Monthly Archives: September 2012

Savoury Breakfast Muffins – Two Recipes in One!

Posted on September 28, 2012 by | 2 Comments

So, you need breakfast in a hurry. You don’t fancy cereal or porridge and you’re not quite in the mood for toast. Oh, noooooooo, whaddya gonna do?! ‘s ok, we’re here to save the day. Our marvellous breakfast muffins are that rare breakfast treat that you can make the night before.

I took a basic savoury muffins recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and played around with it to suit my palette, and hopefully yours. I made two batches in the end; I didn’t put carrot or courgette in the first and, though they were delicious, they dried out within 48 hours. The veg in the second batch added extra moisture and kept them springy for longer (or would have done if we hadn’t eaten them so quickly!)

These two versions – Black Olive & Italian Cheese and Toasted Seeds & Cheddar – provide a great balance of carbs, protein and fibre. Have a glass of juice with them for the perfect start to fuelling your day right.

I like these with butter and more cheese for breakfast. They also go well with Marmite – *runs for cover from the Marmite haters of the world!* My good friend, Clancy, very generously did a taste test (she’s good like that) and reckons they’d well with soup too. Only one way to find out, I suppose…

(Remember that Parmesan is by definition not vegetarian – use an Italian hard cheese with the Vegetarian logo).

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Mushroom and Sweet Potato Frittata

Posted on September 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It being Better Breakfast Week in the UK, and maybe elsewhere in the world too, the best meal of the day has been on our minds a great deal. In truth, breakfast is on our minds a lot. We never go to bed without making sure that we have something good ready for breakfast in the morning.

Sadly, we don’t have staff to prepare our dishes for us, nor do we always have time to cook first thing on a morning. What we do have though is good planning skillz (yes, with a ‘z’ – skills with an ‘s’ are so old skool). The best thing to do when we know we’re going to be short of time is to make something that you can have warm for dinner at night and cold for breakfast the next morning.

This Mushroom and Sweet Potato Fritatta fits the bill perfectly. It’s great with a salad for supper and also fantastic on toast or in a hunk of baguette in the morning. Sweet potatoes are low calorie source of beta-carotene, which helps keep your eyes, skin and immune system in good form.

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Strawberry, Tahini and Mint Smoothie

Posted on September 26, 2012 by | 3 Comments

We Veggie Runners are decent people. At least, we think we’re relatively OK; nobody ever tells us otherwise, but maybe that’s because we’re so not OK that they daren’t… Anyway, for the purposes of this post let’s just assume that we are relatively nice.

So, relatively nice people like us care about the environment and try to recycle, waste nothing, shop locally etc. But what are we supposed to do when it comes to strawberries, which are clearly not in season in the UK anymore but are very cheap in the market right now? We get visions of little children picking them in LEDCs instead of going to school. Then we think about their future children doing the same, oppressed by a system they can’t escape from, perpetuating the vicious circle. Then we read that Spain is actually the world’s largest exporter of strawberries and that the Spanish economy needs all the help it can get at the moment. Our consciences salved, we buy some and make a strawberry smoothie…

Strawberries contain a healthy dose of potassium and are a great source of Vitamin C – 160% of your RDA in this baby; you can’t say we shortchange you! The tahini is easy to digest – your body starts to absorb nutrients from it about 30 minutes after eating – and it’s a good source of B vitamins and calcium, making this an all-round feels-good, does-you-good, hell-it-is-good smoothie if ever there was one.

Note: substitute the yoghurt for a banana if you’d prefer a vegan shake.

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Scrambled Eggs with Basil and Black Pepper

Posted on September 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

 Some dishes are much, much more than the sum of their parts and this is one of them. It seems simple enough – eggs on toast for breakfast, how tasty could you possibly make it without spending hours prepping and cooking? Well, this tasty, actually! This takes as long as making ordinary scrambled eggs – i.e. roundabout the blink of an eye – but it propels that simple dish into a whole new realm.

