what-i-ate wednesday

I'm going to start participating in What I Ate Wednesdays as a way to motivate my running and healthy eating. For those of you new to the blog, I'm gluten-free and I live in India. I'm training for a half marathon in August. (We do have a housekeeper here in India who does some wonderful cooking for us. But I also have her do a lot of the prep work -- like chopping the veggies -- and do the cooking myself, often with the help of my almost-two-year-old daughter.)

Here's a summary of my Tuesday.

Breakfast: Two banana-coconut muffins baked with the modified Pamela's gluten-free pancake mix banana bread recipe. Coffee with milk.

I took Muffin to school and then met the playgroup moms at our weekly breakfast date. I had two unsweetened iced coffees with milk and a small plate of bacon.

Lunch: A pizza bagel with half an Udi's gluten-free bagel, tomato sauce, and feta cheese (still sipping one of my previously mentioned iced coffees) and an apple.

Snack: Homemade baba ganoush (from the Moosewood Cookbook ) with Orgran quinoa crispibread.

Afternoon Running: About 3.25 miles pushing Muffin in the jogging stroller around the park.

Dinner: Boneless chicken breast with roasted tomatoes (from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook ) and quinoa and a (not pictured) watermelon-feta salad (modified from a Martha Stewart recipe -- this is a super-refreshing post workout salad).

Dessert: Glass of chocolate milk.

Second Dessert: Glass of white wine.

For more running fun, follow me on dailymile and at my blog Where in the World Am I?.

(Some links are amazon affiliate links.)

what I eat while running

If you read Where in the World Am I? then you know that I'm running again, with goals and everything. I'm running a 10K in May and the Hyderabad Half Marathon in August. I have a training plan for the running, but despite all the nutritional articles I love to read I still feel like I'm not quite there with an eating plan. I know I eat too much sugar and salt. I know I need to eat more proteins and vegetables. I'm working on it.

Muffin doesn't eat any vegetables right now so it's been easy to slack off on preparing them. To inspire her and to force me, I am offering her one veggie per day, whether it's pepper slices on a pizza, chunky tomato sauce, carrot sticks, or steamed broccoli. She can say "No," and I won't force her but I'm making myself eat them. She watches me carefully and she tries a bite or two but she rarely asks for more. I know it's just a toddler phase but I can't use that excuse. Much like I read in Hungry Monkey, Muffin loves picking out the vegetables at the store and she loves to help prepare them, but she doesn't want to eat them.

I'm taking advantage of having a housekeeper to help prepare food. Surprisingly it's a lot of work to come up with meal plans and shopping lists and decide which foods I want my housekeeper to make and which I'll do myself. She washes the fruits and vegetables and I have her cut up the fruit so it's easier for me to make smoothies. She prepares meat rubs and marinades, then I pop the meat in the oven or onto the grill for cooking at dinner time.

In order to eat properly before and after running and to make sure Muffin is having wholesome meals as well, I've starting planning out my eating and running schedules a few days in advance. I don't stick to it strictly but it's a nice reminder of what leftovers are in the fridge and which meals needs to be prepared. It reminds me when I need to eat in order to be ready for a run and I plan certain snacks and meals to eat while Muffin is sleeping because I don't want to share every single bite that I eat. It sounds like a lot of work and it might even sound silly but if I don't do this I sit around eating chocolate all day behind Muffin's back and then I'm crabby and don't have the energy to make a healthy dinner so we end up eating macaroni and cheese.

I follow Anja's Food 4 Thought, the blog of a woman training for marathons in Saudi Arabia, for healthy, gluten-free, runner-friendly recipes and for inspiration for running in hot weather. All the recipes look yummy but I keep making the same chocolate-carrot muffins (another veggie for Muffin!) and apricot-pecan cake over and over again. They are great post-running treats with a glass of milk.

