Training in Clermont (Florida) last week was no joke! The workouts were hard and it was a jolt back into serious training mode. It's been awhile since I've trained consistently with fast training partners and no distractions.
On one of our biggest days (2 hour bike ride, 6 mile run, 5k swim, massage), we finished the day with a perfect athlete food meal: this sweet potato quinoa dish with steamed broccoli and roasted chicken. The meal was prepared by SuperDad/Coach Nate, who had a busy day himself, joining Sarah and me for the workouts AND watching babies. After gobbling down my meal, I quizzed Nate on how he possibly managed to cook this meal on such a jam-packed day.
Nate gave me the run down of the recipe and his game plan for cooking, explaining how simple it is. When I got back to NY, I tried it for myself, adding the ginger and cinnamon for an extra kick. The dish takes 15 minutes or less to prepare, which can be done ahead of time, and cooking takes another 30 minutes or so, depending on your rice cooker. Oh, I should mention, this recipe requires a rice cooker, an essential Athlete Food kitchen appliance.
To make this a complete meal, serve with a rotisserie chicken and steamed broccoli seasoned with about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil.
--Bec
Quinoa with Sweet Potatoes
1 cup quinoa, rinsed (I used a mix of red quinoa and white quinoa)These two just couldn't get enough of each other!
2 cups water
3 cups sweet potato (about 2 large sweet potatoes)
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
pinch of sea salt
two shakes of ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
Prep:
Rinse quinoa. If you skip this step, the quinoa could be gritty. Consider yourself warned!
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 3/4 inch cubes (doesn't have to be perfect because the sweet potatoes get soft loose their shape when cooked).
Chop almonds or, for a speedier method, buzz them few seconds in a blender. That's what Nate does.
Chop ginger.
Cook:
Put quinoa, water, sweet potatoes, almonds and ginger in a rice cooker and turn it on.
When rice cooker finishes, stir in raisins and season with sea salt and cinnamon.
That's it!
