The one nice thing about running when it’s 53 and drizzling is getting the running path all to yourself! Except for that one crazy bum feeding the crows. But anyway…I think the workout was a success:
Mile 1 – 9:18
Mile 2 – 8:37
Mile 3 – 8:33
Mile 4 – 7:37 (yay!)
Mile 5 – 8:46

I think my A goal for this weekend’s 8K race will be 40 minutes, B goal will be 42 minutes. I won’t be running with the stroller, which should feel amazing!

On to the recipe…

I have nothing against tortillas, but since I’ve been eating carbs like it’s my job lately, I figured a burrito bowl with a huge pile of lettuce might be a healthier choice (and it was good! Mike and I both loved these.)

The original recipe for the burritos is one of those that’s been floating around the blogs I read for a few years, getting rave reviews every time, but I somehow never got around to making it. And I guess technically I still haven’t, at least as it’s written. Because even though I used all the ingredients, I didn’t combine them in the food processor (I HATE washing that thing) and I didn’t bake the burritos. Next time, I’ll try them in their originally-intended form.

Recipe:
(adapted from Branny Boils Over)

1 heart of romaine, thinly sliced crosswise
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
4 tsp cumin
4 tsp lemon juice
salsa, sour cream, sliced avocado

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite-sized pieces. Toss with a little oil and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until tender.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the onion. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic. Cook another 3 minutes. Stir in the beans, spices, salt, sweet potatoes, and lemon juice, and stir well. Cook for 5 more minutes, or until everything is heated through.

Put a handful or two of lettuce in each bowl, then top with the bean mixture. Add salsa, sour cream, and avocado as desired.

A race!

(Never mind the fact that it was THE HILLIEST 5K EVER and it took me 30 minutes and I walked up one of the hills – seriously I didn’t walk any of the hills during the Boston marathon and I had to walk at mile 2 of a 5K?!?! Still, super fun, especially since there was Easter candy at the end!)

Browsing at my 2nd favorite bookstore, Green Apple Books

(2nd favorite, because nothing beats Powell’s in Portland)

Trading in old books and getting this AMAZING new cookbook!

(So far, the one recipe I’ve tried leads me to believe that this cookbook is going to be in very heavy rotation)

And sweet potato pancakes!

(A cooking experiment that worked out quite nicely!)

We’ve been keeping roasted whole sweet potatoes in the fridge for various purposes (most notably, making this hummus) but on the way home from the race I decided I wanted to see if I could make some sweet potato pancakes with one of them. I mashed it up, added milk, an egg, sugar, and spices, and they were DELICIOUS!

A little moister and denser than your usual pancake, they had so much flavor I didn’t even need syrup, which says something because I love Grade B maple syrup so much I’m sometimes tempted to drink it by the glass. They’re also divine topped with a little plain yogurt.

Recipe:

makes about 12 pancakes

1 medium sweet potato, roasted, cooled,  peeled and mashed (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 large egg
1 cup lowfat milk
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
butter, for cooking the pancakes

Whisk together the spices, salt, baking powder and flour.

In a separate bowl, mash the sweet potato until smooth, then stir in the egg, milk, and sugar and mix until smooth. Gently stir in the flour mixture.

Melt some butter in a wide frying pan or on a griddle. Ladle about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake into the pan and spread to an even thickness. Cook until golden brown on the bottom and then flip and heat until cooked through. Serve hot.

The honey mustard dressing and crumbles of feta bring it all together. I love this salad… I just wish I’d made it sooner.

Recipe:
serves 4-6

salad
5 ounces salad greens (I used baby romaine)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1 cm cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 ounces feta, crumbled

dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 425. Toss the sweet potatoes with 2 Tbsp olive oil and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cook for about 25 minutes or until tender. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool.

While the sweet potatoes are in the oven, spread the almonds on a baking sheet or in a cake pan. Toast in the oven, shaking the pan every 30 seconds or so until golden brown.

To make the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Put the lettuce in a large bowl and add the dressing. Toss well, then distribute among salad plates or bowls. Top with sweet potatoes, almonds, and feta.

