5 Recipes to Eat Like a Pro Cyclist

I recently spent five days riding (and eating) with Team Colavita/Bianchi p/b Fine Cooking as a guest at their team training camp in Clermont, Florida. As one might imagine, a team sponsored by food and recipe companies would eat pretty well, but what impressed me most was the attention to detail that goes into every bite that fuels this elite champion team.

Under the care of soigneur and team chef Amanda Rose Shission (aka "the Shish"), every meal, smoothie, and snack is jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, as well as healthy carbs, fats, and protein. That means no plain salads and pastas but, instead, creative yet often shockingly simple dishes made from ingredients that are as common as they are unconventional.

Fair warning: They do use a few special tools to make their most nutritious meals. But none are super fancy or expensive. Here are a few of the team's favorites from the week.

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Blueberry and Oat Polenta Pancakes with Blackberry Syrup

Each morning, the team rolls out for a steady 50 to 60 miles on the road. There's coffee, fruit, yogurt and eggs accompanied by a short stack of power pancakes. Shish adapted this recipe from Colavita.com. Serves four.

Ingredients for Pancakes

1 3/4 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour or gluten free flour
3/4 cup instant polenta
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup fresh blueberries
Grated zest from 1/2 lemon

For the syrup:

2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 cup fresh blackberries (or berries of choice)
Grated zest from 1/2 lemon
Pinch of salt

Rules of the Road 

Directions

Whisk the milk, egg, molasses and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate bowl, blend the oats, flour, polenta, coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest, chia seeds (if using them), baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry then mix to combine. The batter should be thick, but if it's too much so, you can add a little more milk. Add in the blueberries then stir to combine.

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Pour some extra virgin olive oil over the griddle (about 1 tablespoon) to coat. Ladle the batter onto the griddle in 1/4 cup sized scoops. Cook for about 1.5 to 2 minutes on each side, flipping when bubbles start to appear in the middle of the pancake.

Turkey Bacon Rice Cakes

Multiple days of being buffeted by winds off the Central Florida lakes drains a lot of energy, and riders can only eat so many blocks and bars. So Shish feeds them simple, real food. These savory rice cakes inspired by Allen Lim's portables were a huge hit.

Ingredients

2 cups sticky rice
8 ounces turkey bacon
1/2 cup almond (or other nut) butter
Drizzle of maple syrup
Salt to taste

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Directions

Cook rice. While rice is cooking, fry bacon until crisp. Wrap bacon in paper towels to soak up excess grease, then crumble. Combine rice, bacon, nut butter, maple syrup, and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Press mixture evenly into a 9-inch square pan. Cool in the fridge. When cool and firm, cut into ten squares and wrap in aluminum foil. Shish prefers Martha Wrap foil because it's lined with parchment paper, so it won't stick to your treat.

Sweet Potato Noodles

For an antioxidant-packed alternative to pasta, Shission turns to the Paderno Spiralizer, which I ordered roughly 35 seconds after seeing it in action. You can make this dish using a vegetable peeler or paring knife, but it won't be quite as "noodly."

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

*Amounts of each depends on if this is a main or side dish. Figure 1/2 to 1 potato per person.

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Directions

Spiralize or pare the sweet potatoes into "noodles," then place them inside a large roasting pan. Lightly coat with olive oil. Roast for 10 minutes at 400 degrees; roast longer for softer noodles, shorter if you like more of a raw crunchy texture. Salt and pepper to taste.

Recovery Smoothie

A good blender can be one of a racer's best friends, speeding up post-ride recovery and hydration with a smoothie. Shission's go-to blend serves up healthy fat, potassium, carbs, and protein.

Ingredients

1 banana
3 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 Avocado
3/4 cup coconut milk
Handful of kale or spinach

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Directions:

Place ingredients in blender. Blend to desire smoothness. Add ice if desired.

Kale Snack Wrap

When you're burning several hundred calories on the road day after day, you're bound to have your fair share of snack attacks. Shission helps the riders make healthy choices to curb their between-meal hunger by making fiber-rich, nutrient packed kale snack wraps.

Ingredients

Large kale leaves
Cooked turkey bacon slices
Spiralized or shredded carrots
Shish's Special Spicy Sriracha Sauce (blend almond butter with dashes of sriracha sauce, soy sauce, water, and fresh ginger to taste)

*Use as many leaves as you'd like. Wraps will keep in the fridge for the day.

Directions

Spread center of leaves with sauce, then place ingredients lengthwise on the leaves, leaving room to fold and wrap the leaf. With the leaf positioned vertically, fold in the ends then roll the leaf from the bottom to the top. Stick a toothpick through the wrap to hold it shut.

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