Cool as a cucumber.

I know I promised you guys cucumber stats for yesterday. I know, I let you down.

I hope you accept my apologies. Or as I like to say in real life, "My b."

Anyway, I taught TurboKick last night for the first time in three weeks! It was awesome. Screaming and jumping around for an hour is where it's at.

Except...I woke up this morning sore from head to toe. I really thought it was because my class was that amazing. Little did I know I was heading for a little somethin' a.k.a. an attack on my immune system. I think I'm destined to stay away from the gym? So now I have a super low voice, a throat cold, and body aches which are clearly unrelated to last night's workout.

The bright side? The super low voice. I think it sounds cool.

I packed some pretty nutrient dense meals into my day, including this not-so-nice-looking-but-definitely-tasty-and-filling rice bowl.

I like to call it a roasted veggie rice bowl. It included cucumbers. That was my crazy idea of the day.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 can kidney beans
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled
• 1 carrot
• 1 tomato
• 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
• hummus
• handful cilantro
• olive oil
• black pepper

Chop the veggies and combine them in a bowl with the beans, olive oil, cilantro, and pepper.

Note to self: use bigger bowl next time.

Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet and then place the unpeeled garlic on the sheet.

Bake at 350F. The timing is a bit tricky because...kidney beans explode in the oven. Check it out:

Who knew?!

I found that pretty hilarious. So I took the kidney beans out after 10 minutes, but let the other veggies roast for about 20 minutes total. Afterwards, I scooped them into a bowl with the rice and topped with chipotle hummus. (Really good hummus flavor, by the way!)

I bet you're wondering how roasted cucumbers taste. They are definitely sweeter than raw cucumbers, but they lose their distinctive crunch. I think I prefer them raw.

Okay, here are your long-awaited cucumber nutrition facts!

• The peel is full of fiber, while the flesh is full of water. Fiber + water = a good combination!
• The skin also contains beneficial minerals such as potassium and magnesium.
• Cucumbers are a good source of vitamin C.
• Cucumbers are often used for curing skin problems and for improving skin health due to the silica found in the skin.
• Two compounds found in cucumbers prevent water retention, which is why cucumbers are helpful for swollen eyes.

Stay tuned--tomorrow is What I Ate Wednesday, and I know you are extremely curious about what I eat in one day!! (Cucumbers will be included).