Recipes for Health: Red Velvet Cupcakes and Steak

OK, fine, so Martha Rose Shulman does not have any Recipes for Health involving cupcakes or steak. But I did make one of her recipes this week, as I said I would try to do! I just also happened to celebrate Valentine's Day with cupcakes and steak, and I thought I should share that with you.

Check out our home-cooked Valentine's Day dinner

and Pinisi Bakery dessert.

(By the way, these are links to my other blog that I do with my roommate - all about food and bars in NYC, along with some of our own recipes. You should probably check it out.)

On top of all the cooking, eating, and wine-drinking, I've also been doing a lot of training. I know I've been a little neglectful on the blogging front, but I've definitely not been neglecting my training. I did 3 easy miles on the treadmill Monday, elliptical and total body conditioning on Tuesday, 5 miles indoors (1 at 5.8 mph, 3 at 6.8 mph, 1 at 5.8 mph) on Wednesday, and today was 3 easy miles followed by total body conditioning. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to my rest day tomorrow, but I'm also really pumped about Saturday's 8-mile run with the roomie. All said, I feel pretty great this week!

I even managed to stick to my goal of cooking a Recipe for Health each week (though to be honest, my roommate made this last week and inspired me, and conveniently there's a Recipe for Health with the same ingredients!). This week's feature: stewed peppers with tomatoes, onion and garlic.

 

Martha's version doesn't call for sausages, but I cut up two Trader Joe's andouille chicken sausages and they were perfect in this dish. It was dinner last night, and for lunch today I'm having it on top of whole wheat spaghetti. Yum!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 plump garlic cloves, minced
3 large red peppers, or a combination of red and yellow peppers, thinly sliced or chopped
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained of some but not all of its juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
I added two chicken sausages


Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet or heavy casserole over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes, and add the garlic and peppers. Cook, stirring often, for five minutes, and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Continue to cook for another five minutes until the peppers are tender.
2. Add the tomatoes, thyme, salt and pepper, bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer, stirring from time to time, until the tomatoes have cooked down somewhat, about 10 minutes. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer over low heat for another 15 to 20 minutes (or longer), stirring from time to time, until the mixture is thick and fragrant. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve as a side dish, as a topping for pizza, pasta, polenta, rice or bruschetta, as a filling for an omelet, or stir into scrambled eggs.

It's super easy and really delicious. Give it a try!

What did you do for Valentine's Day this year? Did you cook? Go out to eat?