I cooked dinner, tra la la

During this marathon training, me and two very good friends of mine are taking turns cooking healthy dinners.  I've noticed that a lot of this marathon training is very much mental for me.  Yes, the actual running is difficult but I'm noticing that what is even more difficult are the voices in my head that constantly try to tell me "You are too slow, 26.2 miles is ridick, everyone is faster than you, have I mentioned that you are too f'ing slow, it's really hot right now, slow slow slow, blah blah and blah."

These dinners are really important to me personally because (1) It encourages me to eat healthy/whole/organic/local foods, (2) It encourages structure and accountability and (3) I just enjoy being around like-minded people who understand how f'ing hard this whole process is.  It makes me feel like I'm not doing this crazy endeavor alone. I look forward to the dinners for many reasons.

But I digress.

So, last night was my responsibility to cook dinner.  I did some research on recipes and found one via the Whole Foods website.  The name of the recipe:

Roasted Salmon and Broccoli with Lemony Whole Wheat Linguine

Here is a link to the recipe:  http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2406   

I made a few slight modifications to the recipe.  Instead of just broccoli, I added zuccini and celery.  I added parsley.  I eliminated the asiago cheese and instead seasoned with a little extra sesame ginger marinade, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Also, I used gluten-free pasta.  At first, I was skeptical about the gluten-free pasta.  It ended up tasting really good.  The taste was very spot on and the texture was really good.  From now on, I plan to only cook myself gluten-free pasta. 

The result: it was straight up awesome.  Seriously.  Frankly, I would totally have ordered that shiz at a restaurant, I'm just saying. I definitely will cook this meal again.

I paired it with a loaf of rosemary bread and a fruit salad of strawberries, cantaloupe and blueberries.  Delish!  See pics below.

Maybe after this ridick marathon training is over, I'll take some cooking classes.  That is all.  :)