It's Friday - What I Ate Today

It's Friday also known as my long run day, but today is a drop back week (yay!) so only a 10k - which felt really good. It was my first run this year without needing to wear a jacket, the sun was out, it wasn't windy - it was beautiful! While I have been having smoothies most mornings, today I opted for my brown rice tortilla-nut butter-dates and hemp seed combo. 

For lunch, I was craving tostadas. Before my run, I pulled a jar of pinto beans out of the freezer and filled it with hot water to help the beans defrost while I was away.  When I returned I emptied the jar of most of the water and poured the beans into a sauce pan and seasoned them with turmeric, garlic and onion powder, cumin, chili powder, cayenne and chipotle powder as well as salt and pepper.  Once the beans were hot, I stirred vigorously making them into refried beans consistency. Meanwhile, I sliced red and green bell pepper (spring veggies! see my previous post for more details) and a small jalapeño and sautéed with a little grapeseed oil. 

I seasoned the peppers similarly - chipotle and chili powder, cayenne, garlic and onion powder and cooked until they were softened, but still had a little bite to them. As you can see, they retained their bright color.  To make the tostadas, I heated corn tortillas right on the rack in a 350˚oven until they became just crispy.  I topped the tortillas with beans, veggies, avocado, salsa and nutritional yeast for a lunch rich in fiber, protein, healthy fat, antioxidants and vitamin C. ​

Sometimes buffalo sauce calls me, today it was in the form of Buffalo Cauliflower and this recipe is the best. They are easy to make and come out of the oven crispy and coated in spicy, yummy sauce.  I make my own ranch - heavy on the dill - which cools the mouth and adds a nice balance to the spicy cauliflower. For dinner, I enjoyed these  with oven fries which I pop in the oven after the cauliflower is sauced so they finish cooking at the same time. This was a perfect accompaniment to my Friday night with Netflix.