Chili Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

When it gets cold out all I ever want is pasta (with red wine).  I decided to put my leftover pureed pumpkin to good use and make pasta sauce.  There was a lot of flavor crossover between this dish and the pumpkin hummus I made a few nights ago -- but I wanted to make the sauce a bit spicier.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup chicken stock (can add more/less depending on how thick you want your sauce)
2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 tbsp Bragg's seasoning (for Rosemary)
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp Sriracha chili garlic sauce
1/2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup canned chickpeas (optional)

While the whole wheat pasta was cooking, I put all of the sauce ingredients into a sauce pan and simmered for 10 mins.  The pumpkin sauce would've been great alone, but I wanted some added protein, so I threw in the chickpeas.

Here's the final product:

Of course, I added some extra Parmesan on top. It was SO good. The sauce was perfectly spicy and creamy and the chickpeas added some nice texture to the dish.  This blog is becoming a bit of a chickpea overload - But they're such an easy and versatile meal addition and they're extremely filling. I don't like to eat much meat, so chickpeas are a great solution (and cheap). Yum!

Savory Rosemary Pumpkin Hummus

The other day I stocked up on pumpkin puree at the grocery store - Tis the season of PUMPKIN. It seems to be in everything right now, so I knew I could put it good use. As I've mentioned, you can mix just about anything into hummus and tonight it was pumpkin.

Here's what I started with:
1 cup organic canned pumpkin puree
1 can (15 oz) canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup sesame tahini
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp cinnamon
Juice from one lemon
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chopped rosemary

Seasoning to taste:
Salt & Pepper
Bragg's Sprinkle Seasoning

One step magic: throw everything in a food processor and you are done.  This hummus is perfectly sweet and savory.  I sprinkled the Bragg's on top for extra Rosemary flavor.  It's perfect for holiday parties this time of year. Enjoy!

Spicy Avocado Hummus

After a big weekend of eating I wanted something light and fresh for dinner. I'm a huge fan of dips. They're delicious, but I also love dips because they bring such a social element to a meal. Everyone can gather around dips while casually chatting and eating. 

Hummus is one of my favorite dips. I lovelovelove hummus.  Hummus is great because it is so versatile. You can dip just about anything in it and mix so many different flavors and spices in. Also, it doubles as an amazing spread on sandwiches. It had been awhile since I had made homemade hummus. Tonight was the night.  I got all of the ingredients and found that I had a very ripe avocado in my kitchen, so I decided to make an avocado hummus - a little hybrid of guacamole and hummus.

Ingredients:
1 can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup arugula
2 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini  (I'm not a huge tahini fan - feel free to add in as much as 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small avocado

Spices to taste:
Cayenne pepper, paprika, Sriracha hot sauce, salt & pepper

First, I put the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, and 1 tbsp EVOO in the food processor until smooth.

Then, I threw the rest of the ingredients into the food processor -- You could do it all together, but I wanted to taste what the guacamole, arugula, parsley, tahini, and EVOO mixture tasted like on it's own. No suprise here, it was delicious and worth eating as is.

Here's both the chickpea mix and avocado mix before blended together:

I combined both in the food blender while adding 2 dashes of cayenne pepper and slowly mixing in the sriracha to taste. I like it spicy and added about 1/2 tablespoon. As a sidenote, some other spices I think would be really good in here: cumin or curry powder.

I served my hummus with paprika sprinkled on top and dipped celery, carrots, and sea salt baked lentil chips in.  The final product was so delicious - creamy, filling, and perfectly spicy. A great dip for so many occasions.

Charleston Lovin'

I'm very lucky to have a sister that goes to school in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is one of those cities that you're beginning to hear more and more about - Conde Nast Traveler even named it the #1 City in the US, but I still don't think I would've made it down there had it not been for my sister going to College of Charleston. This past weekend was my third trip down South and it was a good one.  