I did something this weekend that was kind of unusual. I ran with music. I hadn’t done that in probably 3 years, since I had my iPod on a trail run and got so distracted and irritated by it that I took the headphones out at mile 3 and left them out for years.

But for some reason on Saturday morning, with 12 miles ahead of me, I grabbed my iPhone and hit the road. I usually stay out of the “what songs are good for running?” discussion but right now I can say with confidence that The Killers, Mika, and K’Naan are the absolute BEST for running. You can fight me on this if you want to.

The run was good. Weird to have music, but good. The whole time I just kept thinking about how incredibly lucky I am to be able to run in San Francisco. It’s seriously the most perfect running city in the world. You can fight me on that, too. The two pictures above are from the run…one is along Ocean Beach and the other is in Golden Gate Park. It was awesome.

Post-run, it was time for a little more city exploration. Mike and I are realizing it’s probably in our best interest to move into San Francisco, but we still have a few months to figure out where exactly we want to be. We’re pretty familiar with some neighborhoods, we know where we definitely don’t want to be, and now we’re just trying to narrow it down. We’re using a very scientific formula that takes into account running options, commute times for both of us, proximity of good coffee and grocery stores, and of course, rental costs (which are way too high, everywhere).

Dogpatch is kind of random… it has some of the oldest houses in the city and some run-down looking warehouses, and it’s sandwiched between a lot of industrial shipyards and Potrero Hill. It also happens to be the home of Piccino Coffee Bar which I instantly fell in love with.

There’s a case full of fresh baked goods (which looked fantastic, but we didn’t try any), and the soy foam was PERFECT!

The weekend was too short, like they always are, but an easy and comforting Monday night dinner makes the transition a little more manageable.

I mixed some sweet potatoes with regular, added red onions and cooked them over low heat until they were soft. With chorizo, eggs, and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro, it’s a hearty meal with minimal effort (and dishes!)

Recipe:
(adapted from Pinch My Salt)

2 tbsp olive oil
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled
1 medium potato, peeled
1 red onion, chopped
4 ounces soy chorizo
2 eggs
queso fresco and fresh cilantro, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Cut the sweet potatoes and potato into small cubes (you should have about 3 cups).

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-low. Add the potato and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. If anything begins to brown excessively, turn down the heat. Add more oil if things are sticking.

Once the potatoes are tender, stir in the chorizo. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Crack 2 eggs over the hash, then put the pan in the oven. Cook in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, or until the whites are set.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with cilantro and queso fresco.

I don’t know when, but at some point during the last decade, the game “high point, low point” became a habit. It’s easy: you just name a time or an event and come up with the high point and the low point. It applies to decades, high school, marathons, or just your average Monday.

I think the high point of today was the fact that it was getting light long before I had to get in the car and go to work!

Mike and I went for a MUCH needed run this morning at about 5. After not running all weekend it felt amazing to be back out there, and we really pushed the pace towards the end. Mike is convinced that I can run a lot faster than I think I can…we’ll see. I followed up my run with a rainbow chard green monster with cacao nibs on top. I love these things!

And now for the low point of the day. One of my students has been struggling for awhile…not turning things in, seeming generally apathetic when it comes to school work. Socially he seems to be doing fine, but there are definitely some pretty strong signs that he’s at risk for dropping out. Today, he was caught at school with a knife. I don’t know all the details, but I do know he’ll be suspended for awhile and I worry about him even more now. It’s a bummer…

After that less than cheery news I came home and had a grapefruit for snack. The dark early evenings are totally depressing, but at least now we have some good citrus to look forward to.

For dinner I made this morning glory from SheSimmers to serve on the side and it was perfect. It took visits to a few different Asian grocery stores to find morning glory (also called ong choy) but I was so happy to find it (and this great recipe). It totally took me back to Thailand!

So anyway, about the curry…
I love Thai curries of any variety and this is no exception. Hacking up a kabocha squash was the hardest part, but it’s definitely worth it! I think it’s easiest to just cut it in quarters, scoop out the seeds, then cut off the peel with a sharp knife and cut the squash into chunks.

