Watermelon Smoothie and a Marathon Training Update

Remember these? (source)

For 1/15 of the roll, you get 160 calories full of milk, water, sugar, corn syrup, and cream. In that order. The only place watermelon shows up on the ingredient list is as watermelon juice concentrate. How sad. And may I take a moment to interrupt this post to tell you that Friendly's is also responsible for the grilled cheese burger melt.

(source)

For 1500 calories, 97 grams of fat (that's equivalent to 8 tablespoons of lard) and 2090 milligrams of sodium, you can satisfy your craving for that tub of Crisco and packets of salt that you just haven't been able to shake. Apparently Friendly's missed the memo on moderation.

Before I break the keys on my computer, I'm moving on to some healthier alternatives and the reason I am writing this post - back to the Wattamelon Roll. Like it? Well, here's an alternative that actually contains some real food ingredients you may want to eat. Because we've had a warmer than normal summer in New England, watermelons have been in excess! I've gotten one each week for the last 3 or 4 weeks in my CSA, and I have been struggling to keep up. But with this recipe, I'm sure I'll use them up. I also cut up the part I didn't think I'd use into chunks and froze. These pieces will be great for a smoothie in the future.

Watermelon Smoothies

1/2 seedless mini watermelon (local!)

4 oz plain yogurt (I used Chobani Greek yogurt)

6-8 oz low-fat milk or soymilk

4-6 ice cubes

1-2 oz lemon juice or lemonade

Blend all of this goodness together. Stick a straw in it and enjoy on a hot night after a hot run.

It was sort of my "watermelon-ized" version of mango lassi. I'm putting the remainder of it in the freezer in ice cream cups and planning on eating it like frozen yogurt.

I enjoyed it with some lentils, sauteed vegetables, and corn tortillas.

Marathon Training Update

You may or may not know, but I'm training for the San Francisco Nike Womens' Marathon, happening on October 17. I ran Boston this year and loved it. Training for this has been completely different, as training during winter in New England is much different than summer training.

This is what 17 miles looks like.

My long run is up to 19 miles, I'm increasing sprints up to 7x100's, and pace ran a 6-miler today!

This is what a 6-mile pace run looks like:

Please don't judge me based on how I take care of basil plants (in the background). I swear I watered them as soon as I saw this sorry-looking photo.

Speaking of races, next weekend is the Vermont Maple Leaf Half Marathon, a race I KILLED last year, and I'm concerned that I'll never see that record time again. We'll see.

Is anyone else running this race in Vermont? It's a really fun race and the food afterward is amazing. This year, they have their Green Festival immediately following the race, and, as always, Manchester Center has some fun shopping. It's probably one of my favorite weekends of the year! There are still numbers left!

Question of the Day: Any tips as I enter the last 6 weeks or so of training? And what do you think of the grilled cheese burger melt? I guess if I ate that and then ran the half marathon, I might just burn off those calories.

How to: Have the Perfect Birthday

Now that I've conquered the task of creating tasty potato samosas and peach chutney, I thought I'd share my How-To Guide on having the perfect birthday.

Step 1: Take the day off from work.

Step 2: Sleep in until 8:00 a.m.

Step 3: Eat the banana pancakes your lovely boyfriend made for you as a surprise and left in the toaster to stay warm. Drink the mocha java Green Mountain coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon, milk, and sugar.

Step 4: Go to the RMV to renew your license. Print application ahead of time so you don't have to wait as long. Smile REALLY big in the new mug shot that will be your license for the next 5 years.

Step 5: Take a solo drive. Anywhere you want. I chose Portsmouth, NH. But make sure to detour and do some shopping first and buy some new duds.

Step 6: While driving, ponder what your 26th year of life will hold.

Step 7: Refill the air in one of your tires. Wonder how much you are actually supposed to fill a tire. Drive to Firestone Auto Center. Smile when the Firestone Service Center Auto Rep yells at you for overinflating your tire. Ponder what this symbolizes. Send out this ponder to the world via a Facebook update.

Step 8: Finish your drive to the sea coast.

Step 9: Thank the woman that paid for your parking after you stand at the parking meter machine and swipe your credit card 5,293,309 times in the pouring rain and it doesn't work.

Step 10: Head to a restaurant recommended by Chowhound and check out the menu.

Step 11: Head back out into the rain because you weren't really feeling vegan "hamburgers."

Step 12: Duck into a pizzeria just to get out of the rain, and realize you've found your lunch spot and local food mecca.

Step 13: Sit at the bar by yourself, and smile. It's your birthday and you're by yourself. Relish in the feeling of eating alone and the chance to enjoy and linger on every bite.

