Fit Fare

Before departing for my birthday celebration in glamorous Miami, my lifestyle—more specifically, my kitchen—is filled with good for you, get into shape, don’t-even-think-about-ice- cream type of regimens. Usually consisting of some serious sweaty yoga sessions, sunless tanning accidents- I say accident, because I always end up with brown streaks gracing my knees and other odd parts of my body. Regardless, another regimen I try to follow, is healthy foods- mostly fibrous vegetables and lots and lots of water, followed by maybe the occasional cup of senna tea, as to reduce any sign of bloating before putting my bikini on and stepping foot on those luxurious pure white sand beaches.

With this being said, one can imagine, that the day or two prior to my departure, the fridge is getting quite low. So here I am, cooking dinner in my sports bra while waiting for that stinky self-tanner to dry after a tooth-whitening session. No dinner is even halfway appealing in my less than comfortable studio apartment. So, its frozen food and tomato basil sauce from whole foods. After a carb-less broccoli and shrimp marinara concoction- with lots of chili pepper flakes (my secret to making anything bland and healthy taste good)—I jump in the shower.

Its take-two – put on another coat of sunless tanner. After everything is good and reapplied, I realize that the shrimp didn’t quite fill me up. Instead of walking across the street for some frozen custard—which I was so tempted to do—I remembered (smelled, rather) the acorn squash I had thrown in my oven before my run.

With the outer layer of the squash significantly burned I was able to carve out soft steamy hunks of deep yellow flesh from the blackened squash. Add a little salt to a bite, and it sure tastes good. But, I still had that creamy, smooth, rich frozen custard on my mind. So, I began to invent an ingenious replacement. Adding a small piece of butter, I added cinnamon applesauce to the mix, a dash of salt, and a touch, I repeat—a touch! —of cayenne pepper (leftover from my lemonade detox diet.) Whipping it all together with a fork, almost fluffing the ingredients together like whisking egg-whites, and behold you have something so tasty and rich you could have sworn that your grandmother had been home all afternoon preparing a pie with the apples you picked from her orchard that morning.

What I have discovered is my new favorite dessert. Something so healthy that I can have the day before I dawn that new Pucci bikini, yet something so succulent that you’re bland guests who don’t eat sweets will be coming back for seconds, and even thirds.

Another take on this could, be whipped in a blender and spooned over homemade citrus pound cake for a nice finish to a simple summer meal of rosemary lamb chops. Or, at a more elegant event, blended and served over vanilla bean gelato, adding dark chocolate sauce if you wish to be so decadent. Perfect for an ending to an outdoor dinner party after a long hot day on the boat. Or, to finish a wholesome meal in the dead of winter, because the heartiness of the squash holds up well in the snow, warming one from within. For now, I will simply finish enjoying my figure friendly dessert in my rugged 400 sq ft. apartment, but I’ll be on the beach in Miami this weekend!