The Lost Recipes

While I was prepping for the marathon I actually had a couple meals I wanted to share, but they somehow never made it into a post.  I guess all I could concentrate on was how I was going to run 26.2 miles and posting recipes somehow escaped me.  Anyway, these two were too good not to share.
Here are some "lost" recipes.
 
Cheese tortillini with Chicken Sausage in cream sauce.

• 1 chicken sausage, diced
• One package of cheese tortillini (you could use regular pasta too)
•  2 tablespoons finely minced onion
• 1/2 cup chicken or veggie stock
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or 1/3 cup cooking sherry
• 1/4 cup regular marinara tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon of seasoning, I actually used Montreal Steak grill seasoning
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• Optional- spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc...

First cook the tortillini according to the package.

Then, I browned the diced sausage in a large pan. 

I removed the sausage and added the onion and sauteed it for a few minutes, then added the stock to cook down. 
Meanwhile, whisk the milk and flour together and once the stock has cooked down, add the milk mixture into the pan and stir. 

Then add the wine or sherry, seasonings, and tomato sauce.  The mixture will get very thick and bubbly. 

At this point I added both the cheese, some spinach, and the tortillini, but tomatoes or other veggies would also be good.

Actually, the next day I reheated some for lunch and diced up tomato and added it before microwaving it and I think I liked it even better with the addition of the tomato.  The sauce is incredibly thick and creamy and actually not too unhealthy compared to regular alfredo sauce.

 The other thing I finally tried was making my own falafel.  I have really come to like falafel even though I don't get a chance to have it that often.  I decided to try making it and it was so delicious!

 

Falafel

 

• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• oil for frying

Preheat an oven to about 375-400. 
I used a food processor and basically just added everything in except the breadcrumbs, which I stirred in at the end.  You want to be careful not to overmix this.  You DON'T want it the consistency of hummus, it's got to be kind of chunky/minced. 

Once you have your ingredients mixed well, you want to start forming patties to drop in the oil.  Add breadcrumbs if the mixture is too wet.  When I fry, I usually don't use an inch of oil in a pan, I just used a small amount (a couple tablepoons) in a pan and cooked them on both sides. 

Once cooked I then advise you to bake them a little more in the oven, because of the egg.  Probably about 5-10 minutes will heat them all the way through.

I opted to do my falafel wrap style.  I used a Flat Out wrap, added lettuce, tomato, and then plain yogurt I mixed with dill and lemon juice.

SO GOOD :)