Savory Sweet Potato Energy Balls--work in progress

As I've confessed before, I am not a chef. Most food experiments I conduct in the kitchen make my husband shudder. Proceed at your own risk . . .

Savory Sweet Potato Energy Ball

My goal was to find an easily digestible snack that is moderately low on the glycemic level yet will provide enough energy to help fuel endurance rides. I also wanted something that was savory as there is a lot of sweet options out there already. I wanted to stay away from nuts as the other snacks I plan to consume already have a variety of nuts in them—I'm concerned that too many nuts may cause digestive issues at some point over a 12-hour race.

My body has always done well with the sweet potato, I'll often eat one the night before or even for breakfast on race day. Sweet Potatoes are a great food for athletes as they are rich in nutrients and are the "best source of beta carotene (more than any other fruit or vegetable). According to resources I've found through google . . . 

 (I confess, I ate a chunk right out of the microwave.)

1 Lg. Sweet Potato
A couple shakes of Sea Salt
A couple shakes of Dried Basil
1/4 cup or so of Old Fashioned Oats--I recommend grinding them up in the food processor

• Wash and peel the sweet potato
• Poke the potato with a fork, or knife, whatever you prefer
• Microwave on high for 5 minutes, test softness. You'll want the potato nice and soft so that it is easily mashed with a fork.
• Add See Salt, Dried Basil, and ground oats.
• Mash all of it with a fork.
• Roll into bite size balls.

I used little paper cups for each ball and then tossed them in a ziploc bag. However, the energy balls were very moist and stuck to the paper. It became a little messy. I'll need to look into an alternative, perhaps foil or plastic. I am very happy with the nutrition they provided on the trail and they were very easy to consume, going down well with a swig of water.

Make the night before or morning of your ride. For a 10-12 hour race, I recommend storing them in a cooler if possible. However, I was still eating them 6 hours after removing them from refrigeration and had no digestive issues. 

Salad Slaw

Occasionally I get serious about what I'm eating (like when my pants stop fitting or I go to look down at my toes and I see my belly-button instead).

When that happens I start journaling what I eat. My main goal is not to hit 'x' number of calories but rather to consume the right mix of fuel: leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, root veggies, fruit, lean protein, healthy fats, nuts, seeds, grains, blah, blah, blah.

As I go throughout my day, I check off each category of food. By the time I get to dinner, I look at what categories are left and that's my dinner. I end up eating some very unusual meals, like salsa with sunflower seeds and spinach. Or a table spoon of peanut butter and a bowl of broccoli and eggs. This all goes back to my lack of ability to plan-ahead.

Anyways, the other day I got to dinnertime and I glanced down my list, oye, I had not consumed any of the many variety of vegetables my body was craving. I pulled all of the vegetables out of the fridge and stared at them, waiting for inspiration to strike!

Disclaimer: I'm not a chef. Most things I make are edible to me while no one else in my house would dare come near my unusual creations. I think that's because my sense of pride in cooking something overcompensates for my taste buds. 

After staring at the pile of vegetables for a long time, a vision came to me, clear as the 80 degree and fully sunny March day we were having in Michigan. And this is what I saw:

Salad Slaw

For those of you that want to try this at home, here is the recipe:

1 sm. summer squash
1 sm zucchini
1 beet
1 large carrot (washed and peeled)
1/2 red onion
1 small bunch broccoli
1 small bunch kale
1tbl spoon EVOO
Handful of Raisins

Wash veggies. Cut the florettes from the broccoli stem--so you have little bushes instead of big trees. Using the a large grate (because I'm too lazy to cut things to matchstick size), grate the remaining broccoli stem, summer squash, beet and carrot. Finely chop up the Kale and red onion. Mix together in a bowl. Add raisins.

In a large skillet, add the olive oil. Toss in the vegetable slaw and cook on medium heat for a few minutes. Just enough time to tenderize the broccoli and remove the bitterness of the vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt and seasonings as you like.

Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. Serve cold, garnished with roasted sunflower seeds.

Surprisingly, I've really enjoyed this meal. I've served it as is or on top of a bed of mixed greens. I'll probably make this again sometime soon.