Bird Food ... some more, delicious, triathlon friendly recipes

Training hard requires hard eating. With Ironmen training 10, 20, or 30 some hours a week, biking hundreds of miles, and spending much of their free time polishing their Zipp 1080 dish wheels, some athletes forget that nutrition is a big part of their success come race day. Here's two recipes, made with scratch and love, which will pack your skinny triathlete belly full of healthy calories, powerful antioxidants, and a ton of valuable nutrients.

The first recipe, a nutritional atom bomb from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, is Curried Spinach Pea Soup. It's got a long list of ingredients, but don't let that intimidate you. It's just onions, potatoes, spinach, and peas, along with a bunch of spices. Not only do you get the obvious health benefits from the four main ingredients, but the spices all have well-documented, therapeutic, wellness promoting qualities.

The second recipe is invented and perfected by ME. That's right, bitches. Not only do I blog, dominate triathlons, and use my Ninja skills to battle forces of evil, but I cook like a french chef. The recipe is Chocolate Cranberry Protein Bars.


Curried Spinach Pea Soup

• 5 cups water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups diced potatoes
• 8 garlic cloves, whole
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 cups chopped onions
• 1.5 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
• 1.5 teaspoons turmeric
• 1.5 teaspoons cumin
• 1.5 teaspoons coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 cups frozen green peas
• 4 cups packed fresh spinach
• 14 oz can low-fat coconut milk

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a large soup pot, then ease in the potatoes and garlics. Simmer for 15 minutes.
In a large saucepan, warm the oil, and saute the onions for 10 minutes, or until their tender and translucent. Stir in the ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, coriander, cayenne, and black pepper. Add the lemon juice and 1 cup of the potato water. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
Transfer the onions mixture into the potato pot. Stir in the peas and spinach, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk, then puree the whole mess in a blender. Reheat gently.


Chocolate Cranberry Protein Bars

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 8 scoops chocolate protein powder
• 1 egg
• 12 tablespoons natural creamy peanut butter
• 1.5 cups whole milk
• 1.5 cups dried cranberries
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x9 pan.
Combine the peanut butter, egg, and milk in a bowl. Mix very well (this is a little bit of a workout). Add the protein powder, and stir some more. Pour the oats, cranberries, baking power, and salt, and mix, mix, mix some more.
Spoon the batter into the pan. Bake, uncovered for 35 minutes. Makes 8-16 bars, depending on how big you want to cut them up.

Both of these recipes are great for leftovers and take-to-work meals. Just imagine how your coworkers will look at you like your crazy when you whip out your Curried Spinach Pea Soup, then have a Chocolate Cranberry Protein Bar for dessert, as they exclaim, "I could never eat that green soup!" all while they nibble their limp Lean Cuisine Meal, complaining about the fatness of their ass and how no diets will ever work for them. Or maybe that's just my job.


Song of the Week

I Find It Hard To Say (Rebel) by Lauryn Hill

Just a flat out awesome song and performance. I still have a crush on Lauryn Hill.