I carry weight well. I get curvy. I know what to wear. Short summer dresses with good drape. A shoe with a heel. It’s not rocket science, it’s camouflage – and they teach that shit in the fashion military. I’ve been through basic training – I know how to get by. People say, “Oh – you’re fine! You look great!”

They’re lying. Or else they’re totally content with mediocrity. A lot of people are. It’s not a crime.

The whole “you’re fine” thing started to get to me.

Fine is a C+.

Fine is just ok.

Fine is getting by.

Fine is average.

Fuck fine.

Dresses may cut a flattering figure but I’ll tell you one thing for sure – the bike never lies. And here is what the bike told me in June: you are not ok, Swift. You’re not fine. And, besides, you shouldn’t want to be fine. You should want to be on fucking fire.

Where’s your fight, Swift?

I mentioned a few days ago that every day is a good day to make a plan, start a goal or make a big decision and I think that’s really important to remember. You can change your life at any moment. You make a choice and then you change your actions. Right now. What are you waiting for, anyway?

On some day in June I got on the scale and snapped. It was a number that did it for me. For some people it’s a pair of jeans or a bad ride on the bike or getting winded going up the stairs. It doesn’t matter what pushes you over the edge – what matters is that when you hit the open air, you learn how to fly. And fast.

I’m decent at fitness. I understand nutrient timing, I get stoked about the science and I love to learn. I also know my body pretty well and there’s one thing that works better than any other for me – weight lifting and super dialed nutrition. (I’ve never had much luck on the bike – even after two solid months of non-stop training in Arizona last year).

So I went back into the gym and hit it. I went back to my nutrition basics and realigned my diet with my goals. I found a trainer who I believed understood and supported my aggressive personality and made a deal with him.

I ate a lot of goddam lean protein.
And broccoli.
And spinach.
And oatmeal.
And nuts.

I cut back on beer and booze and bacon.
I reinstated fish oil supplements and dialed in my pre and post-workout nutrition.
I paid attention.
I focused.
I fought.

The first ten pounds disappeared almost overnight because the truth was, my body hated that weight. It didn’t want it. It was begging me to get rid of it. After the first month of hard work I water-dunked my bodyfat at 17%.

“That’s actually really good, Heidi.” my trainer said to me.

“I’m done with good.” I said. “Let’s get to great.”

The cyclotour in August kept me lean even on a one-cheeseburger-a-day (or sometimes chicken-fried steak) regimen. I lost some lean muscle mass, but generally maintained the same fitness level. I came back and started training for cyclocross and felt like a new person. By then I’d lost 18 pounds. Eighteen pounds! That’s a fucking toddler!

Do you know how amazing it is to race a bike with 18 fewer pounds? It’s mind-blowing. Incredible. It’s a whole new world. It changed everything. I mean that.

This is the secret those lean assholes have been keeping! I thought to myself. And all this time they were telling me I was “fine”. No wonder!!

I did this all in the background, without telling many people or making dramatic waving motions with my hands. I  never even mentioned a word here on this blog. You know why? Because  the “show don’t tell” rule is just as powerful in life as it is in writing. You’re going to make a big change, Swift? You’re going to drop a toddler’s worth of weight? That’s nice. I’ll believe it when I see it. Even a wordy girl like me gets tired of the talking sometimes. Shut your mouth and work.

So here I am on December 31st surrounded by a culture of crappy resolution making. When I go back to the gym on Monday it’s going to be crowded with new faces. I hope in my deepest heart of hearts that every single one of them sticks with it. That they get what they want and reach their goals.

But most of them won’t.

And you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because January 1st is March 18th is June 29th is October Fucking 5th.

The date doesn’t matter.
And they can recommit at any moment.
And so can you.
And so will I.

Don’t settle. You’re worth so much more than you will ever know.

A few weeks after the breaking point.

A wish made at Thump Coffee in Bend, Oregon. They hang these from the ceiling. There are hundreds.

Toddler on board in July. Denim doesn't lie either. I'm just saying.

Meatball!

Drumstick.

Cannoli!!

2009 racing. At least 15 extra pounds on board. You can bet your ass I was fucking slow.

August cyclo-touring. Lean and rabid for top ramen.

Cyclo-tour lean, but not very strong.

Late October. No room for extra toddlers in this fucking skinsuit!

Washington County Fairgrounds in mid-November. Photo: Victor Duong

State in late November. Getting some muscle mass back. Photo: Dave Roth

Feeling strong in November! Photo: Dave Roth

*****

Like the Grit & Glimmer crack? Mainline it!

Sign up below to receive mail when there’s an update to the site. It’s fun! It’s easy! GlimmerBot is our best friend!!

Orrrr… use this orange button of love to sign up for the RSS feed if you’re all fancy-like. Oh la la!

Subscribe in a reader

Related posts:

1. Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 2 Photo Preview Holy smokes. It’s hot in Bend. I’m at the Cascade...
2. Interbike Eye-Candy Part One Well, it’s official.  I’m sick with Bicycle Poisoning.  Walking onto...
3. Why You Probably Won’t Keep Your New Years Resolutions (And how to launch a pre-emptive strike) New Years is an awesome time.  It’s a time when...

Sweet Jesus, it’s the ugliest shake I’ve ever made. But, you know I wouldn’t post a shake recipe here if it didn’t taste good, so take my word for it.

I’m not posting photos because I don’t want to scare you.

Shake Theory

Unlike most of my smoothies, this one does not contain protein powder. The intention behind it wasn’t to make a well-rounded meal replacement – instead, I just wanted to pulverize and quickly consume a bunch of fruits and vegetables. It’s a great way to quickly get a big hit of fiber, vitamins, anti-oxidants, and greens. All you have to do is add, pulverize and glug, glug, glug.

Ingredients

1 c. frozen berry mix

.75 c strawberries

1 c. grapes

.5 c Broccoli

1 c. Kale

1 tbsp Spirulina (this is what makes it black)

.75 c. Unsweetened almond milk

Additional water as needed to get desired consistency

Optional: sweetener (agave, brown rice syrup, stevia or splenda) The fruit in this smoothie has a lot of work to do to overcome the kale and broccoli and I find that adding just a little sweetener is perfect.

You end up with 2 servings of cruciferous vegetables, 3 servings of fruit and one hit of pow-pow-powerful sea green punch.

Nutrition Basics

Related posts:

1. The Daily Shake: Today’s Smoothie Monster of Death I’ve taken to drinking a morning smoothie instead of the...
2. Yum: From the Kick-Ass Protein Shake Files I was running out today to make an 11:15am appointment...
3. Like Pumpkin Pie? You’re Going to Love This Festive Jay Robb Protein Shake I know what you’re thinking. And, no, I don’t work...

First of all, you are hereby sworn by the law of all blogging gods to never just say “Remember the Maine”.

You must instead exclaim emphatically, “Remember the Maine!!”

Second of all, this is a fancy drink. Somewhat obscure. Probably unknown to most people. That is not what makes it awesome (I will tell you what makes it awesome later) and you should be polite when or if you order this drink at a bar. Don’t order it when you’re in a run of the mill drinking establishment. Don’t order it when the bar is super busy. When you get to a fancy drinking establishment with serious craft bartenders, then by god it’s time to order. Even still, you should do so with a slight air of apology and acknowledgment that you are kind of being a little know-it-all snot.

Enough with the caveats.

Where I Had It

Beaker and Flask – Portland, Oregon. This little place is known for great drinks and skilled bartenders. After trying something off the menu I asked “Tim” to make me “something with bourbon or bourbon-like facsimile – something challenging.”

He came back 5 minutes later with Remember the Maine!

(I had the drink a few weeks later at a bar in Seattle called Barrio. Again, outstanding. Note: the bartender at Barrio knew the drink but did have to look it up. He was stoked to do it.)

Why I Love It

It’s a relative of the manhattan, which is a great place to start. Hello, delicious golden drink of the gods!

The combination of absinthe and cherry liquor creates a mysterious, chocolately overtone that is completely unexpected and utterly delightful. Smooth! So smooth. But no overly sweet.

It was – exactly as I’d requested – challenging, but in a really approachable way.

How to Make It

I learned long ago from Sal’s crazy Sicilian mother (Rose, if you’re reading this tell Fina I wrote “awesome Sicilian mother” ; ) that one should never settle for eating or drinking amazing things at restaurant. Instead, return home immediately and reverse engineer said amazing food. Serve it to your family and yell at them until they declare that it is better than the restaurant version.

Whereas Fina uses her masterful culinary skills to reverse engineer masterpieces, I use Google (after first not finding it in my Great American Bartender’s handbook which, apparently, isn’t so great).

I checked out recipes here, here, and here and settled on this version:

• 2 ounces rye whiskey
• 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
• 2 teaspoons Cherry Heering
• 1/2 teaspoon absinthe or absinthe substitute
• Brandied cherry for garnish

Combine ingredients in an ice-filled mixing glass and stir briskly for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry.

Special Considerations

I soon discovered that the brand of absinthe is a big factor. My version of Remember the Maine, though delicious, was different that Tim’s at Beaker and Flask.  (I still made Sal declare mine superior, however.) My recommendation would be to use what you got (or what you can put your hands on) and experiment from there. Something tells me that you won’t mind the research involved.

Related posts:

1. Remember This. Last year as we pulled into the parking lot after...

Today’s Monster

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup Yogi Detox Tea (pre-made the night before, chilled)

8 frozen strawberries

1/2 banana

1/2 avocado

1/4 c. plain nonfat yogurt

1 handful fresh greens from the garden including microgreens

1/2 scoop Jay Robb strawberry banana protein powder

1 tsp Spirulina

1 tbsp Flax Oil

2 tbsp Carlsen’s Lemon Flavored Fish Oil

2 tbsp freshly ground flax seeds

Answers to FAQ

Yes, it does look like green/brown swamp death. The Spirulina makes ugliness a foregone conclusion.

Yes, actually, it does taste good.

Yes, I do add fish oil. It really does taste like lemon. (But Sal still can’t hack it.)

Yes, yes I am in love with my VitaMix. I know the law does not protect our love, but if being in love with VitaMix is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

Read this if you’re curious why I dump so much fat in there.

Go here to watch a video on why I incorporate fish oil.

Go here to read about it instead.

Click here to see what I’d rather be eating.

Related posts:

1. The Daily Shake: “Black Hole” Version I made a black shake today. Black. You are reading...
2. Kitchen Sink Smoothie (Or “How to Build a Kick-Ass Smoothie”) [Scroll down for recipe.] General Guidelines for Building a Kick-Ass...
3. Pina Mangolata Smoothie I forgot how good a well-made protein shake can be. ...

Whether it’s a weeknight dinner or a big to-do like the New Years Eve spread below, I’m consistently floored, humbled and honored to be around the table.

These images never quite made it to prime time after our holiday visit, so I’m providing them now as a bit of a photo flashback (consider me inspired by current culinary surroundings!)

Related posts:

1. Photo Flashback: New Years Day with The Fantastic Romaninis The Romanini’s are coming for dinner tonight, which reminded me...
2. Anniversary Photo Flashback 002: 2003 With Sally McPants According to my warning yesterday, prepare to be inundated with...
3. In the O: Clever Cycles Dinner Ride Food and bikes. Need I say more? Ok, really crazy...

Like most people, I go through food phases.

Right now, I’m kind of over the big salads that were making me happy for the past few months. Yet I know that I’ve got to get those all-important greens and I’m really trying to stay up on my Omega-3′s and healthy fats.

Earlier this week, I had a lightbulb. I’ll drink my salad!

That sounds disgusting, right? Right. But, as a self-described Super Smoothie Ninja Master, I felt confident that I could make it taste good. A few weeks ago, POM Wonderful sent me a big box of pomegranate juice to sample and I was just dying to use it creatively in a blended beverage. I wagered it would do the trick – and it did.

(By the way, this Precision Nutrition article does a completely kick ass job of breaking down “super” shakes and their ingredients. It even has a chart. Hot damn, I do love a good chart.)

I present to you, the Super Food Slam: a filling and delightfully tasty smoothie chock-full of some of the healthiest foods out there.

The trick to this smoothie is finding balance. The fruit juices provide much-needed sweetness to offset the huge green spinach attack. (Normally, I don’t use fruit juices because of sugar content, but I feel like a little sugar is a small price to pay to make 5 cups of spinach taste like heaven.)

Did I say 5 cups of spinach? Yeah, I did.

Here’s our crew:

Not only is POM Wonderful good for you, it’s also very cute. Style counts, people! : )

Frozen fruit. I buy these at Trader Joe’s. What you can’t see is that the bottom of the container is filled exclusively with frozen blueberries.

Almonds. Or, as Sal says, “Ammans”

Ground Flax Seed. Yes, yes, yes. (You can nab these at my store if you can’t find them locally, but every health food store should have them – and most “normal” stores do too if they have an organic or “hippy” section. Look for Bob’s Red Mill. We love Bob!)

Spinach. Lots of it. Feel the Popeye-ness wash over you.

Orange Juice is used today as a sweetening agent along with the POM Wonderful.

Ingredient List (Makes 2):

3/4 cup Orange juice (can be any type of sweet juice)
4 oz POM Wonderful juice
1/2 cup Soy Milk (or almond milk or rice milk or… even cold green tea if you’ve got some!)
1 cup frozen blueberries
.5 -  .75 cups other frozen fruit of your choice (mango, raspberry, banana… all work!)
12 almonds
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
5 cups spinach (you could also add a cup of kale if you want to level up!)

Optional:
1 serving Jay Robb Vanilla protein powder (I’m into protein, you don’t have to be.)

Pulverize the Crap Out of It:

Add to blender in order listed. I’ve had trouble blending nuts and leafy vegetables in normal blenders in the past so I finally gave in and dropped cash on a big Vita-Mix Blender last year. I’ve used it every day since and, as you can tell, I never shutup about it. Sorry. This was one of the first things I asked to have sourced for the Grit and Glimmer store, so excited was I to spread the pulverizing love to the entire planet.

With the Vita-Mix I find it’s easiest to blend all the other ingredients first then load the spinach in through the top hole. Get a good whirlpool going with a high-speed setting and then use the big, black VitaMix stick to press the spinach down into the blades.

When you’re done, you’ll have something that looks like a vegetable monster vomited in your blender. (I swear on all things holy – it tastes 100x better than it looks.)

Yum?

To enhance enjoyment, cajole your significant other into pouring the concoction into an elegant glass.
Don’t forget to force your significant other to smile.
Take a picture.
Say, “Look happy! You love the Super Slam!”
Art direction is fun.

Last but not least: Do not overfill your glass. It makes a mess.
Also, don’t let this drink sit around after you make it. All that lovely fiber in the spinach will cause it to separate if you do – which will make this ugly shake even uglier.

What Makes it Super:

From the PN article: “The Super Shake… is packed with good stuff like high-quality protein, fiber, good fats, antioxidants and more.”

But, for me, the super shake above is all about the anti-oxidants. Antioxidants do all kinds of nifty things like prevent heart disease and cancer, reduce blood pressure and slow the effects of aging. They protect the body from harmful, excess free radicals, sweeping them up before they can cause damage. Pomegranate, almonds, spinach and blueberries are all loaded with anti-oxidants and, if you sub in green tea as one of your liquid bases, you’re getting even more.

Almonds: (From the Mayo Clinic website) These tear-shaped nuts are packed with nutrients — fiber, riboflavin, magnesium, iron and calcium. In fact, almonds have more calcium than any other nut — 75 milligrams (mg) in one serving (about 23 almonds). Also, one serving of almonds provides half of your body’s Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin E.

Like all nuts, almonds provide one of the best plant sources of protein. And they’re good for your heart. Most of the fat in almonds is monounsaturated fat — a healthier type of fat that may help lower blood cholesterol levels.

Blueberries: (From the Mayo Clinic website) Blueberries are a rich source of plant compounds (phytonutrients). As with cranberries, phytonutrients in blueberries may help prevent urinary tract infections. Blueberries may also improve short-term memory and promote healthy aging.

