Quitting Cold Turkey (Sandwiches)

On January 1st, 2011, I quit cold turkey. That is, I gave up on my habit of reaching for easy, convenient lunches like the turkey cold cut sandwich. I am missing out on a whole world of delicious, healthy food because I have been too lazy to put in the effort to find it and prepare it. So, I am quitting cold turkey and embracing a world where my food is interesting again, not just fuel to chomp on during a lunch hour. I'm keeping this blog to capture some of the memorable discoveries I make along the way to a better diet that is full of nutritious and flavorful food. As my diet transforms, my fitness will too. Let's see how quitting cold turkey works...

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QCT: Round Two.

It's been a delicious summer. Perhaps a little too delicious. Sounds like a good reason to revisit The Rules, and what better day to do it than at the start of a month. The #1 on a calendar is a chance for a fresh start, and since I appear to have gained back a few of the pounds that I lost in the first half of the year, I think it's time to hunker down (or something equivalent to hunkering down) and take QCT to the next level.

OK, that's extreme, I just want to get it back to the previous level. That level was OK.

Some quick stats for my first round of QCT: In the first six weeks of the year, I dropped between 12-15 lbs. I started the year somewhere between 142-145 lbs, and dropped and held a weight between 130-133 through June. I accomplished this by following a few simple rules that I outlined in the first post in this blog.

Part of my motivation was to drop a bit of weight to improve my race times, and in particular, to fulfil my quest for a Boston Marathon qualifying time. Mission accomplished: In late May I ran a PR for the 5k in 19:50. On June 6th I ran a 3:15:22 marathon and qualified for Boston. On July 4th I ran a sub-26 minute four miler. None of these numbers are going to impress the Olympic committee, but they're all breakthroughs for me, and validation of the efforts I put in.

Unfortunately, I think I got a little to relaxed after the qualifying marathon, and especialy after the July 4th weekend. I lost a bit of focus on the QCT approach and I started gaining weight back. So before it gets out of hand, I am going to take control back.

My goal for August is to drop lose the weight I have gained back but also start gaining a bit more muscle. My ultimate goal is a sub 3:10 marathon in September, which would break my marathon PR.

My long term goal is to continue the good habits that I have picked up in the first half of the year. I wanted to summarize a few of these habits, which I think were the keys to my health success, in addition to my original Rules:

What's Out:

- Cereal - I have not had a bowl of cereal all year. I miss the crap out of it sometimes, but I think it was one of the most important changes I made. - Soda - Not an ounce all year. I never really drank regular soda anyway, and I doubt the diet soda had a huge metabolic impact, but it sure feels good not to have that junk in my stomach. - Subway - I used to LIVE on Subway sandwiches, at least twice a week I'd eat there. How can something that made Jared lose all that weight be unhealthy? What's wrong with cold cuts? Nothing, on the surface, but its a gateway to unhealthy eating. Portion size is thrown off. Plus, you stop thinking about ingredients when someone hands you a prepared meal.

What's In:

- Salad - The more leafy greens you're eating, the less of something else is going in your stomach. - Herbal Tea - Herbal tea completely curbed my late night cravings in the beginning, and also became a part of a decompression routine that I need to get back into. - Quinoa - Great subsitute for rice - Yams- Filling, healthy, colorful, versitile, and packed with nutrients (kinda like healthy, I guess). I can eat a yam with nothing on it. - Cooking - I am convinced that the ingredients themselves are less important than the commitment to preparing them. Part of the QCT experiment was to take part in preparing the meal, and sharing the results at a table with good company. - Wine - I am not going to argue with results. Plus, I love a small glass of red when I am cooking. It's basically a vitamin.

Tomorrow night, I'm kicking off again with a repeat offering of my version of Pho. I'll probably have a yam or some quinoa for lunch. But for now, I'll just finish my herbal tea and go to bed...

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

I Made Sorbet with Beets... details inside!

