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Fresh shrimp... pan sear in olive oil and red chili flakes. Season with sea salt, black pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Put 1 cm of water in a pan and flash steam the broccolini for four minutes. Season with sea salt and olive oil.
Side of avocado with a squeeze of lemon.
Enjoy!
Hard Boiled Eggs - go cage-free for healthy fatty yolks. Bring water to a boil. Place eggs in water for 6 minutes for soft boiled, 7 minutes for between soft and hard boiled and 8 minutes for hard boiled. Place eggs in bowl of ice water to cool.
In a bowl mix the hard boiled eggs, avocado, and arugula with a drizzle of healthy fat olive oil. Season with sea salt, black pepper, and I like red chili flakes.
Serve with a side of grapes and green tea!
Have a healthy day!
A lunch or dinner composed of a protein, starch and vegetable is a simple formula for eating healthy.
The protein for this meal was organic chicken breast pan seared in a dab of butter. The chicken was seasoned simply in sea salt, cracked pepper and rosemary.
The starch is roasted potatoes in a cast iron skillet. The skillet makes for a perfectly crisp outside and soft inside. The potatoes were roasted in olive oil, sea salt, garlic and fresh rosemary. I roasted them at 500 degrees, and they take about 20 minutes. Check on them at about 15 minutes, and flip them around so they do not burn and build a crust on another side of the potato.
The vegetable is a red cabbage sauteed in olive oil with sea salt, black pepper, crushed chili flakes and garlic. Cook until soft and they begin to caramelize.
Buon Appetito!
Several years ago Dan Buettner published a book called Blue Zones. Blue Zones contain the most dense populations of centenarians on the planet. At the time the book was published there were four areas: Loma Linda, Southern California in a Seventh Day Adventist community, Nicoya, Costa Rica, Okinawa, Japan and Sardinia, Italy. I have shared much of the information in previous blogs. You can also learn more at www.bluezones.com.
Last week I was on a long ride from Chattanooga to Savannah. I was listening to NPR, and another blue zone has been found in Italy. It is Italy's second blue zone, which I must point out as a proud Italo-American! The new location is Acciaroli, Italy which is on the western coast of Italy in the region of Campania near Naples. http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-are-investigating-why-people-in-this-tiny-italian-town-keep-living-to-100
It may be the most amazing blue zone yet. With a population of just 2000 there are 300 centenarians - 15% of the population! The rest of the world is at about .2%. Not only is this statistically amazing, but it gets even more so - 20% of the centenarians are super-centenarians living to age 110+! They are living very long lives with incredibly low rates of heart disease and Alzheimer's.
Why is this happening??? Scientists are beginning the investigation. The initial guess is a combination of genes and diet. The people in this area are not doing any intentional exercise other than walking, climbing hills and steps, and tending gardens.
The Acciarolians are eating the famed Mediterranean diet that is rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, grass fed dairy, wine and olive oil, but the scientists are uniquely interested in two ingredients that they consume almost daily at every lunch and dinner - anchovies and rosemary.
Anchovies because of their small size are mercury free, high in protein, and rich in omega 3 fatty acids which is an anti-inflammatory. Rosemary which is rich in calcium, iron, and vitamin B is full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Inflammation is the precursor to disease.
Anchovies can be used in a lot of ways. Many Italians use them as the salt for salad dressing. Put 5-6 anchovy fillets in a blender with a 3:1 ratio of extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, and cracked pepper. Taste the dressing and if you want it a bit more salty add some more anchovies. Anchovies can be used in creating pasta sauces. Place several anchovies in a pan with just a bit of liquid. Warm them up and break them apart with a fork then add diced eggplant, a clove of garlic and olive oil - lightly saute. Then add San Marzano tomatoes and serve with spaghetti. A panino with anchovies, fresh mozzarella, and roasted zucchini, peppers and eggplant. You can find many more recipes on the internet.
Italians most often use rosemary when they are roasting vegetables and meat. I most commonly remember my Nonna Liliana using rosemary with roasted potatoes and whole roasted chicken.
As much as one's eating choices are a factor, don't forget the afternoon siesta and a gelato in the square with friends is part of the formula as well!
First
Slice 1/2 an onion and a carrot. Drizzle olive oil over the onions and carrots and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Kick it up a notch with red chili flakes. Put in a pyrex at 400 degrees. Should take 15 to 20 minutes. Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil and season with sea salt. Add the asparagus with about 10 minutes to go.
Second
Season the hanger steak with sea salt and black pepper. Put a little butter in an iron skillet on medium to high heat. When the butter melts put the steak in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes and then flip it and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Let the steak sit for 10 minutes and then slice thin.