Blueberries are also a low-calorie source of fiber and vitamin C — 1 cup of fresh blueberries has 84 calories, 3.6 grams of fiber and 14 mg of vitamin C.

Spinach: (From the Mayo Clinic website) Spinach is high in vitamins A and C and folate. It’s also a good source of riboflavin, vitamin B-6, calcium, iron and magnesium. The plant compounds in spinach may boost your immune system and may help keep your hair and skin healthy.

Pomegranate: Pomegranate has quickly become one of the most talked about super foods in the past two years. Pomegranate fruits contain polyphenols, tannins and anthocyanins, which are all beneficial antioxidants. On the other hand, pomegranate juice contains high levels of antioxidants – higher than most other fruit juices, red wine or tea. Preliminary evidence suggested that drinking concentrated pomegranate juice may reduce cholesterol. It was further suggested that drinking a glass of pomegranate juice a day for one year reduced blood pressure (particularly systolic pressure) and slowed down low density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) oxidation.

Flaxseed: (From Health Castle) Derived from the plant source, flax seed offers a vegetarian alternative to provide omega 3 fatty acid. Flax seed has been shown in many studies to offer heart-healthy benefits. In addition, flax seed also contain other beneficial ingredients such as fiber and lignan, a type of antioxidant phytoestrogen. Research revealed that lignan in flax seed shows promising results in fighting disease, particularly cancer. Studies show that lignan possesses anti-cancer properties. Results were most promising in breast cancer prevention.

Related posts:

1. My Ten Favorite Super Foods I’m calling these foods “super” because they deliver outstanding nutritional...
2. Kitchen Sink Smoothie (Or “How to Build a Kick-Ass Smoothie”) [Scroll down for recipe.] General Guidelines for Building a Kick-Ass...
3. The (Super Basic) Five Steps You Can Take to Begin to Eat Smarter I lied! I am such a dirty liar. I told...

Dan Sharp has been with us at the 8th Street Owl House now for a few weeks. He climbs uphill very fast and makes a mean steak. We love him.

He also makes a pretty mind-blowing homemade energy bar. Upon tasting it, I held a kitchen knife to his gut and made him promise to show me all his secrets. Apparently he thought I was serious because he kindly obliged.

Sharp was inspired to make his own energy food after a ride through the London countryside during which his riding companion shared a delicious bar with him. He promptly returned to the states and reverse-engineered the deliciousness.

About the Recipe

The following is a “recipe” only in loose terms. Sharp cooks, as I often do, “by feel” – adding a handful of this or a squirt of that. For the purposes of this blog post, we attempted to measure everything in question, but you should know that you can experiment and everything will be ok.

A few more dates and your bars will be more moist.  A few more nuts and you will get something more like a dry granola bar.

Play until you find your special balance.

We also encourage you to play with ingredients. We’ve been keeping our eyes out as we shop in Tucson and have been inspired by things like dried fruits, spicy components and carob nibs. These haven’t made it into a batch yet, but I’m sure they will.

General Nutritionals

It’s hard to exactly quantify nutritional values for this recipe but I calculated general values:

Per bar:
230 calories
9g fat
40g carb
5g fiber
2.5g protein

How to Print

Use the “Print this page” link at the top right of this entry for a printer-friendly version sans photos.

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup spelt flakes
• 1 T. malt
• 1 T powdered sugar
• 1.3 lb. medjool dates (best to have extra lying about for possible consistency adjustment – the dates are your primary binding agent)
• .5 cup pecan pieces raw
• .5 cup roasted/salted pecan pieces
• 1 cup large hazlenuts
• 3-5 T agave syrup (this is another consistency adjustment ingredient)
• .5 cup coconut flakes (this is optional, substitute with ingredient[s] of choice)

How it Works

-Preheat oven to 325-350. Ish.

-Spread the oats, spelt flakes, malt, and powdered sugar on a cookie sheet (here we are using a cake pan because, well, our vacation rental in Tucson doesn’t have a cookie sheet). Mix well.  Put the pan in the oven to toast (about 15 minutes or so, keep your eye on them).

