Avoiding diabetes for boards

Everyone has their own plan to survive boards. My friend Lauren seems to be the queen of this: she has pre-made healthy homemade meals (vegetable soups, butternut squash mac-and-cheese) in single servings in the freezer, a fashion theme for each day ("On Fridays we wear PINK!") to keep it interesting, and even a customized daily yoga plan from her yoga teacher. All tricks, of course, to get herself to study every day for five weeks. My role model.

My plan for boards is to not get diabetes. I love to snack, especially while studying, and I recently realized that the bowls of free bite-size candy around school could become a problem given the long days sitting in front of a computer. I also realized that I prefer savory snacks to sweet, but that sweet is what's usually easy and available.

So, for week one, I premade a couple of these kale salads from Smitten Kitchen, which are really good (or I wouldn't repost them). I substituted tomato for dried cranberries, skipped the cheese, and used olive oil and balsamic instead of making a salad dressing, but the real "secret ingredients" that make this salad are the lemon zest (not sour or bitter like lemon juice, but complements the kale) and chopped scallion (pretty subtle). Crunchy, refreshing, and yet hearty with the almonds and quinoa!

I also made these whole wheat English muffins from the NY Times Recipes for Health: not particularly healthy, as they had about half a stick of butter for six (large) muffins, but incredibly delicious. Easy to make, I would make them again in a heartbeat (next weekend?).

Finally, tonight I'm planning on filling veggie tacos with this savory/salty/crunchy-looking avocado-cabbage slaw.

Ever feel like you can't muster the energy to be creative? Board studying is leaving little room in my brain for anything else, including even the most minimal decisions... And this is when it's good to have some trusted recipes to turn to. (Or it would be grilled cheese every night...)

Living with uncertainty

I recently met a patient whose credit card wouldn't go through as she was checking out. The problem was with the machine, not her card, but she was instantly on high alert for credit card fraud. "You have to understand," she said, "as a paralegal, I see identity fraud every day, and I'm paranoid that it will happen to me." We (the other students at the clinic and I) got it: we study diseases every day, with signs and symptoms that often appear relatively benign and familiar (fatigue, enlarged lymph nodes, etc.). Thus, med student syndrome. Yes, the possibility exists that one has lymphoma or lupus--but probably, hopefully, not.

Similarly, failing an exam--and with that, losing your summer or having to repeat the year--is always within the realm of possibility. Before med school, "failing" for many of us meant a bad grade; now, passing is a one-shot deal, determined by one exam at the end of the course. There are relatively few questions on that exam, and it's up to your best guess as to what material will be covered. This makes med school is a relatively unique and stressful experience.

So what do we do? One thing we can to is to accept the possibility and let go. Find activities that are pleasurable, soothing, distracting--like cooking! And if you choose to cook, don't worry so much about getting it exactly right: even if it's not perfect, it will likely taste just fine. G = MD.

Refreshing "mud season" salad (before spring veggies have quite hit their stride):

• fresh spinach
• handful of cilantro
• 1/2 apple
• 1/4 lemon
• olive oil or balsamic vinegar optional

Chop the spinach and cilantro. Cut the apple into 1-cm cubes. Pack up with the lemon wedge. Before eating, squeeze the lemon over the leaves and toss together. For added substance, serve with: cheddar or goat cheese, toasted walnuts, pumpkin seeds, lentils, quinoa, or yogurt on the side.

Adds a little bit of sunshine to your day!

Winter salad to beat those mid-February blues

I can't even talk about renal. Renal is very difficult to understand because all of the processes happening within the kidney, within the nephron, are interrelated, and so content overlaps and is not presented clearly because it cannot be presented all at once. I'll get there. On the other hand, every morning we go through cases that demonstrate how a hospitalized patient can rapidly deteriorate from a relatively healthy state if someone orders the wrong hydration or diuretic treatment. Never before have I felt the extreme importance of a subject as someone who, in two and a half years, will be writing orders for hospitalized patients. That daunting impending responsibility!

My preferred coping mechanism is avoidance -- I can get so much done! Mostly I have spent time in the woods moving quickly so not as to die of hypothermia and breathing so heavily that renal is the last thing on my mind (aka blowing off CO2 to prevent acidemia). 

Monday I went grocery shopping with a friend, who told me that she planned to make roasted tofu over spinach for dinner. I was intrigued; a quick glance at the recipe she sent me yielded this inspiration. I don't usually make new things, but making something new that tastes great is always a fun surprise. 

