Well, I've let another year slip through my fingers on this, my little blog endeavor! Few updates to share- ran another marathon, bringing my total now to four. It was a 90+ degree day in Chicago and it was highly not enjoyable or fast. Oh well. Resolving to take this year off of marathoning and instead, focus my efforts towards another goal - getting my nutritionist certification! Yay! I have my textbooks and am reading away, getting ready for my exam. I am learning so much, and am absolutely enthralled with it all. I also fortunately am now in a job that values this kind of knowledge, so they have ever so generously covered my certification expenses and are patiently awaiting my becoming official. Said job also revolves largely around food accounts and new food product innovation AND provides great work/life balance, which my previous job so sorely lacked, so needless to say, I am in HEAVEN! Working with food, having time to make food on my own, and not having every Friday night meal revolve around a perfect balance of carbs and protein in order to fuel a multi-hour 5 am Saturday run. Life is good.
I have also been helping to plan and lead a Food Revolution month at work, so I got to bring in speakers from all over to talk about the issues in the food industry, the merits and drawbacks of things like GMOs and organics, how to eat seasonally, locally, sustainably...all kinds of fun stuff. So perhaps I'll also share some of the newsletters I wrote over the past month for ya'll's reading pleasure.
For starters though, if you haven't read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, go, now (well, not exactly now, but REALLY soon) to your local bookstore or fav online literature merchant and get a copy. This book changed my life. It might take you a chapter or two to get fully absorbed, I'll admit, it took me about four tries over a year to finally get fully immersed, but persevere - it's worth it. Having this foundation in knowledge about how our diets have changed and what we need to do to be our healthiest is sooooo goooooood.
Because of it, I am eating lots less meat (and lots more veggies) - and not missing it! In this and future posts, I will share some of my favorite veg recipes where, I promise, even the most angus-loving amongst you will enjoy the fresh flavors and not feel deprived! I have also joined a CSA again this year (new farm, promises to be much better than 2009's not-so-awesome CSA experience), so I'm sure once that starts in another month or so, it will get my culinary creative juices flowing, as well. Stay tuned...
So, I'm BACK, and ready to share lots of healthy stuff that I'm learning and cooking!
Here's one for starters - cheers!
Lentil and Chickpea salad (courtesy of Health magazine. This and Eating Well are my mainstays these days - reeeally great recipes!)
Heat 1 T of olive oil in a large skillet. Add 2 chopped yellow onions and saute until soft. Add 3 minced garlic cloves (I am now using the jarred kind and thank higher powers every day for this time saver, what was I thinking with that papery clove mess before?) and saute a couple more mins. Then add 6-8 swiss chard leaves, julienned - skip the stems, and saute until tender, a few more minutes. Add 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained, then mix in 1 T pomegranate molasses, (can find this at WholeFoods if you must, which I despise, see Monday Night Salmon, but more on that some other time), 1 T lemon juice or white wine vinegar, 2 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Bring 6 C of water to a boil and add 3/4 C petite green lentils (oooo I love these...). Simmer 15-20 mins, until tender but not mushy. Add 2 t salt and let sit for 5 mins, then drain.
Mix it all together and YUM - healthy and oh-so-flavorful vegetarian dinner. I served with a small spinach and tomato salad and some Ezekiel raisin toast. Yes, I'm fully hard core and into sprouted grains now, too.
Nutritional reasons why this is good - lentils and chickpeas are fantastic sources of vegetable protein. There is no saturated fat, and lots of good dark greens and healthy fat. Also, makes lots so allows for a healthy lunch the next day!
Enjoy and more soon!
