A warm hot bowl of soup on a cold cold winter day. That's not just happiness but comfort, love and fuzziness. This week has been cold and is only going to get colder this coming weekend. In a strange way I am also kind of looking forward to experiencing -18 degrees again.

While running yesterday I kept on complaining how cold it was in my head. All I really wanted was to finish my 7 miles and gulp down a hot bowl of soup. I had made up my mind to buy a packet of soup but I guess my ego came in the way and I decided to use my ridiculously simple recipe.

I looked in the fridge and there were lots of carrots and leftover butternut squash and so the decision was kind of made for me. I ended up making carrot, ginger and butternut squash soup..



Ingredients:

1. 3 Carrots
2. 1.5 cups of butternut squash
3. 1 Onion
3. Fresh ginger
4. A few rosemary sprigs
5. Salt and pepper as per taste
6. 1 tsp Sriracha sauce
7. 0.5 cup Milk
8. 4 Garlic Pods
9. Olive oil
10. Paprika Powder
11. Balsamic Vinegar


This is how I made it:

1. I peeled carrots and butternut squash and chopped it in all possible weird shapes
2. I chopped onions in largish chunks. I wouldn't recommend slicing as it gets too watery
3. Minced 4 garlic pods
4. I lined a baking tray with foil and greased it (I drop 2-3 drops of oil in a tissue paper and then rub it on the foil)
5. I placed all the cut vegetables in a ziploc pack and sprinkled a teaspoon of oil, salt and pepper and then tossed them together (This removes unwanted drizzling of oil on the vegetables and also salt and pepper are mixed)

6. Once done, I lined the vegetables on the baking tray and sprinkled a few drops of balsamic vinegar (Can use any) and then roasted them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees
8. The vegetables had nice tan lines here and there and then I blended them all together in the mixer
9. I poured the mixture in a deep pan and added chicken broth (1 cup) and once it started boiling I added 0.5 cup of milk, a sprigs of rosemary and water to adjust my consistency, 1 TSP of Sriracha sauce
Optional: You can add cream here to give it make it rich but I make my soup thick (by using less water) so don't really use cream
10. You can either grate fresh ginger or use powder to the soup
11. Remember to stir for 2 minutes and then switch off the gas. Garnish with spring onion and serve with butter

Next time I will buy fresh baguette to go with it. Sounds lovely in my head.
Let me know how it turns out...
Ciao..

I have been running for the past 11 years now and have been competing participating in races for the past 3 years. I have been obsessed with fitness for a while now. It is a big part of my identity and my lifestyle. I love every thing about it. It is a journey. I eat EVERYTHING. Crash diets are not for me and I realized that a long time ago. The fact that I have a sweet tooth does not help either.

I am at a stage in life where I need to lose a few kilos to improve my half marathon performance. I made some conscious decisions last year and the outcome has been great so far. I think I have hit the wall now. Some might argue that a runner does not have to do anything to lose weight because you know running does it for them. It is a myth. Running might help newbies in losing weight but for a seasoned runner (I am taking that liberty here) it gets difficult. Your body starts storing extra water, muscle weighs more than fat and all that jazz. The biggest challenge is that you are always hungry or what I like to call #rungry.

Last week I decided to take matters in to my hands. I have decided to go for a self imposed clean eating challenge. I know it is going to be super difficult but I gotta do what I have to do to reach my target and what better way than to blog about it?

So I will try and post recipes of my dinner. My days are smooth without any issues. I am very disciplined through the day. Sometimes I just go ballistic after my dinner and eat whatever I can. Stress eating is another one of my problems.