I wasn't sure how to dress this salad: I didn't want to mess with the strong flavors of the tofu marinade. I almost didn't dress it at all, but I ended up going with a simple sesame paste and lemon that I liked very much.

Roasted sweet potato and tofu over spinach:

• 2 small sweet potatoes (or carrots), cubed
• ~1/2 block firm tofu, cubed
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled

Marinade:

• fresh ginger, about 1 tablespoon, grated
• soy sauce
• canola, sesame, and/or olive oil
• white vinegar
• sugar or honey
• cayenne powder and/or chili flakes
• garlic powder optional
• black pepper

Salad:

• cilantro and/or scallion
• fresh spinach
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon tahini

This can be a one-pot dish. In a large square baking dish, toss together your cubed sweet potato, tofu, and peeled whole garlic cloves. Grate ginger over the top, then add your marinade over the top: about one tablespoon each of soy sauce, oil and white vinegar, then a sprinkling of sugar and spices. Marinate in the fridge for a few hours or bake at 400 for about 20-30 minutes, tossing every 5-10 minutes to prevent burning.

Serve over chopped spinach with a cilantro or scallion garnish, and a simple dressing of lemon juice and tahini. Toss to coat. Could also serve over quinoa or brown rice for a heartier dish, but I found this plenty hearty as it was.

Super Bowl Sunday salad!

I went to a couple of talks this week that emphasized the importance of protein. While osteoporosis is a well-known public health problem, sarcopenia, or the loss of muscle mass, is less well-understood by both doctors and the general public. Prevention of sarcopenia is perhaps one reason why people who stand or move around at work may be healthier as they age than people who sit all day (like med students). In terms of the obesity epidemic, concentrated protein (as in meat) is lower calorie and more filling than protein stretched across legumes and whole grains (which I generally prefer). Keeping it simple, most adults should aim to eat 1 gram of protein per day for every kilogram (or 2.2 pounds) of body weight.

In January, I made that resolution to eat more protein, and yet I still find myself gravitating towards vegetarian dishes and grains. To compromise, I decided to substitute quinoa for brown rice in a flavorful beans-and-rice salad. Mexican flavors of vinegar, cumin, and cilantro add spice to these dreary, late winter days, and are perfect for Super Bowl Sunday.

Quinoa "rice and beans":

• 1/2 cup dried black beans, reconstituted (or about 1 can of black beans, rinsed)
• 1/2 cup quinoa, cooked with 1 cup water in a rice cooker
• chopped tomatoes to taste (I used half a can instead of fresh tomatoes)
• 1/4 red onion, minced
• handful of cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes (or 1 freshly chopped chili)
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1-3 teaspoons white vinegar
• salt to taste

In a large bowl, toss together your black beans and quinoa, then add tomatoes, onion, and spices to taste. Enjoy as-is, or with salad greens, eggs, or grated cheese (I added some cheese to mine and honestly I'm not sure that it adds much. But up to you.) I doubled the recipe and will have more than enough salad for lunches this week.

Before tossing

After tossing

Happy New Year!

Chinese, that is. My entire life I've had Chinese-American friends, so at this point the holiday seems as regular and relevant to me as Rosh Hashana. Just sayin'.

This week we've been studying lung cancer, pneumonia, tuberculosis... all disturbing diseases that eat away at you, leaving you breathless and in pain. I suppose the latter two are success stories, in the U.S. at least, but I think of the people who died of those diseases before there were cures, or those who health care successes have yet to reach. As in the first 100 pages of "The Magic Mountain" that I managed to get through this summer, with young (rich) people slowly dying of tuberculosis in the Swiss alps.

Lung cancer is still terrifying, of course, with about a 14% five-year survival. My grandmother on my mother's side died of lung cancer, and I've been wondering what that must have been like for my mother, a doctor, as the most healthcare-literate person in the family. I imagine that most people want to be hopeful when they receive a devastating diagnosis, but that such optimism would evade a doctor familiar with the numbers and the process. I wonder if it's unfortunate that she died just a few years before a ground-breaking pulmonary adenocarcinoma drug, or if it wouldn't have mattered anyway. These are not things we talk about.

Anyway, do you ever notice a paucity of salads at potlucks? That's often the case here, and anything raw is usually appreciated. Here's my contribution to a New Year potluck, scrapped together from here and here and what I happen to have in the cupboard.

Napa cabbage salad:

• 1 Napa cabbage, sliced as thin as possible
• 2 carrots (or peppers, sweet peas, bean sprouts), sliced as thin as possible
• handful of peanuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch scallions/green onions
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• rice wine vinegar (I substituted rice wine and white vinegar)
• soy sauce
• chili oil or chili flakes
• sesame oil
• sugar
• white pepper

Slice all of your veggies. Chop the garlic, scallions, and cilantro. Stir together about 1/2-1 tablespoon of each of your sauces, sugar, and chili, adding each to taste (the recipes cited above may help you here). Toss in your garlic and herbs, then cabbage and veggies. Enjoy!

P.S. Suggestions welcome if anyone has a favorite cabbage slaw recipe! I wasn't able to find any one recipe that looked perfect.

Staying fresh in December

It's that time of year when the heavy comfort food is getting old, the number of layers one needs to wear to stay warm indoors sizeably increases one's bulk, and the necessity of end-of-year productivity limits physical activity. In addition, I'm on a running hiatus right now not due to weather but due to exacerbation of an old injury -- I don't want talk about it.

So how to eat in a way that helps you to feel fresh, despite the chronic dry skin and static? I think citrus helps, but I'm not yet ready to bid goodbye to apple season. So I tried this quite simple salad, which is not exactly seasonal but is also not too appallingly unseasonal either (no miserable unripe tomatoes!).

Fresh winter salad:

• butter lettuce, arugula, or both
• radishes, quartered
• toasted walnuts*
• goat cheese (optional, I skipped it)
• juice of half a lemon
• olive oil

Toss all together and dress with lemon and olive oil. Serve with a hard boiled egg, cheese on toast, a yogurt, etc. for a more substantial meal.

*I've been craving walnuts since their health benefits were all over the yuppie and medical news last week.

Vegan interlude

Walking down the hospital halls after neuro, every twitch, twist of the neck, or odd posture appears a nail to my hammer. Neuro lectures are captivating but depressing, largely because right now we can treat only the symptoms but not the underlying cause of several diseases. However, everything we can treat is breathtaking, and soon we will have cures for more diseases! (Hopefully.)

In the land of food, it seems that fall in upstate New York is an excuse for spice-themed binge eating: s'mores to "reward" hiking, cider doughnuts to "reward" apple picking, apple and pumpkin desserts, etc. In between all this sugary indulgence, it's nice to have a few items that are hearty and comforting but healthy! Last weekend I made a kitchen-sink vegetable soup; this week I went the raw route.

"Massaged" kale salad (I don't believe in pampering vegetables, but the brief effort here pays off. Recipe took all of two minutes!)

• 1/2 bunch dino kale, stems removed, sliced crosswise into ribbons, and washed
• 1/2 or 1 avocado, cubed
• handful of cherry tomatoes, washed and sliced in half
• small handful of almonds, toasted and chopped
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• pinch of salt (apparently this helps to soften the kale)

In a large bowl, dress the kale with oil, vinegar, and salt. Wash your hands and then massage the kale, grabbing handfuls at a time and rubbing them together between your fingers or palms. (Surprisingly therapeutic!) After a minute or two, the kale will be noticeably softer. Toss in your other ingredients! The buttery, nutty avocado makes this quite comforting despite the lack of cheese or bread.

Transformations II

The other night a friend from home asked me what we're studying these days. "Blood disorders--like bleeding and clotting--and leukemia and lymphoma," I replied. "Blood clots--ew!" was his response.

His reaction reminded me that not too long ago I couldn't have a conversation about a blood clot without feeling sick and faint. And yet without realizing it I've completely changed. We've zoomed in on clots, so that I now think about how you build a clot and how you take one down, almost as if it's construction work. What are the heritable or acquired diseases or drug interactions that impact clotting and bleeding? There's so much more than "clot--gross!" Thank goodness.

For many years I thought eggplant was gross. I didn't like the flavor, texture, or anything about it. Now I love how it's soft and meaty--a great vegetarian substitute!

