Sunday, January 23, 2011

I ate well today, right up until that brownie sundae

I'm trying to eat more vegetables with every meal, which can be a little tricky at breakfast. On workdays, I don't even bother trying, relying on coffee, protein and EmergenC to get me through the morning.
Today, however, I had time and vegetables on my hands, so I made a breakfast stir fry.

I used a wok, so less oil was needed.
Spray wok with spray oil, then sauté:
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced very thin
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 cup broccoli florets, bite-size

Once veggies have softened a bit, add the following to create a sauce:
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
2-3 squirts of fish sauce
couple dashes of soy sauce
1 tsp of sesame oil
squirt of sriracha

Break two eggs into the pan and stir around until just cooked.
Serve with chile garlic sauce.
It was awesome! The tiny bit of sesame oil really made a difference, and I enjoyed every bite. The egg mixed in gave it some protein and reminded me of egg foo young. Tasty!



We went to my brother & sister-in-law's house for dinner, and I was in charge of the salad. I wouldn't usually record a salad, because I'm a firm believer in throwing together whatever looks good at the time. But this one got such rave reviews, it seemed worth noting.

Baby mixed greens ~ enough for 5 adults
1 cup salted agave almonds {see below}
crumbled bleu cheese, about 1/3 cup but I didn't measure ~ so whatever looks right
broiled pancetta {see below}
Litehouse Tangy Orange Citrus vinaigrette

On the dressing: I'm kind of a dressing snob. I would much rather make my own than buy one. But this one is tasty and low-cal, so I went for it. It works especially well with the bleu cheese. Once I assembled all the ingredients, I very lightly tossed in some dressing. Not a heavy hand with the dressing in the least.

{salted agave almonds}
Toast almond slivers in a skillet over medium-high heat until they start to brown slightly.
Add:
1 tsp butter
1 Tbsp agave nectar
Several pinches of coarse sea salt
Continue to stir over medium heat until the almonds are nice and toasty, and golden to deep-golden brown.
Cool on paper towels. Add a bit more salt if desired. {I usually desire more salt, and it's delightful against the agave nectar}


{broiled pancetta}
Lay 6 pancetta slices on a cookie sheet. I put them on a silpat.
Broil on high for 3-4 minutes, until pancetta is bubbling. Flip each piece over, and broil a few more minutes until the edges just start to brown.
Cool on a paper towel, then crumble into salad.

Jeff & Jeanie served perfectly grilled chicken breasts (I had half of one to keep my portion size under control), grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes. Jeanie did exactly what I like to do with the potatoes: cube 'em, olive oil, s&p. She also used oregano, which was lovely. Perfecto. I had to have seconds.

Where I got into trouble was dessert. My brother made brownies, but he did something really interesting. He used a brownie mix that would normally go in a 9x9" pan, but put it in a 9x13" pan. Then he drizzled chocolate sauce all over that and added another prepared mix. It was fairly awesome by itself, but then they served it as sundaes ~ complete with toasted nuts & caramel sauce. My downfall. I usually don't have too much trouble turning down dessert. But double chocolate brownies with ice cream, toasted nuts and CARAMEL? How could I resist? I'll just have to eat more veggies with breakfast, and maybe do a little more running this coming week!

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