, diced
1 cup peaches, sliced
¼ cup Pom Juice
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Put everything in a pot over medium-low heat, bring to a simmer and cover. Let cook for 45 minutes stirring occasionally.

Autumn Granola

Yield: About 24 servings.

Ingredients:

4 cups gluten free oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup peanut oil
½ cup agave nectar
1 cup diced dried apricots
1 cup roasted unsalted cashews
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried berries
1 cup dried cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss oats, shredded coconut and walnuts together in a large bowl. Mix oil and agave together and stir into oat mixture. Spread out evenly on a sheet pan and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally.

Remove mixture from oven and mix in remaining ingredients and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

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.

Sometimes you just want to do something nice for someone for no other reason than they crossed your mind and for whatever reason, for wherever they are in their life, good or bad, you felt it warranted to do something nice for that person. Today, I wanted to bake something. And I wanted to bake it for my friend Leah Jurek. Leah is just one of those genuine, sweet, good people that I have had the pleasure to get to know since moving back to Seattle. She is also a talented massage therapist, runner and artist. So I decided to bake her something. Having tried out BabycakesNYC first hand, I was motivated to try out one of their recipes even though I haven’t managed to get my hands on the cookbook yet (it is shipping soon from Amazon). Luckily, Food and Wine featured one of Babycakes Recipes and I decided to adapt it by adding gluten free/vegan chocolate chips to the mix. I also changed a few other small things which I illustrate in the recipe below (no canola oil or soy milk). Result: Absolute bliss. I doubled the recipe as well, so that there would be two loaves. One for me, one for her.

I enjoyed two slices after lunch. Being a runner has its rewards and as I reflect on in my running blog (in this post), we need to refuel our bodies with enough fuel to sustain it and keep us running healthy and strong. That said, this bread is healthy enough for anyone even if you have never run a step in your life!

Adapted from Food & Wine: