Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas with Mustard and Parsley, Title IX and a Half Marathon

If you happen to get into the head of a runner, you will most likely find one of two if not both things; they love to eat or there is something eating at them, be it a demanding or stressful job, trying to come to terms with a difficult childhood, trying to comes to terms with their own child, a divorce or something of that life altering variety that necessitates many hours pounding the pavement.  There is almost nothing that I have not been able to balance in my head during a run and it has proven more therapeutic, much less expensive and far more healthy than therapy, food or shopping.  Bonus; according to the New York Times, running is also an excellent appetite suppressant.

My Mom and Me

This past Sunday, I ran in a Women's Half Marathon and it was a hot and humid slog.  I have run in half-marathons before but this one was particularly important because it was the anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the 1972 law that allowed women to participate in high school and college sports.

I remember asking my Mom once when I was much younger, what sports she did when she was in school.  She said, "Girls didn't participate in sports when I was your age."  I was dumbfounded.  When you think about how far we have come from that being the norm or from the fact that Kathrine Switzer was nearly tackled (see above) while running the Boston Marathon in 1967 by an official screaming at her to get out of his race, makes me thankful for the women who made it possible for me to run in races let alone an entire race dedicated to women.  Pretty incredible.

Spinach Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Spiced Beans

Girl crush?  Yep, looks like I am headed in that direction with yet another Melissa Clark recipe.

I was not planning on making this recipe.  I blame the New York Times with that "Recommended for You" section next to the "Most Emailed" section.  There she was, third from the top with this spinach salad right beneath the "Modern Love" and "Well" columns.  I happened to have most of the ingredients and that practically makes making a dish obligatory.  Plus, after stuffing myself over the Memorial Day weekend, a salad is in order.

Mixed Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing from "It's All Good"

At one point or another, we have all said something along these lines, "Sure I could look like Gwyneth Paltrow, if I had her money and could hire a nutritionist, trainer, a nanny and a staff to clean the house."  All of that stuff is true but thankfully, Ms. Paltrow is putting the recipes on full display so we can at least know what to eat.  I was not planning on picking up her new cookbook, "It's All Good", because frankly, her Marie Antoinette musings are a bit much.  However, I was out and about on a random weekend, had a little time to kill before a dinner reservation and decided to stop by Barnes & Noble.  Her cookbook was sitting front and center on that table they have at the entrance of every Barnes & Noble on the face of the earth.  I picked it up and after looking through the recipes, was intrigued.  

Melissa Clark's "Stupendous" Hummus

I don't know what I did wrong with other hummus attempts but they all tasted like plaster, or as how I imagine plaster would taste.

Enter, Melissa Clark.  She made a good case against using canned chickpeas and gave directions for cooking the dried variety in heavily salted water with several garlic cloves.  Then she goes on to gently suggest that peeling each individual pea might bring the hummus to yet another level of "stupendous".  Really, Melissa?  Each individual pea?  A tedious undertaking for sure but then I realized that this is a great way to busy the hands while, say, quizzing your 7 year old on his spelling words.  Surely more economical than going to websites that just make me want to spend money I do not have.  

Beet Burgers

Beet Burgers with Garlic Kale and Spinach

I have been one pathetic blogger lately.  I blame life.  Kid, job, boyfriend, running, travel...I have an endless surplus of excuses.

What I did have time to do was read "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  Then, in the middle of thinking twice about meat after the horror stories in that scary book, I heard a story on NPR that graphically described how ducks are fattened up to make foie gras.  Ugh, not very nice what they do to those duckies.

Fast forward to a night out with my boyfriend.  As he drove, I sat there agonizing about what happens to animals to get us our precious meats and cheeses.  He said to me, "If you are not comfortable with the process, then you shouldn't be eating it."  He then went on to talk about how people are too disconnected from what they eat, they just see it packaged in the store and don't think about how it got there.  Mind you, this man is a carnivore of carnivores.  His signature dish is Chicken Adobo, he waxes poetic about the taste of lamb, he killed a chicken for his own dinner while living in Africa and sucking on bone marrow with straight bourbon after boxing is his idea of a good time.  Needless to say, he is perfectly fine with lambs being lead to slaughter.