Speaking of hot weather, coconut water is my new best friend. I've heard it's a trendy, expensive sports drink in the United States. Here, I can walk about a quarter of a mile to a guy who sells coconuts on the side of the road, chops it open with a machete for you, and gives you a straw -- for about twenty-five cents per coconut. Despite that, I prefer the convenience of a little plastic bottle -- for about fifty cents -- that I can put in my gym bag to drink as soon as I hop off the treadmill.

Knowing the right things to eat and actually eating them are two different issues. I'm integrating small changes into my daily routine. One step at a time, just like running.
 

*I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you click on the Hungry Monkey link and ultimately decide to buy it, I will receive a few cents. I was not paid for this post; the book was purchased by me for personal reading.

At the Steak House

Yes, you heard me correctly. Steak in Hyderabad. Tender, juicy, perfectly seasoned grilled tenderloin. Decent, and even passable, steak is difficult to find here. Hindus and Muslims don't eat a lot of beef and the cows aren't raised for eating purposes. The few times we've bought beef to roast or grill ourselves it's been tough and no amount of pounding or marinating has made it tender enough to be enjoyable. And for some reason I always think of buying a steak for Friday night dinner, but you can't buy beef on Fridays (all the Muslim butcher shops are closed).

Since we arrived our driver has been pointing out Chef Inam's Steak House to me every time we pass it and one night Mike and our neighbor stopped there on the way home from work to pick up some take-away. Mike met Chef Inam, tried the steak, and has been insisting we get back there right away. Inam lived in the United States and took culinary classes at Johnson and Whales (Yay Rhode Island!) and has brought his American steak-grilling skills back to India. On Friday night I packed up Muffin, we went to pick up Mike at work, and we went at Chef Inam's for a steak.

This is not a steak house like you'll find in the United States and I can see why so many expats get their steak for take-away. It's a little hole-in-the-wall with a couple tables and plastic chairs. Inam grills on the street in front of the facade. There's a cooler full of sodas and water. It's a dive. But we pulled out our hand sanitizer and ate there anyway.

It was worth it. Mike got a French-style peppercorn-encrusted steak and I had what Inam calls his Boston steak, covered with herbs and English mustard. They were perfectly cooked (rare for Mike, medium rare for me), tender, and deliciously seasoned.

We took Muffin outside to watch the grilling. She was fascinated. We even gave her a few bits of meat to chew on. She loved it until she got a peppercorn. She was getting tired by then, so instead of her spitting-out yucky face, she screamed. Luckily the place was getting full of men talking and laughing loudly so no one else could hear her. We paid the bill and made a quick getaway.

Speaking of the bill, the steaks were about five or six dollars each and the serving was big enough to fill Mike and for me to eat half and bring the rest home.

Don't let Muffin's reaction deter you from Chef Inam's Steak House. She's just a baby. And we're the stupid parents who gave her spicy peppercorns, then stopped to take a picture of it.

Cross-posted from Where in the World Am I?

Our Dinner Guest of Honor

(First published at Where in the World Am I? on 26 December 2010.)

After Thanksgiving Mike read the Facebook status of one of our friends who had enjoyed a succulent duck for dinner (We've had her duck. It's amazing.) and Mike wondered if we could get duck here. Well, with the help of our driver, Mohammed, my Christmas present to Mike was a duck for dinner.

On Tuesday Muffin and I went to the bird market in the Old City, where there are all sorts of live birds for both dinners and pets. We were surrounded by blue and green parakeets (budgies), geese, turkeys, blackbirds, guinea hens, and chickens. Ducks were scarce but Mohammed assured me we'd find some. First I was offered geese. They looked good, but they weren't what I wanted. And they looked too big to fit into our tiny oven. (I'd been instructed to buy the biggest duck I could find, but I was thinking of the biggest duck that would fit in our small oven and small selection of cooking pans.) The first ducks I found were mallards. They were cheap, but covered in flies. In an outdoor market like this, there are going to be some flies, but I wanted to shop around see what my other options were.

