Cycling Foodie

Follow

Tangelo Chicken with Asparagus and Broccoli

It was really quite simple. We started out with some Rocky the Range* chicken breasts. I sliced one tangelo and placed half of the slices in the bottom of a glass bowl, placed the chicken on top, then squeezed some juice on the chicken, laid the rest of the slices over the chicken, drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil over top, then seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Pierce the chicken with a fork, turn over, and season the other side lightly with salt and pepper. Be careful to not over salt at this stage. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Unintentional Soup

While the chicken was marinating, I prepared what turned out to be more of a soup than I had intended, but it worked. It was very healthy, but perhaps a little boring. However, with a plash or two of hot sauce, now we’re talking.

For the soup, I simply heated some chicken stock, put in brown rice leftover from Friday’s dinner, and heated this through, then turned off the heat. At the last minute, I added some stir fry greens that I got at Saturday’s Farmers’ Market, covered it and let it heat through. I didn’t want to cook the greens too much, because they can get bitter. This was a mix of different kales, cabbage, radicchio, and maybe a few other sturdy greens. I liked all of it except for the cabbage. Next time, I’ll probably create my own mix of greens.

Stir Fry Greens

While the greens heated through, I grilled the chicken breasts on my George Foreman grill. Remember to cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165-degrees Fahrenheit. How much time on the grill really depends on the thickness of the breasts and what temperature. I cooked these on high for the first few minutes, then turned it down to medium because the oranges were getting too dark.

(Yes, that was really fun to clean off the GF grill…)

In Progress ...

 

 

The Finished Chicken

Enjoy!

 

* This really is incredible chicken – from Petaluma Poultry (http://www.petalumapoultry.com/)

Follow

Last night was one of those, “what’s in the refrigerator?” dinners.

Thursday on my way home from work, I stopped by Trader Joe’s to pick up a few staples. I saw some of the most beautiful eggplant I have seen in a while, and for only $1.29 each, I had to get it.

To pick an eggplant, I always look for one that is plump and shiny. Eggplants bruise very easily, so be polite to your fellow shoppers and grocer and do not squeeze them, but handle them very gently.

To prepare eggplant for cooking, I peel it, slice it 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick, lay the slices out on a towel, and then grind some sea salt over it, turn the slice over and salt the other side.

I just use a little salt, but if you accidentally use too much, you can rinse it later; just be sure to pat it dry if you rinse it. The purpose of the salt is to draw some water out of the eggplant. Some eggplant, especially if they’re a little more mature, can be bitter. (Kind of like some people we all know!) The salt will help to draw that out, too. Then cover the salted eggplant with another towel and let them sit a while.

How long you let the eggplant sit depends on the eggplant. This was just about the most perfect eggplant I have seen in a long time and it didn’t need to sit for long, maybe 10 minutes? You can see from this eggplant that the seed were very small and hardly noticeable. That’s what you want. When the seeds get a little bigger, and dark, that’s a sign that your eggplant needs to salt a little longer. It may take some trial and error.

I cooked these on my George Foreman grill. To grill, brush or drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and place it on a pre-heated grill. One thing to keep in mind is that the eggplant will absorb a lot of oil, so be careful how much you use! It might look like there’s not enough, but you really don’t need much. I used medium heat. If you’re using a GFgrill, then put the top down. After about 1-2 minutes, I rotated the slices to get that pretty criss-cross grill mark. Put the top back down and cook until desired doneness. These cook quickly, so keep an eye on them.

These keep in the refrigerator for a day or so, so don’t worry if there are leftovers. It’s good cold in salads, can be used on pizza, as a quick and light eggplant parmigiana (just pour a little marinara over top, a little cheese, and heat it through – tastes so much better and is far healthier than deep fried!), or just reheated.

I made dinner, so it pretty much goes without saying that there will be salad. This was a very simple salad – artisan greens, heirloom cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, fresh thyme, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a couple of grinds of sea salt. I buy these greens at Costco:  http://www.artisanlettuce.com/. They’re a whole head, a pack of 6, and it’s a great deal. I have always been happy with the quality and they keep for the whole week.

Shrimp Cocktail

I also had some shrimp, so I made a quick shrimp cocktail. I just steamed the shrimp. Normally I would roast or grill them, but tonight it needed to be quick. Just thaw them (at least most of the way) and toss them in a steamer, and steam a few minutes. You really have to just go by color on these. For the cocktail sauce, I used a prepared cocktail sauce (Trader Joe’s seafood cocktail sauce) and added some extra horseradish. I’ll often add a little lemon, too.

There were also a few veggies left from last week’s Farmers’ Market – asparagus, brussel sprouts, and spinach. I steamed them lightly, just to warm them up.

Mmm ... steamed veggies!