Nutritionally, it’s great for runners – it has protein, calcium, Vitamins A and D and is easy to digest too. Eggs are also a fair source of iron, which is particularly important for long distance runners; Lance Armstrong may have been stripped of his titles but his Livestrong site is great on why iron depletion can be a problem for runners.

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Kalofagas – Greek Stuffed Vegetables

Posted on September 24, 2012 by | 1 Comment

This recipe was given to us by Helen, who tells you who she is below. It’s a good source of carbs, dietary fibre and Vitamins A, B and C, along with a host of valuable minerals. Don’t let’s get too earnest though – it’s also a wonderful treat for the tastebuds.

It’s vegetarian but we’ve tagged it vegan too – just leave out the yoghurt dressing for a dairy-free version of the dish. Or you could make a lovely tahini salad dressing like this one from Thrifty Living instead.

From Helen:
I’m not – and I’ve never been – a runner. But I am Jayne’s sister-in-law and Bibi’s auntie and share their love of eating and talking…

 This recipe is based on food I’ve enjoyed in Crete. I was given the recipe and modified it slightly: I changed to risotto rice as it’s so good at absorbing flavours and reduced the quantity of the olive oil as I’ve not got a family olive grove! Continue reading →

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Chocolate and Stout Cake

Posted on September 23, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It doesn’t stick around for long. 1 hour later.

I love talking about food, as you may have noticed. Tell me about a great new avocado salad dressing you’ve tried, or the way that a squeeze of lemon brought your cassoulet to life. Drone on for hours about the best harrisa paste or the lack of ancho chilis in British supermarkets. Lay it on me.

However, I draw a line somewhere. Talk of food being ‘naughty’ or something to feel guilty about is the dullest, least useful topic in the world to me. It makes me sad how much brain energy gets wasted on beating yourself up over it.

Food is food – work out what is your optimal combination to make you feel good with the amount of exercise that you do, and go for it.

And this cake feels gooood. You might be surprised to see such unapologetic ‘treat’ food on a running blog, but everything in moderation.

This cake is tweaked from a Nigella and is absolutely foolproof – I’m no baker, and I make it every couple of months at least. I’ve got the timing down to a fine art. I’ve tried to share my little quick tips with you in the recipe – I can literally go from zero-to-cake-in-the-oven in 15 minutes on a good day. There’s no creaming or folding whatsoever, just lazy stirring and whisking.

It’s not just an easy cake to make, it’s also absolutely delicious – just the right amount of moist and chocolatey, without being cloying. The dark stout adds a tannic depth of flavour, but you’d never know it was in there. I brought this in to the office for my birthday and got asked about it so much that I had to bring another one in for everyone on Valentine’s Day.

And so I give you the perfect chocolate cake recipe: Bruce Bogtrotters of the world, rejoice! Just please please don’t talk to me about how naughty you are being, as I most certainly won’t be listening.

When you do something actually naughty, can’t wait to hear about it.

Note: Make sure you find a stout that doesn’t use fish in its clarification process. Guinness is vegetarian in North America, but not Europe. A great example is Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout, which you can buy in bottles from their pubs.

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Hummus and Harissa

Posted on September 21, 2012 by | Leave a comment

 Ah, hummus – so easy to make, soooooo easy to get wrong. When it’s good, it’s fantastic. When it’s not, it can be bland, stodgy, sloppy, too garlicky, not garlicky enough… This recipe is foolproof, mainly because we tested about 50 different versions to get it right. It’s quick and easy and about 100x better than shop-bought. Plus it’s a good source of protein and fibre but short on saturated fats and cholesterol.

We made a batch using the recipe below and split it in two. Then we added half a teaspoon of harissa* to one half to give it a piquant oomph. Both were delicious (don’t ask for more photos because both the regular and the harissa hummus – the hummii, plural? – were devoured in a heartbeat).

*You can use shop-bought harissa to save time but you’ll find it’s even better if you make your own. There’s a recipe here with our Morrocan Chickpea Tagine.