Step 14: Check out the menu and specials board and order the veggie special, organic salad, and a hot fresh-squeezed lemonade. Question your decision to order hot lemonade.

Step 15: Enjoy the local artist decor, and dive into your salad and hot lemonade, which you realize you've been missing out on this whole time. And, it is sweetened by maple syrup. A match made in heaven.

Step 16: Plan on buying ingredients, including arame seaweed to recreate this amazing salad.

Step 17: Start in on the pizza. Take bites and close your eyes and chew. Don't worry about what other people think. Taste the red onions, creamy ricotta cheese, the juicy warm tomatoes, and buttery flavor of the wood-fired crust. Let the flavor explode in your mouth and smile.

Step 18: Order something off the dessert menu. For lunch. Choose the gingerbread, just because, and request a scoop of both the vanilla and pumpkin ice cream so you don't have to choose between the two.

Step 19: Take a few bites of each, and realize you've had enough and are completely satisfied. Smile, pay your bill, take some photos of the amazing open kitchen concept and wood-fire kilns, and head back into the rain. Your belly will be extremely happy.

Step 20: Do some more shopping, buy some items at the local health food store, browse the book store, and walk around near the ocean. Get soaking wet by the rain, but smile, because it's worth it.

Step 21: Head home. Drive slow, and ponder what you're 26th year will be like some more.

Step 22: Get home.

Step 23: Take a nap.

Step 24: Eat your birthday dinner with your family.

Step 25: Make a wish.

Step 26: Be thankful for 25 years of life, for health, for family and for friends.

Question of the Day: What would be included in your perfect birthday?

Potato Samosas and Peach Chutney

You may have had a bad day, but take a gander at poor Barbie.

(We'll get to the punch line of this in one moment...)

First...

A Samosa Rhyme

(created by Tim and me)

You say potato. I say samosa.

What's a samosa supposta taste like?

It's not a salad, yet not a steak.

Samosas are found somewhere in between

A samosa's supposta taste like a samosa.

Now you know why I don't write poetry for a living. If I've totally lost you, please bear with me; the following recipe is worth it.


Now that I've provided that disclaimer and sad excuse for a rhyme, don't dilly dally on this recipe. Make it now. You'll be sorry if you don't.

For the past few weeks, I've been getting red potatoes in my CSA box. I'm not a huge fan of potato salad, it's too hot for mashed potatoes, and I've roasted my share of potatoes on the grill. I remember these rich, heavy potato samosas peppered with cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric, and lots of onions I devoured when I used to visit the San Francisco farmers' market when I lived there. They were clearly deep-fried, but every Saturday, the vendors would cut up these homemade samosas into little slivers and offer to market shoppers as samples. Somehow I managed to pass that table multiple times each weekend for another morsel of that fried potato and breaded goodness. We all know I couldn't recreate something that good.


Until today.


I've come to a lot of conclusions today. Here are the ones I can share:
1) My best culinary creative juices flow early in the week. I'm just too tired to think on Thursday or Friday.
2.) I've waited too long to recreate these San Francisco-inspired samosas.
3.) My life had not been complete until making peach chutney.
4.) Wontons are meant to be fried.


I've spent far to many cooking experiences trying to perfect the art of baking wonton wrappers. I have a recipe for baked tofu cabbage wonton wraps, but thinking back, they'd be much better fried. And let's clarify, I'm not talking deep-fried. I'm talking pan-fried in a tablespoon of vegetable oil. The word "fry" is such a dirty word, but in the case that I'll show you, adding a little oil to your life is not so bad. In fact, I rarely fry anything; the closest I come is a can of Pam and a diced onion in a pan (say that three times fast.)


So, when I set out to conquer the world of pan-frying this evening, I realized the most important thing: the temperature. The temperature of the oil has to be just right, otherwise your frying victim becomes soaked in oil and tastes like a wet rag. Or, the oil begins to smoke and you have on your hands a smoking oil disaster. Your clothes will never smell the same again. This is a nice table showing the various smoking points of various oils. And never attempt to consume or reuse oil that has reached its smoking point. The heat changes its structure and it becomes rancid.


By the way, the following recipes are by no means for the faint of the dishwashing heart. I must have used 5 or 6 pots in the process, but seriously, the final product was worth all the pots and pans I put in the dishwasher (sorry if I turned off any of you non-diswasher-owners.)


Potato Samosas


6 medium red potatoes, scrubbed, boiled, diced (local!)
1 cup yellow lentils, cooked
1 onion (local!)
1 clove garlic (local!)
1 tsp EVOO
1 Tbsp mustard seeds
1 Tbsp turmeric
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 package Nasoya wonton wrappers
3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil


In a fry pan, saute onion and garlic in EVOO until transparent, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, mash potatoes, lentils, onion/garlic mix, and spices together.


