Catching Up...Again

It feels good to finally be back. To say I have been taking some time off would be an enormous understatement. Last semester's move to San Francisco for fifteen semester-units of Spanish indeed left little time for extracurricular activities. However, I did manage to perfect my pulled pork, get a whole hog roast setup for my crew at the Delta (although I missed it due to car problems), and tried just about every form of tapas, sangria, steamed dumpling, Banh Mi, food truck, and donuts (including jelly-filled donut holes off 9th and Irving) available to me in the City by the Bay. I also took time to continue getting to know the lineup at Thirsty Bear, my still-favorite watering hole in the downtown area, while continuing my search for unique cocktails past the varieties available at Trad'r Sam and Cioppino's. 

But I find myself again working as a personal trainer, and my physical fitness goals trump my taste bud's daily goals so lately the name of the game has been fresh produce. I feel great since making the relatively small change of adding a leaf of kale to my morning protein shake and cleaning up my diet by decreasing starch intake overall and processed starch specifically. I've also again been diligent on taking proper vitamins, including a chelated multivitamin by Apex, nootropics by Alpha Brain and generic fish oils, and I feel as sharp as I've felt in a long time. 

Morning Protein Shake:

2 cups frozen fruit (choice)

15-25g hemp or whey protein

1/2 cup oats

1 leaf of kale

1. Put all ingredients in blender with 1-2 cups of water. Blend, adding water as necessary to achieve desired consistency. 

Note: For more calories, use skim milk or orange juice.

Although don't take cleaning up my diet to mean that I've lost my sense for flavor. On the contrary, my use of  all types of onions, many more varieties of peppers, herbs, and vegetables in general has exploded, leaving me with delicious recipes like Soy-Almond Green Beans, Butternut squash "Risotto", and a number of variations on the meatball using 99% lean ground turkey, 95% lean ground pork, and 93% lean ground beef.

Soy-Almond Green Beans:

2 cups fresh green beans with tips cut

1 teaspoon butter

2-3 tablespoons low sodium soy

2-3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions

2-3 tablespoons finely chopped almonds

1. Blanch green beans in boiling, salted water for approximately 2 minutes, move to ice bath.

2. When ready to serve, melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Quickly saute almonds and greens beans in butter.

3. Add soy sauce and reduce until the sauce is thick and coats all the beans and almonds.

4. Plate and garnish with green onion.

All-in-all, I feel great about my recent culinary development and I believe I'm finally able to verbalize my culinary perspective: The New American Cantina. For a definition of this, stay tuned to my coming onslaught of recipes!