Avocado & Orange Salad with Sesame Soy Dressing

I love to walk. My mom is a walker too. As long as I can remember, Mel has walked 2-4 miles every day, up and down the wooded country road I grew up on. When we were kids, Amanda and I went with her. I would inevitably fall and scrape my knees, which often led to me fainting right there on the side of the road. In addition to being a walker, I�m a fainter.

My family also went on evening strolls after dinner�up the street a mile, then back down a mile. Sometimes I stopped a few yards before the turn-around spot, and waited. Then, when they got to me, I pretended I was an orphan, and that they found me on the road and were adopting me. I watched a lot of All Dogs Go to Heaven and Annie.

Seattle is a small city, and you can easily go from one end of downtown to the other on foot. I�ve done it plenty of times. I walk from my office to the gym, from my doorstep to the farmer�s market. I have a car and a bus pass, but I just prefer to get around on foot.

Lately, with the cherry blossoms blooming like crazy, the temperatures rising, and the sun staying out later and later each evening, I have a strong desire to just get out there and walk. Not to go anywhere in particular, but just to walk. To take in the fresh air and give my computer-strained eyes a break.

I can usually bribe Evan with snack-stops, but he prefers walks that have a destination in mind (I mean, what he actually prefers is driving). The other day, I tricked him into walking across town to my favorite grocery store and back. The sunny walk and the store�s bountiful produce inspired me to make this springy salad with buttery bibb lettuce, red onions, creamy avocados, juicy oranges, umami filled dressing, feta for tang, and almonds for crunch.

Evan, the non-salad lover, even asked for seconds. Maybe it was all that fresh air. I�ll give partial credit to the walk, but you can taste this salad and decide for yourself!

Avocado & Orange Salad with Sesame Soy Dressing

Serves 2

Dressing

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon mustard (I use spicy brown)

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon olive oil 

salt & pepper

Mix ingredients together (either shake in a jar, or whisk in a bowl). 

Salad

1/2 head bibb lettuce, torn into largish bite size pieces

1 orange, peeled and cut into bit size chunks

1 tablespoon diced red onion
Dressing (recipe above)

1 avocado, sliced

1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1/4 cup feta

Fresh ground pepper

Put lettuce, orange, and onion in a bowl, and toss with about half the dressing. Arrange on plates or a platter, and top with avocado slices, almonds, feta, fresh ground pepper, and if desired, more dressing. Note: wait til just before serving to toss dressing with lettuce, to avoid soggy salad. 

Corrections to the New Review Paper on Dietary Fat and Cardiovascular Risk

The meta-analysis by Chowdhury et al. raised quite a furor from certain segments of researchers and the popular media. I find this reaction interesting. I usually write about obesity, which is a topic of great interest to people, but my post about the review paper received more than twice my usual traffic. People whose findings or opinions are questioned by the paper are aggressively denouncing it in the media, even calling for retraction (1). This resembles what happens every time a high-profile review paper is published that doesn't support the conventional stance on fatty acids and health (e.g., Siri-Tarino et al. [2], which despite much gnashing of teeth is still standing*). I'm not sure why this issue in particular arouses such excitement, but I find it amusing and disturbing at the same time. This kind of reaction would be totally out of place in most other fields of science, where aggressive public media outbursts by researchers are usually frowned upon.

As it turns out, the critics have a point this time. Significant errors were uncovered in the original version of the meta-analysis, which have been corrected in the current version (3). These include the following two errors, one of which alters the conclusion somewhat:

• The outcome of one observational study on omega-3 fatty acids was reported as slightly negative, when it was actually strongly positive. This changes the conclusion of the meta-analysis, making it somewhat more favorable to omega-3 consumption for cardiovascular protection.
• The authors left out two studies on omega-6 fatty acids. These didn't change the overall conclusions on omega-6.

Read more �

Book Review: Your Personal Paleo Code

Chris Kresser has been a major figure in the ancestral health community for some time now. It's funny to recall that I was actually one of his first readers, back in the early days of his blog when it was called The Healthy Skeptic and the audience was small. Chris's readership rapidly eclipsed mine, and now he's in high demand for his ability to convey ideas clearly and offer practical solutions to important health concerns.