Note: Another key to getting the wonton wrapper to cooperate is to dip it in a bowl of warm water.


Place dampened wonton onto a cutting board, scoop 1-2 Tbsp of potato mixture into wonton wrapper and pull one corner over mixture. Fold in two opposite sides, and then roll until potato mixture is all within wrapper.


In fry pan, spread 2 Tbsp of vegetable and bring to medium heat. Drop a tiny bit of potato mixture in oil, and it should begin to sizzle immediately. If oil splashes, turn temperature down. If it doesn't sizzle, turn it up baby.


Drop each roll in heated oil, and cook on each side for about 1 minute, or until wonton is browned and bubbly. When completely cooked, drop wonton onto a paper towel to catch any excess oil. You may need to replenish oil with 1 or 2 more Tbsp as you cook.


Peach Chutney


1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup golden raisins
6 peaches, peeled, pitted, chopped (local!)
1 tsp ground cloves


Bring vinegar and sugar to a boil, stirring constantly. Caution: I've made this claim before and I'll say it again: boiling vinegar is a sinister task. It will drive your neighbors away, and like smoking oil, your clothes will never smell the same again. Don't make the mistake to lean over the stove to get something in a high cabinet and breathe in that boiling vinegary steam; your eyes will water and your cat's back hair will stand up on end.


Mix in garlic, raisins, peaches, and ground cloves. Simmer for 20 minutes or so. When peaches appear soft, mash with a potato masher. The mixture will begin to get syrupy and sweet. It will turn a rich caramel color; try not to spoon it directly into your mouth. It's still very hot.


Alongside three potato samosas, slice a fresh tomato and cucumber, and dip away to your heart's content.



And now for the demise of Barbie you've all been waiting for...

On that note, I'm going to start my birthday celebration. 26 on the 25th. Check out last year's birthday celebratory post!

I don't really own that tiara. Photoshopped it.

That dessert is a local peach cobbler with Taza chocolate chunk ice cream from Henrietta's Table. I started my birthday celebration earlier this week.

Question of the Day: How do you celebrate your birthday? In style? Is it a birthday day? week? month?

Cape Memories

For some reason, this summer has been a "go-to-a-concert-then-head-to-the-Cape" sort of summer. This time, T and I saw Ray Lamontagne and David Gray. Gray was good, but Ray Lamontagne was GREAT. He just released a new CD and it is pretty amazing. He also currently lives in Massachusetts, so I've gotta represent the local talent. And, Bank of America Pavilion is a great place to see a concert mid-summer.

View from the beer garden.

Boston city line.

David Gray!

Some happy concert-goers.

We headed to the Cape after the concert for some mid-week oceanic relief.

On the way to the beach, we happened upon this:

The Hyannis Farmers' Market! We picked up some local goods, including giant heirloom tomatoes, artisan cranberry pecan rolls, and some peaches. We then hit up the local fish market,

And created this feast.

And we had a surprise visitor!

Elizabeth!

Some shots from the Cape:

And then there was this foolish bird I chased with bocce balls because he stole the pallino.

Returning from paradise was tough, but a late day find made it worth it. I found this beauty at a farm stand and gobbled it up for lunch. Must have weighed 1.5 pounds. Tasted like summer. Every drippy, warm, salty bite.

Question of the Day: What's your favorite type of tomato? Big Boy? Cherry? Plum? Some other heirloom variety? The unique names of heirloom tomato varieties remind me of paint samples: Brandywine, Green Zebra, Hillbilly, Jubilee, Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee Purple, Mr. Stripey, and Yellow Pear. There are lots more. That's the beauty of heirloom.

Pancakes: Not Your Typical Dinner

I recently posted about different types of pancake mixes, and I thought I'd share with you a new way I've incorporated pancakes into my daily rapport. Pancakes have crossed over from breakfast to a new time slot: dinner.

Using Debora Madison's recipe for Corn Cakes, I was able to transform an otherwise-known breakfast food into something savory and delicious.

To top these babies off, we didn't drizzle on syrup, but rather made a quick relish of tomatoes, green peppers, hot banana peppers, jalapenos, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Let me tell you, the oils from these hot peppers stay on your fingers, and I had one heck of a time getting my contacts out that night. Any suggestions for avoiding this? Apparently prevention is the best medicine here, and I should have used gloves, but who knew banana peppers were so hot?

On top of that, we sprinkled black beans, thick and meaty slices of tomatoes and some leftover rice. And there you have it - pancakes for dinner.

Question of the Day: Do you ever eat breakfast foods for dinner?