Barley salad with fall vegetables:

• 1/2-3/4 cup barley, cooked in a rice cooker with 2:1 water:barley
• 6 chard or kale leaves, steamed and chopped
• 1/2 or 1 slice small eggplant, sliced 1-cm thick and roasted in the oven (I used leftovers from this sandwich that I did end up having time to make)
• few cherry tomatoes, sliced small
• feta cheese to taste
• olive oil to taste, about 1 teaspoon

Cook ingredients separately and toss together with olive oil. Enjoy warm or cold!

 

Neither of you scare me now!

Blog-worthy fall salad

My farm share arrived today, and rather than let the veggies rot at the bottom of my fridge, I decided to chop and wash them all now. Not a bad antidote to learning about leukemia and lymphoma all day: it's all very interesting, until you fall asleep wondering what it would be like to receive such a diagnosis.

Fall harvest salad:

• 2-3 small beets, washed and sliced thin (see use for beet greens below)
• 1 small sweet potato, washed and sliced thin
• thyme, rosemary, or other herb
• handful of toasted almonds or walnuts
• salad greens (farm share gave me frisee and lettuce)
• olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar
• garlic or shallot optional

Toss the beets and sweet potato with olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper in a roasting pan, then roast at 400 degrees until soft with crisped edges (move them around a few times to prevent burning).

Meanwhile, wash greens (three times, if yours have as much dirt as mine!) and toast nuts. Making a salad dressing of olive oil, balsamic, plus garlic or shallot is optional.

Serve everything warm over the greens. Add goat cheese or lentils or chicken breast or sausage, etc. for protein! I will be having a white bean soup with beet greens (from above) on the side.

Don't stress eat!

Last night I had one of those horrible nights where bacteria- and virus-laden nonsense raced through my head as I lay in bed, in powerful mockery of my lame attempts at meditation and mind-clearing. Once an hour this was punctuated by becoming fully awake, getting up, and then laying down once again to the same as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I've been trying to do everything right, too: yoga, running, studying, dinner out, tea with a friend, reading David Sedaris stories before bed. Despite all this, the stress of having an exam every two weeks is overpowering.

So today I am allowing myself to bake a pie, make a fresh salad for lunch, and then resume studying. I will beat these pathogens!

Simple Greek salad: one chopped tomato, crumbled feta, some chickpeas, toasted almonds, romaine lettuce, oil and vinegar dressing. Each bite gives a satisfying crunch!

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

Picnic food

"Home alone" for a few days without the 'rents, I naturally raided the fridge. In this case, for an airplane picnic for an overnight flight. The outcome: a beautiful picnic that will look almost as good on a plastic tray as it would on a blanket spread over grass.

German potato salad (no mayonnaise!):

• fingerling potatoes
• grainy mustard
• 1 lemon (or any type of vinegar)
• olive oil
• chopped parsley or other herb
• ground black pepper

Steam the potatoes (washed but not peeled) over boiling water or in the microwave until a fork pierces them easily but they are not mushy. Cool and then slice into quarters.

Mix together mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped parsley, and black pepper -- adding ingredients to taste. Toss with the potatoes and serve warm or cold.

The other components of my picnic: chopped watermelon, a peach, cold noodles with sesame oil and soy sauce, and homemade trail mix (one dried nectarine chopped into pieces, dark chocolate chunks, toasted almonds). I definitely went overboard but I've got almost two days of traveling ahead.

Vegetarian feast

In the summer, vegetables are plentiful, but I find that it's not always obvious how to get the most out of them. Two summers ago, when I had a CSA share and more vegetables than I knew what to do with, I found myself making some pretty inedible vegetable soups and longing for more substance. In previous years, I've been enamored with the same corn, tomatoes, and salad every night. Here in my small town in Guatemala, vegetables are fresh and abundant, meat is scarce, and staples such as rice, beans, and flour are cheap and easily available.

I think I've figured out what to do to: buy whatever looks good; cook most vegetables separately with onion or garlic plus one other spice; supplement with a simple starch or protein. Cooking separately keeps flavors fresher and makes for a more varied and interesting meal.

On Saturday night, I shared a vegetarian feast with some friends. Many people to chop and to share in the variety of dishes, all freshly made from scratch with a bit of local flavor:

• smoky eggplant dip
• guacamole (recipe below)
• sweet potato chips (recipe below)
• white bread
• cheese and butter for my German friends
• salad consisting of chopped tomatoes, carrots, and zucchini (the latter sauteed first with onion in a bit of butter and oil before tossing with the other raw veggies)

A feast!

