Settle down. We haven’t lost our minds.
In the swirl of parties, gifting, holiday card addressing, family gatherings, and boozy (well, not for Bec this year) dinners out with friends in December, we find ourselves almost insulted when it’s Tuesday, we’re home, and we have to face dinner. How we wish there were little elves living in our fridges, and their gifts to us were healthy but hearty fully cooked meals.
These are the nights to put on the blinders to the new recipe you saw in the cooking magazine, the hard-to-find ingredients, and the time-sensitive cooking techniques, and stick to what you know. And here at Athlete Food, what we know is pasta.
We’re not pushing the oozing, calorie-bomb baked ziti that fuels our Ironman training. We’re not even sending you to our trusty spaghetti and meatballs. In fact, some of our December pastas don’t look much like pasta at all. They are a pound of pasta with a POUND of greens, roasted butternut squash, and smoked goat cheese. They are roasted broccoli, sautéed shallots, sausage, shaved pecorino and, yeah, some pasta. And a plate of rosemary and thyme roasted mushrooms, with a side of pasta.
Best of all they are quick to make: consider your favorite pasta dish. Add vegetables. Add more. Add something super flavorful (the likes of sautéed shallots, pecorino, pesto, pancetta). Eat. Then save the rest for after that cookie exchange. You want to start 2016 with a resolution not just to get in shape, but to get in better shape.
Happy almost holidays,
Bec, Laurel, and Melissa