Some ground rules that I have set for myself are:

1. No Alcohol
2. No Refined Sugar
3. No substituting honey for sugar
4. No chocolates on rest days or easy workout days
5. Only 2 squares of chocolate allowed on heavy intensity days
6. No Junk food
7. No Biscuits (Another bad habit that I have recently picked up). Only 3 biscuits allowed on heavy intensity days
8. Ice cream only allowed if I am running more than 13Kms
9. Protein with every meal
10. Less portions and 7 meals in a day
11. Eat cheat meals every once in a while

So lets start from yesterday:

Mexican Bean Salad:

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Boiled red kidney beans
1 yellow pepper
1 shredded carrot
1 onion chopped
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup baby corn
1/2 cup sweet corn
Garlic pods chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms finely chopped
Dried rosemary sprigs

Dressing
1 sweet lime freshly squeezed
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Soy Sauce
Pepper
Chilli Flakes
1 tsp Vinegar

Guacamole:
I used the standard Food Network recipe

Method:

In a pan heat a little oil and add chopped garlic pods and when garlic starts turning golden brown add mushrooms, rosemary sprigs and saute well.
Add yellow peppers and all the other vegetables one by one with broccoli at last.
Add beans and mix everything

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and pour it in to the pan. Mix everything well.

Serve it with Guacamole..



Ciao..

I added a new tag to my ever growing collection of hashtags on Instagram. It is called #DinnerForOne. I know that cooking for  single person is a challenge and esp if you don't believe in leftovers. This is a perfect, no fuss recipe and I strongly recommend it.

I wanted to eat Salad for dinner and was at my laziest best on Saturday. I also didn't want any fancy dressing and yet I wanted a comforting salad because hello Sundays are #LongDistanceRun days. Yes, that's how complicatedly we do things around here. The dinner recipe idea had started forming in my head by 8 PM. I looked in the fridge and picked the most fresh ingredients and decided to give it a shot and yes I was done with my dinner by 9:20.. #SoComforting..

When I was in Germany my standard meal/ side meal every day was a plate of roasted vegetables.
I love the flavor of roasted vegetables. It brings out the sweetness of every vegetable and how they all end up infusing with each other. So Beautiful. *sigh*.

So here is my recipe of Oven Roasted Vegetable Salad.


Sorry for a very shabby picture. Hopefully this is the last shabby picture on this blog. 
I am getting a new phone soooooon.

Ingredients:
1 Zucchini sliced thinly
2 Medium sized tomatoes sliced thinly
3-4 Garlic Cloves
1 Onion cut in to chunks
1 Carrot diced
1 Yellow Bell pepper cut in to strips
1 cup cooked spaghetti ( I used approximately 40 gm spaghetti and I broke the strands)
Olive oil for greasing and sprinkling 
Salt
Black Pepper
White Pepper
Chilli Garlic oil ( Can use Olive/ refined)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Herbs to sprinkle ( I used crushed rosemary, dill and paprika powder)
A few parsley leaves to garnish
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (Optional)
Note: You can select herbs of your choice

Method
I greased the baking tray with olive oil and placed the cut vegetables (except onions) on it with garlic cloves and sprinkled salt and crushed black and white peppercorns on it.

I sprinkled a little olive oil, a little chilli and roasted them in the oven for approximately 20 minutes.
Cutting vegetables thinly helps speed up the process and zucchini was really crispy when I took it out from the oven.. Yum!

In a pan I added chilli garlic oil and sauteed onions, I then added herbs and the roasted vegetables.
I kinda mashed the vegetables a bit using a spatula (Not too much.. just a bit)

When I was done with my light mish mashing I added cooked spaghetti, vinegar and mixed everything thoroughly. I then added grated parmesan.

I garnished the salad generously with chopped parsley..

Note: I have tried different variations and played around quite a bit with it and it was delicious every time.

I workout in the evenings and light dinners are simply not for me. My plate needs to be warm, hearty and comforting. Anything less and I feel starved. I am very particular about getting my macros right with every meal. I love dishes which are easy, flavorful and full of nutrients.

1. I cut Tofu in to 1 inch cubes and marinated it in vinegar, ginger and a little soy for 30 minutes

1. I sprinkled 1 tsp cornstarch on it and shallow fried it until it turned golden brown

1.  Sauce: Mix water/ broth, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, corn starch, ketchup, garlic paste

1. Sauté vegetables on a low flame for a minute and add the sauce mixture, cook until thickened

1. I sprinkled roasted sesame ( Totally optional)