One Mean, But Clean Burrito

For the life of me, I cannot figure out what is wrong with my camera. The pictures I take turn out bright white and overexposed. Not good for food photos. If you have suggestions, please email me.

Another bummer? After a glorious 9-mile run last Saturday, I seem to have royally pissed off my IT band. Which appears to be necessary for running. Oh, and walking. Someone called me Quasimoto today. Lovingly...but still.

So while I wait for my old, exercise-driven self to come back, I'm eating even healthier than usual. I'm cutting out most dairy and pasta and sticking to fruits and vegetable bases. Luckily, with this burrito, I don't have to sacrifice taste. To vegan-ize this recipe, replace the sour cream with tofu cream.

Clean, Mean Burrito (makes 1 burrito)
adapted from The Kind Diet

Whole wheat wrap (easy to find in the tortilla section)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup pinto beans, cooked (just use the canned ones, perfectly acceptable)
2 TB fresh cilantro
Chopped scallions, cucumber, avocado, tomatoes
1 Tsp fat free sour cream, or tofu cream

Mix ingredients and wrap 'em up. Add about 1 Tb of cheese if you want. It's that easy, it's that tasty, and it's that healthy. I served mine with a side of strawberries and raisins.

I bet you're dying to know what I'm currently chowing down for dessert. Glad you inquired! I recently made a trip to My Tea Shelf's online tea boutique to order a few ounces of loose leaf tea. Just to try out. I'm impressed! With flavors like "Sol y Luna," vanilla coconut and "Mango Marshmallow," it would be nearly impossible not to find something you like. With my "Cocoda," I'm munching on Dr. Lucy's Sugar Cookies.

Brown Rice Krispie Treats: Why Didn't I Think of This?!

By now you're probably wondering if I Pray to Gouda has turned into some weird, hippie health blog. You wonder if another, "Dang, that cheesy wonder looks amazing, I can't wait to make that" dish will appear on a blog originally dedicated to my love of God's gift from cows.

Fear not. I will whip up artery-clogging life-shorteners soon enough. I mean, shoot - I ate onion rings and chocolate chip cookies for dinner tonight. (Judge not, my friend.) But - at this venture, I'm busy introducing as many healthy products and wholesome alternatives into my life so that the not-so-wholesome foods will compliment my diet rather than fully comprise it.

Ya get what I'm throwin' down, yo?

Here's my promise, though: I love food. More than a lot of people. So I'm never going to put a recipe on here that I don't find absolutely deeelicious and think you should try, too.

On that note, introduce some wholesomeness into your life via the new and improved rice krispie treat.

Brown Rice Krispie Treats
whipped up by my bud, Jennifer

3 Tb vegan margarine (such as Earth Balance) - if you don't want to go vegan, use regular butta'.

1 package Dandie's Vegan Vanilla Marshmallows (yums. I swear.)

6 cups brown rice crisps cereal (we used Barbara's. Love that lady.)

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir in marshmallows. Add in rice crisps and stir until coated. Using wax paper or a greased spatula, press this mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Cool, cut and nosh.

I Rule. General Tao's tofu

Have you ever had one of those moments after cooking a feast where you think, "Did I seriously just make this? In my kitchen? And it tastes this good?"

If you haven't (and dang, I really hope you have, it's better than se....wait. No it's not. But still), then try this recipe. Not only is it fabulous, it's fabulously easy. And while it is vegetarian (you can make it vegan by simply swapping the egg out for an egg substitute), I wouldn't necessarily call it healthy. The sugar kind of squelches that, but shoot, I started my day off with oat bran, sailed through lunch on a Boca burger and spinach salad and did boot camp. I'll be damned if I can't have myself a bit o'sugah!

General Tao's Tofu. (Or, as I have now donned it, Fake Out the Take Out)

1 box of firm tofu
egg substitute for 1 egg
3/4 cup cornstarch
vegetable oil for frying
3 chopped green onions
1 Tablespoon minced ginger
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2/3 cup vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons sugar
red pepper flakes to taste
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
steamed broccoli

Directions: Drain, dry and cut tofu into 1 inch chunks. You can freeze tofu the night before to get a more chicken-like consistency, but it isn't necessary. Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add an additional 3 tablespoons water. Dip tofu in egg replacer/water mixture and coat completely. Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl.

Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil.

Heat 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil in pan on medium heat. Add green onions, bell pepper, red pepper flakes, ginger and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic.

Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper and vinegar. Mix 2 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well.

Add fried tofu and coat evenly. Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 Minutes

Don't Eat This Meal If You're Bloated.

Because this dinner won't help you at. all.

But, hey, if you're rockin' the flatter tummy side of things, whip this up! I'm not sure how I befriended so many damn vegetarians (you know, besides the fact that I have a wonderfully, magnetic personality and all. Not bitchy whatsoever. Not I.), but I've made it my life's work to try and please them.

I figured out with this recipe, however, that I'm not so sure I'm a huge wild rice fan. It's so....earthy. And....wild. And while I like to say that I have a wild side (what? I do! It's right there under my pearls and argyle!), the wild side of rice isn't winning me over. I'd make this again with just the orzo, or possibly turn it into a risotto dish.

Oh, by the way, I totally doubled the butter. If you're shocked, you don't know me well.

Wild Rice and Orzo Pilaf With Mushrooms and Pecans
courtesy of Rachael Ray

1/2 cup wild rice
1/2 lb orzo pasta
2 Tb butter
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
2 Tb chopped, fresh sage
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1. Cook wild rice according to package directions, transfer to large bowl. Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling, salted water, cook orzo until al dente and drain. Add to wild rice.

2. In large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the pecans and sage and cook until nuts are toasted and mushrooms are tender. Stir in peas and chickpeas. Add vegetable mixture to orzo mixture and season with salt.