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Running Mix – Mercury Venus Disco Mars

Posted on September 21, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Not long ago we posted a running mix compiled (nay, created, in godlike fashion) by our friend David. He’s an uber-music nerd – he would not balk at that description – and a long-time runner so he really knows his playlist stuff. As you are such very excellent runners yourselves, he has graciously provided another.

This one is a favourite of ours – it saw one of nicely round the Eccup 10 mile race this summer and has seen both of us through many a Sunday run. The great thing about David’s mixes is that you never know what to expect so they stay fresh for a long, long time.

Here’s what he has to say about it Mercury Venus Disco Mars:

Mercury Venus is a year or two old, and was an attempt to harness all the crazy new Italo-disco influenced tunes that were eminating from Scandinavia, Europe and the US, plus a few Italo classics like Alexander Robotnick and a bit of leftfield nuttiness from the likes of Can. I threw in a bit of a spoken word commentary from Carl Sagan and even a bit of Stephen Hawking to really tie in the space meets disco feel. It’s burns slowly and then it explodes across the sky. Or that might just be me.

Here’s some info on David, in case you missed it last time:
David Allison is a television and film screenwriter. He’s also a music nerd and a keen runner. His full and proper, grown up bio can be found here (but basically he’s a genius creative who writes things like Bedlam - yes, he’s that cool).

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Canal run – Saltaire to Leeds

Posted on September 21, 2012 by | 3 Comments

Smiley faced graffiti at Saltaire.

I love canals. Towpaths that pass through grotty old industrial areas are just as appealing to me as the ones that run through open countryside. Boatyards, urban living, old villages, you get to see them all on a canal run. I managed to persuade my friend Kimmy to find out if she loves them as much as I do by taking an early morning jaunt from Saltaire to Leeds along the Leeds-Liverpool canal – 13 miles of pure gorgeousness (even the grotty bits). Here’s a brief photo blog of our journey.

Rusty bridge near Shipley.

It’s amazing how quickly you move on from the Victorian splendour of Saltaire (where you find: Salt’s Mill, a huge gallery with a vast collection of original Hockney paintings, among other treasures; a worker’s village built my mill owner Titus Salt, now a highly desirable urban postcode; some great little antique and vintage shops; the buzz of a thriving, arty small town). In no time at all, there’s nothing to hear but the putter of canal boats, birdsong and the sound of your own footfall. Gorgeous.

Canal boats near Apperley Bridge

Giant rhubarb lining the towpath

A lock, of which there are many…

Cows, water, sky

The world-famous (not really) upside down sign near Armley.

Still neon bright after 13 miles :-)

The thing I love most about canal running is that it’s incredibly peaceful but there are a million things to see. You can find canal routes to run with this great resource from the Canal and River Trust – just pop in a town or postcode and it will map the nearest canal route for you (something that Google maps haven’t quite caught up with yet).

 

 

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Carrotes Râpées

Posted on September 17, 2012 by | 2 Comments

This is one of those delightful dishes that is much, much more than the sum of its parts. At first glance, it’s nothing more than grated carrot with a light dressing. The flavour is subtle and slightly sweet though, with a hint of lemony tang. It’s great as a side dish and also wonderful to add a bit of crunch to sandwiches. In our photo, it’s served toasted on toasted muffins with hummus and sliced avocado, inspired by the absolutely fantastic Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes.

Note that les francais put parsley in their recipes but we don’t like this because it sticks in your teeth so we’ve left it out. You can add a handful if you fancy it though; maybe you won’t suffer the same parsley-teeth affliction. If you fancy changing the texture slightly, as well as boosting your energy, potassium and fibre intake, add a handful of sultanas.

As an aside, did you know that there’s an interactive World Carrot Museum online?  Sometimes I feel like I’ve taken a wrong turn in life. Why didn’t I create a World Carrot Museum, I find myself asking…  Continue reading →

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