One of my favorite things is putting on my running shoes and exploring a city by foot.  My little sister, being the college student she is, sleeps later than me, so I used the mornings to walk around and find new places. Saturday morning I ran towards the water and found myself at The Battery - a park at the tip of Charleston's peninsula. There's nothing better than a morning run along the water:

We walked the city for the rest of the day. First stop: the Farmer's Market.  I got an awesome smoothie with beet, pear, banana, kale and spinach.  I was skeptical of the beets at first but it was amazing! Perfectly sweet and the beet was very subtle.

It was so fun to check out all of the different booths at the market and everyone was so nice. A major highlight was discovering Nutty Goodness - An amazing raw fruit and nut bar which I proceeded to buy 5 bags of. Good news is that they ship all over the country! I also loved this homemade pasta vendor. Check out this impressive spread: 

Next we went to the Charleston City Market, an awesome strip of vendors with art, trinkets, and food. Here's a gem I found:

We had a late lunch at a cute spot, Eli's Table. My dad got the "Low Country Eggs Benedict" - with spinach and fried oysters - to die for. I think I fell in love with fried oysters this weekend.

The architecture is unreal in Charleston and it's absolutely one of my favorite parts about the city. There's so much color and history.  It's the most charming place I've ever been. I became slightly obsessed with the colors and window treatments - Here's a collage of all of my favorite windows: 

Saturday Night we went to Grill 225 in the Market Pavilion Hotel for dinner - unbelievable fish and steakhouse.  The hotel also has a fun rooftop pool and bar that is worth checking out. Their specialty is a liquid nitrogen martini - They come extra cold, steaming, and with a warning label. I got the cucumber lemonade vodka 'nitrotini'. Kind of hilarious but it got the job done. 

Our last stop for the night was Kaminsky's, a dessert bar. All they serve is alcohol and dessert. AMAZING. I think this place is pure genius and I might open up my own version. I opted for some Hob Knob Pinot Noir and Pumpkin pie - heaven.

I think that's a pretty good round up of my Charleston weekend. It has definitely become one of my favorite destinations. Until next time Chucktown!

Chickpeas, Beets & Malbec

I cannot believe it is almost November. It is so cold out! I'm from Cleveland, OH and they woke up to snow this morning. That is something I am just not ready for.

First, I thought I'd do an update on my running mileage. I'm getting closer and closer to reaching my 500 mile goal every day.  In fact, just this morning I reached 490.5 miles.  I'm hoping to hit 500 way before November 18th, but I'll keep you posted!

This morning I went for a 5-miler and I was largely motivated by the meal I concocted last night.  It was a lot - that and I have to wear a dress tonight. This morning was a particularly good run - There is nothing better than watching this city wake up.

Now, onto my dinner last night. Step #1 was choosing a red wine.  This might seem backwards but wine was really the priority last night.  I went for a Malbec - Malbec is great with meat. Unfortunately, I didn't have any steak lying around.  Instead I had lots of vegetables.  Lucky for me, Malbec also pairs well with bold and spicy vegetable dishes.  Perfect!

Here what I was working with:

5 peeled and chopped carrots

7 white potatoes - quartered for roasting

1 onion - chopped

2 large Beets – peeled and slivered

2 tablespoons Sriracha chili garlic sauce

1 can of chickpeas

1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt & Pepper
Endless EVOO

First, I preheated the oven to 425 for the beets and potatoes.
I decided to sliver and roast the beets - just like roasted potatoes. I had never done beets this way and it might be a new favorite.  I tossed the beet slivers in EVOO, salt & pepper, put them on a baking pan, and roasted them in the oven for 40-50 minutes.  I prepared the potatoes in the exact same way. 

The beets before the oven (obsessed with their color):

The beets after some roasting (also obsessed with this color):

I seasoned the beets and potatoes pretty lightly because I wanted them to balance out the spicy/bold flavor of what I made to put on top.

