A tale of two cookings

My weekend of relaxation and less than one hour of work involved much food, as you would expect. There was the walk to mediterranean food for Friday night date night, which supplanted the 6 mile run that was scheduled. Then there was the Saturday brunch of bacon, bean sprout, red pepper, cucumber, green curry salad. It was delicious, and it utilized some of the latest, inspiring bacon shipment (mmmm... pepper bacon). It wasn't too heavy, so we were able to strike out on a 6 mile bike ride (it should have been longer, but the wind, and the laziness... how can you fight it?)

The salad & bike-ride combo also left us hungry for a big caloric dinner. And thus, at 8 PM or so, we headed to our local Mexican joint for Saturday night dinner. 2 baskets of chips later, my food finally arrived. Let's just say I finished my mole enchiladas with pleasure, and I was sufficiently carbo-loaded for Sunday's run.

Sunday, I woke at 8 AM and knew I should leave immediately. It was going to be hot, you see. But, instead, I checked my work email, I reviewed a client request, I checked my personal email, and the next thing I knew, it was 8:30. Quickly, I snuck into the bedroom, kissed E goodbye, told him I'd be back before 11:00 AM and headed out for my slow 12 miler. It was the slowest and most enjoyable walk-breaks 12-miles I've ever done. (Hey, sometimes, you've just got to put in the miles as prep, and as we know, I've signed up for the SF 2nd half, so, I don't really have much of a choice if I actually want to enjoy the race.) From there, I headed to the local farmer's market...

Sunday night, after a day with the girls (starting with a brunch of multiple types of the best kinds of pork buns, and finishing with a day at the spa and a large group at a Vietnamese fusion joint), I was ready to go back to a day of light food.

Healthy, but delicious. I vaguely recalled that those adjectives could jointly be a reality. My scale, of course, couldn't recall this. Instead, it registered numbers that I hadn't seen since returning from the holidays in Atlanta.

Ouch.

In recognition of this reality, I present two recipes: the first, a very healthy filling recipe; the second, a not-so-healthy, but fairly light, make-shift dessert recipe (which, btw, E thinks is disgusting).


Healthy squash fajitas

-1 yellow long squash, sliced in 1/2 cm long slices
-1 yellow spherical squash, sliced in 1/2 cm wide slices
-1 green spherical squash, sliced in 1/2 cm wide slices
-1/2 white/yellow onion, sliced in 1/2 cm wide rings
-olive oil, for cooking
-italian seasoning (marjoram, oregano, etc.)
-5 cloves garlic, minced
-chili powder
-cayenne pepper
-salt and pepper to taste;
-corn tortillas, warmed/steamed in microwave.


1. toss all ingredients except tortillas in a glass casserole pan at room temperature until evenly coated.
2. lay coated squash and onion slices across the grill (panini grill, charcoal grill, grill pan over high heat).
3. When cooked through with dark brown lines across each one (turn, if necessary), transfer squash and onion to a glass serving dish, cover, and bring to the table.
4. Cover 2-3 tortillas per person served in microwave with a towel that has been wetted. Microwave on high for 40 seconds.
5. Serve tortillas garnished with squash and onions, sliced cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice, as well as your favorite salsa.


I will admit, it was one of the more simultaneously delicious and filling meals I've ever enjoyed, and it's well worth the effort, especially if you are high on the comfort zone of weight...

And, for the sake of equal opportunity presentation...

Choco-dillas

1. Take 2 corn tortillas. Place in a wet cloth napkin, wrap evenly, toss in the microwave, for 30 second.
2. Remove tortillas. Lay out one tortilla and evenly spread dark-chocolate chips for even distribution and cover with the second. Place both tortillas, with choco-chips between in the microwave without cover, microwave on high for 30 seconds.
3. Enjoy.



If you care, FWIW, E loved recipe #1. Recipe #2 surprised and disappointed him. he couldn't believe that my look of pleasure was associated with *that* after he tasted it. To each her own....

And that, my friends, is all she wrote. At least tonight.