This is what I do

After the visit with the VIP, I've been pretty strict about being back on my wagons. I picked up a giant 2 lb slab of salmon, which I descaled (scales...ick) and sliced into 3 oz and 4 oz pieces. I am SO HAPPY I bought a food scale. It was only $5 from Target (free, actually, because I used a gift card) and its made portion control so much easier.

Anyway, I portioned out the salmon, and sealed it up in the freezer. I went on a vegetable buying binge at Vons, and picked up broccoli, spinach, kale, cucumbers, radishes, red bell peppers, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, a spaghetti squash, baby carrots, apples, grapes, and a jicama. I also got a jar of nopalitos and a carton of egg whites; yes, its a little expensive, but I get a lot more egg white out of the carton than I do from a whole carton of eggs, and this way I don't feel I'm wasting half of my purchase when I throw out the yolks.

My lunch and dinner the past few nights has been simply steaming a piece of the salmon with some of the vegetables. I like mixing a dark leafy green, like kale or spinach, with a juicier veggie like broccoli or some sliced bell peppers. I've been snacking on the radishes, carrots, grapes, and jicama. Today I made a salad with the nopalitos, cucumber, and a little lemon juice. It was so good. A little salty but tasty. Breakfast each day is some steel-cut oatmeal prepared with a little chicken broth (TRY IT, its so good) and some egg white.

I haven't really been cooking much else. I'm enjoying the freshness of the simple food; steaming is easy and the salmon comes out pretty tasty that way. I never really liked salmon all that much - the heavyness of it was cloying and often left me feeling a little nauseated after eating it. However, steaming it leaves it pretty mild and flaky, and a splash of ponzu sauce over it cuts out some of that ultrarich feel.

I'm back to running again as well. Yesterday I kicked my own ass with a speed-building run, and today I pushed through a 5K under 27 minutes. I feel so good when I run.

No....that's wrong. I feel like crap when I run, at least at first. Then I feel good. Then right before I'm done I feel like dying, but then I'm done and I feel euphoric. Its weird.

Anyway, here's my lunch/dinner this week, if you want to join me in eating a high-fiber, omega-3 rich meal that light on calories and actually pretty tasty.

Steamed Salmon with Vegetables

3oz - 4oz salmon steak/filet
A dark, leafy green (fresh spinach, kale, chard, etc)
A juicier, sweeter vegetable (red or yellow bell pepper, onion, green beans, snap peas, etc)
1 scallion, chopped
Ponzu sauce (if you don't have ponzu sauce, just mix equal parts lemon juice and soy sauce)
Optional (but necessary for me): hot sauce of your choice

Make it!

Fill a pot with about 3 inches of water. Place a steam basket in the pot so that its bottom rests above the water. Turn heat to high to boil water under steamer.

Place salmon on bottom of steamer basket, and place vegetables on top, it doesn't matter what order you put the veggies in.

Cover with a fitting lid, and let steam for about 10 minutes or so. As a general rule, tougher vegetables like kale take longer to break down, and softer veggies like spinach or peppers may require less time. Still, 10 minutes should be enough to cook the spinach through (especially if its frozen) and cook all the veggies. You don't want to OVERCOOK the fish, but with the wet heat from the steam, its kind of hard to screw it up.

When its done cooking, place the vegetables in a bowl, and gently place the fish on top of the vegetables. It may flake apart. Pour your ponzu sauce over the fish and veggies, and add hot sauce if desired. Garnish with chopped scallions, and enjoy.

Miles run this week: 12.6 so far