Veggie Food is Just as Good!

Last night, I made Black Bean Cakes inspired by this month's Every Day Food by Martha Stewart. This recipe requires my best friend, the Food Processor. One of the best kitchen appliances EVER. Okay on to the recipe.

Black Bean Rice Cakes

Ingredients:

2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained well
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 cup of cooked brown rice
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 minced seeded jalapeño
1 teaspoons ground cumin
salt and pepper
Avocado:
1 Hass Avocado
Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper
1/2 Chipotle in Adobo (I still have these babies left- you can use a jalepeno)
Yogurt Sauce
1/2 cup greek plain yogurt
lime juice
green onions
salt and pepper
Purchased salsa

Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 450. Place 3/4 of drained beans in food processor. Mix in jalapeño and cumin until chunky paste forms. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In large bowl, combine bean puree with rice and remaining beans with a spatula. Divide mixture into 3 inch patties of equal size (I got about ten). Spray baking sheet with cooking oil. Place patties on sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes. While those cook, make the sauces. I used my smaller food processor to make the guacamole. The key is to keep adding salt and pepper and lime juice until you get the taste you are looking for. I love guac smooth but I know some people like it chunky. I added storebought salsa with the guac. For the yogurt sauce, combine the ingredients together. Serve cakes over salad of arugula and add sauces.

This morning I got to the gym around 7am. I wanted to run 6 miles comfortably. I ran the first 2 miles at 6.5 mph while watching music videos and reading some trashy gossip magazine. I love reading those things while running! I think I've mastered it! Each mile after the second, I increased the pace and by the final quarter mile I was running at 8.5mph. Felt pretty good.

6 miles, 53:28, 8:54 pace

As you can tell, I'm modifying Leah's plan already. And I'm not running tomorrow either. My goal is to go to Physical Therapy in the morning and make a 12:30pm Spin Class in the afternoon. Saturday I would like to lift and run an easy 3-4. Sunday, I am going to run with Nancy for as long as my body can go- probably an hour and a half. So thats the plan.

Now on to tonight's dinner. Today was one of those crazy days where I had no chance to think about dinner until I got home from work at 7pm. I had two large chicken breasts I had to cook, along with cauliflower I wanted to use. I decided to make a sweet and spicy chicken over couscous with 'cauliflower' mashed potatoes. This was a total recipe made up on the fly, but was delicious!

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 Jalepeno, seeded
1/4 cup Apricot Preserves
1 tablespoon of honey
3 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
1/8 cup of water
2 chicken breasts, cut through the middle to make 4 pieces
1/2 cup of broccoli
handful of pine nuts
salt and pepper

Directions:
Add oil to hot skillet and saute chicken breasts on each side for three minutes. While that cooks, add the first 4 ingredients to the food processor. Add some water to take off some of the bite of the jalepeno. Pour the mixture over the chicken and cook together until the sauce thickens. Add broccoli and pine nuts at the end. Season with salt and pepper.

I served the chicken over couscous that I made the same way as the other day.

I also made Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes which will be my new Kale Chips. I've been wanting to make these FOREVER and I finally got around to it. Cauliflower that looks like mashed potatoes but is healthy (sorta, I added cream). I had bought the microwave-in-a-bag-to-steam cauliflower from the produce department and the expiration date is tomorrow so there is no day like the present!
Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 pound of cauliflower (steamed in a bag until soft)
1/8 cup of light cream (you can use milk or skim milk)
salt and pepper
handful mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Steam the cauliflower in the microwave until soft. Add to food processor. Add in cream and season with salt and pepper and give it a whirl
: ). Add the mixture to two small baking dishes. Add the cheese on top and bake for 10 minutes until cheese melts. It should look exactly like REAL Mashed Potatoes! See:
YUM!
Jersey Shore is on tonight! Good night!