I combined the squash with a diced sweet potato in a steamer, steamed until tender, then mixed up some curry paste and coconut milk and added a bunch of other vegetables and some diced tempeh. I love how flexible curries are because you can basically just throw in whatever you have on hand!

Recipe:
(inspired by The Ordinary Vegetarian)

1 medium kabocha squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1″ cubes (about 5 cups)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp Thai green curry paste
1 can light coconut milk
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 yellow onion, cut into thin wedges
2 Japanese eggplants, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 ounces tempeh, diced
2 tbsp soy sauce (I used Golden Mountain sauce)
juice of 1 lime (about 1 tbsp)

Put a steamer basket in a large pot with about an inch of water in the bottom. Put the squash and sweet potato cubes in the basket, cover the pan, and turn the burner to medium high, and steam until the vegetables are just tender (10-20 minutes)

Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium-high and add the curry paste. Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly, then stir in the coconut milk.

Stir to dissolve the curry paste, then add the tempeh and all vegetables (except the squash and sweet potatoes). Stir in the soy sauce and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is tender.

Just before serving, stir in the squash and sweet potatoes and cook until heated through. Stir in the lime juice, then serve garnished with some fresh cilantro.

It has been so great being able to bake while on vacation, especially since I have such willing taste-testers (thanks Mom and Dad!). Since sweet potatoes are absolutely everywhere here, it seemed like the perfect time and place to try incorporating them into dinner rolls, which I’ve been meaning to do for years.

These are soft and slightly sweet, with a pretty golden color that makes them seem a lot more buttery than they actually are. They’re really simple since they hardly need any kneading and they don’t rise for very long. I think I’ll definitely want to make this recipe again when Thanksgiving rolls around!

Recipe:
(adapted from Allrecipes)

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 small sweet potato, peeled, roasted, and mashed (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup warm water (about 100 F)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3-4 cups all-purpose flour

Measure half a cup of the mashed sweet potatoes for this recipe. Set aside.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and let stand 5 minutes.

Cream the butter and remaining sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the sweet potato, eggs, and salt, then stir in the yeast mixture. Gradually add the flour about 1 cup at a time, stopping when the dough is soft but no longer sticky. Gently shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a large, greased bowl, cover with a clean towel, and let rise for about an hour and a half, or until nearly doubled in size. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 16 pieces. Roll each into a ball, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet about 1″ apart. Cover with a clean towel and let rest for about 15 minutes. While they’re resting, preheat the oven to 375.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until golden brown on top.

This is a recipe from an AMAZING cookbook called Arabesque. Mike and I have drooled over this cookbook on numerous visits to Barnes and Noble, but for some reason never kicked down the cash to get our own copy. About a week ago, Mike decided to get it from the library, but of course our little county library doesn’t have it so it had to be brought up from Santa Maria. After shelling out 50 cents to get it here, I think we’ve both realized it’s a must-purchase.

The book has three sections covering foods from Morocco, Lebanon, and Turkey (all places I really want to visit. Weird.) This was the first recipe I attempted but definitely won’t be the last. It combines flavors I’ve never thought of as going together, but it works! I let it stand at room temperature about an hour before I ate it, and in that time the flavors came together perfectly. I haven’t had much Moroccan food in my life, but after trying this, I definitely think it’s time for that to change!

Recipe:
(adapted from Arabesque)

2 medium sweet potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
salt
8 green olives, halved

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1″ cubes.

Heat the oil in a dutch oven and add the onion. Cook until soft and golden, about 6 mintues. Add the sweet potato pieces, paprika, cumin, ginger and and enough water to just cover them. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender but not falling apart. By this point the liquid should be thickened into a sauce. Transfer the potatoes and onions to a bowl, leaving excess liquid behind.

Add the lemon juice, a few pinches of salt, parsley and olives, and toss well. Taste and adjust seasonings. Let sit for about an hour before serving if possible.

I have a thing for black beans, particularly in burger/cake/patty form. And since I discovered how easy it is to cook beans in the slow cooker, I now have some variety of bean cooked and ready to go in the fridge at all times.

