Zucchini: The Home Gardener's Worst Friend? With bonus garden-related rambling.

One of my main gardening goals has been to harvest more of something than I can eat, despite my limited gardening space here in the Emerald City. I want the feeling of abundance that comes with having to preserve and give away food because I can't eat it all.

Enter zucchini. My grandfather used to say that in New Jersey in summertime, you'd have to keep your car doors locked, otherwise the car would be full of zucchini the next time you got in! In mid-May, I planted two starts from my local grocery store labeled "green zucchini", with no further information. I put them in a bed that used to be a pile of composted horse manure, and that I had also cover cropped, mulched, fertilized, and loosened deeply with my broadfork. They look pleased.

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Weeknight Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Sausage

On Friday, along with a bunch of total wackos, I'm going to get in a van, drive up to the Canadian border, and spend the next 24 hours and 200-ish miles competing in a relay race back toward Seattle. It's Ragnar time! This is my 5th year running in the Ragnar Relay! Team Chafin' the Dream, represent! 

If you don't know what Ragnar is, you're missing out. Or maybe you're just sane. Teams of 12 people tag team running for 24 hours straight, relay-style. So, one runner hits the road at a time, and the rest of the team hops along in the vans. Each runner runs three times, with each leg ranging between 3-8 miles. Total distance per person is anywhere from 12 miles to 20 miles. I'm somewhere in the middle. The low middle. 

Leading up to the race is always a bit crazy, as I'm trying to pull my running clothes together, pack healthy snacks, get in a few last workouts, create some crazy costumes, and of course, carb UP! Ok, that last part is a bit of a joke, because I mean, c'mon�carb might as well be my middle name. I carb up to prep for carbing up. 

With all this running around, I've been a little stressed out about getting a blog post up here. Sometimes I get caught up in wild, fancy recipes, trying to think up something you've never seen before. So I forget that simple, easy, every day recipes can be pretty damn good. Like this one. Not only does it help me hit the ol' carb quota, but it's perfect for a busy weeknight (and tastes pretty great, too). It's also perfect for last minute dinners with friends, because it makes a big pot of pasta and comes together like that. Oh...picturing me snapping my fingers when I say "like that." 

My friend Bree threw this combo together one night, and I was blown away by the simplicity and awesomeness of it. Oh yeah...people like every day recipes, too! You can add pretty much whatever you want, but I start with a box of whole wheat pasta, a big can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes, a can of artichoke hearts and black olives, an onion, a bell pepper, and some pre-cooked sausage (I used smoked garlic chicken sausages here...sorry if they look a little...pale and weird). If you wanna spice it up, add garlic and basil, and maybe some red pepper flakes. And definitely top it with parmesan. 


Eat this, and wish me luck this weekend! 

Weeknight Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Sausage

Serves 4-6

1 box whole wheat penne pasta (about 13 ounces)

Olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 package pre-cooked sausage (about 4 links), sliced

1 bell pepper, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, diced

Handful of basil, slivered

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like San Marzano) 

1 normal-size can artichoke hearts, drained

1 normal-size can large black olives, drainedOlive oil

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese, grated 

Cook pasta according to package instructions. 

Meanwhile, heat a swig of olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, and saut� until starting to brown. Add sausage, and cook for a couple of minutes, add pepper, garlic, and basil, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Drain pasta, reserving about a half cup of pasta water. Add pasta and reserved water to pot with veggies, and stir in tomatoes, olives, and artichoke hearts. Serve with grated parmesan. 

The Genetics of Obesity, Part III

Genetics Loads the Gun, Environment Pulls the Trigger

Thanks to a WHS reader* for reminding me of the above quote by Dr. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health**. This is a concept that helps reconcile the following two seemingly contradictory observations:

1. Roughly 70 percent of obesity risk is genetically inherited, leaving only 30 percent of risk to environmental factors such as diet and lifestyle.
2. Diet and lifestyle have a large impact on obesity risk. The prevalence of obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, and the prevalence of extreme obesity has increased by almost 10-fold. This is presumably not enough time for genetic changes to account for it.

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Return to the Source Parkour Camp

For those who are interested in natural movement training, this summer my friend Rafe Kelley will be hosting an interesting three-day event near Bellingham, WA called "Return to the Source".  Rafe is skilled in a variety of movement disciplines and is the co-founder of the Seattle parkour gym Parkour Visions.  Parkour is a very fun sport that hones our natural ability to skillfully navigate physical obstacles, but it's usually done in an urban context.

The camp will take place from August 23-25.  Here's a description from the Parkour Visions site:

"This summer, return to the source of human movement with Parkour Visions as we explore the natural environment in and around Bellingham, WA. Rafe Kelley will introduce you to the benefits of training and playing in nature. You will learn how to adapt your technique and movement to moving effectively through woods, over rocks, and in trees during this unique, 3-day experience."

