Recipes for when your nutrition tank is at zero
Try to find a vitamin or mineral at Disney World, I dare you.
Hello, chefs.
We’re running on fumes over here. I’m fresh off the plane from a Disney World work trip, and as I typed that sentence, I giggled over how exhausting those two flavors of travel are alone—Disney World and work trip?!—and that putting them together into one is frankly a human rights violation.
I’m craving long walks (Nashville temps will drop below 100 this week 🙌🏻), gallons of water, big salads, yoga class, anything to serve as an antidote to The Mouse. Disney is great, by the way, despite my low expectations, and I totally get the appeal. But six days will do some damage. So this week I’m leaning into healthy girl shit.
No one needs to wait for a change in month to kick off something new, but there’s something about gearing up for a change at the start of a month or season that gives me just enough excitement to actually get started. Plus, we’re taking some photos at our future marriage celebration venue in October, and I want glowing skin and bright eyes in those, so come onnnnnn KALE! K-A-L-E KALE! The challenge is that between weddings, a birthday trip for Dan, another conference, and friends visiting, this month is about 90% chaos and 10% normal life, so my excitement about vegetables and hydration may wane quickly. Here’s to making the most of it.
-Faith
Baked salad with miso dressing
I love a baked salad, and this one is the perfect mix of baked and fresh to make the most of these last dregs of summertime. There’s a bit of prep involved, so I recommend making a big batch to enjoy for the whole week.
Prep a cup of quinoa according to the package directions. Toss with oil, salt, and either chile oil or cayenne pepper to taste. Spread on a baking pan and bake at 425 for ~20 minutes or until crisp. You can do this at the same time as the cabbage below.
Slice up a small head of cabbage, toss with oil, salt, and pepper, and bake at 425 for ~20 minutes or until cooked and crisp, flipping halfway through.
Do the same with a big bunch of kale, but only cook it for 5-10 minutes or until crisp.
Make your dressing: whisk together 1 tbsp of miso with 2 tbsp of rice vinegar until smooth. Add 2 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp neutral oil, a bit of grated ginger and garlic, and cayenne pepper to taste. Whisk until smooth.
To serve, toss your baked veg and quinoa (just enough for whatever you’re eating now—save the rest!) with a bit of dressing. Top with sliced green onions, avocado, thawed edamame, and roasted peanuts.
Cucumber spritz
My poor juicer sees the light of day maybe once a year. There’s just so many parts! And from what I understand, pre-making your green juice kind of defeats the purpose. But this is an evening tonic that gives me just enough pep in my step to forget about the glass of wine that I’m really craving while I make dinner, and the juices required will keep in the fridge for several days.
To prep a batch, juice and store separately a cucumber or two, a big piece of ginger, and several lemons (you can just squeeze those).
In a rocks or highball glass, combine 1oz cucumber juice and 1/2oz each of the ginger and lemon juice. Top off with soda water.