This evening, I rescued several items from my fridge and counter from certain death and ended up making a pretty impressive menu in the process... Some of my best creations have come about by just working with the stuff that is on its last night of freshness before becoming 'questionable...

The ingredients for this impromptu dinner spread included yams, leftover quinoa, fresh strawberries, sliced mini-cucumbers, some fresh beets that needed roasting, a hunk of roquefort that I thought I'd eat more of. To this, I added a few spices, some frozen raspberries, and a few good guesses. The resulting menu never made items doomed for the trash sound so good:

Chilled Cucumber and Strawberry Salad

Warm Sweet Potatoes and Quinoa with Roasted Beets and Roquefort

Berry and Beet Sorbet. (Damn right I did!)

For the salad, I mixed sliced of cucumber and strawberry with some white wine vinegar, red wine, basil, a dash of chimayo chili, and I think that's it... toss it, throw it in the fridge, and wait until it gets cold. Or as the gourmets say, 'chilled'... Overall, it was OK, but not impressive. I'd prefer to use balsamic vinegar next time, and would consider making a sweeter balsamic reduction as a dressing.

For the main course, I boiled diced sweet potatoes until tender, then threw them in cold water for a minute to stop them from cooking further and mixed with the leftover quinoa, some thyme, and a bit of cinnamon.

Three beets were washed and wrapped together loosely in foil, with a tbsp of water added before sealing. I roasted this for about 30 minutes at 425. When they were done, I peeled them with my hands (wearing latex gloves) and diced. Two were set aside for the main course, the last for dessert. I then spooned out the potatoes, topped with diced beets, and then topped with crumbled roquefort.

This is not a dish that should be mixed together; the beets will make everything turn red and it will not look nearly as appetizing. The contrasting flavors of the beet, roquefort and sweet potato were interesting no matter what combination was on the fork.

For dessert, I cooled the remaining beet, then blended it with frozen raspberries, fresh strawberries, a little lemon juice, and some cilantro. It was a little more 'smoothie consistency' than I wanted so I threw it back in the freezer until dinner was over...  The sorbet was very sweet because of the raspberries, but you can still taste the contrast with the beet. Next time, I'd back off on the raspberry and add more strawberry, and might freeze the beet once it is roasted to add thickness.

The results, starting with the salad...

On to the Main Course...

and finally, dessert...

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Iron Chef at Home: Battle Squid

Several months ago, I bought a 2.5 lb block of frozen, cleaned squid to use as a new ingredient. I opted to go with the whole squids, since precut rings seemed to limit what I could do with the ingredient. I finally decided to defrost the batch and get creative.

After starting the defrosting process in the fridge a day or two before, I started thinking about creative recipes. However, when I decided to finally get cooking, I had not gotten a chance to gather ingredients at a store, so I was limited to what I had in the house.

After we put our son down to sleep, my wife stepped out to run an errand. My challenge: One hour to get the squid cooked, plated, and ready to serve the moment she returned. Also, I had to make three dishes and use the entire 2.5 lb block of squid.

Since I am trying to eat healthy, frying the squid as a traditional calamari appetizer was not an option. I've always been partial to calamari marinara, a tender stewed squid in tomato sauce, anyway, so immediately added that as a dish to the menu. I also wanted to use some of the veggies we recenlty bought to make a bean salad, so I started listing out ingredients for a chilled salad that contained calimari rings. Finally, I decided to reserve two whole squids to be marindated and broiled.

I immediately began boiling two pots of water and began washing and dicing veggies. I think a key to a cooking an improv meal is to get a pot of water going right up front. You'll use it to blanche some vegetables, boil pasta or rice or quinoa, or quick thaw a frozen meat. Plus, if you don't use it, its a pot of water... you can dump it, or if you're environmentally concious, just let it cool and then water some plants with it.

Once the basic prep was done, I got started on the the marinara. I sauteed diced up squid for a few minutes with onions, garlic and basil, added the tomatoes, and let the sauce simmer the entire time I focused on the other dishes.

I then marinated the while squids in a mixture of garlic, soy sauce, balsamic, red wine, worchestershire sauce and hot sauce, and set into the fridge for the next 30 or so minutes. This left me the majority of the rest of the time to focus on the chilled salad.

It was easy to prepare squid for a salad. Squid should either be cooked for a very short or very long period of time. The marinara is a good example of long.... it will simmer for quite some time and will end up being quite tender... however for a salad, a quick boil is the way to go. I dropped sliced up squid into boiling water for no more than about a minute, then threw it into ice water to stop the cooking process. I then combined it with diced veggies, sea salt, quinoa, and chick peas, and marindated in a dressing of EVOO, hot sauce (lots of it), and white wine vinegar. That was then put into the fridge, and while I was in there, I pulled out the marinating whole squid...

I transferred the marinated squid to a pan for broiling, and then took the marinate and began heating in a small sauce pan. I broiled the squid for about two minutes on each side untl the meat was firm but not tough. I continued to bring the marinade to a boil and then reduced to a nice thick syrup that I used as a sauce for the finished, sliced broiled squid.

After plating the broiled squid, the salad had a nice chill to it, and the sauce was done. I had used the remaining pot of boiling water to make some pasta for the calamari sauce. Ideally, I would have premade the quinoa for a cold salad, but since I made it fresh at the top of the hour, it was still warm and thus made the salad a bit more 'room temp' than I would have liked (but it was amazing the next day for lunch!)

The results:

The ingredients (Sorry, no mixing ratios.... choose your own!):

Chilled Calamari and Chick Pea Salad

Celery

Tomato

Shallot

Serrano Chili

Sea Salt

Squid

Chick Peas

White wine vinegar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Quinoa

Hot Sauce

Broiled Marinated Calamari

Garlic

Soy Sauce*

Balsamic Vinegar*

Red Wine*

Worchestershire sauce

Hot Sauce

Squid

*Roughly equal parts of these ingredients, less of the worchester and hot sauces...

Calimari Marinara

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

Garlic

1/2 diced onion

Basil

White wine

Squid

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Non-Dairy New England Clam Chowder! Seriously!

A few weeks ago, my wife found a vegan recipe for potato leek soup that we really liked a lot. I was surprised that such a creamy soup can be made without any actual cream. When I posted about it, I mentioned that I thought it might make a great base for a no-cream New England Clam Chowder, so I gave it a try. I am going to go ahead and call this one a winner.

I modified the potato leek recipe, mainly by removing the leeks and garlic and upping the potato content. I added extra potatoes because I wanted to keep some in reserve so they can add texture to the soup. The original recipe requires that you blend 100%, in my version, I probably only blended about 50-60%.

I then added some select ingredients common to clam chowder. For example, clams. I also added spices like dill and bay, black pepper and a dash of hot sauce. When all was said and done, I think this was as satisfying a bowl of New England Clam Chowder as I've ever had. I didn't miss the cream at all!

1-2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups onion, chopped

1/2 tsp sea salt

4-5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2" cubes

4 cups chicken stock (I used the light version w/ 50% less sodium)

3 6.5 oz cans of minced clams, with juice retained

2-3 stalks of celery, whole but trimmed of leaves

1-2 bay leaves

2-3 tsp rosemary leaves

1 tsp dill

black pepper to taste

dash (or three) hot sauce

Heat the oil in a medium pot (large enough to hold all of the above); Sautee the onion and salt about five minutes

Add the potatoes, chicken stock, celery stalks, spices, and the juice from the three cans of clams. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium, cooking potatoes through.

Remove the celery stalks and set aside. Using a blender (or in my case, my Magic Bullet), blend a bit more than half of the potatoes and broth, about one cup at a time until smooth, and collect in a separate, heatproof bowl. Take care not to blend the bay leaves!

Recombine the blended broth with the unblended broth, and add the clams.