We walked down the street, peeking into every storefront. The parrots and parakeets where beautiful and I wanted a cage full of little blue ones to bring home for our terrace. There were also some beautiful ornamental hens and I wish I had a yard for keeping some in. I saw two of the biggest turkeys I've ever seen in my life. Mohammed said that if Americans want a big turkey they must wait for Christmas; at Thanksgiving time only small turkeys are available. There are enough Christians in the city to demand big Christmas turkeys, but not enough Americans to warrant big Thanksgiving turkeys. (Not that the big ones would fit in our oven anyway.) We passed by dozens and dozens of guinea hens, small turkeys, and geese but after several storefronts we still hadn't seen any other ducks.

Just when I was resigning myself to the possibility of guinea hens instead of duck we came to one of the last vendors on the block, the one Mohammed buys the Americans' Thanksgiving turkeys from. He happened to have two big ducks as well. They were pricier than the first ducks I'd seen, but the conditions seemed cleaner. No flies, less smelly. And the right size -- the biggest I could find and the biggest that would fit in our oven. We made a deal for the three kilo male duck, the larger of the two, for 1200 rupees (about $26). It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but honestly I have no idea how much a duck should cost. He tried to sell me the pair for a bargain price and it didn't occur to me until the ride home that I could have bought them both and put one in the freezer.

Many Americans get excited over buying fresh meat but then make a mistake, only once, about delivery of the animal. After seeing friends have live turkeys and other live animals dropped off at their houses, I knew to ask for the duck to be prepared for us. Plucked, cleaned, no neck, take out the organs, for an additional 100 rupees ($2 -- probably the best $2 I've ever spent).

On Thursday Mohammed went back to the market with a cooler full of ice, picked up our prepared duck, and brought it home. Our housekeeper cleaned it off and wrapped it up to sit in the refrigerator. Mike had his Christmas duck.

Mike did all the cooking yesterday. I'm not confident in my meat-roasting skills, but I was able to stock the kitchen with all the groceries he needed, plus keep Muffin out of the way, tidy up the presents-opening mess, and set the table while Mike went to work with his bird.

Muffin helped a little.

It was delicious. It wasn't perfect, but that's due to us still figuring out the nuances of the oven and the toughness of the bird had to do with the life it led before it met me. But it was tasty and something we'd like to do again. The potatoes and carrots roasted in duck fat were amazing and if duck fat is readily available to you I highly suggest you try it. With some seasoned rice and a cranberry log our friends brought over, dinner was complete.

Note the cranberry log standing upright on the plate...

We had a great dinner with some of our new friends and we couldn't have asked for a better day. I hope everyone else celebrating yesterday had as happy a Christmas as we did.

parma ham at pasta comedia

You'd be right in thinking there's very little a gluten-free eater could order at a restaurant called Pasta Comedia. However, it's the newest restaurant in town and they are becoming famous for importing some Italian treats that aren't otherwise available here, such as real mozzarella for the pizzas and calzones. (Pizzas are made with local cheeses here. Fun at first, but tiresome after two years.) Since so many people are talking about the mozzarella and flocking to the restaurant, and I was told they had some plain grilled meat dishes, I decided I didn't want to be left out when some folks at my office were heading there for lunch one day.

I wasn't really in the mood for grilled meat when I sat down at the table. I feared it would be like all the other grilled meat you get here, not especially Italian. I perused the salads and was resigning myself to the avocado salad I tend to get at most restaurants, when I spied jambon du parme avec des fruits de la saison (my French may not be exact) at the bottom of the salad list. I asked a friend who knows food well to confirm what I was reading: Parma ham with seasonal fruits. And by fruits, actual fruit, not fruits de la mer, which is shellfish, which I don't like. He said I was right, parma ham and fruit.

I decided to go for it. I know a plate of ham isn't the healthiest lunch, but it's been ages since I've had something different. I admit I had low expectations, but the plate that arrived erased them right away. It was a huge plate of thin, melt-in-your-mouth parma ham served with fresh mango. Yum. People watched in amazement as I cleaned my plate. It was a lot of ham! And it was better than some of the parma I'd had back in the States. If I weren't pregnant, I would have eaten about half of it and shared the rest. But Mike was relishing a huge, cheese-stuffed calzone which he couldn't have shared with me if he wanted to, and the others had pizzas and lasagnas, so I relished my plate of ham while enjoying the novelty of it all.