Watch this video if you want to see what you're in for.

Knowing Rafe, it will be fun and productive.  You can sign up through this page.

Creamy Coffee Popsicles

Lets talk about coffee for a minute. 

I have a bit of a coffee problem. As in, I drink a ton of it and can't start my day without it. I'm also kind of a coffee snob. I'm not a fan of a certain coffee chain that my city prides itself on�I like small local roasters and shops, a good bold flavor, and no add ons. No sugar-vanilla-double-triple-mocha--latte-whip for me, please. Give it to me black. Hot or iced. 

I'll occasionally add a small splash of (unflavored) cream or half n half if I'm feeling frisky, but never sugar. I just like the flavor of the coffee, alright!? I'll make an exception to my no-sugar-in-my-coffee rule when it comes to desserts like coffee ice cream. Or Vietnamese coffee, with swirls of sticky sweetened condensed milk. 

That's what I was going for with these pops originally, Vietnamese coffee popsicles. But, once the coffee and condensed milk are stirred together and frozen, you lose that swirly separation that makes Vietnamese coffee its own special beast. Instead, they took on a coffee ice cream vibe, and I can dig that. Super strong coffee ice cream on a stick? Ok, now that will appease both my dessert obsession and my coffee snobbery. 

Creamy Coffee Pops
From this pop recipe and this coffee recipe

Makes 8-10 depending on size of popsicle mold

I used David Lebovitz's recipe/proportions, but rather than brewing espresso, I made a batch of cold brew. Seriously, strong, dark cold brew is one of life's greatest inventions. And it's so, SO easy (Make it just to have in the fridge...your life will change). Just plan ahead. The cold brew needs to sit overnight, then pops will take 4-6 hours (or more) to freeze through. Also, these are super strong...and caffeinated. If you're planning on having these in evening, consider decaf coffee grounds. 

2/3 cup of ground coffee 
2 3/4 cups water
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

Add ground coffee and water to a large container and stir until all the grounds are wet. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Strain through cheesecloth and a fine-mesh sieve.

To make pops, whisk together the strained coffee and condensed milk, and pour into popsicle molds. Freeze until solid. 

Almond Stuffed Dates, Baba Ghanoush and Grilled Pineapple Salsa on CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

This morning I had the pleasure of presenting three dishes on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with guest host, Ismaila Alfa.  The first, traditionally to break fast at Ramadan, was stuffed Dates.

Beautiful Stuffed dates are available now at Herat Foods on Pembina and Halal Meats and Specialty Foods on Maryland.

They are so simple to prepare:

Blanch almonds if they have the skin on and peel the skin off.  Poke out the pit of the date, stuff with 1-2 blanched almonds.  Serve.  Optional to drizzle a bit of tahini mixed with honey over the dates.
Enjoy!


Baba Ghanoush

1 globe eggplant, pricked and baked until very soft
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tahini (really good tahini at Herat Foods on Pembina)
juice of one lime
salt, to taste
1/4 cup yoghurt

Puree all ingredients in food processor or blender.  It will seem very loose.  Refrigerate.  Serve with olives, harissa, olive oil, etc.  Enjoy!

 Grilled Pineapple Salsa

1 pineapple, cored then grilled, then chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, roasted whole over grill then chopped
1 ear corn, roasted or 1 cup pan fried
1/2 cup cooked black beans
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chipotle peppers
1/2 cup chopped or pureed tomatoes
salt, to taste
2 tbs brown sugar
2-4 tbs vinegar
drizzle olive oil
3 tbs fresh chopped mint

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Refrigerate and enjoy with tortillas or in your favourite dish.  Try with fish tacos.  Excellent local corn tortillas are available at Dino's Grocery Mart on Notre Dame.

The Genetics of Obesity, Part II

Rodents Lead the Way

The study of obesity genetics dates back more than half a century. In 1949, researchers at the Jackson Laboratories identified a remarkably fat mouse, which they determined carried a spontaneous mutation in an unidentified gene. They named this the "obese" (ob/ob) mouse. Over the next few decades, researchers identified several other genetically obese mice with spontaneous mutations, including diabetic (db/db) mice, "agouti" (Avy) mice, and "Zucker" (fa/fa) rats.

At the time of discovery, no one knew where the mutations resided in the genome. All they knew is that the mutations were in single genes, and they resulted in extreme obesity. Researchers recognized this as a huge opportunity to learn something important about the regulation of body fatness in an unbiased way. Unbiased because these mutations could be identified with no prior knowledge about their function, therefore the investigators' pre-existing beliefs about the mechanisms of body fat regulation could have no impact on what they learned. Many different research groups tried to pin down the underlying source of dysfunction: some thought it was elevated insulin and changes in adipose tissue metabolism, others thought it was elevated cortisol, and a variety of other hypotheses.

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