Sunday, February 4th, 2013

Hello folks, it's been quite the weekend.  I worked a full 8 hours yesterday only to finish seeing that my massive experiment didn't work.  yaay.  So I felt depressed and went home to pizza and a movie with Brian.  We watched the Swedish version of "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo."  It was awesome.  This morning our friend Brendan came to see us and run the New York Road Runner's Gridiron Classic - a 4miler in Central Park.  It was race #1 of my 9+1 to the NYC Marathon commitment.  I saved a little Cocker Spaniel that ran into the race away from his owner and was headed out of the Park in a panic.  I still finished in 28:39 - booya. Then I cooked - to stave off feelings of dread for the tomorrow that is analyzing shit data and then showing it to my boss. 

Vegetarian Recipe #4 - Spiced Red Lentil & Tomato soup

2 carrots
3 celery stalks  
3 cloves garlic
2 small onions
1 bay leaf
11/4 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon smoked spanish paprika
dash cayenne pepper
1.5 cups red lentils
salt & pepper
14 oz can diced tomato
5-6 cups vegetable broth

Sauté garlic & onion for about 5 minutes in olive oil.  Add celery & carrots (chopped), and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.  Add spices & bay leaf & stir.  Add the diced tomatoes + water, then the vegetable broth, then the lentils.  Bring to a boil then simmer 15 mins when the lentils will be tender & fluffy.  Red lentils break down and soften very quickly - the soup will be thick like a stew. 

*This is adapted from the lovely veggie lady at OhSheGlows.com

Here's my pictures:

Then I made another thing! 

Vegetarian recipe #5 - Sugar & Spice Candied Nuts

I'm not sure this is healthy or anything, but I never said it had to be.  I'm planning on putting these on some vanilla bean ice cream this evening.  They're f*cking really good.  'Scuse my French

1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne pepper + pinch of smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 lb of walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, or almonds (I used walnuts)
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
dash of vanilla

Beat the egg white, water, and vanilla until it's frothy.  Coat your nuts evenly (hee hee), and then toss with the sugar and spice mixture until it's evenly coated.  Bake in the oven at 20 minutes or so at 300, tossing frequently. 

My picture doesn't do them justice but you can check out the recipe that I adapted from Deb Perelman at the Smitten Kitchen

Carpe diem,

J