Dice the celery stalks and add to the soup.

Add the dash of the hot sauce, and grind in a bit of black pepper.

Heat another five minutes or so, and serve.

Oyster crackers optional. Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Thai-Style Pork with Mustard Greens

I've been curious about mustard greens because I read that they have a very pepperry (mustardy-even) taste to them. So, I grabbed a large bunch at the store yesterday, and also picked up some ground pork for another idea. I had no intention of using them together, but creativity struck and I decided to try something that used both at once. I still have half the bunch of greens left, so look for another dish in the next day or two with mustard greens...

I had been in the mood for Thai food, so I decided to try a simple dish that had a bit of Thai influence. Rummaging through my fridge, I was able to pull in some otherwise hard to find ingredients, like fish sauce. I was careful to use fewer spices in this; I wanted the natural flavor of the mustard greens to add power this dish.

On a side note, I also was able to justify to my lovely wife why I stash serano chilis and let them dry out. I diced a couple finely and had fresh red pepper flakes! I only used enough to make the dish mildly spicy, and as mentioned, did not want to mask the flavor of the mustard greens.

Enjoy, served with brown rice...

~ 1 lb ground pork

1/2 large bunch of mustard greens, well-rinsed and cut into pieces

1 large tomato, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic (from a jar)

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp dried serrano chili flakes; more to taste...

1 tsp lemon juice

In a large saute pan, heat the oil and saute the onion, garlic, and ginger for about two minutes.

Add the red pepper flakes and saute another minute.

Add the ground pork and stir fry until the pork is about 1/2 of the way through cooking, about 4-5 minutes. About 3-4 minutes in, add the lemon juice and fish sauce.

Add the mustard greens and cover. Lower the heat and let the greens steam in the pan for about 4-5 minutes. Mix well and saute uncovered for a few more minutes, until the pork is done and the greens have wilted.

Add the tomato and saute another minute.

The photo is not great, because the camera is not great... I'll replace it when I use the better camera.

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Oven-Steamed Pollack with Spinach and Salsa

Another easy to prepare, delicious meal... I love making "tin-foil fish" as my wife calls it, because it is easy to throw together. It is also usually is easy to clean up, provided you keep the tin foil intact on the baking pan... We didn't serve this with a starch b/c we were not that hungry (or maybe it was because I ate a piece of sprouted grain toast afterwards...), but this would pair with anything simple, like a baked potato or some rice or quinoa...

For each foil packet:

A large mound of baby spinach

1-2 pieces of frozen pollack, thawed

2-3 tbsp fresh salsa

Olive oil

2 tsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a large piece of foil, make a mound of spinach, and lay on the pollack. Season with salt and pepper, and top with salsa. Finally, drizzle a little olive oil and the lemon juice.

Wrap the foil so that all edges are sealed but there is still space for steam to build up. I usually bring the edges up and then roll them together, then roll the edges in... leaving lots of space for steam.

Bake the packet(s) on a baking sheet, about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

"Quick-and-Dirty" Rice

A meal put together with creatively used healthy leftovers is the perfect 'poster child' for the Quit Cold Turkey diet. So on Monday night when I came home to a fridge full of weekend leftovers and unused ingredients, I had all that I needed to pull together a spontaneous creation.

In the fridge, cabinet, and freezer, I found:

About two cups cooked brown rice

An Aneheim chili

1/2 of a bunch of Scallions

Most of a can of pinto beans, drained

olive oil

8-10 frozen shrimp, thawed and diced into large pieces

Crushed garlic

olive oil

Pre-mixed Cajun seasoning (I whip up a batch of this every few months from fresh spices)

Dice the chili and scallions, and sautee in the olive oil with a tsp of the garlic.

Add the shrimp and sautee another 2-3 minutes.

Add the rice, beans, and seasoning (to taste) and sautee another few minutes.

My wife said adding a bit of tomato sauce might make it a little less dry, but I liked it as it was. I think the tomato sauce would be a good variation though.

Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Irish Oats with Prunes, Almonds and Flax

Don't you love when a recipe is basically just everything that appears in the name of the thing you're making?

Oatmeal is a great addition to the QCT diet plan. It is filling, slow-burning carbs, it is easy to make, and it keeps in your cabinet for a while. Irish oats take much longer to cook but they make for a nice alternative to the traditional quick oats.

I prepared these according to package directions, but added a few diced up prunes halfway through cooking. The prunes sweetened the oats and covered the need for additional flavoring. Once they were cooked up, I mixed in some ground flax seed, and topped with diced almonds and sliced bananas.

Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

WikiLeeks! (Broiled Leaks with Sea Salt and Pepper)

Last week we made some delicious Potato Leek soup, so had a bunch of leeks leftover. I whipped up a side with them that was easier than falling out of a chair.

Slice the leeks lengthwise and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

On a baking pan, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper (not sea pepper) to taste.

Turn on the broiler and place the leeks into the oven away from the heat source, letting them warm up for about 10 minutes.

Move the pan under the heat source and broil about 5-6 minutes, until the edges of the leeks begin to char.

Eat...

Enjoy!

(Blackberry photo...)

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Sometimes all you need is a salad...

We had a pretty full day and just wanted a light dinner, so I whipped up a great salad with some fresh and leftover ingredients. This is not a groundbreaking concoction by any means, but I'm posting it because I think the picture came pretty good and might make you want to eat a salad... My salad included:

Baby arugula

Baby carrots, diced

Cucumber, diced

Celery, diced

Grape tomatoes

Chick peas

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Sesame Seeds

If I need to explain how to make a salad...

Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Pan-Seared Tuna Steaks

I picked up some frozen albacore tuna steaks from Trader Joe's and prepared them with a simple marindade of olive oil, salt and pepper. Once defrosted, these were simple to make:

Coat the steaks in the salt/pepper/oo mixture and set in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight if you want)...

Heat a little additional olive oil in a pan. Add the tuna steaks to the hot pan and sear on high heat for about two minutes on each side. The middles should still be pink. The package said this was OK, in case you don't believe me.

These were sliced up and served with mixed veggies... yes, that's the same mixed veggies as the previous post with the spiced-ribs. That was my lunch, this was my dinner ;)

Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Five-Spice Boneless Pork Ribs

I'm a huge fan of PF Chang's Northern Style Ribs, which have a really sweet and spicy dry rub. I wasn't able to create an exact match, but came fairly close and enjoyed my creation.

I had a frozen pork loin that I've been waiting to use, so I sliced it into 'rib'-sized portions and gave it a healthy rubdown with (you choose the ratios; I was heavy on the cinnamon and chili with less of the other three):

Cinnamon

Cloves

Chimayo Chili

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Once the ribs were nicely coated, I broiled about 2-3 minutes on the top and bottom, then got the sides for about a minute each. Use your judgement and don't overcook the pork. Served up with a side of mixed veggies...

Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Roasted Roots with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme-Spiced Shrimp

The other day I grabbed a bunch of parsley root at the store. When I initially saw it I thought it was a miniature parsnip but the little tag informed me otherwise. So, I grabbed it, took it home and figured I'd get something done with it. I had ideas about some sort of dish that used both the root and the parsley greens as well, but these greens were looking pretty weak so I just went with the roots.

Since we happened to have some other roots in the house, I thought I'd make a nice root medley. This would be a phenomenal autumn dish but since I didn't think the parsley would last that long, I went for it in March. With this weather, it's hard to get Spring Fever anyway...

I paired the root medley with some rustic, thyme-spiced shrimp, also seasoned with garlic, black pepper and lemon juice. Everything came together nicely, and I would love to make these roots again, maybe mixing in some turnips, parsnip, or leeks next time...

