Lunch today

Well, I am on week 6 of my 5-month long, 5-day a week work out program and I rock! I am constantly pushing with heavier weights and finding that I can lift them. I figure, the more lean muscle I put on, the faster my metabolism will be.

So the eating has become a little easier, not to say that I don't slip up now and again. For lunch today, I had a large mixed baby greens salad, with 3 0z. of Atlantic salmon that we baked with a basil-walnut topping. Kind of similar to pesto, but no cheese (not allowed on the plan, except for Laughing Cow, 4-pk for $7.99, best deal in town!).

However, I did add a couple of fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings to my salad. Come on, I am only human and what is a salad without some!! Use your vegetable peeler to get nice, wide shavings as you really get to taste the saltiness of the cheese. It comes in big wedges, cut the large wedge into pieces, wrap each piece in plastic wrap and store in a big plastic bag. Use one small wedge at a time. There is really nothing like it, one of those easy upgrades that will make any dish tastes better.

For dressing, I drizzled a tiny bit of a homemade Dijon vinaigrette. Super easy, I got it from a recipes for Arugula & Roasted Cauliflower Salad.

1/3 cup EVO
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. White wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt

In small bowl combine vinegar, mustard, and salt. Whisk in the 1/3 cup olive oil until combined. Super tangy and wonderful on mixed greens, with some feta or green olives stuffed with garlic and jalapeno. YUM!

What I am reading

Here is what I am reading from the New York Times online.

August 22, 2007
A Good Appetite
So Many Tomatoes to Stuff in a Week

By MELISSA CLARK (click to see more articles by her)

OF all the produce that tastes amazingly better in season —peaches and apricots, strawberries and peas — none inspires the same cultish devotion as summer tomatoes.

Meaty and succulent, their velvety flesh enclosing a fragrant jelly of golden seeds and dripping with sweet pink juice, summer tomatoes are everything their cold-weather counterparts aren’t, including cheap and abundant.

Right now farmers’ markets are rich with them: a dizzying profusion of scarlet beefsteaks, mini red and orange cherries and luminous lumpy heirlooms ranging from mild yellow Striped Germans to tart, intense, mauve-hued Brandywines. Swooning in their midst, I can’t seem to walk away without bags of them.

(click here to read article)

Update to 101 meals

Here is an update to the 101 meals, as he had such a good response.

101 Quick Meals? Make It an Even 111

I also thought this was interesting, a vegan blog who did the same thing with the 101 meals. Yes, on this training program, I have to have a lot of protein hence meat, however, I love the idea of vegetables galore!

Summer meals

OK - it has been pointed out to me that I haven't posted since July 10! What have I been doing? Let's see, I started working out 5 days a week for 5 months at this intensive personal training program. I just finished week 2, but for the last two weeks, I was beat! My energy level has increased, so here is something I found interesting in the New York Times.

Some of these are high in protein and low in carbs, so they could be used for our workout meals. Of course, I am not going to boil a lobster anytime soon (#12) or use a whole stick of butter for anything (#51), but some of these are really interesting.

The Minimalist
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less

By MARK BITTMAN

The pleasures of cooking are sometimes obscured by summer haze and heat, which can cause many of us to turn instead to bad restaurants and worse takeout. But the cook with a little bit of experience has a wealth of quick and easy alternatives at hand. The trouble is that when it’s too hot, even the most resourceful cook has a hard time remembering all the options. So here are 101 substantial main courses, all of which get you in and out of the kitchen in 10 minutes or less. (I’m not counting the time it takes to bring water to a boil, but you can stay out of the kitchen for that.) These suggestions are not formal recipes; rather, they provide a general outline. With a little imagination and some swift moves — and maybe a salad and a loaf of bread — you can turn any dish on this list into a meal that not only will be better than takeout, but won’t heat you out of the house.