He recently published a book titled Your Personal Paleo Code, which also happens to be a New York Times bestseller. The primary goal of the book is to help you develop a diet and lifestyle that support health and well-being by starting from a generally healthy template and personalizing it to your needs. Let's have a look.

Introduction

Kresser opens with the poignant story of his own health problems, which began with an infectious illness in Indonesia and several courses of antibiotic therapy. After years of struggling with the resulting symptoms, trying a variety of diets, and finally accepting his condition, he was unexpectedly able to recover his health by adopting a personalized Paleo-like diet that included bone broth and fermented foods.

Why Paleo?

Read more �

Pickerel with Pernod - an adaptation of an excellent Turkish Fish recipe

I made this for dinner for Desmond last night.  Not able to get Raki here in Winnipeg any longer, I used Pernod as it isn't as sweet as Ouzo or Sambuca yet has the flavours needed.   Quite delicious.   I'll remember to take a photo next time.

Why am I posting this now?  Gorgeous pickerel is in season until March 31st.  The sweetness of the fish makes it so versatile for so many cooking methods and recipes.

Pickerel with Raki (Pernod)  

4 filets pickerel
2 tomatoes, grated
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbs Turkish Baharat *
1/2 cup (less) olive oil
2 bay leaves
3/4 cup fish stock
salt and white pepper, to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 bunch dill
2 tsp raki (Ouzo)

Heat skillet and saut� the garlic and add the onion and saut� for 3-4 minutes. Add bay leaves and Turkish Baharat. Add the vegetables, pour over the stock and simmer for 2 minutes. 

Season the fish with salt and pepper and place on top of the vegetables. Simmer for about 4 minutes. Chop the dill. Add lemon juice, chopped dill and raki and simmer for about 2 minutes. Arrange the fish and vegetables on a serving dish and serve immediately.

*Turkish Baharat now available at Pollocks Hardware Coop.

Coconut Margaritas

My sister and her boyfriend just got back from the most amazing look tropical vacation ever. They went to Turks and Caicos, those jerks! And while I zipped up my raincoat and pulled on my galoshes, she texted me pictures of white sand and bright blue water. Jealousy level max over here. 

Fact: the only possible way to overcome tropical vacation envy, aside from hopping on a plane, is to drink tropical drinks. Bonus points for pink umbrellas. 

Turks and Caicos is all about the rum punch, but I only had one drink of my mind: coconut margaritas! 

Last week my friend LZ and I had these coconut margs at happy hour the other day, and they were amazing! They weren't too sweet or over the top, and since they were made with coconut water, I felt all good and hydrated, something I don't usually feel when I'm drinking tequila! 

So of course, over the weekend I decided to shake up my own coconut margs, and pretend I was somewhere sunny and warm�just ignore that rain sound on the windows. That's just ocean waves. Obviously. 

I'm not trying to brag or anything, but these are the most amazing margaritas I've ever had. A little tart, a little sweet, a little coconutty� tropical perfection! I invited LZ over for taste testing, and we each had a couple tastes. I mean, full-glass sized tastes. Then maybe a couple more. Who was counting, ya know? We certainly weren't. 

Coconut Margaritas, on the Rocks

Inspired by El Borracho Coconut Margaritas
Makes enough for a crowd

Coconut Tequila (I used this brand)

Fresh lemon/lime juice (juice of 2 lemons & 3 limes, mixed)

Ginger syrup (like this, or make your own)

Coconut water (C2O is my favorite, Zico is my 2nd favorite)

1 can coconut cream (different from coconut milk, but that would work as well-PS. how great is Coco Lopez website... from like, 1999)

Toasted coconut sugar (2 tablespoons sugar & 3 tablespoons toasted desiccated coconut, stirred together)

To prepare your glass, add toasted coconut sugar to a plate. Run a lime wedge across the glass rim, and dip rim in sugar and coconut, twisting to coat. Add ice to glass.

For each margarita, fill up cocktail shaker half way with ice, and add:
 

1 oz tequila

1 oz lemon/lime juice

1/4 oz ginger syrup

2 oz coconut water

1/2 oz coconut cream

Shake until combined, and strain into prepared glass. Serve with a lime wedge and pink umbrella! Add a floater of coconut cream if you like it a bit sweeter. 

