The little shih tzu sat perfectly poised on the spongy black matted floor, his paws turned out like a ballerina in first position. The fur around his eyes was stained brown, and contrasted with his perfectly groomed white fir like smeared makeup on a fashion model. His head moved gently up and down, eyes never blinking, as he followed the repetition of my pulls. I was hanging, lengthwise, from a low bar, my legs splayed out in front of me like a person lodged under a car.
"10 more reps! Go!" Leslie said, her voice pure with cheer. "Pull from your lats, not your biceps" Said Jeff. "Imagine pulling your elbows down" Leslie chimed in. The dog just stared, coaching me with his eyes. He was the toughest critic in the room. "Tomorrow you are going to feel like you have been kicked by a mule" Jeff said. The disconcerting thing about this statement is that if anyone knows exactly what being kicked by a mule feels like, it's Jeff.
Jeff was raised on a farm, then after moving to the twin cities entered into a career as a personal trainer. It was here that he met Leslie, an established marathon coach with the most impressive endurance running history of any woman I have ever met. Leslie has run for over 100 miles straight around the same 3 mile stretch. Together Leslie and Jeff started up Equipt fitness, a small personal training studio, where they employ the many marvelous uses of the kettle bell. They have a keen eye for poor form, and can tell you exactly how to adjust your movements so that no time in the gym goes to waste.
When Leslie asked me if I wanted to work on a fitness challenge with her, I felt honored, and jumped at the opportunity. Specifically, we are planning to build up to being able to do a respectable set of pull-ups. Why pull-ups? Why not pull-ups! So this afternoon, I found myself hanging from a bar with crooked arms, shaking to near convulsions, watching the shih tsu on the floor silently stare me down. 'is that all you got' the dog seemed to say. His bottom teeth protruding out of his mouth. Then I heard Leslie's voice, "Three, two, one".
I dropped to the floor.
Simply roasted chicken with zucchini saute and sweet leek rice.
The chicken
Preheat the oven to 425. Rinse and pat dry
2 split chicken breasts (with the bone and skin on)
Take 6 cloves of garlic and cut the tops off, leaving the rest of the skin on. coat the bottom of a casserole dish with a few tsp of olive oil and place the chicken and garlic in the dish. Massage the top of the chicken skin with about 1 Tbsp butter, then sprinkle with a little salt. Put the dish in the oven, uncovered, for 20 min. Then take the chicken out and turn it over and cook for 5 more min. Take it out a final time, flip it over again and sprinkle with fresh thyme and oregano (or dried). cook for 10 more min, until the juices run clear. Take the garlic out of its shell and use as a garnish.
optional: Before cooking the chicken, bruise some fresh lemon grass with the side of your knife and add it to the pan. I swear it gives the chicken a lemony flavor (Christina said she didn't notice it, so I have left it out of the recipe).
The zucchini
2 zucchini
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
6 sun dried tomatoes, re hydrated in hot water and drained
fresh ground pepper
fresh thyme
fresh oregano
Heat the oil and add the salt and zucchini. If you wait until the oil is hot to add the vegetable, the zucchini will absorb less of the oil and not will have a more fresh flavor. Add the garlic as soon as the zucchini starts to sizzle. When the color of the zucchini changes from stark white to greenish yellow, sprinkle the herbs and sun dried tomatoes (diced into small pieces). Season with ground pepper.
The rice
Take yesterdays Persian rice out of the fridge (assuming you have leftovers). If you do not have leftovers, see the previous post. In a small pot, heat a tiny bit of oil (enough to cover the bottom). Add 1 leek, rinsed, halved, and sliced (use only the white part). After they soften but before they brown, add 1 cup of the cooked rice to the leeks. Give a few stirs, turn off the heat and cover the rice until ready to serve.
Christina's vote: I got to eat a good meal and work my bicep bringing my fork to my mouth!
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