A typical Greek island winter has no shortage of sun accompanied by strong winds and an occasional ferocious storm. My biggest challenge is fitting my running sessions in around the blustery days. This is my standard conversation with Duncan, who, bless his socks, runs with me on his recovery days, 3 times a week. “Are you coming running today?” “Don’t think so, it’s too windy, I shall do some pilates inside instead.”
“Nah, it’s not that windy at all. It’s a bit gusty, but you’ll be okay.” “You really think so? All right then…” Half an hour later as we are trudging along a windswept beach against the headwind so strong that you can barely hear what the other person is saying, I crack the s***s a little. “What were you thinking?? You told me the wind wasn’t THAT BAD. This is torture!” “It must have picked up a little…” Yeah, right! Admittedly, once we finish the run I’m always super happy I did go out and, let’s be honest, without this little white lie, I would have certainly stayed at home. Running against the elements takes a lot more energy so once you’ve showered you tend to get ravenously hungry. All you want to do is to curl up on the sofa with a nice recovery meal and maybe a small glass of wine for all your effort. This is where today’s Mexican potato skins come into play. You can prepare their components well in advance, in fact the dish will taste better if you do that. It’s a filling and satisfying meal that combines a healthy dose of carbs, protein, fibre, good fats and antioxidants – a perfect package to help your beat up muscles recover as fast as they can. If you, like me, adore vibrant Mexican flavours and crispy potato skins, you’ll be craving this simple dish on your recovery days too.
½ cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 8 hours salt, to taste lemon or lime juice, to taste
POTATO SKINS & BEAN FILLING
6 large potatoes 3 cups of cooked black beans 2 shallots, finely chopped 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped 2 level tsp cumin 1½ tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp hot chilli powder juice of ½-1 lime sprinkle of pul biber / mild chilli (optional) ½-1 tsp salt 1 avocado, sliced 1 spring onion, sliced a few cherry toms, chopped a handful of fresh coriander, to serve olive oil
