Very few things will test the energy levels like a long run. Over two hours on the road will pretty much let you know if what you're eating is giving you enough energy. While my diet of bananas, homemade powerbars, vegan chili and (shudder) soy cheese leaves me feeling unfulfilled, I have felt strong, focused and, well, just plain perky. That being said, sixteen miles requires a whole different level of energy. Hard to admit, but I strongly doubt I could have felt much better if I had eaten animal protein than I did today. The post run fatigue and hunger, which are both rather prodigious, are hard to ignore...once you've had an icebath and a quick nap. After a quick snack in the afternoon, Allie and I took our first foray into the world of tamale production. Tamales have always seemed to be one of those things that are, quite simply, best left to the professionals. All of the technique, corn husks, long cooking time, messing about with uncooked masa harina...quite simply, it never seemed worth the effort of home production. Allie chose a pipian (pumpkin seed)and herb mole to dress the tamales, and made two different stuffings for the masa harina. The first, very straightforward stuffing, was black beans and corn with onion, garlic, crushed red pepper and a hint of cumin. The second was just a touch of a cheat, as we used a vegetarian chicken substitute that contained gluten...god forbid we use a real piece of chicken, right, if you're going to cheat, cheat by eating...flour. Kill me now.
In the end, the tamales were rather tasty. A local tamale expert commented that they could have steamed a bit longer (we steamed for two hours), but the mole had tremendous flavor and plenty of spice from the jalapeno. I was particularly partial to the black bean and corn version, as the faux-chicken stuffing felt, well, fake. This might have been the best meal of the experiment so far (Allie thinks it, by far, was the best meal yet...who needs meat?).
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