15-Minute Chicken Cacciatore

I was in dire need for some good chicken, but not grilled chicken, I’m talking about tasty chicken. You see, I’m good at planning meals but not really when it comes to chicken.
In my mind chicken is a last-minute food, which means that when I’m clueless on what to eat (and have limited amount of time) I resort to chicken. A pan, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, a pinch of herbs and voila’ grilled chicken is served. Boring, I know.

Socca Wraps with Spinach and Stracchino Cheese

Let’s talk about socca. If you’re not familiar with this food, let me give you some facts about it. Socca is an unleavened pancake (or crepe) originally made using chickpea flour, water and olive oil; cooked in an open oven and seasoned with salt and pepper. Of course, it originated in Italy. All good things come from Italy. It’s usually sold in bakeries and pizzerias and cut into irregularly shaped triangular slices. However, contrary to most popular Italian fare, it’s naturally gluten-free (woot woot!)
I love it. I really do. That’s why I thought it was a genius idea to create a wrap made of socca. For a moment I felt like a rocket scientist, or Nobel Prize winner or something. Alas, that lasted only for a couple of minutes as a quick trip on the internet brought me back to reality as I discovered that socca wraps are a common street-food in the South of France. Pff....Frenchies, always cramping my style.

Green Pie With Ricotta

I’m sitting here in front of my laptop attempting to write about this green pie. I’m also IM-ing with my teammates about Sunday’s race, which is a bit distracting (a lot, actually).

In other words, I don’t have much faith in what I’m about to write and I have the feeling it would take me about an hour to draft two lame paragraphs to convey the following basic concepts.

This is a salty pie. Made with an olive oil crust to die for. It’s packed (literally packed) with greens (2 full pounds). A couple of free-range eggs and some fresh ricotta cheese. That simple.

But let’s take a step back. How about I tell you why I like this green pie?

First off it’s uber easy to make. It seems like a lot of work but it’s not. From the crust to the filling even my 10 year old niece can master this recipe.

I like that with just one slice you’re eating two serving of greens. Greens are good for you and this pie is loaded with them.

I also like that it’s a complete dish, in that it has all the nutrients you need. Which takes me to the next point, a slice of this pie and a couple of raw veggies on the side and lunch/dinner is served.

I now rest my case, but I’m sure there are a number of other valid points I can make, I just can’t seem to remember them right now. When I do, I’ll let you know.

Quitting Is Out Of The Question

There are only two things that may stop you from running: injury and attitude. The former is something that is (most of the time) beyond one’s control, but what about the latter? What about that voice between your ears that is telling you to stop, to give up?

You see, mental attitude is a huge factor in running; it’s the determination that makes you keep going when you feel you want to stop, to throw in the towel. In fact, a positive mental attitude is one of the most important things a runner needs.

We all have days when we wonder if it’s really worth it, and when we’re feeling so miserable that all we want to do is quit.
It’s precisely in those moments that you have to remind yourself of the importance of pushing forward.

Credit: Image courtesy of fitnesspo.tumblr.com

Running is a lot about self-belief. It might be after your first step or at mile 3, but at some point you’ll need to tell yourself “Damn, I can do it!” and not give in to doubt.

One of the biggest challenges in running is the gradual buildup of mental tiredness. When it hits you, that’s exactly when you need to keep focused and don’t let the negative thoughts cloud your brain, ignore them and keep going. It’s when things seem worst that you should not quit.

Mental toughness in running comes with experience and you need to work at it. Once you master it, it stands you in good stead to handle anything that comes your way, especially when you feel like quitting.

If you just started, it’s important that you set realistic goals.You need targets that challenge you, but don’t break you.

Feed your motivation by attaining constant incremental successes. It boosts your confidence and makes you feel that you’re moving in the right direction.

Also, it doesn’t help to be overly critical about how fast or how far you’ve run. Stay positive and look at every run as a new opportunity that was given you to become better at it.

Rest if you must, but don’t quit, Remember that success is failure turned inside.

Michael Jordan once said:

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeeded.”

So keep at it, even when you feel that you have taken three steps back. Failing is part of the process but when you’re out there running, quitting is out of the question!

Red and Black Quinoa Tabbouleh

Tabouleh is a simple salad which hails from the part of the Middle East that covers Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
It’s usually made with bulgur, tomatoes, cucumbers, finely chopped parsley, mint, and onion seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. There are endless variations to bulgur, the most notorious one is subbing bulgur with couscous. Yotam Ottolenghi describes in his cookbook how during his career he has come across a million bastardised versions of this simple dish. Some of which were way out of line. The most common issue has to do with proportions. In this dish parsley has to be the star of the show alongside with mint (not the grains nor the veggies). Also, herbs need to be chopped very thinly (and with a knife not a food processor) so that they can properly release their flavors and volatile oils.