Serve and enjoy!
Arugula Omelet
Asparagus
Avocado
Saute in olive oil circular sliced onions and sweet colorful baby bell peppers on low heat. Season lightly with sea salt and black pepper. When the onions are translucent crack two eggs over the veggies. When the eggs are almost done add a handful of arugula which will wilt quickly. Season lightly with sea salt and black pepper.
While the eggs are cooking in a separate pan put a half inch of water and bring to a boil. Add asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes. They should be fork tender but even if they are a bit firm you can pull them out because they are so water dense and have absorbed so much heat they will continue to cook - mushy asparagus is horrible. Pat the asparagus dry with a paper towel. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt.
Cut an avocado in half. Season with a squeeze of lemon juice and sea salt.
Plate it - Enjoy it!
Recently my daughter Kate who is a second year student at UVA texted me, "Dad, you have to see this documentary Cooked by Michael Pollan." To me Michael Pollan is a modern day prophet. His book The Omnivore's Dilemma is in my estimation one of the most important books for our generation.
As a foodie, health fanatic I was elated that my college-aged daughter, off on her own making her own decisions about what to eat and what not to eat, was interested in a documentary by Michael Pollan. I knew my indoctrination was working!
Last Friday night my wonderful bride and our two remaining kids who are still in the nest cuddled up to a fire and Netflix and began watching this four part series. Both my children 14 and 11 years old were fully engaged and wanted to watch all four that night!
Here is a trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epMAq5WYJk4
The below is taken from Michael Pollan's website.
In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth— to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. In the course of his journey, he discovers that the cook occupies a special place in the world, standing squarely between nature and culture. Both realms are transformed by cooking, and so, in the process, is the cook. Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements. A North Carolina barbecue pit master tutors him in the primal magic of fire; a Chez Panisse–trained cook schools him in the art of braising; a celebrated baker teaches him how air transforms grain and water into a fragrant loaf of bread; and finally, several mad-genius “fermentos” (a tribe that includes brewers, cheese makers, and all kinds of picklers) reveal how fungi and bacteria can perform the most amazing alchemies of all. The reader learns alongside Pollan, but the lessons move beyond the practical to become an investigation of how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships: with plants and animals, the soil, farmers, our history and culture, and, of course, the people our cooking nourishes and delights. Cooking, above all, connects us.
The effects of not cooking are similarly far reaching. Relying upon corporations to process our food means we consume large quantities of fat, sugar, and salt; disrupt an essential link to the natural world; and weaken our relationships with family and friends. In fact, Cooked argues, taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make the American food system healthier and more sustainable. Reclaiming cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations, opens the door to a more nourishing life.
To your health,
Julian
Tablespoon of organic peanut butter and a sliced apple. Great mid afternoon snack or even a quick breakfast. Try other nut butters like almond butter or cashew butter.
Enjoy!
Every now and then I luck up and one of my hunter friends gives me some deer, duck or quail. A friend of mine brought me some quail. I simply grilled it seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. I served as sides butternut squash and asparagus.
When cooking butternut squash I prefer to bake it. However, if you don't have time, you can cut it up and remove the seeds and boil it which will be much faster. After cooking it I seasoned with olive oil, sea salt, and a mix of nuts. The nuts included almonds, pumpkin seeds, and pecans. I toast them on low heat in a pan on the stove. It does not take long so be careful not to burn them. If you drizzle just a bit of olive oil on the nuts and some sea salt they are very tasty!
I grilled the asparagus as well next to the quail. The quail takes about 15 minutes and some change. The asparagus about 3-5 minutes. After they are fork tender remove, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt and a squirt of lemon.
Enjoy!
After one of the last blogs pushed deadlifts and broccoli I had to include some broccoli in a meal. This meal is inspired by my Italian roots.
Start the potatoes first. Cut yukon gold potatoes into quarters or fifths, place in a pyrex, drizzle olive oil and manually make sure all the potatoes are covered. Season with sea salt, black pepper, and rosemary. Place a small garlic clove still in its skin in with the potatoes. The potatoes take roughly 30 minutes to cook at 350 to 400.
Once the potatoes are in the oven, start on the baked cod with tomatoes, olives and capers. Simply season lightly with sea salt and pepper because the olives and capers are quite salty. Drizzle some olive oil in a pyrex, place the cod in the pyrex with canned whole tomatoes (cut them in halves or quarters), olives, and capers. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until the cod is firm and cooked through at 350 to 400 degrees.
When there is about ten minutes from the cod and potatoes being completed, steam the broccoli for 5-7 minutes or until fork tender. Season with sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.
Buon Appetito!
