Fit MD

Happy Saturday everyone! The week really flew by. Between class, lab, internship, meetings, baking up a storm, and my car breaking down, I finally feel like I can breathe again! The car issue was pretty embarrassing. It has been making screeching noises for months now, but I haven’t quite had the time to take it in (mhmm). Finally, late on Wednesday night I drove to a friend’s house (whom I don’t know all that well) to return a jacket he lent me on a blustery night downtown when my car started going nuts. The screen and dashboard went black, the lights went out, and the radio went out while I was driving. I pulled into his driveway as it puttered – puttered – died. Dead. Kaput. I awkwardly knocked on his door with his jacket, a “thank you” crystallized ginger & wasabi brownie, and a dead car behind me. We tried to jump start the car, but it couldn’t even hold a charge so we pushed it out onto the street to be dealt with later. I had it towed the next day and as it turns out, one of the necessary belts was completely missing. I am pretty sure I ran it into the ground until the belt snapped and fell off… Woops. At least I learned my lesson! Don’t put car repairs off. 

Anywho, these crystallized ginger and wasabi brownies are the best brownies I have ever tasted and one of my favorite recipes. Joanne is a genius. I would never have thought to combine spicy wasabi with chocolate! MAKE THEM. 

Do you see the chunks of crystallized ginger?!

Since making these, I have had the ginger wasabi combination on the brain. I have been eating it on everything! For example, I brought lunch to school yesterday and the main course was grilled chicken and asaparagus tossed in a teriyaki-wasabi-ginger sauce.

plus wasabi peanuts, roasted peanuts, an apple, and a homemade protein bar

And for dinner last night?

Wasabi Sweet Potato & Ginger Pasta with Shrimp

Incredible.

Recipe: Serves 1

For the sauce:

1 cup light coconut milk

1/4 cup baked sweet potato

1 tsp ginger

1-2 tsp wasabi  (to your taste)

1 tsp crystallized ginger, chopped  + extra for garnish

pinch cayenne pepper   (optional)

Directions – Heat the coconut milk in a pan on the stove on medium low heat. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients and let simmer until it is a thick consistency. Once the desired consistency and flavor has been reached, remove from heat.

For the pasta:

1/3 cup whole wheat pasta, cooked

1/2 cup spaghetti squash, cooked

~12 shrimp, raw

~1 tbsp wasabi peanuts

Directions – Cook the pasta and spaghetti squash according to directions, I recommend making extra. Place the shrimp in a pan on the stove with 2 tbsp water. Cook on medium low heat until opaque, flipping after ~2 minutes. Once cooked, remove from heat, drain if necessary, and toss with some of the pasta sauce. In a bowl, combine the cooked pasta and squash and toss with the rest of the pasta sauce. Transfer to a plate. Garnish with shrimp, crystallized ginger, and wasabi peanuts. Enjoy!

Benefits:

Shrimp * extremely high in protein and low in fat! Contains selenium, tryptophan, vitamin D (key for bone health), B12, iron (needed for a healthy thyroid), phosphorous, B3, and zinc. The fat that shrimp does contain is the healthy monounsaturated kind.

Ginger * contains gingerol which relaxes blood vessels and thus improves circulation. It also aids in digestion and can soothe the stomach. Contains TONS of compounds that fight cancer!

Spaghetti squash * contains vitamin C, thiamin, niacin, B6, and lots of fiber!

Whole wheat pasta * unlike refined white flour, whole wheat flour has more B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.