Follow

I got a ride in tonight, about 22 miles. The first half was pretty unimpressive. I was tired from work, my knee was bugging me a bit, and it was a little breezier on the way out than I would have liked. The return trip, on the other hand … having the breeze at my back most of the way made it all worth it! Here are a few views from the ride.

The sky was quite dramatic; sadly, my little point and shoot just doesn’t quite capture it.

The famous Stevenson Bridge … a Yolo County landmark.

Then, just some random views from the bike path along Russell on the way home. I realize some of these might seem redundant, but each one shows some aspect of the sky that caught my attention.

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to ride tonight. It always helps to erase any stress from the day.

Just a reminder – stay safe out there! There was a time trials group on Putah Creek Road tonight and one of the guys went down. He was there on the ground on the side of the road with another rider, who did not appear to be injured. The downed rider had road rash on his forehead. Ouch! They said they were OK and didn’t need anything, but I’m guessing this poor guy is going to have one heck of a headache tomorrow.

Follow

This will be my 4th Tour de Cure. I can’t believe it is almost here – Sunday, May 6, 2012

It’s the best organized ride I have participated in and raises money for a great cause – raising money to help fight diabetes.

For full details, see:  http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/SanFranciscoArea?pg=entry&fr_id=8064

That's me in May 2011 Napa Valley Tour de Cure, about 90 miles into my first century!

Follow

Off the Russell Bike Path in Davis

Pictures may be worth thousands of words, but no picture can really capture the beauty of an evening like this.

I’m thankful to have been able to get out for a spin tonight after work. Looks like rain is in the forecast again starting Thursday, pretty nice Friday, showers and rain for the weekend.

A nice, light healthy dinner … Pesto Tilapia, a couple of small purple potatoes, and a salad. Sorry, no pictures; I must have been hungry. The Pesto Tilapia is available at Costco in the freezer section. It is surprisingly low in calories and fat for anything with “pesto” in the name. It has just enough to give it the rich, decadent pesto flavor without adding lots of calories and fat. It’s a nice treat now and then, and one you don’t have to feel too guilty about.

Follow

I rode Cardiac Hill again this weekend (Sunday, March 18th). I got rained on, hailed on, and blown around. It seemed to take forever for me to hit my stride and I don’t feel like I rode very strong at all, but I got to the top of the hill again. I did have a few moments of brilliance … well, maybe not quite brilliance, but … let’s just say some moments were stronger than others and I managed to keep smiling even when my legs just did not seem to have any power in them Sunday.

Yes, the wind is an excellent training tool, but at times wind is to me as kryptonite is to Superman.

The important thing is that I stuck it out, even while getting pelted with BB-sized hail and cold rain. Actually, it was kind of exciting.

It started raining and the wind kicked up when I hit the top of the dam at the Napa-Solano County line. I continued on towards Markley Cove, which pretty much marks the start of Cardiac Hill. Today was a slow ride, but I made it to the top. I know that this hill isn’t that big of a deal to more accomplished cyclists, but for me … I’m working on getting stronger again, so it’s a big deal to me. I’m getting some very positive encouragement from one very accomplished cyclist in particular, and that means a lot to me.

When I was about halfway between the dam and Markley Cove it started hailing. The very first time I rode up this way, probably in 2007-2008 (on my Klein mountain bike fitted with slick tires for the road), I experienced similar weather, so that was kind of a fun ride down memory lane.

On my way back down the hill, I hit a big pothole. BAM! It just seemed to jump out of nowhere, if you know what I mean. I didn’t see it in time to avoid it, but in just enough time to be aware of it. I was quite happy to not fly over the handlebars, lose balance, or end up with a flat. Quite relieved indeed.

The weather was nice for a while and I stopped to take a few photos of Lake Berryessa. The sky was quite dramatic; these pictures don’t quite capture how stunning it really was. There weren’t many boats on the lake, and there weren’t many trucks hauling boats to the lake, either. That certainly made for a more pleasant and safer ride!

On my way back down towards Lake Solano, the rain and hail started again. Woo hoo! I stopped for just a moment at Lake Solano to grab a couple of photos. You can see in the photos that the road was still wet from the rain.

Then I headed back Pleasants Valley Road to Putah Creek Road and on to Winters. Just a few miles out of Winters my riding partner caught up with me and we rode back together. Yeah, caught up with me. Haha! I could leave it at that, but I suppose that would be deceptive. Well, he did ride a lot further out than I did. There was no way I was going to keep up with him so he rode ahead and then met me on the way back, which worked out perfectly. Funny thing … he did not get hailed on at all, but just got a few sprinkles.

I’m looking forward to more cycling adventures soon!

Follow

The goal of tonight’s ride:

1. Maintain a cadence between 80-90 rpm.
2. Get home before dark.
3. De-stress from work.

Goal accomplished!

The goal for the rest of the night …

1. Get caught up on blogging.