Bibi Rodgers – Veggie Runners

Edinburgh Marathon Festival – Bibi’s Race Report

Sunday’s Edinburgh Half Marathon was supposed to be my first sub-2hr half. Should be pretty easy when the profile looks like this, right? The biggest race I’ve ever done, the atmosphere was fantastic – kids giving high-fives from the side of the road, runners smiling as we jostled. Everybody putting so much heart into it,…

Quinoa Porridge

One of our lovely twitter followers suggested this breakfast dish and it’s been at the back of my mind ever since. We are big fans of quinoa, loving its blend of protein, iron and micronutrients. The UN like it so much they’ve named 2013 ‘International Year of Quinoa’ – pretty high accolade for such a…

Baba Ganoush

Early Victorians grew aubergines purely as ornamental plants, suspicious of their resemblance to nightshade. As with a few other things things – workhouses, child labour, ignoring women – they got things quite wrong. Aren’t aubergines great? Aren’t we glad to live in such enlightened times? A source of B vitamins and fibre, they’re adaptable to pretty much…

Quinoa with Courgette, Feta and Sumac

This meal is a great showcase for National Vegetarian Week, showing that veggie eating doesn’t need to be a pastiche of your traditional meaty dinner with a “star of the show”. In fact, I had some trouble naming this recipe. None of the ingredients is really ‘with’ the other ones – they all take centre stage,…

Tofu Tikka Masala

I strongly believe that cuisine is like language – living, and ever changing. Orthodoxy has no place in my kitchen. The quest for “the authentic ratatouille/baba ganoush/tikka masala” is not that interesting. I’d prefer to have the best one! Besides, playing by the book is not as much fun as a bit of experimentation. (I…

Running Mix – The Bricks That Built My House – Anna Wall

We’re happy to add DJ Anna Wall’s ‘The Bricks That Built My House’ Mix to our Veggie Runners Running Mix collection – she’s a woman in demand! In the three years she and I were at university together in Newcastle, she’s rocketed from playing fantastic beats that made everybody move in my living room to playing the…

Cabbage and Caraway Soup

When I was a Veggie-Toddler, my mum used to make something for me with caraway. At least, I’m sure of it, because when I started frying this up, I had a Proustian moment, and the earthy smell transported me back our our teeny flat where I had stuck Babar transfers wherever I thought she wouldn’t…

Runners and Community after the Boston Marathon 2013

Running at its simplest ought to be a very solitary sport. The book isn’t called ‘The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner’ for nothing. You have no team, you have no shared uniform. Most practice is done alone. Unless you’re running a relay or a three-legged-race, your endeavours make no difference to the success of…

The 4 Raddest Races We’d Love to Try

Next weekend, mum will be running the Pain Barrier Mud 10K. She doesn’t even like getting her feet wet on a normal run! Stay tuned to see how she does. In the meantime, here are 4 races from around the world that I’d love to have a bash at, one day. 1. Color Me Rad 5K,…

Hot Cross Bun French Toast

These sound like a bit of a novelty ‘just-for-the-sake-of-it’ food, but I assure you they’re beautiful. The spice of the bread lends a grown-up air to breakfast, tasting like something much more complicated – sort of like a beignet. The factory I work at is open on Good Friday, so it’s not quite my holiday yet,…

Irresistible Tahini-Miso Dressing

In my own words, I used to be a complete “peanut-butter head”, eating about a jar a week on everything, from sliced apples to porridge. The thought of being without a jar filled me with dread, so much so that I would take it to hotels when I was working away. And yet, I haven’t…

4 Things to do when you can’t exercise

What should you do when you get injured? I’m not talking ice, rest, compress etc. This isn’t going to be a medical advice post – Mum’s the only doctor in Veggie Runners, and she’s a doctor of philosophy, so not much good for a broken ankle or other injuries. This post is talking about things…