Now onto the spicy vegetables. 
I sauteed the carrots in light olive oil for 5-10 mins.  Next, I added the onions, chickpeas, and the chili garlic sauce. I let it simmer for about 5 mins on low heat. The chili garlic sauce can be really strong so I would suggest putting in a little bit at a time - I like a lot :) I thought this sauce added enough of a garlicky flavor, but feel free to add some minced garlic in, as well. And of course, season with salt and pepper as you see fit.

Nice and spicy:

I wanted some added protein and a flavor to tie it all together, so I fried 2 eggs to go on top.  I was feeling particularly inspired last night and decided to work on my presentation skills....Definitely some room for improvement. Here is the final product:

The potatoes are hidden underneath, but it really was delicious and super filling. There were so many different textures and spices. The egg yolk added a bit more creaminess to it all. Now onto the best part....

Earlier in the day I picked up dessert: doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant. I'm lucky enough to live just 2 blocks from this place.  I got the Pumpkin Cake flavor and a Peanut Butter Banana Cream one. 2 little pieces of heaven. Highly recommend!

 

For my last few posts I've been using whatever is in my kitchen and trying to make a recipe (my own version of the TV show Chopped).  For my next post I'm going to think of a recipe/post BEFORE I go to the grocery store - should make for something delish.

500 Miles

Well I've stuck to my word and have definitely been running more.  Not only have I been doing more mileage, BUT I've been mixing up the scenery which is one my favorite things about running. I love to use a run to explore new places or to simply get outside. With the minutes of sunshine dwindling down everyday, I'm really trying to take advantage of these last few weeks of sunshine when I'm not glued to a desk.

As I've mentioned, I love having goals and tracking things.  I also love making lists and crossing things off said lists.  Anyways, I always track my runs -- mileage, speed, routes - using the Nike Running app. Their app is really awesome and I use it every time I run - except when on a treadmill. The app keeps your mileage total for all recorded runs, too.

After my run this morning, I was at 469 total miles, and it occurred to me that I started using the Nike App just about a year ago .  I checked, and my first run on the app was on November 18th, 2012.  I decided it'd be really cool to reach 500 miles by November 18th of this year -- 500 miles in one year. So the countdown begins - 31 more miles in a little over a month.  Definitely a great reason to get new running shoes :)

Here are some fun photos of my most recent running adventures:

A "muddy-up" 5K in Greenwich, Ct - including running through creeks (fell twice), mud swamps, an 80 yd swim (water in September is freezing), and full on competition with 5 year olds

One of my favorite places in the city - The Reservoir in Central Park

Phoenix, AZ bright and early -- amazing running weather - warm and no humidity:

And a throwback to my vaca in Charleston. This might be my favorite. If you ever get the chance to run on the beaches surrounding Charleston, do it.  The sand was so hard that people were even biking on it - and obviously, it's flat so you can go forever.  So amazing.

Winter may mean colder weather and less outdoor time, but it also means more red wine and more cooking for me.  In my mind, there is always something to look forward to.

Kale, Potatoes and a Kitchen

Last night I got home at 830pm starving.  The only 2 fresh things I had in my kitchen were a beautiful head of kale and a bunch of small potatoes.  I decided to get creative and make a meal of this.  Whenever I'm at a loss of ingredients for dinner I immediately turn to eggs.  I love a fried egg on just about anything but I especially love them on salads (the BEST for brunch).  The yolk makes the best dressing on its own or mixed with another.

So my first course: kale salad, spicy Dijon Mustard dressing, and a fried egg on top. 

For the dressing: Olive oil, Dijon Mustard, Apple Cider Vinegar, a little Red Wine Vinegar, salt and pepper

This salad was actually very filling and probably would've been plenty for dinner, but I already had my heart set on roasting those potatoes.