I can't describe just how refreshing that lunch was. There's nothing new here and I'm glad that even though I can't get any of the dishes with the mozzarella, I could still take part in the fun that everyone else was having in experiencing a new restaurant and a novel food.

what I eat while pregnant

I have celiac disease, I live in Africa, and now on top of that I'm navigating the world of eating for two. The gluten-free part is easy. The lack of variety here is my big challenge. I haven't really had cravings, but I've had some very strong aversions, which makes the lack of variety even more challenging. Like every expectant woman I want to make sure the baby and I are getting enough of everything that we need.

A friend here gave me her copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting and I immediately turned to it for dietary guidelines. Most of the foods on the list are either unavailable here or inedible for me, which didn't surprise me. What surprised me was the gigantic amount of food that they want you to eat in one day! I'm working hard to gain the weight I need to with the proper nutrition, but I can't get anywhere near the daily calorie recommendation. (My husband looked at it too and was amazed. He doesn't even eat that much, and he's a fit, athletic guy who consumes mass quantities.)

I have a gluten-free prenatal vitamin. I'm eating a lot of quinoa and quinoa pasta, which has protein and folic acid. I'm also eating a lot of rice and beans, another good source of protein and folic acid. I try to get one serving of meat per day, but sometimes meat is my greatest aversion. I started making my own yogurt and I found a nonfat powdered milk that I can tolerate, so I'm getting plenty of calcium and my healthy yogurt bacteria. Every morning I start my day with a tropical fruit smoothie. (Sometimes on the weekends I make a banana-chocolate milkshake instead for a treat -- with my yogurt and nonfat milk of course.) I can get broccoli, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers here for my veggie intake. The baby craves carbs more than anything so I'm baking my own bread and eating cereal like mad. And my ultimate comfort food is Annie's gluten-free macaroni and cheese.

Besides the nonfat milk, I also drink a ton of water. Most of the other beverage choices here are too sugary for me and even before the pregnancy I drank them sparingly. I occasionally have caffeine-free coffee or tea. I gave up caffeine and alcohol as soon as I found out I was pregnant, and within two weeks my blood pressure plummeted from borderline too high to the low end of normal.

I know my efforts are paying off with every visit to my local nurse, who checks my blood pressure and does a urinalysis every other week. Without adequate medical care here (for anything more in-depth I have to go to Nairobi, South Africa, or even Europe or the States), my diet has to be my primary source of health maintenance. As you can see, I'm eating good stuff, but I am dreaming of the day several months from now when I will be back in the United States and can walk into any grocery store to face a huge variety of food.

carnivore restaurant, nairobi

I have to say that after hearing some great things about Carnivore in Nairobi, everyone in our group was disappointed. We expected it to be somewhat touristy because most tour packages include a stop off at the restaurant to try exotic African game meats. But we were hoping the delicious meats would make up for the tourist trap factor. The meats weren't all that delicious though, unfortunately.

We were given the fixed price all-you-can-eat meal. They place a carousel of different sauces in the middle of the table (a sauce for each meat) with a flag on top. Then servers walk by with giant skewers of meat and carve some off right onto your plate. When you're full, you take your flag down. The meats include different cuts and preparations of chicken and beef, there's lamb and goat, and the exotic meats for the night were ostrich and crocodile. 

I'm not a huge meat eater but I like it when it's done well. My favorite piece of meat was the chicken drumstick that was served at the very beginning of the meal. Mike liked the beef. We can get better lamb and goat here in Bujumbura. And none of us were impressed by ostrich or crocodile. The ostrich was ground and made into meatballs and it tasted like strong turkey. Crocodile does not taste like chicken. Anyone who says that is a liar, or has no imagination or has absolutely no idea what chicken tastes like. Crocodile was salty and chewy and full of tiny bones. If chicken were like that, I'd never, ever eat it.