-While they are toasting, cut the dates “smallish but not small”. This is a direct quote from DSharp. Observe the following photos with smallish but not small guidelines. He slices them in half, removes the pit, then slices them lengthwise, then he lines them up together and chops them into (smallish but not small) bits, psycho-killer style.

(Notes!!)

-Next we will chop nuts. (Don’t forget to keep an eye on your toasting oat mixture)

-Sharp uses a patented nut-mashing technique that he learned from his Pretty Lady (Ms. Tori Bortman of Gracie’s Wrench). Put nuts in plastic bag. Place bag on cutting board or other hard surface. Bash with rolling pin. You can do something less violent if you wish, just get the nuts into little pieces (but not TOO little), ok?

-Has it been 10-15 minutes? Go check your oats! They’re probably ready. Look – ours are!

(Headless oat man)

-Ok, where are we? Right. The nuts are chopped. Small but not too small:

The dates are all cut into smallish but not too small pieces (see, the box is empty – that’s proof!):

And our oat-spelt-malt-sugar mixture is all toasty:

-Time to mix. Add the nuts to the dates. Then at the oats to the dates and nuts. Then add the coconut. Got that?  Everything in the same bowl. Good!
-Now that your pan is empty again, clean it and then lube it up. I mean grease it. You can use PAM or butter or coconut oil or whatever you like. Just make sure you use something because you want these little guys to slip out nice and easy when all is said and done.

-Now comes the fun part. Knead everything together with your hands until it starts to form a lump. As you’re kneading, pay attention to consistency.
-Add agave syrup one tablespoon at a time until you’ve reached desired moisture levels.

-When the lump is well-formed, put it in your pan. If you’re using a cookie pan, you can put a sheet of wax paper on top and roll it out with a rolling pin. We didn’t have that luxury, so used our hands and then improvised and used a cutting board as a flat-smasher.

-The bars should be about 3/4 inch thick when you’re done.

“This looks perfect!”

-Put it in the oven at 325-350 for about 20 minutes. Keep your eye on it toward the end. They’ll emerge golden and toasty and crisp:

-Let cool, then cut into bar shapes. This particular recipe makes about 18 bars.
-Store in a dry location in zip-lock baggies. They’ll last for a good long while but I bet they won’t be around long enough for you to find out.

More notes: “Cut. Eat. Ride”
[Stick it to man.]
All good advice, mind you.

Related posts:

1. Homemade Pizza Night: Bigtime Italian Fun on a Budget My life is dominated by Sicilians (don’t call them Italians,...
2. Two Quick Chicken Marinades Chicken is boring. Don’t kid yourself. It is. It’s really...

Our days here are mostly filled with work and riding and eating, a little culture never hurt anybody so I packed up my favorite only boyfriend and headed downtown for some good eatin’.

We went to Maynard’s Kitchen for a stone-baked pizza and a good cocktail (I peeped the cocktail menu online and almost fell over.)

10 minutes after sitting down, pizza quickly turned into “pizza and side” which quickly turned into “pizza and sides and dessert”. It’s just how we roll. Truthfully, I wanted to taste everything on the damn menu, but my stomach and my purse strings were not in agreement.

Cocktail Delight

First up: that cocktail I mentioned. A chocolate martini. But not just a chocolate martini (which can be overly sweet and seriously boring unless done well) – a Lampone Cioccolato. “Rich chocolate vodka shaken hard with Van Gogh liqueur and Chambord served up with a ripe raspberry.”

Normally, I’m a bourbon kind of lady. I like to taste my alcohol. I like it strong. But the Lampone Cioccolato caught my eye.

Van Gogh liqueur is stunning, but the real deal-sealer here is the Chambord, which balances an otherwise boring, sweet drink with a really intriguing hint of berry. I’ve had a chocolate like this once before at Three Doors Down just off Hawthorne in Portland. Delicious.

The Menu Takes Over

We ordered the San Marzano pizza – detailed below. Meat lovers, baby.

I was charmed by the presence of crayons and butcher paper in a fairly upscale setting.

While we were deciding on pizza, I couldn’t resist the siren song of the mouth-watering sides that were offered: Baked Ziti, French Gnocci, and Chard. We ordered one of each to arrive before the pizza.

