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Friday, April 6, 2012

WOD-MOD wk 11 {OPA!}

WOD {on your own!}

Our schedules didn't match up this day, so we each did our own WOD.

{Meredith's WOD}

Ran 9 miles (she is training for a marathon, crazy girl!)
followed by:
100 situps
3x50 double unders
20 push ups
20 renegade rows

{Leah's WOD}

Warm up:
250m row
rest 2 minutes
500m row
5 minutes of stretching

Now for the work, one of my favorites!

5 rounds for time:
5 man makers w/ 20# dumbbells (I like to call them man-killers!)*
400 meter run

The marvelous man maker!!


MOD {OPA!}

What a feast. A while back I had lunch with a good friend at a local Greek restaurant, Vio's Cafe and Marketplace.  We enjoyed a tasty meze platter and consequently I was inspired to recreate a Greek meze platter for WOD-MOD night... so,  here we go!!


 
{the meze platter}
tzatziki sauce
hommus
 olive and red pepper tapenade
braised greens with toasted walnut oil 
beet mint salad
marinated lamb and chicken skewers

{the dips}

olive and red pepper tapenade 
adapted from Alton Brown's Tapenade recipe

1 1/4 c olives, pitted and rinsed in cold water (we used a mixture of olives)
1/4 roasted peppers (optional)
2 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice
6-8 basil leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 teaspoons garlic
pinch pepper

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in the food processor. Process, stopping to taste and scrape the sides, until it is a course. Be careful to not process too long, you don't want a puree! 

2. Enjoy!!

tzatziki

1/2 teaspoon garlic
1 1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded
1/2-1 tablespoon finely chopped dill 
1 small garlic clove
1 1/2 c greek yogurt
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Slice the peeled and seeded cucumber and place in a bowl or colander. Sprinkle with a good amount of salt and set aside for 20-30 minutes. This allows for the water to be released from the cucumber. *If you do not have a food processor, see tips/tricks below!

2. After 20 minutes, rinse under cold water and place in the food processor. Along with the remaining ingredients except the yogurt. Process until blended. 

3. Stir the cucumber mixture into the yogurt. Taste, add more dill if desired and/or salt and pepper. 

4. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours so it can "rest" or to allow the flavors to blend and develop. **

**We only had ours sit in the fridge for 20 minutes and it was fantastic, however, it does get better if you allow it to sit longer. 

Tips/Tricks:
  • If you do not have a food processor, instead of slicing the cucumbers before salted, finely grate them. Sprinkle the grated cucumber with salt, let it sit.  After 20 minutes, place in a towel and squeeze out the water.  Now, mix in the dill, garlic lemon juice and a little pepper and move step 3. 

hommus
*proper spelling, this is not an error! 

*The measurements are just jumping off points. This is one of those recipes that is: add a little of that and a little of this -taste- add a little more of this and no more of that! 

1 16oz can garbanzo beans, or chickpeas
2-3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for topping
2 tablespoons water
1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds 
1-2 teaspoons paprika
pinenuts 

Method:

1. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans and place in the food processor or blender.

2.  Place the remaining ingredients, except the pine nuts. Process until smooth, taste to see if you want more of certain flavors. 

3.  Place in a bowl. You can enjoy it now but if you want to make it pretty (which we love to do), top with a little olive oil, pine nuts and paprika! 

Notes:
  • traditional hommus has tahini (sesame seed paste). Since we did not have any we just added sesame seeds, you could even go without the sesame seeds. Work with what you have!
{the veggies}


braised greens with toasted walnut oil 

4 cups braising greens
1 tablespoon coconut oil
dried rosemary, 2-3 pinches
salt and pepper
1 cup chicken broth
lemon juice, splash
balsamic vinegar, splash
walnut oil (optional)

Method:

1. Heat coconut oil over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or a skillet with a lid, add greens and saute for 2 minutes.

2. Add rosemary salt and pepper, chicken broth and splash of lemon and balsamic. Cover and reduce heat to low to braise for approximately 15 minutes. Finish with a tablespoon of walnut oil.

beet mint salad

3 beets, approximately the same size (smaller the better)
1-2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar 
salt and pepper
chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425. Rinse beets and pat dry. Wrap each beet with foil (with peel on), making sure it is completely covered. 

2. Place wrapped beets on a cookie sheet. Place in the preheated oven for 1-2 hours depending on size. After 1 hour, check every fifteen minutes. You can test if they are done by poking a beet with a fork- if it goes in easily, the beets are tender and ready to be removed. 

3. After they have cooled down a several minutes, they will still be warm, you can now peel off the outer skins.  They will come off very easy. Cut into bite size pieces and places in a bowl.

4. Mix in chopped mint. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste. Add walnuts, salt and pepper as desired. 

{the meats} 


lamb and chicken skewers

1 pound chicken breast, cut into 3/4-1 inch cubes
1 pound lamb, thinly sliced or cubed

 chicken marinade

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

lamb marinade

3 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste 
 
skewers, soaked in water

Method:
1. Mix each marinade individually, place in freezer bags or shallow bowls. Add meats to each marinade. Let marinate for 2 hours or more.

2. After the meat has marinated, place meat on skewers (we kept each meat separate). If your lamb is thinly sliced, thread the skewer through like a needle. 

3. Preheat grill or tabletop grill (we used the fabulous George Foreman!).  Cook the lamb and chicken in batches, as the chicken takes a little longer.  Cook chicken until no longer pink, doesn't take too long, especially if you are using the Foreman. For the lamb, cook until desired doneness - if using the Foreman it does not take long at all!

Tips/tricks:
  • These could be cooked under the broiler, on the barbecue, or even in a hot skillet on the stove top.

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