Fiddlehead pizza

My appetite was through the roof today. I pretty much ate everything I could get my hands on, including a couple of naughty little treats at Treats in Wiscasset on my way home from my swim lesson at Bowdoin. One of the things I love about intense training is that I can eat the way I want to eat--in generous quantity and without worry--and still lose weight, tone up, and get stronger. I freaking love to eat and I'm not very good at moderation. Right now I have the luxury of not giving a shit. I'll have to deal with my issues some day, but at the moment I'm enjoying avoiding them.

However. Since I dialed up the intensity and volume of exercise about a month ago, I noticed a shift in my eating patterns a departure from my usual behavior. I'm eating solely for hunger, not for stress or comfort or boredom. I always stick to a pretty healthy diet, but I do usually overeat, and I often eat when I'm not hungry. So while what I eat may be healthy, the way I eat it doesn't always feel that way. Prime example: bowl of rice crackers with giant glob of almond butter and honey. In bed, well after dinner. ---> Guaranteed food hangover, certain contributor to excess adipose tissue, and surefire smasher of self-esteem. But lately I'm not even doing that. I think I'm eating less than I usually eat. Maybe it's the endorphins, maybe the fact that I feel SO F*CKING AWESOME that I don't need any damn midnight snacks (my midnight = 8:30 pm).

I'm also noticing that a nutrient-dense diet is not optional now. I feel like crap if I don't get the right food, and I don't have the energy to sustain my workouts. I'm taking extra care to make sure I get a good balance, enough healthy fats, and plenty of protein (more on that topic, and on a plant-based diet, soon). I don't much time to cook, so I'm going for whole foods that are easy and quick to prepare.

So here's tonight's dinner, inspired by the fiddleheads on the shelf. I love that fiddleheads are only available once a year, because that's as much as I want them. I think they are super cute, and also a little creepy. I look forward to one May treat, I enjoy them, and then I gladly forget about them till next year. Meanwhile, they're a solid source of protein, vitamins A and C, and a slew of minerals. 

I decided to try a pizza. 

I'm in love with these Sami's Bakery products. They make all kinds of wheat-free baked goods that are kinds of good: simple, nutritious, and yummy. The millet and flax lavash and the crackers are both staples in my kitchen. Tonight I grabbed their pizza crust.

I threw the fiddleheads in with sauteed red onion, garlic and a little salt, tossed them around then splashed them with a little water. While they steamed, I made the cashew cheese: 1 cup of soaked raw cashews, soaked for an hour or more, juice of 1 lemon (or more to taste), 2T nutritional yeast, salt to taste. Process or blend until creamy, adding water as needed.

I spread the cheese on the crust, put the fiddlehead mixture on top of that, baked it all in a 450 until the crust was crisp. 

So. Damn. Good.

Thank you, cute/creepy little fiddleheads.