Fried green tomatoes

Even I sometimes run out of time to cook. But this doesn't mean that I'm not still thinking about food, that the green tomatoes my friend and editor gave me aren't calling out to me from the fridge. I had some great plans for these beautiful tomatoes before it struck me just how little I knew about chemotherapy for leukemia and lymphoma.

Here is what I would be cooking if I were cooking.

Fried green tomatoes:

• green tomatoes
• 1 egg
• flour
• breadcrumbs
• canola or olive oil
• salt and/or parmesan

Arrange three shallow bowls or plates side by side: flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Slice large tomatoes into 1-cm slices or cherry tomatoes in half. Dip in flour, then a beaten egg, then breadcrumbs. Heat a generous layer of canola or olive oil in a large frying pan; when hot, lay the tomatoes out side by side in the oil. Fry at high heat until crisp on one side, then flip over (using two forks) and fry the other side. Cool on a paper bag or paper towels. Sprinkle with salt or parmesan cheese and serve right away. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Roasted eggplant sandwiches:

• 1 small eggplant
• 1 tomato
• feta cheese
• bread or pita
• olive oil, salt, pepper

Slice the eggplant and tomato 1-cm thick. Place the eggplant slices side-by-side on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-15 minutes, until soft or crispy (as you like it) but not burned. More oil = crispier eggplant. Toast your slices of bread and create a stack of eggplant-feta-tomato slices. Drizzle with olive oil if you're feeling really luxurious. Ah, the combination of textures and sweet-and-sour flavors, mm!

I did toss these into a quick stir-fry -- and yum!

Tricks for when you run out of time to cook: keep frozen soups, chili, ravioli, even prepped veggies in the freezer. Try stir-fries. Stock your fridge with snackable fruits and veggies and proteins such as yogurt and cottage cheese. Hunker down. But you know all this!

Juggling

For 24 years I lived in Cambridge, Mass. with or near my parents. I was in high school when my maternal grandfather died, and I remember when my mom and brother met me at a dress rehearsal one evening to share the bad news. I was a few blocks away, living at Harvard summer school, when my dad was briefly hospitalized with an ulcer. I lived just one zip code over when my brother was hit by a motorbike and came home early from studying abroad; I was able to greet him with a basket of handpicked goodies from Shaw’s when he finally arrived.

To avoid sounding too morbid, I was often home for happy events too: every family birthday, crew meets, dinners, dirty laundry and snowstorms.

So of course it feels weird to be away, ensconced in medical school, when things have been happening at home. First one grandparent was dying; as soon as that ended, the other one seems to have started dying with hardly a break between. I would like to be there for my dad in a more substantive way than a phone call every few days.

Juggling independence with a connection to home is a regular part of growing up, hardly unique to med school. But for us who are to be managing the illnesses and deaths of other people’s loved ones, it seems invaluable to participate in the illnesses and deaths of our own loved ones. We are missing out not only on important family time, but experiences that would make us better physicians.

Some of my earliest memories are sitting on the counter top next to my dad while he cooked. Now when I’m home, we cook side by side. Last weekend I went home and fried up these zucchini flowers for the whole family.

Fried zucchini flowers:

• fresh zucchini or squash blossoms (best and easiest to find if picked directly from the garden)
• breadcrumbs
• one egg, beaten
• canola or olive oil
• salt

Trim the flowers: snap off their stems and any small green spikes near the base. In a large bowl, toss the flowers in the beaten egg. Cover a plate in breadcrumbs and coat each flower in breadcrumbs. Heat about half a centimeter of oil in a frying pan; test the heat by dropping in a breadcrumb—it should sizzle immediately. Lay the flowers one by one into the frying pan; when golden brown on the bottom, turn each flower over using tongs or two forks. Cook until the other side is golden brown. Take out of the frying pan and cool on paper towels or a paper bag. Sprinkle salt over the flowers and eat immediately.

Fresh from the garden.


Hot and ready to eat!

Thanks to my friend Anna for her gorgeous garden bounty!

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!

Buttermilk shakes!

Clearing out your cupboard does wonders for experimentation. I had half a pint of buttermilk to defrost, and in reading the nutrition label I discovered that one cup has 100 calories and eight grams of protein -- which puts it on par with yogurt. Being out of eggs, buttermilk pancakes were not an option. And buttermilk biscuits seemed much too unhealthy for this time of year.

So, in light of it being a hot, humid day, having just gotten back from a run, and preempting my eve-of-the-exam trip for ice cream, I decided on a milkshake. The tang of the buttermilk made for a much more complex chocolaty flavor than a regular milkshake, and allows you to control the level of sweetness. The flavor was richer than plain milk, and lighter than ice cream. I would definitely buy buttermilk just to make this again!

Chocolate buttermilk shake:

• 1 cup half-frozen buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp cocoa powder
• 1.5 tsp brown sugar (or maple syrup or honey or white sugar)
• chia or other seeds for fun (totally optional)
• (I'm sure this would be delicious with a banana or frozen berries -- I happened to be out)

Blend the buttermilk until it's creamy. Blend in the other ingredients. Enjoy! Now get back to work!

Crunch time

Exam week (or pre-exam week) means snack week. I take one look at a 50-slide lecture on immunoglobulins and decide I can't make it through without the proper hydration and nutritional support (malnutrition makes you more susceptible to infections, does it not?).

I've tried to get healthier with my snacking: quickly sauteed broccoli with soy sauce for salt and crunch, raw veggies or air-popped popcorn for crunch and volume, granola bars or yogurt for wholesome and filling, etc. Here is a recipe for those of you craving cheese and crackers. It requires burning a vegetable, something most of you should be able to do.

Smoky eggplant dip (recipe courtesy of my friend's 86-year old grandmother):

• 1 medium-sized eggplant, whole
• 1/2 red onion
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper
• crackers or toast for serving

In a cast iron frying pan at medium-high heat (no oil), burn the whole eggplant on all sides until the skin is blackened and pulls away from the flesh, which should be soft. (This will likely turn your pan black, so use a cast iron or some pan that you don't mind burning. Turn the eggplant every few minutes to get all sides.) Cool the eggplant, peel and discard the skin, and puree in a blender or food processor along with the olive oil, salt & pepper. Add onion to taste, still in the food processor (too much onion is easily overpowering). Enjoy on crackers.

Better keep studying: Med School Dropouts for a National Health Plan doesn't quite carry the same punch, does it?

(My brain on immunology)