Good morning!!

I hope you’re having a fabulous morning so far. I just got in from the gym, and this morning’s workout was spectacular! At the moment, Mr. Trainer and the future Mrs. Trainer are away in the Dominican, scoping out the resort where they’ll be married next year. He’s not letting me slack off in the meantime though – he’s left me with 4 workouts to get through on my own this week and they’re tough!! Today was a big one for back and biceps, and I’m quite confident I’ll be feeling it by the time I teach my 6pm spin class tonight.

On to the topic of the post, yesterday was a very exciting Try Something New Tuesday and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Let’s get started, shall we?

1. Recipe of the Week: Spring Frittata. I’ve been going pretty hardcore on the eggs this week. In addition to boiling some up to take with me in lunches, I enjoyed this lovely frittata on the weekend, packed with asparagus, mushrooms and bell peppers.

Simple and straightforward, I’m pretty sure anyone could make this. I’d sort of forgotten about my cast iron skillet that I bought from Crate and Barrel at Christmas time, but this was so good that I think we’ll be seeing much more of each other over the next couple of days.

2. Kasha. Nope, not Kashi! Kasha is also known as buckwheat groats and refers to a whole grain. It contains all 8 essential amino acids including lysine (which is one that most plant-based proteins usually lack), vitamin B, iron, calcium, phosphorous, and plenty of fiber.

There are a few varieties, including cracked, coarse or ground (think buckwheat flour), or whole, like the kernels below:

A major plus? Kasha only takes 15 minutes to cook, unlike rice or other grains that take forever (and even longer when you’re hungry!) I began cooking mine just like rice, with double the amount of liquid. Rather than making a savoury dish, I decided to sub out oats yesterday morning and cook up a sweet version of kasha for breakfast. Since I was aiming for something similar to porridge or oatmeal, I ended up adding about 3x the amount of liquid (1/4 cup kasha, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup almond milk), along with some cinnamon, honey, vanilla bean paste, and chopped pink lady apple pieces. I stuck a big slice in the middle… just for good measure.

The smaller apple pieces were thrown in the pot when the kasha was almost ready, and I added another couple of splashes of almond milk, just to see if it would become absorbed. It did, and the volume increased quite a bit too which was lovely! This was a very tasty breakfast, although I felt hungry again by about 10, which isn’t usually the case when I have oats. I’m thinking I’ll add some protein powder, nut butter, or walnuts next time to give the bowl a bit more staying power.

3. New blogger friends! A little while ago, I met up with a group of my Toronto blogger friends at Thrive Juice bar, but unfortunately 2 ladies that live near me weren’t able to make it. So what did we do? We went back of course! I was super excited to finally meet them on my lunch break.

This is Cathy and Odette, who are both absolutely lovely and are also running and food enthusiasts like moi. Along with new friends, I also tried a new thing on Thrive’s menu, the raw vegan pad thai:

It was beautiful! Very filling, and the cashew pad sauce was the bomb! Cathy rolled with one of my favourites – the portabello, tempeh and spinach sandwich. Thrive has gluten free breads and buns, so bun it was!

Odette ordered the veggie burger, which I’ve yet to try but it looked amazing so it’s certainly on my list!

As usual, we left completely satisfied and well-fed!

4. Adzuki Beans. These are something I spotted at Bulk Barn this weekend, and I figured I’d give them a try since I had plenty of time to do the whole bean soaking thing.

These beans are really small, which makes them easier to digest than larger ones. I soaked them overnight, but I’ve read that this isn’t necessary – they just take longer to cook if you don’t. They’re quite popular in Asian cuisine and are often used in cakes and sweetened dessert-type dishes, but most of the recipes I came across used them in savoury dishes.

The cooking process didn’t take long at all, but like the kasha, I found that I needed much more water than my trusted Google sources recommended. Unfortunately this realization occurred after I burnt half one or two, so those ones had to be sacrificed. Nevertheless, the final product was delicious!

I’ve decided to call this Italian 4-Bean Salad, because that’s precisely what it is. I’ll post the directions in a link on the Recipes page shortly, but for now, the mix consisted of:

• 1/2 cup raw adzuki beans
• 1 cup edamame, shelled and defrosted
• 1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup lightly steamed green beans, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
• 1 ripe tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp dried basil or 2 tbsp freshly chopped basil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Divided by 4, this made servings of about 1 cup each. I was pretty hungry at dinner time, so I did what any green-loving girl would, and piled some on top of a mound of Romaine lettuce.

And oh my, it was good. The adzuki beans weren’t all mushy like some others I’ve had in the past. They were chewy and the whole mix had a great blend of textures and flavours. I happen to have more in my lunch today!

Alright bloggies, that’s all for me today! Before you head off, I want to know…

• Did you try anything new yesterday?
• Have you ever tried adzuki beans? Was it in a sweet or savoury dish?
• Any suggestions for my new things next week? Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at eatspinrunrepeat (at) gmail (dot) com. I love your suggestions!