But the real surprise were the oysters. Fresh Kumamotos and three other varieties that I neglected to record. (You had me at Kumamoto!) Why not kick the whole thing off with a little saltwater aphrodisiac?

Maynard’s is set next to the train station so decorations and design details gave a nod to trains, dining cars and a more gentile time gone by.

Hello, Rita Hayward.

Since we were on a roll, we ordered a bottle of Maryhill Cabernet to go with dinner. Washington, represent! That shit gets two thumbs up.

And then the sides came.

And it was all over.

ALL. OVER.

Holy sweet jeebus, the sides!

French gnocci with orange brown butter and dried figs.

These were different than any gnocci I’ve had – good so that there was a bit of an “outer shell”.
Crunchy and delightful outside, softer inside.

The figs were POW POW POW amazing.

Next up: Baked Ziti with fontina, goat cheese, smoked housemade mozzarella, parmesan and garlic bread crumbs.

Mind blowing.
Really.

The ziti was our favorite part of our meal.
It was the cheesiest, smokiest, crispiest, baked “pasta boat” I’ve ever had.

CHEESE. So much cheeeeeeeeese!

If I go back, I’m order this and nothing else.
And to hell with splitting – Sal can get his own.

(Note: no photos of the Swiss Chard with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts, though it was delicious.)

Time for pizza.
Meaty, flavorful, delicious.
Not the most incredible crust I’ve ever had, but then, we’re a little picky about crust.
The meat was 100% top-notch.
(Maynard’s Kitchen is the restaurant equivalent of Maynard’s Market, which is a high-quality meat-buying join right next door)

We let the food digest, drew with green crayons, and ogled Rita Hayworth for a while before getting sucked into the dessert menu.
(Go ahead, twist our arms.)

Banana and bourbon bread pudding (see, I knew I’d slip the bourbon in there somewhere)
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.
Super moist and stupid delicious.

Seriously impressive menu, amazing wait staff (I’m a sucker for meticulous service), and a dark, cozy, romantic atmosphere perfect for Friday date night. Or any date night, for that matter.

We’ll be back – and when we go I’m planning to try the Braised Lamb Shank or the Acorn Squash baked with multi-grain risotto, dried fruit, toasted seeds, and swiss chard… or the Cassoulet… or polenta with marscapone and fresh herbs.

Or all of the above.

Stay tuned.

Related posts:

1. Food Bonanza in Progress It’s Sunday and today marks our first full week in...

Pearl barley and cheese collide in this decidedly healthy spin on a classic Italian comfort food. I’m not sure whether or not Sal’s mama would approve, but the pearl barley adds a springy, snappy texture that I find delightful. Besides, as Ryan Andrews explains at length in this super informative article over at the Precision Nutrition site, whole grains are the way to go, dude!

This serves about four. (More likely two big people and two smaller people.)

PS: You can now use the “print this page” button (top right) to get a printer-friendly version of recipes. I’ve disabled photos, so it will only include text.

Gather Ye Your Ingredients:

6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock*
2.5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cup wine
1 cup pearl barley
1 cup beans, canned or precooked (I used canneloni beans. Navy beans would be great and red beans would work, too)
3 cups chopped kale
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons Brummel and Brown or butter-like product of your choice
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

*Low-sodium stock is recommended here not just for health benefits. Because this dish cooks for a long time and condenses starting with a full-salt stock will yield a super salty end result. If all you’ve got is regular stock, just dilute it a bit.

Make

1. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil (save the rest for the mushrooms). Add onion, shallot and thyme and cook over medium heat until the onion is softened (about 7 minutes).
2. Add the barley and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine if using and cook, stirring until absorbed.
3. Add 1 cup of the stock and cook, stirring, until nearly absorbed.
4. Here’s where risotto gets annoying.  Continue adding the stock 1/2 cup at a time until you’ve used it all. Each time you add the stock, wait until it cooks down before adding the next.
5. While you’re dealing with the constant risotto absorption process, heat the remaining olive oil in a small skillet until shimmering and then add the sliced mushrooms. Cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes or until they are soft. I diced mine after cooking them but that was just a crazy hair. You can leave them slicey or get crazy dicey – your call.
6. When you’re done with the last of the stock in your risotto, add the beans and let them cook for a minute.
7. Add the kale and let it wilt. Cook for an additional minute or two.
8. Add the mushrooms and stir.
9. Stir in the 1/2 cup of cheese and the butter then season to taste with salt and pepper.
10. Serve! Make sure to provide more cheese at the table. Everyone loves cheese. For real.

