The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of Defeat

The defeat part came first. I was so psyched about running at Winthrop Lake. It was a gorgeous day although a bit hot and humid. On my treadmill I can jog (without stopping) the equivalent of the perimeter of the lake 2 1/2 times, but today I could only make it around the lake 1 1/2 times before having to stop and walk. Perhaps it was a combination of things - the heat (I use AC on the treadmill), humidity, the inclines, and the fact that I didn't have my iPod music (Offer Nissim music here and here) urging me on. I will try it again and eventually I shall conquer; I love a challenge.

So I brought it indoors in the form of cooking vegetarian beef stroganoff. Shirin has made it for us before and this dish was one of the few things I liked when I was little.

The main ingredients:

I washed and cut 1 lb. mushrooms quite small.

Also cutting small, I diced one medium onion and sauteed it in olive oil. To this I added 3 gloves of crushed garlic and the mushrooms. When the mushrooms were half cooked I added the **meatballs** and cooked for about 15 minutes. I removed all of this from the pan.

I forgot to take a picture of the next step but I poured the mushroom broth in the hot pan, added some unsweetened soymilk, black pepper, and then a generous amount of **nutritional yeast**. Stirring nearly constantly for about 15 minutes this thickens like gravy. I added back the onion, garlic, mushroom, meatball mixture and let it simmer.

Of course whole grain pasta is the carb of choice for stroganoff.

At the very end I added some frozen peas. To keep them green and tasty I didn't cook for more than maybe two minutes. I remember too many mushy dark grey peas in my life.

Meanwhile I baked fresh Brussels sprouts, cloves of garlic, and sliced onions (I had initially typed gloves instead of cloves and ions instead of onions and I can't stop laughing) on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet.

A sprinkling of fresh parsley and it's time to eat! Nooshi Joon!