My perfect summer meal

Last summer I had just moved into my small studio apartment in Seattle. I was so excited to be on my own in the city. What was also exciting was my proximity to Whole Food Market and the Farmer's Markets in the U-District and Wallingford. This could also be considered a negative because as my stomach benefited, my wallet was soon being emptied on the summer bounty. While most Americans are spending less of their disposable income on food (less than any other developed country), I was spending most of mine on food (granted my income is a lot less than typical being a poor student and now intern). It was one of my first days in my apartment and I was enjoying my new found freedom away from my roommates. I walked over to Whole Foods to browse and find "inspiration" in the isles, my usual, but time consuming routine. When I saw the beautiful multi-colored cherry tomatoes, I had my idea. This summer, as soon as I saw the tomatoes at the market, I had to have it again! This recipe can easily be adapted for elimination diets (except nightshade allergies) by using brown rice linguini and omitting the cheese.

Linguini with Garlicky Cherry Tomatoes, Kale and Toasted Pine Nuts

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 bunch lacitino kale, ripped into small pieces
1 lbs whole wheat linguine
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
ricotta salata cheese for topping (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the garlic. Cook about 30 seconds, careful not to burn the garlic. Stir in the tomatoes and sea salt. Cook until the tomato skins are slightly wrinkly, about 10 minutes. Add the kale and cook until it turns bright green and is slightly wilted. Toss the cooked pasta with the tomatoes and kale in the skillet and add the toasted pine nuts. Serve with crumbled ricotta salata cheese if desired.

The last time I made this dish I also made simple chicken cutlets with it. I used a dry herb mix that I bought in the whole food bulk section, which I used like bread crumbs. It had dried basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary and marjoram. For this particular recipe, I think dried herbs work best, but substituting with some fresh would be ok too.

Italian Herb Crusted Baked Chicken Cutlets

1 chicken breast, sliced into 1/4 thick cutlets
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Italian herb seasoning
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

In one dish, pour the olive oil and in another combine all the spices. Dip the chicken cutlets first in the olive oil, coating it completely, then into the herb mixture. Place cutlets onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

Choosing the diet soda?

We all know this scenario: woman/man walks into a fast food joint, orders a super large meal (with dessert) and then asks for the diet soda. I think we can all sense the irony in that situation, the consumption of a high calorie meal with the concern about calories in the soda. What difference can that possibly make? Let's break it down. Say you order a Big Mac (540 kcals), large fries (500 kcals), an Oreo McFlurry (550 kcals) and a large Coke (310 kcals). That totals to 1900 calories! Now minus the soda (equivalent to getting a diet soda) and you get 1590 calories. That is still a lot of calories. It takes an extra 500 calories a day to gain a pound in one weeks time, so opting for diet does put you in the right direction calorie wise, but by eating this meal at all you are bound to go over the amount of calories that you expend and ultimately gain weight. So what are you options? Well first of all, a meal this calorie dense should not be eaten at all! If you are still choosing to eat this, than try drinking some water or seltzer with your meal and ordering the small sizes. This obviously does not solve the problem at all, but it does take the diet soda out of the equation and reduce calorie intake. Artificial sweeteners are not beneficial for your health. For some people, the side effects can be severe and most of the time people do not even connect the two to their sense of well being. Artificial sweeteners can actually make you gain weight. Sounds counter intuitive right? What happens is that your body senses something sweet, now out bodies are actually a lot smarter than we know. Just the sensation of the sweetness that your brain detects will increase you insulin levels regardless of the actual sugar being released into the blood stream. Insulin is the hormone in the body that is responsible for storing energy (ie-fat). If our levels are high, we'll constantly be in the storing mode. Besides this, some research indicates that the artificial sweeteners will raise your insulin levels on their own by interacting with taste receptors. After the drink your body has sensed something sweet (therefore preparing for it) and when it doesn't get it, it will still want it! This may come in the form of a ice cream or cookies later, but your body is going to get it sweet fix. So the next time you go to reach for your diet soda, or "diet" anything for that matter in an effort to lose weight or stay healthy, think again.

The Beginning

It’s always exciting in the beginning. I feel motivated and happy to start my journey. It is now day 5 of the detox and this is the first chance I’ve gotten to write. Day 1 was temporarily pushed back when I realized that I had a high tea planned for a friend. I had never been to one of those, so I thought I’d take advantage of the new experience and I’m glad I did. It was wonderful! All those little tiered plates with finger sized treats and piping hot tea, mmmm! So I officially started on Thursday. It’s been going very well, except for a small slip up on Saturday.

I’ve been having smoothies for breakfast with bananas, ground flax seed, tahini and rice milk (I’m unsure if rice milk counts as a grain, but you have to draw the line somewhere). I made a large pot of chili with ground turkey, pinto and kidney beans. It turned out so creamy and delicious. I think I can attribute that to me over cooking the beans slightly. Some of the pintos were very soft, while others in tact, making the “sauce” rich and velvety. I made that pot several meals, which I paired with fresh green salads and simply prepared veggies. Here is my simple recipe for tasty coleslaw; it is so pretty to look at too!