New Review Paper on Dietary Fat and Heart Disease Risk

A new review paper on dietary fatty acids and heart disease risk was just published by Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury and colleagues in the Annals of Internal Medicine-- one of the top medical journals (1). The goal of the paper is to comprehensively review the studies evaluating the effect of dietary fatty acids on heart (coronary) disease. The review covers observational and intervention studies pertaining to saturated, monounsaturated, trans, omega-6 polyunsaturated, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. The paper is notable for its comprehensiveness (inclusion criteria were very lax).

Here is a summary of the results:

• In observational studies that measured diet, only trans fat was related to cardiovascular risk. Saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats were unrelated to risk.
• In observational studies that measured circulating concentrations of fatty acids, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (DHA, DPA, EPA, AA) were associated with lower risk. The dairy-fat-derived margaric acid (17:0) was also associated with lower risk. No other fatty acids were related to risk, including trans fatty acids.
• In controlled trials, supplementation with omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids did not alter risk.

The authors conclude:

In conclusion, the pattern of findings from this analysis did not yield clearly supportive evidence for current cardiovascular guidelines that encourage high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of saturated fats. Nutritional guidelines on fatty acids and cardiovascular guidelines may require reappraisal to reflect the current evidence.

My view

Read more �

Baked Chocolate Stout Donuts with Irish Cream Glaze

I love St. Patrick's day! But, to be fair, i don't really know much about actual St. Paddy's day in actual Ireland (even though last year I made this traditional Irish  snack plate!). The St. Patrick's day I know is all about wearing green (and pinching people who aren't wearing green), eating corned beef and cabbage, drinking green beer and Irish whiskey, and spiking everything you can with stout beer and Irish cream. 

Spike all the things! Baked chocolate Stout and Irish Cream donuts! Let's do this! 

Guys, this donut pan business is dangerous! They're so easy and fun and cute! I could make donuts for every holiday. Friday is a holiday, right? 

The baked cake portion of these is dense and chocolaty, with a little bit of stout flavor shining through. Use your favorite Irish stout, or find something fun. I used a salted caramel stout. What! Yep, it happened! It exists! The glaze is all boozy and Irish creamy. Ps. You can make your own Irish cream! 

St. Paddy's Day donut time. Here's what you do: whisk, stir, drink some stout, pour, stir, mix, drink some stout, bake, drink some stout, whisk glaze ingredients, cool donuts, drink some stout, glaze donuts, eat donuts. Drink some stout. 

Baked Chocolate Stout Donuts with Irish Cream Glaze

Adapted from this recipe

Makes 6-8 donuts

Donuts

1 cup flour

1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dark stout beer

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Glaze

1.5  cups powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons Irish Cream

Green food coloring

Preheat oven to 325. Coat donut pan with cooking spray. 

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together beer, sugar, egg, and butter until combined. Add wet ingredients to dry, and gently fold with a spatula until combined (making sure to get all the dry ingredients mixed in). 

Spoon batter into a ziplock baggie and cut the corner off one end, so you have a hole about the size of a nickel (or spoon into a pastry bag). Pipe a thick ring of batter into each donut circle. Bake for about 11-12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean, and when you gently touch the top of a donut, it springs back. 

Let donuts cool in pan for a minute or two, then gently turn out onto wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter if necessary (the original recipe said it made 6, it weirdly made 7 donuts). 

Let cool completely before glazing. 

To make glaze: Stir powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of Irish cream together until combined. If it's too thick, add more Irish cream (also, you can add a splash of your stout). Scoop about 1-2 tablespoons into a small dish, and to this small portion, add a drop or two of green food coloring, until desired color. Spoon into a ziplock bag. 

Gently dip donuts into un-colored glaze, being careful when you pull it out to not break donut. Let glaze cool until hard/dry, about 30 minutes, then cut a hole in the tip of the baggie, and drizzle green glaze over top. Let cool another 10-20 minutes. (You can also let first layer of glaze dry, then double or <gasp> triple dip for more glazey goodness!)