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:
Cinnamon-Banana Bread
- Recipe by Erin McKenna
The Good News This recipe is full of potassium-packed bananas. Instead of processed sugar, it calls for agave nectar, a natural sweetener; a little canola oil replaces the usual butter. The bread is an improvement on the one Erin McKenna often made with her mother when she was growing up: “I thought it was so healthy, because of the bananas. I didn’t factor in all the sugar and butter.”
- SERVINGS: 8
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free, all-purpose baking flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 overripe bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup canola oi olive oil
- 1/3 cup agave nectar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk almond milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly oil an 81/2-by-41/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom and sides of the loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the baking flour with the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum and salt. In another bowl, whisk the bananas with the oil, agave nectar, soy milk and vanilla. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the banana bread cool on a rack for 20 minutes before turning it out. Let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- One Slice 198 cal, 8 gm fat, 0.6 gm sat fat, 33 gm carb, 3 gm fiber.
The other day before physical therapy, I headed up to the top of Queen Anne in search of an amazing, eggless pastry treat. I am not big into sweets much anymore, not sure when that happened. I use to be such a sweet fiend, but now I rarely crave anything sweeter than a scone or a not sweet muffin, I am satisfied with the sweetness of a ripened mango and a table cool bottle of grape kombucha. I find it humorous. It was not always the case. Despite being aware of my own low tolerance for wheat and the addition of the egg allergy, I still tend to be desirous of a morning muffin, biscuit or bready bite on occasion. On this particular day, I had my laser set on going to Macrina Bakery on Queen Anne. I had had one muffin EVER in life there and it stuck with me. It was the only vegan selection they had that day, so my only option. It was a good option: a Banana Ginger Muffin. The faint whispers of flavor that teemed in my memory sent me back that morning and I was not disappointed. The muffin was not super sweet, but kept a similar beat to a slice of gingerbread, but with the levity of a light muffin. In a word: amazing. After trying to savor the taste, but doing something more resembling devouring it, I became determined to recreate the muffins in my own kitchen and even kick up the health quotient and do it with a combination of spelt and whole wheat flour. I was pleased with the recipe I came up with, it truly did not disappoint. Maybe, instead of running all over town, I will have you running straight into your kitchen to make these. Speaking of which, my batch mysterious disappeared at Orcas Island and I think I need to make another batch.
The perfect balance of sweet and spice, oh so nice.
Banana Ginger Muffin
Ingredients:
5 small bananas, mashed
¼ cup margarine
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup spelt flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp. ginger zest
2 tsp. crystallized ginger, minced
1.5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
pinch fresh nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease 2 muffin pans (9-12 muffins). In a medium bowl, mix together the mashed bananas and margarine. Mix in the two types of brown sugar and cream. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients including the 3 types of ginger until incorporated. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir to combine.
Scoop about 1/4 cup of muffin mix into the muffin pans, making 9-12 muffins. Sprinkle the muffins with dark brown sugar and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 20-25 minutes.