Sweet potato chips and eggplant dip 

Freshly baked bread

Simple guacamole:

Mash together avocados, lime juice, one clove or less of chopped garlic, salt & pepper. Fewer ingredients brings out the flavor of the each.

Sweet potato chips:

Peel sweet (or regular) potatoes and slice 1/2 cm thin. Toss in olive oil, salt & pepper, and an herb (such as rosemary or thyme) then spread out on a baking dish so that pieces are not overlapping. Bake at high heat until pieces are crispy, turning each piece over to cook on both sides. Recipe courtesy of Nick Haas.

Asian cabbage slaw

Last night we had a family BBQ with homemade Korean fried chicken and pulled pork. The theme was high fats balanced by vinegar and spice. To top our pulled pork sandwiches, we made an Asian cabbage slaw, sans mayo. On my own, I would make this again with peanuts, tofu, or chicken as protein and eat it for lunch.

Asian cabbage slaw:

• 1 small-medium head of red cabbage
• 1 carrot
• sushi vinegar (or white vinegar plus sugar)
• sesame oil
• chili flakes
• black pepper
• optional: chopped cilantro, roasted peanuts, fried tofu, etc.

Slice the cabbage as thin as you can. Shred the carrot with a vegetable peeler or grater. Toss both with a few generous splashes of sushi vinegar, to taste (about 1/4 cup): the sour-sweet vinegar should balance the spicy-sharp cabbage. Toss with ~1 tsp sesame oil: enough to add a hint of flavor, but not enough to be overpowering. Add chili flakes and black pepper to taste: just a pinch of each. Toss with cilantro or peanuts, etc.

I neglected to take a photo, but the slaw was a rich purple with specks of orange: crunchy and bright!

Another exam week

Do we eat poorly because we're stressed out, or are we stressed out because we're eating poorly? I think both. Today, I treated myself to a decent lunch to trick myself into feeling relaxed for the upcoming test. It actually took only a few minutes, and was made entirely from ingredients I had lying around.

I stopped buying cheese for a long time because it's not very good for you and it's too expensive for my budget, but I recently bought a couple of "sampler" pieces from the co-op for $2-3 each. They're actually much better suited for one person. The following recipes are heavy on veggies, light on cheese.

Mushroom toasts (my dad makes these all the time):

• 5-6 small mushrooms, sliced or finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 onion, finely chopped
• ~1 tsp olive oil
• 2 slices toast
• few slices hard cheese
• black pepper

Saute garlic and onion in the oil until translucent, then add the mushrooms and saute until they've shed their water. Spoon onto lightly toasted slices of bread, add cheese, and broil in toaster or oven until the cheese melts and bubbles. Add black pepper to the top.

Meanwhile...

Salad with goat cheese and radishes. Simply toss together:

• chopped romaine, arugula, salad mix, etc.
• small handful of almonds or other nuts, toasted and chopped up
• 2 radishes, sliced thin
• small piece of goat cheese, crumbled
• balsamic & olive oil

I'm feeling better already.

Why exercise?

It seems that no matter what's wrong with you, a doctor will recommend exercise as part of the cure. I always thought this made sense in that exercise --> weight loss --> better health. But then I learned that exercise helps independently of weight loss! For cardiovascular disease this makes sense, but why would it be the case for diabetes?

To set the scene: in type 2 diabetes, patients develop insulin resistance: they still make insulin, but cells stop responding to it. After a meal, instead of transporting glucose into cells, glucose remains in the blood. Patients become hyperglycemic, which over time damages organs.

It turns out that everyone has "non-insulin-mediated glucose uptake" transporters that take up glucose from blood regardless of insulin. Because many of these transporters are in skeletal muscle, working that muscle (i.e. exercising) improves the number and efficacy of these transporters. This provides an alternate way to take up glucose even in patients with insulin resistance.

Pretty neat, huh?

This salad is the edible equivalent of the neon gear that runners love so much, and I bet it has a low glycemic index to boot. It's vaguely reminiscent of an "Asian chopped salad." Simply mix together:

• 1 clementine, sectioned
• 2-3 radishes, sliced or chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• handful of roasted almonds, chopped
• sliced grilled chicken, optional
• romaine or butter lettuce
• balsamic vinegar & olive oil

Mulling on lipids

I'm guessing that not many of you have had the privilege of feeling an atherosclerotic vessel (calcified due to cholesterol plaque buildup) between your own fingers. It provides a visceral understanding of cholesterol that, stronger than any biochemistry or randomized control trials, makes me want to run in the other direction towards fiber and vegetables. Instead of rubbery like most arteries, the vessel feels hard: forgive the metaphor, but it is like old plumbing with years of grime collected on the inside. If you press down, you can feel the calcification crack and crumble between your fingers.

