Since We Last Chatted…

I celebrated Christmas…

So what if I wore yoga pants all day? I wanted to be comfy while I unwrapped presents and stuffed myself.

I made a lot of fun recipes that I can wait to share with you. I copycatted the Okonomiyaki that Carter and I had at Xia Bao Biscuit.

And the Basil Honey Vinaigrette I love from Five Loaves. (Ignore my half gone tattoo – I’m still in the removal process.)

I also made blueberry pancakes using Greek yogurt and cottage cheese.

I continued making healthy recipes like Spicy Lentil Patties…

and a vegan tofu scramble.

I celebrated winning The NYE Challenge with an IceDream from Chick-fil-A…

…and made a lot of cookies.

Seriously, so many cookies.

But it’s okay, because I did a ton of running…

including another 10 mile run on NYE…

and maybe a little trespassing.

And finally, I rang in the New Year with some of my favorite friends.

Cheers to 2013, getting back into regular posting, and sharing lots of recipes! As always, thanks for reading and staying caught up in my very hungry and healthy life. XO!

Pure Barre & Pure Food

Last Thursday, I went to happy hour with my friend Sarah. The HH was hosted by Andrea, one of the teachers from Pure Barre. For each drink purchased, you were entered in a giveaway to win prizes from the studio. I was lucky enough to win four free classes! (source)

Bright and early on Sunday morning (okay, 9 a.m.), I went to my first free class. This was actually my third time at Pure Barre. (Read about my first experience here.) I wish I could take each and every one of my readers to the studio. The workout is incredible! It’s one of those classes that makes me wake up the next morning saying, “I have muscles there? Ouch.” And I love it! Check out the Pure Barre site to find a location near you!

At the Mt. Pleasant location, the new client special is $99 for a month of unlimited classes. On Sunday, their facebook page announced a deal I could not pass up.

You see that word challenge? GETS ME EVERY TIME. How could I say no to that? Twenty classes in 30 days…I’ve got this, right? I am both scared and excited to see what happens to my bum. Excuse me,  my seat ;)

Speaking of all things pure in Mt. Pleasant, let’s talk about The Sprout, an organic café and juice bar. My friend Nicole and I popped in for brunch over the weekend. The first thing I noticed were all the juices. My eyes immediately darted to The Refresher: beet, apple, celery, cucumber, and carrot.

Sold. It was pink! #beetsmakeeverythingpink

We also split the Black Bean Burrito: black beans, lentils, tomatoes, greens, dairy-free cheese, and tahini dressing. The juice was great and the wrap was also tasty, but the service was beyond slow. It took over 20 minutes to get our food. Our raw food. Um, what?

Nicole also snuck in an order of two wheatgrass shots. She threw hers back like it was water. I, on the other hand, took one sip, gagged as quietly as I possibly could, and passed mine over to her. Could not handle it. They were a pretty green though, I’ll give her that.

 

Have you ever taken a class at Pure Barre? Do you think I can handle 20 classes in 29 more days?

What’s a health trend you can’t get on board with?

Spicy Chickpea & Lentil Stew, Bridge Running

Earlier this month, I promised you guys more recipes on the blog. One major difference of the upcoming recipes is that they will be vegetarian! I’m excited to show you all that there are tons of vegetarian recipes that are both healthy and delicious. So, to the last person who asked me “What about protein?” – this ones for you.

Spicy Chickpea & Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp. garam masala
• 1 (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
• 2 (15 oz.) can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups (1 can) vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup dry green lentils
• 1 (6 oz.) container of plain, fat free Greek yogurt (I prefer Fage!)

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions. Add peppers, garlic, garam masala and cook until peppers begin to soften. Add everything except the yogurt, reduce heat to low, and cook for 45 minutes, or until chickpeas have softened. Add yogurt about 15 minutes and mix well before serving.

This stew is incredibly easy to make and packs in a ton of flavor…and protein! God bless a chickpea! The addition of the Greek yogurt gives this stew a creamier flavor but is still low in fact.

…

Before making the above recipe, I went for a bridge run for the first time in over a month. I missed this beautiful structure! I set out around 6 p.m. as the sun was setting.

I walked 1/2 of the incline to make sure my knee was okay, then ran the rest of the way over and down.

On my way back, it was so much darker!

Eeeerie! I started to wonder how safe it is to run the bridge alone in the dark. Can I shove mace in my sports bra? I could see that going terribly wrong for me…

Where is YOUR favorite place to run?

If you’re a vegetarian, what is the most common question you get asked?

If you have any questions for me, let me know!

Mellow Mushroom Beer Kitchen

Typically, when one thinks of Mellow Mushroom, they think of giant, freshly-made, gourmet pizzas. Little did I know, Mellow Mushroom has an extensive beer selection with two dozen specialty beers on tap and a hundred more in bottles. I have been trying to hone my beer-tasting palate, so I jumped on the opportunity to go to a four-course beer fusion dinner last Wednesday.