Growing up my Mom always made roasted potatoes.  They are so flavorful and so easy to make.  I chopped each potato into quartered wedges and threw them all in a bowl.  Then, I lightly drizzled them with olive oil.  For seasoning, I added Bragg's Herb Seasoning, garlic powder, and salt & pepper.  Next, I just stirred them all around and put them on a baking sheet.  I let them roast for about 50 mins and they came out beautifully.

I completely burnt my mouth because I couldn't wait to eat them (this is becoming a trend) - so I would suggest letting these cool for at least 5 minutes before digging in.  I LOVE hot sauce so I dipped them in Frank's Red Hot. Delish. Some Parmesan cheese or fresh herbs like Parsley or Rosemary would have been great on these, too. A perfectly satisfying dinner with very simple household ingredients.  :)

My First Acorn Squash

Somehow this ended up in my kitchen:

An acorn squash. I didn't even know what this was when I saw it in the grocery store. I wanted to try something new tonight, and I thought this looked pretty darn interesting. 

I read that they are similar to sweet potatoes in taste and I LOVE sweet potatoes. Right then I knew I wanted to go in the sweet direction rather than savory. I was thinking maple syrup, brown sugar, and cinnamon. And then I saw a recipe that called for bacon. I knew I was on to something. I'm not a huge bacon fan but I could not resist this combination. 

To start I cut the squash in half and scooped out all of the seeds.  Then I drizzled them both with about 2 tbsp pure maple syrup. Next I cut a piece of bacon in half and placed them in each half. I really wanted the bacon juices to bake into the squash. Then I placed both face up in a baking pan with about an inch of water. 

Here they are pre-oven (preheat to 415 degrees): 

I let them bake just under an hour.  It felt like forever. They smelled SO good.  You could probably bake a little more or a little less. I just checked with a fork until they were soft enough.  They came out looking beautiful - look at that bacon juice! As you can tell by all of the fork marks, I was a bit impatient and checked on them way too often.

I let the squash cool for about 5 mins and then scooped all of it into a bowl.  I probably shoud've let it cool a little longer but again, I just could not wait to eat this stuff.

While the squash was in the oven, I put the bacon in a pan and got it nice and crispy. YUM.

Once the bacon was done I cut it up into small pieces and mixed it into the bowl with the squash.  I added 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, another half tbsp of maple syrup, and salt to taste. Then I plopped this beautiful, bacony, sweet mash into a bowl and chowed down. 

I cannot tell you how delicious all of these flavors were together.  The bacon really added something, but the recipe would still be great (and very healthy) without it.  It was the perfect fall meal!

Post-Cleanse

For the past 3 days I've been on the Organic Avenue "Love Fast" cleanse.  I'll write a more in depth post/review on it, but it was awesome!  Today is my first post-cleanse day.    It feels good to know I can eat solids again, but I always find myself a little hesistant and unsure of how best to break cleanses.  The best part about cleansing is it completely resets my body and refocuses my outlook on food.  Going 3 days with mostly juice really makes you think twice about what you are putting into your body and how much food you really need. 

I try my best to slowly re-introduce solids and heavier food after a cleanse.  It can really mess with my system, so for me, it's very important to eat small amounts and to keep it raw for the first day or two after a cleanse.

Ironically, I actually love to go food shopping and cook while cleansing.  It's fun to buy really fresh ingredients and make food to eat after my cleanse. So last night I prepped a  big raw salad for my lunch today.

Kale,  peppers, carrots, and tomatoes:

The tough thing about salads (especially after a cleanse) is the dressing, so I thought I would try to make my own!  I had a TON of fresh basil in my apartment and didn't want to let it go to waste. I love basil and figured there had to be a way to make a basil salad dressing.  After compiling some google research this is what I came up with:

1.5 cups basil
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 clove garlic
1 tbsp chopped red pepper (I had these so figured I'd just throw them in)
Lime juice and pepper to taste

I threw it all in my food processor and Voilà!

