A renewed effort to get writing again. It seems like a good idea to tie it together with the one thing I always feel like writing about: food.

As it always does, January brings with it an inevitable effort to exercise more, eat better, and drink less. This year’s iteration on the theme includes preparing only vegetarian meals every other week, drinking alcohol only on weekends, and continued use of the exercise bike. I don’t have trouble with exercise, but resisting overindulgence in food and drink is much more difficult.

I’m sorry to say that I’ve downloaded the Peloton app–free for two months–and I’ve really been enjoying it. The RPMs are much more realistic for me than they are in videos from GCN, and the music is great. So yeah, I’m BASIC.

Alex and I trade sets of weeks as far as dinner-making: I do two weeks (one vegetarian and one not), and then he does two weeks. Last week my best menu item was this salad:

• roasted cauliflower
• sliced endives
• kidney beans
• sliced red onion
• toasted walnuts
• artichoke hearts
• feta cheese
• vinaigrette
• parsley

A great combination served warm, inspired by this similar salad from Smitten Kitchen. This was the first time I included endive in any version I’ve made, and I’ll definitely buy them every time from now on. At Central Market they’re sold by weight, so two pretty large ones were barely $1, and they have a unique texture that adds a lot to this salad.

Last night was traditional shrimp & grits, and tonight I’ll be making this Ottolenghi salad, but with dates and feta cheese instead of figs and goat’s cheese. I’m crossing my fingers that the sweet potatoes I bought are decent, because if you get mealy ones, the salad is ruined.

Despite the bike and Peloton app, I’ve actually been doing a lot more walking lately than I was, say, two months ago. I figure I should make my exercise seasonal, the way some people can their eating, and do it outdoors as much as possible before the Texas summer heat is back.