I met my friend Boomer, who helped promote the event, for Happy Hour at the downtown Mellow Mushroom. One of the perks of this restaurant is their beer club, in which members of said club are encouraged to drink every single beer they serve. (Not all at once – you will die.) After accomplishing this feat, members are rewarded with an engraved mug, their name on a plaque, and discounted beers – 20 oz. beers for the price of a 16oz. It may take me 6 years to complete this mission, but I figured I might as well start. Choosing from such a huge list is not easy – I can barely decide when I have 2 options.

Lucky for me, I didn’t have to choose the beers during dinner. Each course, prepared by Chef Mark Yoder, was accompanied with a different beer that was infused in the dish.

Course 1

Beer: La Chouffe Petite-Belgian light wheat

Dish: Crostini with goat cheese topped with marcona almonds, dates and a honey-beer reduction

This was, by far, my favorite course. Not only did I love the beer, but goat cheese + honey? Yesssssss. Perfect appetizer.

Course 2

Beer: St. Peters English Ale

Dish: Lasagna-with béchamel and sautéed mushroom filling. Mushrooms were deglazed with beer.

I am scared of mushrooms. Really scared. But I did try one tiny one and it was full of flavor. This was my first time trying béchamel sauce too.

Course 3

Beer: Highland Clawhammer-marzen style oktobefest

Dish: Beer-braised short rib, lentils, a potato cake, and collard greens. Greens were cooked down with beer and balsamic vin.

I am a huge sucker for lentils so I dug right in. The potato cake was essentially a Spanish tortilla, which is one of my favorite things to make (and eat!).

Course 4

Beer: Framboise Lambic

Dish: Pumpkin bread pudding-with Framboise and cinnamon whipped cream.

Yay for fall flavors. I was in love with the very fresh cinnamon whipped cream. Please admire all the beer glasses around my dish. Beer Heaven.

After all that food, Boomer declared that he had a food baby. He so obviously has not read this post where I describe my hatred for that term. Cringe. He’s cute enough to be forgiven.

For more information on Mellow Mushroom of Charleston, visit their

• website
• facebook
• twitter

What’s your favorite beer?

What’s your favorite beer-infused food?

CSA Week #2 and THE BEST FOODIE TERM EVER

This week is the second week of my CSA with Pinckney’s Produce. In this week’s bucket I got:

• collards
• spinach
• spring and sweet onions
• turnips
• turnip greens
• a lot of strawberries

For some reason my box didn’t include the scheduled broccoli, mustard greens, or leaf lettuce. There is a “swap box” where you can swap out items with other CSA members, so I exchanged the collards for turnips. I haven’t used my collards from last week and I have a newfound love for turnips.

Tonight I decided to use the spinach and onions to make another batch of Ham and Lentil Soup. This soup and Avgolemono are my absolute favorites.

Yesterday Jamie sent me a clip from the show Parks & Recreation. It reminded her of my post on Foodie Terms That Make Me Cringe. I cannot stop watching this.

.

I will forever use the term “food rakes.” :)

Check out http://tomhaverfoods.com/ for even more!

Red Lentil Kofte / The Last Dinner in NYC

I promised a NYC recap but that would be pretty much impossible in one post. So, over the next week, month, year, or so, I’ll talk about it.

My last dinner was at Mundo, in Astoria, with Kaye and Justin. Owned by an Argentine man and his Turkish wife, Mundo’s menu is influenced by both South American and  Mediterranean cuisine.

After much recommendation by the owner and many reviews we read on Urbanspoon, we decided to order the Red Sonja appetizer: red lentil patties with bulgur, scallion, parsley, and spices served with lettuce and lemon slices. We all really liked these a lot and the lemon juice really intensifies the herbs – you must squeeze some on! We ended up ordering a bunch of small plates to share instead of individual entrees as there were so many things we wanted to try. Next up were falafel. BEST falafel of my life. They were so incredibly soft and moist. The ones I’ve had at home are too dry. Excuse the quality in the next three photos – totally bedroom lighting in this restaurant. We also order two empanadas: one beef and one cheese & feta. The beef grossed me out but the spinach & feta was awesome. The last dish we had was octopus carpaccio with baby arugula, Peruvian black olive sauce, red caviar, and warm pita triangles. Kaye insisted on this. I was completely disturbed by it and threw it on Justin’s plate. I did, however, swipe about 10 pita triangles in through the black olive sauce.

This place was really good and they pride themselves on having a very diverse healthy menu. The Red Sonja was my favorite part, so as soon as I got home, my mission was to remake them. After some research, I discovered the Red Sonja is actually the Turkish recipe for Red Lentil Kofte, or Mercimek Köftesi. I found this recipe on a Turkish woman’s blog and made it last night. Great news for my roomie, Lucy – this recipe is Vegan!

My kofte weren’t as red as Mundo’s (less tomato paste?), but they were just as delicious. Use the lettuce as wraps and again, make sure you squeeze lemon juice on them. The recipe makes 6 x what you see above, so either cut it in half or have a Turkish party. Why not?