Blizzard Warnings in effect.

The weather outside is frightful, but the running is so delightful.

Fast Foodie, Even in the Snow

I spent about 2 hours running around in the snow. It was delightful, it was challenging. It is one, if not the, biggest storms that has hit Seattle in a while. It snowed on Thursday, then an even bigger dumping last night, complete with Blizzard Warning. Thus, there was plenty of snow on the ground. While I didn’t have the opportunity to get Yak-Traks or put Sheet Metal Screws, I decided that I would brave it anyways.  I ran around without aim, slipping, sliding, working hard and being silly. I was working up quite and appetite when the snow started falling really hard. I searched myself for what sounded good, warming and satisfying when it came to me. What is better on a cold day than a nice thick soup and a cheese toastie? Not much! So, I popped into the PCC on the top of the hill (thankfully, I was carrying my fastpacking backpack) and grabbed some ingredients, loaded up the pack and continued on home as the storm worsened. Inspired by the snow, I created a Chili-spiced Double Squash Soup and Double Tomato & Swiss Cheese Toastie. While the weather outside is frightful and has me snowed in, the food in here is so delightful.

Chili Spiced Double Squash Spice Soup

Chili Spiced Double Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 can pumpkin puree
1 can butternut squash puree
4 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 large leek, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons agave nectar
salt
pepitas, toasted
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
⅙ avocado, diced

Directions:

In a good size stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the leeks and carrots. Saute until the start to get tender. Add the stock and the squash purees and stir to combine. Add in the chili powder, cumin, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer, for a minimum of 15-20 minutes.

Using an immersion blender or in a regular blender, puree until smooth. Make sure if you use a blender that you cover the top with a dish towel and start blending on low so that the hot liquid doesn’t come flying out and scald you. Return to pan and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

In a small dry saute pan, toast pepitas until golden, keeping them moving in the pan constantly. Serve soup and garnish with toasted pepitas, diced avocados and cilantro.

Double Tomato & Swiss Sandwich

Double Tomato & Swiss Cheese Toastie

Ingredients:

3 slices tomatoes
3 slices Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons Sun-dried tomato pesto
1 pita

Directions:
Slice pita open, keeping one side attached. Spread pesto on one side, place tomato on top and cheese on top of that. Heat panini press or cast iron sandwich press to medium high. Grease both sides and place sandwich on grill. Grill (flipping once) until golden, toasty and melty.

Enjoy with a warm bowl of soup.

I really think that what I love about cold days and getting cold, is the warming up and relaxing part afterward!

I was running along this evening, contemplating and somewhat racing, the butternut squash I had baking away in the oven. I had thought I’d take the baked squash that I had seasoned with some gobi masala spices and stuff it with some arugula, good organic goat cheese and some cheeky chutney from Saturday. But as I ran, the cold ripping and biting through my tights and across my face, the meal just didn’t sound like the right thing to warm me up. I knew the combination would work as I was inspired by a salad I made for Sunday supper, a Cider glazed Butternut Squash Salad w/ Arugula, Goat Cheese, Roasted Hazelnuts and an apple vinaigrette. And of course, the chutney has not been far from my mind since I made it. Naturally I wanted to take the leftover ingredients I had (half an uncooked butternut squash, arugula, goat cheese) and combine it with the chutney to create something new. My idea was good, but not great. The wind started to blow and I shivered and I thought about what my dad had been eating for lunch, which had looked very delicious at the time Tomato-Basil soup and a grilled sandwich. And that is when it struck me: I need more Cowbell! Seriously, that is what I thought but what I meant was, Eureka! I realized that a play on tomato soup and grilled cheese was in order. And thus was born what I consider, at least in part, the best recipe I have ever come up with: Curried Butternut Squash Soup and (this is the best best recipe of which I speak) Goat Cheese, Arugula and Chutney Quesadilla. The soup was good, but the quesadilla was amazing and really simple. I had a small side of roast brussel sprouts to make a well rounded delicious and flavorful meal. My dinner needed more cowbell and boy did it get it!

Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and halved
2 cups vegetable stock
gobi masala, garam masala, cinnamon to taste
salt to taste
a small squirt of Vanilla Agave

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Place the squash halves, cut side up in a baking dish. Fill the pan with 1-2 inches of water. Sprinkle gobi masala and a little olive oil over the squash. Bake until tender. In a saucepan, combine the stock and the butternut squash. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. Once the combination is smooth, start spicing! I added a dash of garam masala and a smaller dash of cinnamon. A good whack of salt and a small squirt of vanilla agave. I brought it to a simmer and got to work on my quesadilla. When serving, feel free to top with a cooling spoonful of plain yogurt or sour cream, which balances the spices well.

The best quesadilla ever (at least for today)
Ingredients:
Earth balance
1 brown rice tortilla
Arugula
A good soft goat cheese
Cheeky Chutney
optional: a few slices of roasted turkey

Directions:
Spread Earth balance on one side of the brown rice tortilla and heat a skillet to medium high. Spread goat cheese thinly across the entire tortilla, pile on a few slices of turkey (or not), a good bunch of arugula and top with a few spoonfuls of chutney (see picture below). Fold in half and grill until golden on both side, with the cheese melty and the ingredients heated through. Cut in half and enjoy, immensely.

Oh yes and one final note, per a question I got about the chutney and preserving it. As Jamie Oliver discusses, you do sterilize the jars. I found that when I put the very hot chutney in the jar and closed them up immediately, that when I opened the jar a few days later, the top was sealed on quite tight. That said, feel free to do the water bath sealing. But then again, it may be alot of effort for nothing since frankly its so good, it probably won’t last that long!

One of the nice things about Mondays for me is the fact that it is a rest day, thus I have a bit more time to do some things that I can’t on any other day. Usually it doesn’t pan out that way however. I usually get wrapped up in work, errands and just trying to keep it together. Today however, was different. I had anticipated possibly cooking dinner for my co-worker Lauren and having our usual monday night tv watching at her place, but her mother had an accident, so I was on my own, but already my mind was made up to cook something fun and something I hadn’t done before. I was also hoping to make something that might be able to stretch for a few days, enabling me to have a bit more time to rest and relax after my long days of running, working and running.

With the up’ing of the thyroid meds, I have been absolutely ravenous. I feel like no matter what I eat, I am hungry again 20 minutes later. Usually, my appetite is quite surpressed during hard training, but not so for the last few days!

One of the things I love about fall is being able to able to tuck into heartier, warmer foods. I decided to make a spicy vegetable soup and pumpkin corn bread. I have been wanting to make pumpkin muffins or pumpkin spice cakes or something. When I came up with my soup recipe, the pumpkin corn bread (which is actually a modification of the muffin recipe) was the perfect sidekick. This meal was delicious and I had a blast dancing around the kitchen, listening to Frightened Rabbit. It made me feel comfortable and at home, and even though I am not really at home here in Atlanta, it just confirm to me that at this point in my life, I am happy just to be wherever I am.

Spicy Southwest Soup

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small serrano pepper, minced
1 ear of fresh corn, cut of the cobb
1 medium yellow squash, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
1 can chili beans (a mixture of red, pinto, etc), rinsed!!!
4 cups vegetable broth
salt, pepper and spices (I used my african peri-peri spice blend)
olive oil

Directions:
On medium high heat, heat the olive oil and saute onions, carrot, bell peppers until they start to soften. Add garlic, chili and spices and cook a few more minutes. Add corn, squash and mushrooms. Once all the vegetables have started to comingle, add in the diced tomatoes and beans. Give it a good stir and then add the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Once the soup is simmering, you can get to making your pumpkin corn bread! I used Karina’s recipe (linked above) and I put the bather into a greased pan to make bread instead of muffins. The only modification I made was reducing the oil in the recipe from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup and upped the pumpkin puree a bit. Once the corn bread came out of the oven and cooled, I took the soup off, bowled it up and garnished it with a couple tablespoons of white cheddar and sliced avocado. To feed the savage beast that is my stomach, I also made a small side of brussel sprouts. This meal was delicious, balanced, healthy and just plain fun!

Spicy Southwest Soup with White Cheddar and Avocado

Pumpkin Corn Bread