Day 5. Visitors!

My favorite neighbors from Charleston are visiting New York this weekend! We went to see a very weird show last night called Sleep No More. It's one of those shows that is getting a lot of word-of-mouth buzz, and it's been sold out for months. Since it's been about 12 hours since we finished, I am still mulling over whether it was the most insane or the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. As my friend Catie said, "Why can't it be both?" I guess it can. (But I'll post more about this slightly terrifying adult haunted house with MacBethian & Rebeccan themes separately if anyone is interested in hearing more.)

On the other hand, having good friends in town usually means food & drink, which can easily derail someone's detox dieting efforts. I'm happy to report, I only steered wrong slightly. I did not drink any alcohol, although I suspect it would've helped assuage my fears slightly if I had partaken. But for dinner, we wandered around a dead zone in Manhattan while the temperatures dropped considerably, and finally settled upon a sports bar near Madison Square Garden where I wanted to order a BLT or a turkey club wrap, but I didn't. I went with the veggie wrap instead, which had mushrooms, arugula, and feta cheese. I had asked for the feta to be on the side, but they did not get that right. At 11:30pm, when our meals finally came to the table, I was starving and didn't have the willpower to send it back. So I ate that wrap, and did not feel guilty about it.

I'm only focusing on the wins right now. Win #1 - I avoided alcohol all evening! In a social setting where everyone else was drinking! Win #2 - I did not order the bacon-laden sandwiches I was really craving. Win #3 - I'm starting Day #5 of this thing.

And my final thought for today is to share a recipe I made yesterday for lunch that came out quite nicely. I took a picture, but since I'm no food photographer, it came out looking kind of gross in the photo. So I'm not going to post it here. Sorry!

Arugula Pesto Risotto
-1/2 cup cooked brown rice
-1/4 onion, chopped
-3 cremini mushrooms, chopped
-1/2 cup frozen vegetables (I used peas & carrots b/c that's what I had at home)
-2 tsp olive oil
-2 tbsp arugula pesto
-salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
Heat oil in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat and saute the onions and mushrooms for about 3 minutes, or until they soften. Then add the frozen veggies and saute them till they thaw a bit (about 3 more minutes.) Add in the brown rice, and keep stirring for a few minutes till the rice heats through. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of the arugula pesto, and a touch of water as well, if needed. I lowered the temperature to a medium-low and simmered the whole concoction for about 5 more minutes to take the edge off the arugula. Add salt & pepper as needed.

The result
A creamy, delicious pesto-risotto delight with mostly vegetables and no cheese. This made enough for two portions, as it's quite filling. I ate half yesterday for lunch, and I'll eat the second half today for lunch.