It's light, tangy, and very basil-y. Mine is a little chunky, but a good food processor would make this the perfect smooth consistency. You could even make it a little thicker and add as a garnish to a Caprese Salad or on meat or fish.  I love basil on anything!  Counting down the minutes until Lunch. Happy Thursday!

 

Just run.

In NYC fitness trends are huge. I feel like each week I hear about a new class someone is obsessed with or that will transform your body.   I have definitely joined this somewhat cult-like culture in the past year and when I like something I tend to go a little overkill.  First, I fell in love with Flywheel. Then, I discovered Soul-cycle. Soul-cycle will always have a special place in my heart, and there were weeks over the past winter when I was going 5x a week.  

This summer I've been addicted to Physique57 - again going sometimes 5x a week. The downside to these obsessions is that running can go on the back-burner.  I'm still on the physique kick, but I'm going to limit it to once or twice a week. I don't think that any of these classes (or any workout) should be your only form of exercise if you really want results. 

For me, there is nothing better than running first thing in the morning.  I'm the last person that likes waking up before 7am, but it is the best way for my mind and body to start the day. 

I ran my firsf half-marathon in March, and yes, training through the winter was not ideal, but I miss having something to train for and a goal to go after.  Ironically, I actually gained weight training for the race....I was always hungry and thought I could eat anything I wanted after a long run, woops.

At the finish with my 2 friends and running buddies (It was FREEZING).

Maybe I'll sign up for some road races or another half, but either way my goal will be to run more. So as my Labor Day weekend ends and the Fall of 2013 begins, I'm making a recommitment to morning runs because there's nothing better than this: 

Devil's Food

There is nothing better than some homemade cookies.  I love making cookies from scratch, but today I used Pillsbury's Devil's Food Cake mix. You tweak the cake recipe slightly for cookies - more oil and eggs.  The cookies end up being extra soft and amazing.   A quick and simple staple for a cloudy Labor Day weekend. 

Before:

I added some shredded coconut to half the batch, too (love shredded coconut with chocolate....and basically anything). 

After:

Food porn.  Frosting and sprinkles made these delicious and picture perfect.  Happy Labor Day!

Pinot & Kale

It seems the eating and drinking from the bachelorette weekend has just continued on into my week.  My friend Leslie came over last night and brought a lovely Bearboat Pinot Noir from Sonoma.  She knows her wine and I highly recommend this Pinot - it's light, smooth, basically perfect...Lucky for me there was some left over.  Not one to let wine go bad, I've helped myself to a glass tonight.

Now on to the Kale part of my night...I feel like people have pretty strong and mixed opinions on this green stuff. I happen to love it in most forms: raw, steamed, liquid.  Kale chips I had yet to try and had heard they were delish and easy to make. So I went out, got myself a head of kale and decided to give them a try myself. One of my better ideas for a Tuesday.

Whenever I cook I like to do some recipe research. I usually check out a handful of recipes and then combine them while adding my own spin on things.  I decided to do kale chips 3 ways: plain sea salt, Sriracha, and Parmesan.  Sriracha and Parmesan happen to be my 2 favorite seasonings so I thought this worked out just perfectly.

Almost all of the recipes had these instructions in common: Preheat oven to 350, wash kale, de-stem (easier to just rip it off than cut it), cut up, and dry.  Toss with olive oil and sea salt. Bake for about 12 mins - until crispy with light brown edges. I estimated with the olive oil and seasoning and just went with taste.

Sea salt kale before the oven:

For the Parmesan version, I added the Parmesan to taste after I baked the chips and tossed them around.

Parmesan version:

I mixed the Sriarcha in before cooking and did taste testing before putting them in the oven.