I know I'm not the best judge of a meat restaurant, but Mike is a carnivore and he was disappointed in this place. If you're going to Nairobi, take the time to find some lesser-known establishment that will treat you to a more authentic African meal. Carnivore is a tourist trap.

buffalo guys buffalo beef jerky

Did you miss me? Thank you to all my followers who have stuck by me in this month-long dry spell. December was the most ridiculous month I've had in a long time. But I have lots of gluten-free food notes to share in the coming weeks.

You may recall that my previous post had me jetting off to Kenya for a few days of hiking, biking, and chilling with the warthogs. I was in the market for a high-protein hiking snack and I brought along Buffalo Guys Buffalo Beef Jerky, in both the Mild and Sweet Peppered varieties.

Once we finally arrived at our camp and got started on our bike through Hell's Gate National Park, we didn't really need to bring lunch with us, but we did need snacks. I packed the sweet pepper jerky and some dried mango that I'd bought in a Nairobi supermarket. (I love buying local dried fruits--it's only the fruit, no sugar or anything else added.) After a few kilometers of biking, slowly, stopping to observe warthogs, maribou storks, and all the other fun safari creatures, we reached a good place for a snack, i.e., a spot with a picnic table and toilet. I went to the bathroom and when I got back Mike had already broken into the jerky, which he proclaimed to be the best jerky he'd ever eaten. He should know; he's eaten a lot of it. I tried some, and I really liked it. I can also say it's the best jerky I've ever eaten, but I've only had it once before! 

Some reviews I'd read said the sweet pepper was too spicy, but I didn't find it spicy at all. And the dried mango was an awesome complement to it. We chowed down on our jerky and mango.

The next day we brought the mild jerky with us. This one was good, but neither of us liked it as much as the sweet pepper. The mild jerky was chopped and reformed into rectangles, whereas the sweet pepper was left in more natural strips. It was still pretty good with the mango on the side though.

So, I am officially a buffalo jerky fan now. I could eat the sweet peppered jerky every day. I wish it weren't so pricey, but I know that's the price of high-quality meat. (When more people start demanding high-quality, healthy, nutritious meats, the price will fall, right?) Buffalo Guys sells range-raised, antibiotic-free meat products. You should check them out. Since I live overseas, I can't purchase any of their fresh meats, but I'd certainly try them if I could.

Image from Gluten-Free Mall.com.

I purchased this product and was not compensated in any way for this review.

happy trails

Tonight we leave for a few days of hiking in Kenya. I'm bringing along a new trail snack to try: Buffalo Guys Buffalo Jerky. I've never really eaten jerky before. I don't know why; it just didn't interest me. But I'm looking for a minimally processed, high-protein snack, so it's time I gave jerky a try. (I've packed plenty of Lara Bars, on the off chance that I end up despising jerky.)

We're also planning to go to the Carnivore restaurant one night for exotic meats. Zebra perhaps? Crocodile?

Despite this post, I actually don't eat a ton of meat. But I do appreciate it when it's done well.

See you in a few days!

cheese fest

I run so I can eat cheese. 

Last night we didn't just eat cheese, we celebrated it. The Belgian community organized a feast of European cheeses and cold meats, like parma ham and hard salamis. It was phenomenal. We met some friends, shared some wine, and ate all the cheese we could. Most of the cheeses were soft, like brie and the most amazing chevre I've ever had. High-quality soft cheeses are hard to find here and expensive when you do find them, so a whole table piled high with them was quite a sight. 

I unfortunately forgot to bring my own crackers or bread so watched the others indulge in artisan breads while I picked at my cheese with a fork. Of course it wasn't the same, but I did what I had to. When it comes to cheese, sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

Image from Jupiter Images.

spicy thai beef salad

My run yesterday morning was fueled by the spicy thai beef salad I had for dinner the night before. I'm not an early morning eater. In order to run before the heat of the day sets in, I wake up at 5:30 to be out the door before 6:00. I'm awake long before my stomach is. Regardless of the length of my run, the most I can eat that early is about half a Lara bar, and most days I don't even eat that, I just drink a little water. I must rely on my dinner the night before to get me through the run.

