Balsamic Broccoli Rabe with Carrots

When I was in college, my friends and I would host a lot of pot luck parties. For every party, guests would bring desserts or appetizers, so as a responsible host, I started making vegetable dishes for each of the pot lucks. I wanted to make sure my friends were getting a balanced meal. Now veggie dishes are some of my favorite things to make. Vegetables can be very versatile and delicious.

In this picture I used regular broccoli, I was all out or broccoli rabe.

This is a recipe I came up with recently. I am a big fan of broccoli rabe and am always looking for ways to use it. You can definitely make this recipe with any type of broccoli, but I like the broccoli rabe best. The strong flavor does not get over powered by the balsamic. For this recipe you can also dial up or down the amount of garlic and balsamic vinegar to your taste. If you want to add this dish to pasta, add a little more oil and vinegar.

12 oz broccoli rabe
3 oz carrots, julienned
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Blanch the broccoli rabe in the boiling water by putting it in for 2 to 3 minutes. Start the timer as soon as the broccoli rabe is in, the water does not have to return to a boil. When the time is up, drain the broccoli rabe and cut it into sections. I keep the hot water for pasta or rice if I am cooking either of them as well. It has nutrients that have leaked out of the broccoli rabe.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil to medium high in a small pan. Add the garlic and saute for a minute or until it begins to smell good. Reduce the heat to medium and add the carrots, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir frequently and saute until the carrots are a desired softness. Pour the carrots over the broccoli rabe and serve. This can be served hot, room temperate, or cold and tastes great the next day, too!




Serves 3
102 Calories, 9g fat, 3g dietary fiber, 3g sugar, 5g protein

Training Tuesday

I mentioned in my last running post that I ran a 10 mile race last year. I've decided to run one again this year, too. Last year I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. It was a lot of fun, but very crowded. This year I am giving the George Washington Parkway Classic a try. I did their 5k last year and it was fun, this time I'm going for the full race.

For my first race ever, the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler was not so bad. It's a big deal in DC, so I felt specially riding the metro to the race early in the morning and warming up with all the people at the event. Once I started running though, I felt really packed in. I ended up missing my goal by 16 second, too. Not too bad for my first race, but this year I'm hoping to do better!


I started this year's training in January, and despite some wintry set backs, I've been keeping up with the schedule. Each week I do one long run, two medium runs, and one quick "warm up to the week" run. I also do yoga and weight lifting on a weekly basis. Originally, I planned to work on pace on the medium runs and work on endurance with the long runs. So far though, I have been keeping a pretty consistent pace regardless of the number of miles. Hopefully I can keep that up. It occurred to me on a recent run that I may actually have to slow down my initial pace on my medium runs in order to speed up my over all time. It feels like a contradiction, but as I time out each of my miles, it makes more and more sense. The race is in April, so I've got another month and a half to really add on the miles, I hope I can make it! Like last year, the goal is to finish in less than 100 minutes. My pace so far has been 9:30 minutes per mile, hopefully I can keep it there.

My other challenge is dealing with the race atmosphere. I felt prepared last year when it came to running, but I had not anticipated the crowds, free water stops, and other distractions. As I get closer to the date I'll have to work on that.

How do you prepare for a race??

Intentional Running

It's crazy to think about, but I have been running for 10 years-- a decade. I started running my freshman year of high school. A couple of my friends ran before school and it sounded like fun. Once I got into it, I never really stopped. Over the years, I have learned a lot about running, but there is always so much more to learn. I hope you will join in with comments, tips and questions.


It was only a couple years ago that I really began to run with purpose. I started training for my first race and started analyzing how I run with specific goals in mind. I never made it to my first half-marathon, but the next year I came back strong and completed my first ever 10 mile race. Now, any time I head out the door, I set a goal for my run. Sometimes it's to keep a certain pace, sometimes it's to think about a specific topic. My "intentional running" has helped me stay motivated and get through bumps in the road.

Today was my first good run in weeks. I have had bad luck between getting sick, the ice storm, and pulling muscle in my leg. My only goal for today's run was to have a good time and I did!

First Time Potter: Glazing

I have always loved pottery- whether its a raku tea bowl or the thrift store mugs I drank wine out of in college. For me, pottery is the ultimate combination of function and art. After years of admiring and collecting pottery, I finally decided to give it a try. My fiance and I starting taking a class about a month ago.

It's hard, but a lot of fun. The three hours we spend a week at the studio fly by. I've mostly been making small items like mugs and bowls, but I have tried larger pieces too. It's fun to use my hands, problem solve and think creatively. The photo is of a vase I made. It was going to be a mug but got away from me and I thought it would be fun to square the top. This photo is from the day we learned how to glaze. I'll post a photo of it after the kiln firing too to compare the difference in color.

The process of glazing was different than I had expected. I guess I imagined it to be more like painting- you put a color in one spot and it stays like that. Glazing turns out to be more of a science experiment than a controlled painting. We estimated what the glazes will look like on our pieces and went from there. Plus, glazes react to each other; they are chemicals after all. So you don't know what that reaction will look like. I'm really excited to see what changes will happen in the kiln!

Candied Pecan and Pear Cake

Welcome to The Crafty Runner! This blog is about my passion for running, cooking, and all things crafty. I got into blogging through wedding blogs, but it wasn't long before I was reading other blogs, too. I rely on cooking blogs for off-beat recipes and I have learned a lot of tips from running blogs. I decided I wanted to contribute my two cents in the hopes that someone might learn something from me, too. When I added my passions together, The Crafty Runner was born. I hope you add your own comments, tips, and experiences as I write about and explore my favorite hobbies. Thanks for reading!

Candied Pecan and Pear Cake

I recently celebrated a friend's birthday and made this cake for him. He is on a limited diet and cannot have a lot of the typical cake ingredients. This to me is the ultimate challenge. I enjoy cooking with a limited number of ingredients or other specifications. It makes me step out of the box and think more creatively. I put together the list of foods I could use and went to work. It took a couple tries, but eventually I got this cake. It turns out to be a yummy, nutty alternative to the typical birthday cake. Plus it's a tiny bit healthier.

2 cups brown rice flour
1 scant cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4- 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 pear, diced
1 cup dried cranberries
1.5 cups candied pecans (see Cafe Johnsonia's recipe, I replaced the butter with oil)
parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x9 cake pan with parchment paper. I cut out a big square of parchment and then cut slits at each corner so that it would conform to the inside of the pan. (If you are not using rice flour, don't worry about it, you can just grease the pan)

Combine the first 9 ingredients (flour through honey) and stir until just mixed. Add water a little at a time and stir until the batter has the consistency of pancake batter. Add the pear, cranberries, and half the nuts. Mix thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the lined pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the cake sit for 10 minutes in the pan before flipping it onto a serving plate. Cover the top with the remaining candied pecans. When ever I can, I will include nutritional information for my recipes at the bottom of the entry. I strongly believe in knowing what you put into yourself.


Serving Size: 1/16th of the cake
264 C, 11g Fat, 25g Sugar, 2g Dietary Fiber, 3g Protein