This week has been pretty nuts so I’ve been trying to use up odds and ends from the fridge and pantry so I don’t have to go to the store. I knew my single ear of corn, sweet potato, and black beans would go together well, but I wasn’t very inspired until I came across a spicy black bean patty cake recipe on Dishing Up Delights. I made a few adjustments to include corn and to make the recipe vegan, and I loved the results. They don’t hold together quite as well as commercial veggie burgers would, but they didn’t totally fall apart either, you just have to treat them with care. I served them with some cilantro slaw, and it was a pretty nice little dinner.

Recipe:
(adapted from Dishing Up Delights)

makes 8 cakes

1 ear of corn (or 1/2 cup frozen corn)
1 tsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chile, finely chopped (ribs and seeds removed, if desired)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup black beans, with their liquid, pureed until smooth
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sweet potato, peeled and coarsely grated (1 medium sweet potato)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Cut the kernels off the corn and saute in the oil until tender. Set aside to cool.
Stir all ingredients (including corn) together until uniformly mixed. Pat into 4″ patties on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets.
Bake at 475 for about 30 minutes or until set. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then serve.

I wouldn’t put amazing in the title for nothing.

Well, maybe I would, but right now I promise I’m not exaggerating. These have completely changed everything I ever though oven-baked fries could be. They’re awesome on their own, and even better with ketchup. The nut butters don’t overpower the flavor of the sweet potatoes at all.

Angela made hers with parsnips, but when I got to the store and sweet potatoes cost less than half as much as parsnips, my mind was pretty much made for me. Plus I love sweet potatoes in all forms, so it worked out pretty well. I divided mine among two baking sheets just so they weren’t crowded and had ample air space for crisping up. The texture isn’t exactly like deep fried fries, but they’re pretty divine in their own way.

Recipe:
(adapted from Oh She Glows)

2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into fry-shaped strips
1 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp chunky peanut butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375 F and line 2 baking sheets with Silpats or parchment.

Put the sweet potato strips in a large bowl and toss with the oil, salt, and nut butters until evenly coated (It’s a little messy, but works best with your hands).

Spread the fries evenly on both baking sheets (make sure they’re not touching), and bake for about 45 minutes or until tender.

Serve with ketchup.

While I was cooking, the smell of this curry brought back fond memories of the week and a half we spent in Bang Saphan Yai, Thailand. The family owned the collection of beach bungalows where we stayed made a different dinner each night we were there, and this curry was one of the best things I’d ever tasted in my life.

Massaman curry usually contains beef and potatoes, and is common in Southern Thailand. Most Thais who aren’t Muslim don’t eat beef, and I don’t anymore either, but I wanted to make a vegetarian (and healthier) version of this rich, spicy curry.

I started off by steaming chunks of sweet potato and acorn squash in a bamboo steamer, and also used tofu, broccoli, carrots, onions, and tomatoes. With light coconut milk, fresh curry paste and all those vegetables, it has great flavor without being too rich. I think next time I may use kabocha or butternut squash instead, because their texture is a little more solid.

Recipe:
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1″ chuncks
1 small squash (acorn, kabocha, or butternut), cut into chunks and seeds removed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tbsp Yellow Curry paste (you can also use store-bought, but I think homemade is better)
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
8 ounces extra firm tofu, drained, pressed, and cut into 1 cm cubes
1 16 ounce can light coconut milk
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp peanuts

Place the squash and potato chunks in a bamboo steamer over boiling water, and steam until tender (or cook in the microwave). Set aside. I think it’s easiest to keep the peel on the squash until it’s steamed, because it’s much easier to remove it after it has cooked.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high. Add the curry paste and chopped tomato and stir-fry until very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the broccoli, carrot, and onion and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the curry powder, coconut milk, sugar, soy sauce, tofu, squash, and sweet potato, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the broccoli and carrots are tender.
While the curry is simmering, toast the peanuts in a dry skillet until golden brown. Cool, then chop.

Once the vegetables are tender, taste and adjust the seasonings, then ladle over rice and top with chopped peanuts.