I've become very particular of those pre-running dinners. In the old days, when I was in college and high school, I could pretty much eat anything and go running at any time. Not anymore.

That's where beef salad comes in. I can't go wrong with high protein and tons of veggies. We have a fresh pineapple juice here--simply juice, no sugar or anything else added--which is a nice, sweet complement to a healthy meal.

I wish I could take credit for this salad. While in Europe a few months ago we bought some French-language cookbooks for our cook. He actually doesn't read very well, but he can take a list of ingredients and turn it into something yummy like nobody's business. The salad is courtesy of him and a French-language Thai food cookbook. The ingredients are strips of beef, tender and rare, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, sometimes basil, crushed red pepper, garlic and a soy sauce dressing. (I brought tons of the San-J wheat-free soy sauce with us.) It's served cold.

oktoberfest bujumbura

For several years now, the small German community of Bujumbura has been hosting an Oktoberfest. This year's event was a few weeks ago, coinciding with Munich's Oktoberfest. Mike and I went for the second year in a row. It was even better than last year.

Last year we liked our dish, but didn't love it. This year we loved our food. We had the eisbein, which is a cured pig leg. The meat was so tender it fell off the bone. I'm not a huge sauerkraut fan, but I ate a little to be festive. Potatoes and lentils topped with crumbled bacon where on the side. (What goes better with cured pig leg than bacon? Yum!) 

Me and mein eisbein

They unfortunately didn't import any German beers, but they had the local Amstel on tap, which isn't always available here. And they did import a lovely German Gewürztraminer white wine. Staying away from beer, I was quite happy with my half-bottle of wine.

The simplest foods are made better with good friends. I can't remember the last time I stayed up so late enjoying myself with friends and food. 

It certainly was not one of the healthiest nights of my life. Between Oktoberfest and Lebowskifest, I've done very little running and very much eating and drinking of junk. I need to get back on the road and back on the fruit smoothies.

food safety

I was shocked when I read this in a recent New York Times editorial:

Thorough cooking will kill the bacteria, but people often use the same knife to cut raw meat and then to chop vegetables. Or they plop a pork chop on a plate, cook it and then contaminate it by putting it back on the original plate.

Really? People don't wash their knives after cutting raw meat? I thought that was the most basic rule of being in the kitchen. They put cooked meat on the same plate as raw meat? Seriously? 

The major meat-raising facilities aren't going to quit using antibiotics in the feed any time son. It's not realistic for everyone in the United States to go all cage-free organic. We can't trust the FDA or USDA to monitor the health of every piece of meat that's raised. We have to take matters into our own hands and that means washing those hands, and everything else in the kitchen, while we prepare food.

impala

The food on our trip wasn't great, but one night the main meat dish was an interesting surprise. I was going through the buffet, scooping up rice and vegetables, avoiding pasta and bread, and I don't love pot roast, but I figured I'd take a piece or two because I was pretty hungry. A few people behind me in line, I heard someone ask, "What is the meat?" The answer: "Impala." I had mixed feelings about eating one of the little critters I had just watched all afternoon long on safari, but I didn't want to return meat I'd already taken from the chaffing dish. I went back to the table and said to Mike, "Guess what the meat is!"

I sat down and tried it, and it was tasty! It's like pot roast, only leaner. And the roasted veggies on the side were a nice complement. This was undoubtedly the best meal of the whole trip, outside of one night in a restaurant.

steak salad

1. Make a green salad with your favorite veggies.
2. Top with slices of cold steak leftover from the restaurant the night before.

Isn't that easy?

People who've known me forever might be saying, "Stephanie and steak?" I don't really like red meat and I average about one serving a year. But the menu changed at our favorite steakhouse and their totally delicious chicken dish isn't on it anymore. I'm not a huge fan of fish either. So I found the least steak-tasting steak dish I could find, and it was pretty good. Skewers with onions and red peppers. And it was actually even better on my salad the next night. Maybe I can increase to 3 or 4 servings of red meat a year.