Notes

• This reheats quite well. I used a pan on the stove with a bit of olive oil, but I bet it wouldn’t do badly in a microwave.
• Any hearty leafy green can be substituted for kale: try chard, spinach or escarole
• Experiment with other ingredients – this is hearty peasant food. Use what you have!

Related posts:

1. Kale that Doesn’t Suck I love kale. There, I said it. But I know...
2. Now is the Time for Squash: Eat Right with a Favorite Fall Recipe Man.  When I was a kid I hated squash (further...
3. Wondertwin Powers Activate, Form Of: More Than 100 Ways to Eat Cottage Cheese Sal just looked up from his desk (we work together)...

Hunt and Gather this stuff:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 small shallot, diced
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1-2 yellow squash in 1-inch slices
• 2 tablespoons Brummel and Brown (or butter or other butter substitute, whatever you fancy)
• 1 tablespoon agave syrup
• 5 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons curry powder
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Then do this:

1. Add oil to large saute pan and heat (med-high) until it becomes aromatic and shimmers a little.
2. Add carrots, onions, squash, shallots and saute, stirring occasionally 8-10 minutes
3. Reduce heat to low.
4. Add garlic, Brummel and Brown, and agave syrup.
5. Cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Add curry powder, saute 30 seconds to a minute.
7. Add broth and bring to simmer (med-high heat)
8. Reduce to low and simmer until carrots are tender (10 minutes or so)
9. Transfer to blender (in batches if necessary) and puree until smooth.
10. Transfer to sauce pan and add milk until soup is desired consistency.
11. Heat through and serve.

Recipe Notes

• You can modify this recipe to include whatever vegetables are on their last legs in your fridge. Zucchini, broccoli, parsnips, turnips, etc.  When I’m feeling extra healthy I’ll throw a cup or two of spinach leaves in at the end of puree-ing (my VitaMix pulverizes them easily, see below) to add some super green power to the mix. They do a great job of “hiding” and hardly make a difference in taste.
• I use my VitaMix blender to puree this recipe. In fact, I never made pureed soups before I finally dropped cash on the VitaMix because I found puree-ing in batches to be the single most annoying and tedious task I could imagine. Also, traditional blenders always seemed to make a mess and/or burn the crap out of me. The VitaMix has a nice slow speed to start with, which makes it safe and easy to use. The container itself is huge so I usually do not have to do soups in batches.  Lastly, the VitaMix actually heats food up if you let it run long enough (the motor is that powerful), so I skip the step of returning the soup to the saucepan and instead let the VitaMix do the heating after adding the milk.
• If you don’t have curry powder, don’t worry – you can easily make your own. In fact, I didn’t even know curry powder in it’s “off the shelf” variety existed until a few years ago.  Curry powder is a mix of a number of spices including things like: corriander, saffron, cumin, mustard seed, crushed red pepper, poppy seed, cinnamon, tumeric, black peppercorn, coriander, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, bay leaves, onion powder, ginger powder, fennel pepper, fenugreek seeds, etc.  Which spices are used depends on the kind of curry but if you’ve got the basics (cumin, coriander, tumeric, cinnamon, pepper) you can almost always whip up a quick curry powder at home. Just do a quick internet search for curry powder recipes and you’re off.

Pair with one of these?

• Spiced Cauliflower Saute
• Super Simple Claypot Roasted Chicken

Related posts:

1. Spiced Cauliflower Saute (the secret is in the cinammon) I’m not wild about cauliflower.  As cruciferous vegetables go, it...
2. Now is the Time for Squash: Eat Right with a Favorite Fall Recipe Man.  When I was a kid I hated squash (further...
3. Kale that Doesn’t Suck I love kale. There, I said it. But I know...