Cold Run, Warm Lunch

It was all of 14 degrees this morning, with 3 inches of snow on the ground.  The sidewalks were completely dry though, so I figured it was still a good morning to hit the trails.

My husband thought I was absolutely nuts while I layered my arm warmers, thermal running shirt, vest, tights, shorts, hat, gloves, running glasses, and backpack.  Randall reminded me repeatedly, "You know it is supposed to be 50 tomorrow right, 50?"  Yes, I was well aware of the warming trend headed our way, but I wanted to run while it was cool.  

Still bundled after my morning run.

All summer, I looked forward to these frigid snowy runs.  I prefer running in crisp-cold air any day over the heavy heat of summer.  The views are beautiful, the trails much less occupied, and I don't get all gross and sweaty.  Plus, cool weather makes me crave warm comfort food.

I love food as much as I love running.  It makes me giddy to find new recipes that taste great and give me the energy to keep up with my boys.  Recently, I started tapping into the world of vegetarianism.  No, I am not a vegetarian, but instead of eating meat 6-7 days a week like I used to, I eat it once a week.  The other days are filled with healthy carbs, fruits, veggies, beans, lentils, etc....  Ever since I made this easy switch, I feel really good.  I don't get nearly as sore after a race, I am genuinely faster, and I have energy to spare.

So for lunch today I wanted something warm and easy.  I heated up my leftover Farmer's Market Stew that I cooked slowly in the crock-pot all day yesterday, and made a fresh tofu sandwich.  If you have tried tofu before and discounted it as tasteless and disgusting, try my sandwich because I too used to despise the wiggly white stuff.  

I left a little room on the plate for my bowl of soup!

Ingredients:

Extra Firm Tofu - about 3-4, 1/2 inch slices 

1/3 Zucchini sliced thin on the diagonal

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Lemon

Sour Dough Bread

Hummus

Red Bell Pepper, sliced 

Spinach or other leafy green

Salt and Pepper

Cook the tofu and zucchini on medium-high heat so that each side is nice and golden brown.  While it is cooking, squeeze a fresh lemon over everything and sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.  Turn the tofu and veggies over when they are golden brown.  Continue to cook on the other side for a few minutes. 

 

Meanwhile, toast the sour dough bread and spread each slice with a fair amount of hummus.  Place the tofu on top of the hummus, add the zucchini, and top with the uncooked red bell pepper and spinach.  Squeeze a little bit more lemon on top of everything and place the final piece of bread on top.  

Even my boys like this sandwich!  I just omit the bell pepper, and slice the sandwich into quarters.  For my smallest, I use a blunt edged toothpick to help him keep it together.

Be careful, it is a messy one! 

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