Sriarcha version:

Kale chips are ridiculous.  It is crazy how crispy and amazing the kale gets.  When the first batch of sea salt came out I ate the entire thing in about 30 seconds. I am a huge fan of these things.  I don't even think I can decide which version was my favorite because each was delicious in their own way.  I will admit I found myself sprinkling a little Parmesan on each one by the end.  The best part is you can season these things a million ways, and I'm sure each would be just as good. They're healthy, too :)

As usual, I made way too much, so I think these will be the perfect, crunchy addition to my salad for lunch tomorrow, yum!

And that is what I call wining and dabbling. 

The Bachelorette breakdown

Greetings from the Charleston airport.  Turns out airports are great places to write your first blog post in a few weeks. An unlucky bird decided to fly into my plane so here I am delayed as usual.  

My older sister, Lea, is getting married in September and the bachelorette party was this week(end). We stayed outside of Charleston in the Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms -- highly recommend this place for any type of vaca.  

Anyways, as expected this weekend included a ton of my fav things: my sisters, food, drink, beach, barre, and lots and lots of girl time. I actually had so much fun planning the trip and getting to know the area in the process.  Isle of Palms is so gorgeous, and Charleston is the cutest little city. I mean check out this door: 

Saturday night was our big night out in Charleston, and of course it all began with an authentic and heavenly southern meal at The Macintosh. Shout out to one of Lea's bridesmaids, Courtney, for organizing this with the restaurant. Check out this adorable menu: 

I literally cannot rave about the food enough.  Highlights were the gnocchi with BBQ rabbit- I wouldn't call myself a big rabbit eater but this was actually to die for. And... 

Grilled Deckle.  I thought this was a fish. I was wrong. It is the most tender cut of a ribeye and it is amazing.  A must try. 

Obviously I'm always a sucker for dessert.  The sweet corn ice cream on the side might have been the real winner on this.....I was generous enough to help finish everyone's for them #weddingdiet.  Pic necessary: 

There was a lot more food involved but the pics of us eating cake and shrimp at 3am just didn't seem as blog appropriate.  

Anyways, bachelorette weekends rock, Charleston rocks, and I will be buying myself a blueprint cleanse tomorrow (maybe I'll write a way less fun blog post on that). Happy Sunday Ya'll! 

Another addiction confession

So I'm also addicted to caffeine.  I'm not exactly sure why because caffeine doesn't even really affect me anymore. I can drink a venti coffee and fall asleep 20 mins later. Really Healthy, I know.

Conveniently there's a Starbucks literally in my office, and of course, the baristas know my name and order (there I go as simply, "Abby", cute).

There's probably a lot wrong with my daily (sometimes twice) Starbucks visits. First, it's expensive. Second, it can end up being a lot of cals and third, I should relax on the caffeine. 

For these reasons I really mixed things up today and ordered a GREEN TEA.  

 

People are always raving about the health benefits of green tea and it has some caffeine.

I don't think it will be replacing my daily coffee quite yet....one day at a time.  

Life changing discovery

I lovelovelove peanut butter and I don't know many people who would disagree here.  The other day in my neighborhood's new Fairway market I spotted a jar in the PB aisle advertising itself as "85% less fat than peanut butter", so obviously I was intrigued.

This beautiful thing I found was powdered peanut butter.  I was a little skeptical but of course had to give it a try. 

You just mix it up with some water (awesome because you can make it as thick/thin and you want).  AND 2 tbsps is only 45 cals!

I'm so excited for the literally endless possibilities with this lovely powder.  It's amazing on it's own but I think I will love it as a mix in for smoothies, yogurt (sounds weird but PB in yogurt is amazing), and baking. 

Tonight I mixed it with some raw cocao powder and made a healthy Nutella concoction (Don't even get me started on Nutella. addiction). Maybe this is the fix......doubtful. Check it: 

Cookie problems

Bakeries may be the most dangerous place on earth.  I'm fully convinced that I'm addicted to sugar.  Standing in William greenberg's right now and had to share this little picture of heaven.

Sidenote: tried cookies from Levain's bakery this weekend - wow. I could devote an entire blog to those.....stay tuned. 

Perfection