Has anyone else found that the gluten-free diet leaves you craving foods you didn't usually like or eat before? I remember a few weeks into the diet realizing that I wanted to eat a lot more meat than usual. My body definitely felt a void. In the last few years I've expanded to Thai food, Indian food, and some sushi. I eat tofu and broccoli, more because they're good for me than because I like them, but that's part of what it means to be a healthy adult. I'm still a picky eater (still hate eggs!) but I've come a long way from the kid who'd only eat mac 'n' cheese.

tandoori chicken with yogurt sauce

I first mentioned this recipe from Everyday Food a few weeks ago because it inspired the apple yogurt slaw I like to serve with other dishes. Sometimes though we like to do this complete recipe.

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 bone-in, skinless chicken breasts halves (10 to 12 ounces each)
2 Granny Smith apples
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 475°. In a large bowl, mix together 1/2 cup yogurt, garlic, turmeric, ginger, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken; turn to coat.
2. Transfer chicken to a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) registers 160°, 25 to 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, peel apple; coarsely grate into a medium bowl. Add cilantro and remaining 1/2 cup yogurt; season with salt and pepper. Serve sauce alongside chicken, with rice, if desired.

I like to use 2 boneless chicken breasts instead, for faster, easier cooking. Also, I use whatever apples I have on-hand and I like to add lime juice to the apple slaw. And we always make rice for the side.

We had this on Sunday. Last night was marinated, grilled pork chops. Tomorrow we're going to a steakhouse for dinner. So tonight it's tofu, veggies, and water.

rosemary roasted pork tenderloin

A couple years ago I came home with a handful of fresh, beautiful rosemary from farmers' market and had no idea what to do with it. (I tend to make impulse produce purchases.) A Google search for rosemary recipes led me to this one on About.com.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pork tenderloins, about 2 pounds
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, or about 1 tablespoon dried
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, halved
salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking pan with foil, spray with cooking spray and place in oven. Trim fat from pork tenderloins and butterfly the meat, cutting them nearly in half lengthwise. Open the pork tenderloins and lay out, pounding to flatten with the palm of the hand or the bottom of a heavy skillet.

Chop rosemary if using fresh. Rub pork tenderloins all over with cut sides of garlic halves then olive oil, then sprinkle rosemary on both sides.

Remove baking pan from the oven and place pork on hot tray. Return to oven and roast for about 20 minutes (about 155° to 160° internal temp). Remove and let stand 5 minutes, then slice.

Rosemary roasted pork tenderloin serves 4 to 6.

We've modified it a bit for ourselves. Last night for the first time we did just one tenderloin, and it worked out much better for our dinner and leftovers needs. I always forget to spray the aluminum foil with oil and it doesn't seem to matter. We love garlic, so we use several cloves sliced into spears, and stick them into the meat for roasting.

On the side I had a small plate of red pepper slices and cucumber spears; it's still summer afterall, so we should be eating lots of cool, crisp veggies. I also roasted some potatoes--a handful of fingerlings, a purple one, and a sweet potato--with salt and pepper, and I tossed in one of the rosemary sprigs.

jamaican jerk-rubbed pork, black beans w/ mango, and rice

This was a big meal.

Pork tenderloins are packaged in twos, and I always forget that when I bring the package home and throw it into the freezer. Then I end up defrosting two and having to cook two at the same time, giving us way more leftovers than we can possibly eat. And until recently, I only had one really good tenderloin recipe, and even the best food will get boring if you have too much of it.

Searching for something else to do with pork tenderloins led me to this spice rub on Recipe Source.

Jamaican Jerk Rub
4 Tbs ground allspice
1 Tbs dried thyme
1 Tbs paprika
1 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mike sliced one of the tenderloins into little medallions and spice-rubbed them. The other went into the fridge for a couple days (it will be tonight's dinner--my other tenderloin recipe). In order to keep them from slipping through the grill, he put foil over the grill but made little indents and poked holes for the grease to run off. This was to ensure they were grilled rather than pan-fried.

