After a good long Wednesday morning run, I was sure it was due to the whole wheat pasta dish from Ellie Krieger. But first… the run.
Total miles = 17.13. 5 + miles to meet up with the running partners, 4+ miles with the group and 7. 75 home. Average pace: 9:14. Lost a little “oomph” the last 2 miles. 🙁
I ran with Jenn, John, and Jolene… and my name is JOANNE – HEY! Cool Just noticed that. It was the first time I met Jolene and she looked familiar. Then it hit me: she’s the gal that has flown past me running through the golf course. The first time was during my Boilermaker training up the hill. Wednesday’s run was going to be scary. This girl was fast. I started thinking “what right do I have running with these guys?!!”
My hamstring was still a bit sore so the thought of running fast almost made me turn tail for home. In the end, I managed to run about 4 miles with the speedsters. Jenn was kind enough to stay back with me as John and Jolene found a faster pace and ran ahead. Sure Jenn could have kept up with them, but out of kindness, she stayed back with “Pokey”. Good run.
Today, was an easy paced recovery run with Shane. It was warm outside and we made 4 water stops.
Total miles: 8.07 at an easy pace of 9:45. Negative splits for the last 3 miles.
CEIMB FETTUCCINE!
This week it was whole wheat pasta with premium crab meat and fresh asparagus. A recipe from Ellie Krieger which means it was quick, easy, healthy, and was loaded with flavor.
The pick was by Jessica of Johnstonesvinblanc. Visit Jessica’s site. Take a peak at the delicious list of eats for the week and make note of this recipe. If you enjoy pasta and crab, you’ll like this.
You can see I added tomatoes. Two very large fresh tomatoes were added to the dish as well as a pint of sliced portabella mushrooms.
Of course cheese was added.
It’s so rare that I use fresh thyme. The recipe actually called for tarragon but I couldn’t find any when shopping. As for the thyme, we could taste it in this dish and the result was ok. I wouldn’t suddenly declare it as my favorite herb (that declaration is reserved for basil). It did add a new savory finish that we weren’t used to but enjoyed.
The dish is quickly put together by cooking whole wheat fettuccine al dente and setting aside.
Chop and slice all your ingredients: 4 cloves of garlic, 3/4 lb asparagus, tomatoes (if adding), mushrooms (if adding – peel them and wipe them first). Put your white wine and water/fish stock (I used vegetable broth) in a 2 cup container. Prepare the lemon zest and chop the parsley and tarragon (or thyme in this case).
Heat 2 TBS olive oil and add the garlic over low heat for 5 minutes.*If adding tomatoes and mushrooms, add them to the pan after 3 minutes and continue cooking 3 more minutes. Note: The tomatoes will produce more liquid so you may want to reduce the amount of water/broth is using tomatoes. Also, they add more acidity to the dish. If you’re sensitive to that, forgo tomatoes.
Add the wine and broth and bring to a boil for about 6 minutes. Add asparagus, lemon juice (juice of 1 large lemon), zest (zest of that same large lemon), salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add the crab meat, 1/4 cup shopped parsley, 1/4 cup chopped thyme or tarragon and heat for 2 minutes. Add the drained pasta, stir to combine and enjoy the dish.
All the yummy components of our meal: whole wheat noodles, crab, garlic slices, asparagus, mushrooms, and tomato. So good!
Great pick, Jessica. We enjoyed!
Joanne
You had some really great ideas here. I thought the dish needed something more, and I think your addition of tomatoes and mushrooms probably helped a lot. Plus, cheese! I didn’t really have any Parmesan on hand, so I had to go without. But I am sure it would have made a world of difference! Looks fantastic!
It seems every dish I put up now has cheese. What’s up with that?!
It sounds like your hamstring is feeling a bit better? 🙂
It’s still making itself known but doesn’t get any worse when I run. That’s the key.
It looks so pretty with all your additions. We like crab, like when you order King Crab Legs, for instance, but we do not like canned crab at all. Completely different in taste to us. I should have gotten the crab legs, made them, removed the meat, and used that!! I don’t know what I was thinking…I guess that somehow Ellie could transform an ingredient we didn’t like into one we did…even Ellie can’t do much with that!! Yours looks wonderful.
I’m always in too much of a hurry to use fresh crab on a week night. But that would be so much better.
Wow this dish looks fantastic! The photos are gorgeous too 😀 I ran the Boilermaker for the first time this year- wasn’t it awesome?!
It was great! My first time running as well.
You put together a wonderful CEiMB dish! Your photos are stunning and the food really pops. I love the addition of fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese, YUM!
I shouldn’t be reading this before dinner…what is going on my plate looks no where as tasty as this! I love crab, and of course, I love pasta…I would be in heaven if someone brought me a bowl of this creation. Thanks for sharing! I’m going to eat vicariously through you.
You are an instinct cook, I think. You know how to turn dishes into masterpieces. Your photos are beautiful and well presented. You also seem to like food. That mean, you are not picky, not that you eat too much.
You not only have a knack for cooking, you make everything look so pretty. How I wish we lived closer together so I could just pop over to your house for a quick lunch! 🙂 I can’t eat crab though with my shellfish allergy. Since we just got home from vacation I skipped out on this one this week but should be back in the swing of cooking next week. Your dish looks fabulous. And you are my hero when it comes to exercising and self-discipline!!
I’m sure I would enjoy this dish too 🙂
That pasta looks divine! I recently found some whole wheat fettuccine at the store and was so excited! It’s not an easy find for some reason.
Ha! I love that your running group has a theme, like you can’t join unless your name is a J name 🙂 Glad you liked this one; it didn’t seem to get very good reviews. Sounds like the tomatoes were a good idea! And basil is my favorite, too. I think I could just about eat it by itself lol