Yuca Do It!

Hee hee…YouTube is the best. I was writing the title of that post, and I kept saying “You can doo eeeeet”" and it just wasn’t feeling right.

Until I found this:

That might just have to be my new running mantra.

Anyway, it seemed appropriate after making one of our favorite carbs: the yuca.

(And now it’s time for a breakdown, En Vogue-style):

Cassava
“Yuca” redirects here. For other uses, see Yuca (disambiguation).
Cassava (Manihot esculenta; also called yuca, yucca, or manioc) is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. The flour made of the roots is called tapioca.
Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world.[citation needed]

Basically, it’s like a woody potato — and you can cook it a million ways. Here’s our favorite.

Peel the beast and cut it into pieces:

Boil the pieces until they’re tender. You don’t have to do this, but it saves another half hour of cooking another way because yuca is a pretty tough plant.

Once the yuca is fork-tender, you can put them in whatever delicious concoction you’ve come up with. I normally go with Lucas‘s favorite, which is sauteed in olive oil, garlic and onions. Once they’re mixed together, I add in orange juice, lime juice, salt, pepper and seasonings. I let the liquids boil until they’re sweet and syrupy and then serve!

Because it is a pretty dense carb, I tend to think of yuca more as an entree or main protein rather than a side.

What else have I been up to? Still feeling a little rundown, post-vacation, so I have been pounding EmergenC:

Discovering new salad dressing combinations including Barney Butter (akk! I am out of Healthy Living Summit packets!)

Baby-sitting and blowing bubbles:

Eating hot bar:

And hanging out with friends:

I think our dogs are ready to go home with them. Traitors.

And now, it’s setting up for a perfect Sunday.

• Red Sox on TV.
• Lions on TV.
• Beers in the fridge.
• Nap possibly in my future.

Ah, happiness. Have a great Sunday!