Running Is Only About You

Last weekend I went for a run in Central Park, something I never do. I prefer to stay downtown, cross the East River on the Williamsburg bridge and go from there.

For this one time, however, I went uptown on the Hudson River Park and entered CP from Columbus Circle @59th st.

“Whoa!” was my reaction as I entered the park and saw that tsunami of runners hitting the pavement. It was tad overwhelming, to be honest.

It was actually so jam-packed that I had to dart between people. A bumper-to-bumper situation, without the bumpers, of course.

As I was making my way through this massive wave of runners I noticed that there was a good amount of beginners. Which is cool, people hitting the road to get healthier. I like that.

However, I saw that most of them spent their time (and energy) twisting their heads looking at other runners instead of concentrating on their own run. As if they were under constant scrutiny by more experienced/faster runners. Which is such a stupid thing to do in the first place.

Being an experienced runner I feel like I need to share this secret: we (i.e., faster/experienced runners) do not give a “fat rat ass” about other runners; all we care about is our pace, heart rate, time and the distance we’re covering. Simple as that.

You run slower? We don’t care. Actually is not that we don’t care, we are just concentrating on our own run and we can’t be bothered to look around. That’s about it. We might get angry if you get in our way (well, really angry), but unless that happens, we’re cool.

Credit: Image courtesy of http://iloveart17.tumblr.com/

Stuffed Focaccia with Arugula, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Focaccia is an astronomically popular flat oven-baked bread, which can be topped with herbs or other ingredients. It’s very popular in Italy. If you happen to walk during lunchtime in the streets of Milan, Florence, Venice or Rome everybody is munching on focaccia. Well, almost everybody. You guys know that I tend to exaggerate.
It is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese or vegetables.
Or, or, or, or it can be stuffed. Yes, it can be stuffed. The most popular stuffed focaccia has to be the “Focaccia di Recco” a focaccia with cheese that melts into your mouth and just makes your life better.

Indian Style Meatballs with Roasted Garlic Cream

Let's talk about ground beef... 

When buying ground beef, the rule of thumb is to buy the best quality you can afford. Organic and - if you can find it - grass-fed.
If you shop at a butcher (or a grocery store with a real butcher) you should have them grind the beef for you. Pick out a piece of sirloin or chuck (or half chuck - half sirloin) and ask the butcher to put it through their grinder. This is the only way to make sure that the ground meat you’re buying is the meat that went into the grinder.
It can be more expensive than pre-packaged ground meat, but the latter can be a hazard (food poisoning and E. coli cases resulting from bad ground meat are so frequent). On top of that you’ll know that the meat has not been sitting on the shelf for days, which guarantees freshness. Ground meat is subject to the greatest amount of handling, which increases the risk of exposure to contamination. If instead you the process happens right in front of your eyes you’ll know that how many hands have touched it. Right?

Spicy Sweet Potato Burgers with Lemony Greek Yogurt and Avocado

Nothing get on my nerves more than hearing somebody saying “OMG, I’m such a sweet potato person, they’re so yummy and healthy!”.
What does it mean to be sweet potato person?
That if you look at yourself in the mirror you see a sweet potato? That among your peers you’re considered a sweet potato? That you eat only sweet potatoes?
In my humble experience, it usually means that you discovered recently (very recently, maybe yesterday) that sweet potatoes are a healthy food and you just need to speak it to the world. An attempt to assert that you’re a healthy person and that you know a whole lot deal about it. Bah...
For this one time you’re justified though...sweet potatoes are an awesome food so you might as well call yourself a sweet potato person. As long as you promise to really make them one of the staple food of your diet.

Suggested Reading: Salt Sugar Fat (How The Food Giants Hooked Us)

The food industry is a manufacturing business with just one goal in mind, design products to please consumers’ palate.
Don’t picture it in your mind as something similar to a cook, in his kitchen, trying to perfect a recipe. Think of it, instead, as more of a chemist in a laboratory performing experiments and meticulously mixing flavors in an attempt to reach that perfect balance, the “bliss point”. That perfect combination of ingredients that will send taste buds buzzing and that eventually will makes us come back for more.
As you flip through the pages of “Salt Sugar Fat” you’ll learn about how Food Giants maneuver around the boons and drawbacks of sugar, salt, and fat in order to make us consume their products, and consume them a lot. The competition for our grocery dollars affects what's in the food we eat and, as a consequence, affect our waist size and health.
Food industry’s approach is so meticulous and scientific that it has been capable of substantially altering the our desires, perceptions and expectation towards food. Without even noticing it, our taste buds have been reprogrammed to make us crave for more sugar, fat and salt.