Well maybe that’s a stretch but since I’m a sweets addict I was delighted to find a cookie recipe in my Cooking Light that looked tasty and wasn’t a complete nutritional black hole. These tasty treats have dark chocolate, oats, whole wheat flour, and dried cherries so they’re not all bad. Nutrition wise that is, taste wise they are all good. I negated my run this morning and ate two four of them. But what’s the point of running (especially on days like today when I just wasn’t into it) if you can’t indulge occasionally with a good cookie?

So tomorrow after you get done running or doing yoga or being wonder woman in the gym (yes I’m talking to you Joanna), whip up a batch of these. And if you can eat fewer than four, I applaud your willpower, you are a greater person than I.

Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies

Ingredients

• 1.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1/3 cup)
• 1.5  ounces  whole-wheat flour (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 1/2  cups  old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 6  tablespoons  unsalted butter
• 3/4  cup  packed light brown sugar
• 1  cup  dried cherries
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1  large egg, lightly beaten
• 3  ounces  bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.

3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; add brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add cherries, vanilla, and egg; beat until combined. Fold in chocolate. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes or until almost firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

Here’s an oldie but goodie for your running mix, Bittersweet Symphony. I’m pretty sure it’s an ode to bittersweet chocolate. Or I could be food obsessed, you decide.

So we’re all trying to eat better this year right? I’ve been most recently inspired by Alice Waters and Jamie Oliver who both promote eating more simply. While I would like to run faster, I wouldn’t mind being part of the slow food movement which “aims to be everything fast food is not.” I admit I am far more concerned about what goes in my child’s mouth than my own and I am resolving to eat as healthy as she does, the kid can pack away the fruit! Now we are pretty much meat free at our house (I cop to eating bacon a few times a year) and we eat fish but that’s about it. So it’s a challenge to come up with something new to eat that will be good for us and isn’t meat based. I like the frozen meatless burgers but holy cow (pardon the pun) I’m amazed at how many ingredients are in them and the usually very high levels of sodium.

Last night I decided to try and make my own and found a good bean burger recipe. These aren’t really burgers in my opinion but more like a bean patty. The recipe is below, I cooked mine in a grill pan with a little olive oil and didn’t make them as big as the recipe said, I think much smaller ones cook up better. I think it’s a good basic recipe that you can add plenty of substitutions to based on your tastes. I used red pepper instead of green and just a touch of cumin and chipotle powder. I might think about sauteeing the onions, garlic, and peppers next time since they had a strong flavor but were still good. If you use raw, make sure you squeeze all the moisture out so your patties hold together. I served with Cook’s Illustrated’s Roasted Sweet Potatoes, the kid ate a few bites of the black bean patty and seemed to like but was pretty full from the huge serving of sweet potatoes she devoured.

This is a killer meal for runners. It includes 2 of the top foods for runners providing you with fiber, protein, and plenty of vitamins and minerals essential to muscle function and health.

Black Bean Patties

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

I use my running time to think about all sorts of things, from the mundane to the existential. Sometimes, for example, what I need to get at the grocery store (decidedly mundane). If you are like me, here’s a running/grocery planning song for your running mix called The Grocery Store.