A Bit About Food

    A little bit about food. Saturday evening is a double session: solid swim, followed by an upper body strength training session. There is food in the car so I can eat as soon as I leave the pool. When I get home I top off with a vegan protein smoothie before spending an hour abusing already tired muscles with 60 minutes of resistance bands, hand weights, and barbell work. Then the real feeding frenzy begins.
    I think about food a lot. I am hungry all the damned time. I really think about food when I am swimming endless laps, and a hard swim will make me feel like a bottomless pit for about 24 hours. Tonight, during my two mile I.M swim (alternating 100 yards each breast stroke, backstroke, crawl) I was hit with a voracious hunger at about lap 65. That hunger you feel all the way from the pit of the stomach to the tips of your fingers. I was afraid I would actually bonk, but I didn't, I pushed through and finished strong. But it did lead to a vivid fantasy about barbecue black bean and roasted yam chili over buttered rice, which I happened to have waiting for me at home.
    I have to plan ahead or I will hit the kitchen like a plague of locusts, devouring anything that I can get my hands on. I keep healthy food around and handy. There is always fruit (I eat a lot of damned bananas), right now I am on an orange binge. There is usually a loaf of home made gluten free, whole grain banana bread (my own recipe) in the cupboard, which makes epic peanut butter sandwiches, by the way. I usually have a pot of something in the fridge, ready to heat and eat. My vegetarian bbq chili has been a staple this winter. Other faves are Spanish rice made with a wild and brown rice blend and quinoa; mac and cheese made with high protein pasta; spaghetti sauce chock full of French green lentils (they have a spicy, hearty flavor and meaty texture). I mix and match with ferocity. The last two nights it was BBQ chili, layered with fresh corn tortillas, cheese and topped with two fried eggs. Let me stop here and say, I will put fried eggs on almost anything, and if not fried eggs, then I put peanut butter on it.
    I am lucky to have Milk Creek Produce near to hand. I stop there at  least once a week and stock up on yams, beets, bananas, local apples, oranges, cauliflower, spinach, avocados, and whatever is on special. During the summer I get their super sweet corn and put that shit in everything.
    I am sleepy and rambling, as usual. I wanted to jot down the basics of my vegetarian chili, since I have been talking it up all winter. I think I have made and eaten more chili this winter than I have in the last decade.
Barbecue Black Bean and Roasted Veg Chili
Peel and cut into 3/4" cubes: 1 large yam, 2 medium beets, 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, 2 carrots, 1 small sweet onion. Toss with olive oil, sea salt and Smoked Hungarian Paprika and spread in a greased shallow pan. Roast at 375 until cooked through and well browned.
Meanwhile in a medium saucepan cook 1/2 cup red quinoa, 2 cups water, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, salt and pepper, chili powder to taste, and 1 tsp smoked Hungarian paprika.
Add the roasted veggies to the cooked quinoa, add just enough water to almost cover the veggies. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in 1 can organic black beans, rinsed and drained. Add about 1/4 cup good barbecue sauce ( not the stuff that is chock full of high fructose corn syrup), salt, pepper, and siracha to taste. Serve alone, or over rice, or layered with tortillas, or.... You can even mash this up like flavor packed refried beans, it makes a fabulous burrito.
Instead of BBQ sauce I have used a bit of tomato paste, a drizzle of molasses, a spoonful of dark brown sugar, smoked paprika, siracha, and a dash of rice vinegar.