So, what are we going to do to avoid cholesterol? I recently learned what everybody else already knew: the first thing to do is attempt for control with diet and exercise, and if that's still not working, then to use drugs to bring levels down. For those of us in our 20s, it's diet and exercise. I also just learned that signs of future high cholesterol can be seen even in adolescents!

Hearty and healthy barley and beet-green salad:

• Beet greens from the tops of ~3 beets (beets are sold in bundles of three at my grocery store); or any green vegetable such as chard, spinach, kale, or even broccoli
• 1 other vegetable, such as sliced mushrooms, carrots, etc.
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 cup pearled barley, cooked in a rice cooker
• 2 tbsp pesto
• olive oil

Cook the beet greens as you would spinach: blanch for 2-3 minutes in boiling water, then drain and chop finely. Saute onion in the olive oil, then add the mushrooms and cook to your liking. Add beet greens, barley, pesto, and some water, and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, until the mix becomes creamy. Makes about two servings. I pack it as my school lunch!

Easter salad

Before I move on from the arugula-beet-lemon combo that I love so much, I thought I would add a couple more salad ideas:

Easter salad, named for the egg:

• 1 hard boiled egg (cooked while I was making my coffee and oatmeal before lecture this morning -- place the egg in cold water and boil the water and egg together, 10-12 minutes)
• 1/2 beet, peeled, sliced, and cooked through (you can drop this in the water with the egg or steam it in advance)
• handful of toasted almonds, chopped (popped in the toaster for 5 minutes)
• arugula
• 1/2 lemon to squeeze over the salad

This salad is fresh and colorful and adds almost no time to your morning. Other variations include arugula, beets, and lemon with steamed lentils (cooked in a rice cooker the night before) and sauteed mushrooms (sliced thin, cooked in some chopped parsley and olive oil for 2-5 minutes on the stove top). Excellent with a slice of bread or a yogurt.

A pre-spring salad

This winter I have tried to learn the physiology of the nephron as well as how to cook root vegetables, which are cheaper and less egregiously out-of-season than tomatoes. The nephron is a series of parallel tubes in the kidney that filter electrolytes and manage the pH and osmolality of the blood. Root vegetables are starches that grow in the ground. Guess which endeavor met with more success.

Today's lunch:

• 1/2 beet, peeled, steamed, and sliced thin (prepped this over the weekend to have on hand)
• 1 carrot, raw, peeled and sliced thin
• Handful of quinoa (leftover from a Seder last night -- but easy to cook just as you would rice -- my roommate has a small rice cooker that she allows me to commandeer)
• Toasted walnuts, about 1/4 cup or less (a treat! -- also Seder leftovers)
• Arugula
• 1/2 lemon

I pack the quinoa, beet, carrots, and lemon in the bottom of a tupperware with the arugula on top, keeping the walnuts in a separate container to keep them crisp. At lunch I'll squeeze the lemon over everything and toss it all together. The lemon cuts the bitterness of the arugula perfectly.

Today I'll be eating it during an advocacy and service learning meeting on how to do a community needs assessment. What are the needs in my community? What is my community?

California

I've been daydreaming of California lately, can't guess why. I like going to California (the couple of times that I've been), among other reasons, because it inspires me to make new and delicious salads. This is a version of a fancier salad that I had at Gjelena on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice Beach last February. The colors are enough to brighten up this long, dragged out New England winter...

1 beet, peeled and sliced roughly into wedges
1 carrot, peeled and sliced into thick rounds
1/2 avocado
olive oil
pinch of salt

Steam (over boiling water or in a microwave) beet and carrot until a knife just slices through easily. I prefer the carrot to retain some crunch, so I add them to the steamer just before the beet is done.

Slice avocado into large chunks.

Toss all together and season with olive oil and salt. This makes a hearty salad that can stand alone as a lunch, or have it with a yogurt. I ate mine in the library hunched over a textbook, thinking back to those skateboarders with a view of the Pacific...