An Athletic May!

Wow! Things have been crazy the past couple months over here in Brooklyn. Not only has the photo business been crazy, (you are following the photo blog right?) but I've been involved in a number of super athletic endeavors through the city. No triathlons for a bit yet, but there's been a storm of running and biking feats!

On the Brooklyn Bridge on the way to the start.

First up, the NYC Bike Tour. My dad suggested this back in February or so, and I emailed my lovely friend Andrea to see if she'd be up for attempting it with me. Nothing crazy, just 42 miles through all 5 boros! :-) She agreed and off we went! Unfortunately I was in a rush to leave that morning and forgot my camera, but luckily Andrea saved the day and remembered hers!

Waiting to get rolling.

The tour was May 1st and both of us were pretty excited! We biked over the Brooklyn Bridge and to the start line in the financial district. Holy cow, SO MANY BIKERS!

The crazy amounts of bikers at the start!

It was bikers basically as far as you could see. We waited quite awhile to actually get started, and it was a bit of stopping and starting, but once we got rolling it was really fun to coast down 6th avenue without any traffic at all!

One of the many unfortunate traffic jams.

However, the ride did end up having a number of bottle necks, Central Park, getting out of the Bronx, into Queens, a bit in Brooklyn, and then a huge massive traffic jam on the BQE. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day, so it could have been MUCH worse, but hopefully next year they'll plan things out a bit better so there aren't the massive back-ups on parts of the course. It was pretty awesome to bike down the FDR and across bridges that aren't normally open to bikes! I got to see many parts of the city I'd never been to before.

Atop the Verrazano Bridge into Staten Island.

Biking Across!

After my legs had recovered from the bike, it was on to the running! This past weekend I got to run in the Brooklyn Half Marathon! This race had sold out in about a day, so I was excited to get one of the coveted spots! I also finished with my best time ever, 2:28! Crossing the line just in time to beat my goal of sub 2:30!! (I know that's not super speedy for most of you, but for me, it was pretty awesome.)

It was a beautiful day for a race, and the course was pretty much shaded the whole way through, so it made for a great run.

The best part of this race was the finish, all the runners make their way onto the Coney Island Boardwalk, running past the Wonder Wheel on one side and the ocean on the other before crossing over the finish line.


Alex managed to snap a photo just before the finish!


Hurrah!

Afterwards, Alex and I enjoyed a walk out on the pier to enjoy the view.

Fiddlehead Pasta!

It officially feels like summer (well almost) here in NYC! All of the vendors are back at the greenmarket and two weeks ago we had our first sightings of ramps and asparagus!

Wednesdays are the best days with the most vendors and the least amount of craziness, so I was excited to see what I would find as I went out for my lunch break. I had heard that strawberries were out, but clearly missed those by a few hours. (Which really is ok as the first day of strawberries are always SUPER expensive, and irresistible.)

What I did find though were fiddleheads! Funnily enough, there were more people taking photos of the pile of them then actually buying them. I don't think too many people actually know what to do with them.



I tried these for the first time last year, and was super excited to see them again. These little guys are SO tasty and are a treat as they're only available a few weeks a year. I thought for a minute and then also grabbed a bunch of fresh green garlic and some turkey sausage from the turkey stand and knew I had a tasty dinner in the making.


Baby green garlic.

This pasta dish was super easy to prepare and the results were delicious! Enjoy the harvest while it lasts!

Fiddlehead Linguine with Turkey Sausage
Serves 2-3

1 pint of fiddleheads
1/2 pound of linguine
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 lb loose mild turkey sausage
1 small bunch green garlic, finely chopped
1-2 large shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
unsalted butter
healthy pinch of truffle salt (or regular sea salt)
1/4 cup (approx) dry white wine

Cook pasta to package directions. Drain and save just a bit of pasta water.

Brown the sausage with onion and 4 cloves minced garlic.

In a large frying pan, add chopped shallots and a pat of butter and sautee until softened. Add in the chopped green garlic and a splash of wine. Add in the fiddleheads, a splash of olive oil, another bit of wine and sautee 1-2 minutes.



The fiddleheads should be bright green, be careful not to overcook them. Add a dash of salt. Add in the sausage, mix well. Add in the cooked pasta and toss with olive oil. Serve topped with fresh grated parmigiana.

ENJOY!

Skillet Lasagna

Things have gotten pretty crazy around here this spring and I feel bad saying I haven't quite had the time to make anything new or extra exciting in awhile.

However, I saw this post come up in my reader a few days ago for skillet lasagna, and I thought I might just have to make it this weekend. This recipe isn't pretty or fancy, but it's pretty quick, easy, and it turned out super delicious!

I ended up changing the recipe up a bit, but kept the basic concept. I also made the no knead focaccia. Though I think my yeast was too old as it didn't really rise well. Oh well, it was still tasty!



Skillet Lasagna

1 yellow onion, finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil
3 oz of tomato paste
1 15oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of red wine
1/2 cup water
Spices (parsley, dried basil, oregano, crushed red pepper about 1 tsp or so each, a little less red pepper, a little more basil)
pinch of salt
1 lb grass fed ground beef
handful of spinach
5 oz ricotta
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/3 to 1/2 cup)
handful of basil
1/2 lb of farfalle pasta

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a large skillet with ground beef. Once the ground beef is browned, drain excess fats. Add tomato paste and wine. Stir and saute a few more minutes.

Add diced tomatoes and spices, salt and water. Bring to a simmer and cover for 7-10 minutes while the pasta is cooked to package directions. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce along with a handful of spinach. Mix until spinach is wilted.

In a small bowl, add ricotta and parmigiano and blend. Drop small spoonfuls of cheese blend into the skillet and then cover with grated cheese. Cover and simmer until cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes. Top with freshly torn basil.



Enjoy!