Road Running and Marinara

By Eve

I've recently added an extra day of running each week to my routine because quite frankly, I've gotten into a bad habit of not running frequently enough. The only day I can work this into my schedule is on a Tuesday night after work. Even though I get home after 6pm, it's still pretty warm out, and I really have a difficult time running in the heat, so this past Tuesday we decided to wait until after 8 so it would be a little cooler.

To kill some time, Bart and I threw together an easy marinara recipe we've been wanting to try, and we would have that ready with some pasta to eat after our run. We got that cooking on the stove and the house started to smell wonderful between the onions and garlic and tomatoes. Before we knew it, it was time to head out for our run. 

We always do our Tuesday night run on some quiet streets close to home. The temperature was much cooler. The sun was starting to set about midway through, and by the end, we were running in the dark. Bart and I went separate ways so he could get Shadow back home as I continued on. 

I turned on my cell phone to have a little light so I could be seen by any on coming traffic.  I could barely see past the glow of my phone, and all I could hear was my breathing and the tap tap tap of my feet on the pavement. Everything felt perfect, and I thought to myself, I haven't felt this good during a run in a long long time; gliding down the road while my feet were rolling along like I was peddling a little bike. It was then that I realized that while I enjoy trail running and all the beautiful places it takes me, my soul truly loves the simplicity of road running. 

Back at home, we enjoyed our pasta with marinara, and filed our new recipe away as a "keeper".

Easy Marinara Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 2 stalks celery, chopped into thirds
• 2 small carrots, chopped into thirds
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
• salt to taste
• 
  

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Place carrots, celery and onion in the base of the food processor and pulse a few times until vegetables are coarsely chopped. I do mine pretty fine since the kids like it better but leave it chunkier if you prefer.
2. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add celery-carrot-onion mixture and stir to coat with the olive oil. Turn heat down to medium-low and saute the vegetables about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Turn heat to medium-high and add the white wine. Bring to a simmer and reduce for 5 minutes.
3. Pour in the tomatoes and stir to incorporate the vegetables. Fill one of the cans with about 1/2 cup of water and pour it back and forth from one empty can to the other to loosen any tomato still clinging to the inside of each can. Pour the water and tomato mixture into the sauce pot. Bring sauce to a simmer and reduce the heat to low and cover the pot partially with the lid. Simmer the sauce for 45 minutes, stirring periodically, until it has reduced slightly and thickened in consistency. Season with salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon) and serve.