For the side dish I was thinking something with rice. Eventually I decided on black beans, and then I was inspired to add some mango. I searched around Recipe Source and Mollie Katzen Online for ideas on exactly how to cook black beans. I ended up sauteeing in olive oil about a tablespoon of chopped white onion and 3 cloves minced garlic. I added a can of black beans, including the water. When it started simmering I added one diced mango and a few leaves of fresh cilantro. It simmered on the stove top for about 15 minutes until the liquid was down. I thought it could use a little extra seasoning, but Mike thought it was perfect, so I added a dash of salt and pepper once it was on my plate.

I don't know how we lived before we had a rice cooker. Started it up first thing and forgot about it until it was time to plate and eat.

pigs-in-a-blanket

This is a good "junk food" meal, when you need to take a break from low-fat and salads. I use Chebe bread and wrap the dough around hot dogs*. Easy, right? It's a comfort food that will make you feel like a kid again.

Comfort foods are important on this diet because you can't just run into a 7-11 and tear into anything you want to eat. I think we all spend a lot of time dreaming about our former favorite foods and the best ways to recreate them. And that's where the Chebe bread mix comes in. I love it. I mix garlic and herbs into it for pizza crust, parmesian cheese for breadsticks, chopped sausage or bacon for cheese-puff type things, and cheddar cheese for my pigs-in-a-blanket. It's been unusually chilly for the last few days and my mind has turned to all these cool-weather treats. (I think I've mentioned that recently.)


*Be responsible for your own hot dogs. I like Hebrew National, but they do not guarantee 100% gluten-free. They label wheat on their ingredients but not gluten and do not test for it in the "flavorings." From the ConAgra website: We are sorry to inform you that we do not have a source that lists the gluten content of our products. However, our product labels list common allergens, such as wheat, for those allergic to wheat gluten.
Hebrew National beef franks: INGREDIENTS: Beef, water, salt, contains 2% or less of spice, paprika, hydrolyzed soy protein, garlic powder, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, flavorings.

I've never had a problem with their hot dogs, but I can eat trace amounts of gluten and be okay. I know I should avoid it entirely and not take risks, but I'm a grown-up who can make her own decisions about eating something or not. When I have kids I'll probably change my tune.

cornish hens with lemon and herbs

My little hens* are in the oven right now. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart, Cornish hens with lemon and herbs, and have made just a few tweaks.

Before starting the hens, I prepare some fingerling potatoes. Cut up the larger ones, then tossed with herbs de provence and olive oil. They can sit in the glass baking dish on the counter and go in the oven with the hens.

My ingredients:
2 hens (for us that's one per person; Martha calls for cutting them in half to serve 4)
bunch of thyme
2 lemons
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper

Martha's instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place hens in a roasting pan, breast sides up. Place 2 thyme sprigs and 1 lemon half in cavity of each hen. Loosen skin from breast, and place remaining thyme and the parsley underneath. Squeeze remaining lemon halves over hens. Rub butter all over hens. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Roast hens, rotating pan halfway through, until skin turns golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 180 degrees, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut hens in half lengthwise. Garnish with thyme sprigs, and serve with lemon wedges.

I prepare my hens in the styrofoam tray they come in to keep the lemon juice from getting all over the countertop. Instead of a roasting pan I use a rimmed baking sheet. I use just thyme because we're not huge parsely fans. Martha calls for 3 tablespoons of butter but my hens have been just fine with 1. To keep raw hen juice from getting all over the kitchen I slice the lemons and put them and the thyme and butter on one plate before I start handling the hens.

The potatoes can roast at the same temperature as the hens, so depending on how much you're making and how crispy you like them, put them in the oven for the appropriate amount of time while the hens are in.

This is quite a meat and potatoes meal for us.

*Make sure the hens you get aren't injected with anything containing gluten. Today I used Foster Farms, but I get whatever looks good or is on sale.