For the roots:

1 large potato (or 2 small), chopped into 1/2" cubes - I used Yukon Golds

1 cup baby carrots, chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 bunch parsley root, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

Sea Salt to taste

Rosemary to taste

Heat the oil, and preheat the oven to 425. Saute everything together for about 5-6 minutes.

Transfer to a oven-safe casserole and roast in the oven about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

For the shrimp:

7-10 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails off

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

Heat the oil. Saute the shrimp and garlic about one minute.

Add the spices and mix well. Saute another 4-6 minutes, or until shrimp are just about done.

Add the lemon juice and turn off the heat. Mix well and let finish in the pan about 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy!

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Creamy Potato Leek Soup (Without Cream!)

I did not take a picture of tonight's dinner because 1) I could not find the camera, and 2) the picture would look like a bowl of a uniform beige creamy soup.

(Interesting, as I typed this, I was looking off to the left and staring at the camera. But now I've eaten, and as per The Rules, I'm not having seconds.)

However, I wanted to share the link to an amazing vegan potato leek soup that my wife whipped up tonight. Among our various ingredients this week, we decided to make something with leeks, and this was an obvious choice. However, as I limit dairy and am not normally fond of cream soups, this was a healthier option.

I figured I would not 'dislike' the soup but didn't think I would be doing backflips either. Turns out, it was really good. Not 'passable.' Good, like I-want-to-make-it-again good.

Since the base is a nice creamy texture that doesn't contain cream, I may augment the recipe to make a Clam Chowder that feels like New England but is healthier like Manhattan. Sure it won't be vegan anymore, but that was never really a requirement for me.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/creamy-potato-leek-soup-vegan.html

This picture is credited to the website where the recipe is (See aforementioned comment about not having camera handy at the time.)

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Chicken Pozole (the other dark meat)

We've been in the mood for pozole so I decided to try it with chicken this time around. We had it made with chicken at a restaurant once, and although it is not traditional, I figured, whatever, if it tastes good, then might as well go for it.

My pozole recipe is at the following link here on QuitColdTurkey:

http://quitcoldturkey.tumblr.com/post/2762911820/pozole-or-posole-if-youre-in-new-mexico

All I did was switch the 3 lbs of pork for a 2 lb package of boneless chicken thighs. Dark meat is the way to go here. By using less meat and a bit more water, I also made more of a soup, which is what I was going for.

Verdict: Just as good with chicken.

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Green Eggs (sans Ham)

I've decided that a good Sunday tradition is to take leftover stuff and make an omelet out of it.

So today when I opened the fridge to find a sorry bunch of fresh parsley left for dead, I gave it a rinse, minced it, and sauteed it quickly with garlic and olive oil. I added three well-beaten eggs, a dash of cumin, salt, and red pepper, and finished with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

The result was a unique omelete that I'd love to try again with a smokey cheese and some tomato... and maybe some ham...

[quitcoldturkey-blog]

Cabbage Rolls Stuffed with Lamb and Brown Rice

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, running into cabbage in a supermarket is like running into a frat boy in Hoboken. Since a head of cabbage costs about a nickel this week, I grabbed one and decided to change the menu for the week. I had purchased some ground lamb to make lamb meatballs, but decided to make stuffed cabbage in a sweet and sour tomato sauce, like the kind we get from a kosher deli near us.

I searched the internet for decent recipes and found this one on food network, which I augmented by using brown rice instead of white, lamb instead of beef and pork, and instead of sugar, I used a splash of pineapple juice. I also halved the recipe; it is surprising how a head of cabbage only yields about six or seven useful leaves for stuffing. There will be another recipe later this week with the inner part of the head...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/stuffed-cabbage-rolls-galumpkis-recipe/index.html

The recipe is far too lengthy to post in its entirety, so just go read it. Prepping was not difficult, but it was cumbersome. Lots of pots and pans... Rolling blanched cabbage with filling is not that hard.

I made this last night and heated it up for tonight's dinner, and served it with simple boiled potatoes with salt and a pat of butter. This was well worth the effort and the wait!