Simply Delicious Coleslaw

Serves 4-6
15 minutes

¼ head red cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, matchsticked
1 bunch radishes, cut into rounds
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sea salt

Combine the cabbage, carrots, radishes and parsley in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Whisk in the oil and salt. Add the dressing the cabbage mixture and toss to coat. Add more salt to taste.

The Detox Plan

I’ve finally started my detox! I wanted to wait until the craziness with school and graduation was over (and yes, it is, I’m a MASTER!!) so that I had time to focus on doing it right. I’ve decided to do it without any of the medical food products that are out there, strictly whole foods detox (well mostly).

Some of you out there might be skeptical of why any one would do a detox, so this is for you: we are exposed to many toxins in our environment, from the food we eat, water we drink and the air we breathe. The amount of toxins we take in exceeds our body’s ability to handle them. Our systems can become easily overwhelmed especially when we are not taking in the optimal diet, which most Americans are not. Even if we’re taking in the best possible diet, there is still going to be some overburdening of the system from daily exposure. Toxin exposure does play a role in the increased prevalence of chronic diseases. If we cannot defend our body against such assaults the damage will add up and eventually cause disease. This is not to say that everyone in the world needs to do a detox or they will eventually become sick. This is simply a preventative measure because we know that heavy metals, pesticides, etc cause damage to our bodies so why keep them around longer then they need to be? Each person needs to listen to their own bodies. This is my first attempt at a detox, so we’ll see how it goes!

Here is my plan:
• Elimination of major allergens: no gluten, eggs, peanuts, dairy, soy and corn (keeping citrus and nightshade vegetables).
• No refined carbohydrates or added sweeteners (even natural sweeteners as they trigger my sugar cravings, I may add them in eventually). The only “sweet” I’m allowing is fresh fruit, which there are an abundance of and the dates in Lara bars.
• No grains the first week. This is my attempt to curve the sugar cravings – I’ll let you know if it works.
• No caffeine of any kind (this means no cocoa powder or decaffeinated teas and coffees).
• Addition of my special detox tea daily (hot infused overnight): chamomile flowers, licorice, burdock root, calendula flowers, dandelion root, oatstraw, hibiscus flower and alfalfa.
• Nettle tea infusions for added nutrition.
• Fresh vegetable juices (made with kale, carrots, celery, parsley, ginger).
• Probiotics, 40 CFU/day (I used Pharmax HLC intensive capsules).
• Yoga and exercise that make me sweat.
• 3 servings of cruciferous vegetables per day. I’ve been making large bowls of coleslaw, which I’ve been eating off of.
• Organic meats, only grass fed organic beef and pork only if I buy it from the farmers market.
• As much organic fruits and vegetables as possible.
• Lots of water!

It’s an ambitious plan I know, but I’m excited to finally have a go.

Strawberries!

I spent last Sunday strolling the Ballard Farmer’s market. Being at the market is just about my favorite thing to do. I walk through the vendors with a permanent smile across my face. How could I not? I’m in nutritionist heaven. What I think I like most about the market is the people and vendors that frequent it. It’s a nice community of people, people who believe in supporting local economies and want to make a statement with their spending power. We give back to the people who grow our food by buying from them directly and standing up for their livelihood. I won’t go on anymore about my fondness for the market though I can and probably will in another post.

The market that day was particularly alive. It was the scent of sweet strawberries in the air that created this wonderful atmosphere. The beautifully ripe Washington berries were delicious. I bought 4 pints that I ate in about 2 days (What? You must!). The flavors were perfect on their own that there was no need to get fancy. I just sliced them up and indulged.

Berries are amazing foods. Their vibrant colors indicate that there is loads of good phytonutrients in there. Phytonutrients are a broad class of non-essential nutrients that fall under the even broader class of antioxidants. Antioxidants work to neutralize free radicals in the body, which cause damage to cells. Science doesn’t even know all the roles that these nutrients play. Even though these compounds are not “essential” for normal body functioning, I would argue that they are absolutely essential for optimal health. Why do you think health professionals are always telling you to eat your fruits and vegetables? We are not sure of all the mechanisms just yet, but we know that people who eat more fruits and vegetable are better off health wise. Strawberries are particularly health promoting due to a class of compounds called phenols. This gives the strawberries their striking red color. You may have heard of phenols in reference to red wine, but there are many different phenols found in fruits and vegetables, so it is not necessary to drink wine to get the benefits that are touted (sorry!). Some of the benefits associated with the particular phenols found in strawberries (anthocyanins and ellagitannins) are decreased inflammation, cancer prevention, protection against macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis. Is there any more of a reason to delight in your favorite fruits this summer??