Possibilities

This morning I volunteered at a flu clinic targeting Albany's refugee community, families from Bhutan and Nepal, Thailand, Iraq, and Africa, among others. The clinic came about a joint effort between Koinonia Primary Care, Albany's Refugee Health Round Table, and SUNY's School of Public Health. Koinonia is a family medicine clinic and federally qualified community health center serving the Arbor Hill community; most of their patients are African American and religious Christians, although they are open to all and serve some refugees as well. For this event, there was a specific drive to reach a different community, including Muslim families.

Accordingly, the student groups who volunteered for the flu clinic came from three campus clubs: Care from the Start, where students see patients at Koinonia; IMANA, which runs clinics at a mosque; and AMCRI, which works with the refugee families directly. We learned to fill syringes with vaccine and give shots, while downstairs, interpreters welcomed families and explained paperwork. Dr. Bob of Koinonia supervised but once we got running, we ran entirely independently, even training the next group on our own.

So what if we had a student-run clinic every Saturday, built out of the three clubs whose efforts currently run in parallel? Imagine the possibilities...

Then I came home to a quick lunch of cold sesame noodles, all components made ahead of time and just in need of assembly. A lunch produced through cultural exchange:

I am reblogging* this recipe from here, which was adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop's cookbook Land of Plenty, which translates Chinese recipes for American home cooks. Think of it as a recipe that has traveled a long way to your computer screen.

(*I used the condiments that I happened to have at home, and thinly sliced cucumbers instead of the other veggies.)

Summer non-cooking

In the summer, even I don't feel like cooking. I'd rather be outside. I'd rather eat raw, fresh food. My appetite is diminished. Etc.

However, too much of this attitude and I wind up eating yogurt, berries, granola bars, and grilled cheese for meal after meal. Enough is enough!

Fortunately, summer dishes can be mostly raw and therefore take less time to cook. Simply toss a few things together, or pour one thing over another thing.

For instance:

• 10-minute pickles that will last a week (I halved the recipe for 1 large cucumber and 1 small head of celery from this week's farm share)
• cold soba noodles and stir-fried Chinese greens with garlic
• tossed summer grain-and-corn salad

Cold soba noodles: boil the noodles as directed, then drain and immediately run under cold water until cool. Toss with a little bit of soy sauce, ponzu, and scallions. Enjoy with tofu or greens or as is.

Stir-fried Chinese greens with garlic: wash and chop greens into large pieces. Peel a few garlic cloves and leave whole. In a large frying pan or wok, heat about a tablespoon of canola oil until very hot (test with a drop of water or a piece of garlic), then add garlic. Cook for a minute, then turn off the heat and add the greens (if you don't turn off the heat, sometimes the whole thing will catch fire). Turn the heat back on and cook for a minute on high. Season with salt if you're feeling indulgent (or just went running!).

Summer salad: toss together the following ingredients.

• any grain, cooked al dente (I used some cool-looking black forbidden rice)
• 1 ear of corn, steamed and de-kerneled
• handful of chopped cilantro and scallion
• half an avocado, cut into small pieces
• handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• lemon juice
• red pepper flakes