First farm share

Farm shares and zucchini go together like summer and apple pie. I decided to revisit this recipe for cold zucchini soup. This time, I started by sauteing half a head of garlic and an onion in two tablespoons of butter, added one roughly chopped huge zucchini, and finished by boiling in a cup of miso broth. Then I pureed the whole thing and added a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt. And that's it.

(Over the last year I started using miso broth instead of chicken broth. Usually I'd start with olive oil and finish with sour cream, but being out of sour cream I decided to switch my fats and started with butter, ending with nonfat Greek yogurt. No extra shopping trip needed.)

See? Not all cooking has to be ambitious.

Zucchini ribbons with garlic

These can be whipped (or ripped) up in less than five minutes.

• 2-4 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• 1 small-medium zucchini

Wash your zucchini. Use a vegetable peeler lengthwise to create thin ribbons. Once you've reached the center of the zucchini from one side, flip over and peel lengthwise from another side. Discard the 2-3 pieces that are primarily peel. Once the remaining zucchini is too thin for the peeler, use a knife to slice into just a few more pseudo-ribbons.

Use a garlic press to get your garlic into really tiny pieces. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic until fragrant and golden, toss in the zucchini ribbons, and fry, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes only.

Serve hot and just barely cooked.

White girl makes fried rice

There are certain foods that I know how to make quite well, because I have made them a hundred times (tomato sauce) or because I grew up around them (turkey meatballs). Then there are foods that I see the people around me making, and it's fun to try them too (noodle soup).

My housemate makes a healthy version of fried rice for breakfast/lunch all the time. On Monday, another friend, Xin, brought a delicious homemade pork-and-veggie fried rice over for dinner. I like watching people cook dishes that are familiar to them because you can observe their comfort with the ingredients and process.

If you make it right, it seems healthy enough, so I figured I'd try my hand at it.

Zucchini fried rice (for one):

• (1/2 cup dry) cooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup zucchini, in 1-cm pieces
• 1/4 cup hard tofu, in 1-cm pieces
• 2 medium garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
• 4 scallions, white and light green parts, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon each canola oil and soy sauce

Heat canola oil in a frying pan on high heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for a minute. Add rice, stirring, then white parts of scallion. After a minute, add the zucchini, tofu, and green parts of scallion. Clear a portion of your frying pan (or use a separate pan) and scramble the egg directly into the pan; once cooked, stir it into the rest of your rice.* Add soy sauce to taste, stir, then cook for a minute longer until crispy to your liking.

Did I get it right? It certainly tastes pretty good.

*Thanks to Xin for this correction to my procedure! She pointed out that the egg should be scrambled separately and then added, not mixed in wet with the rice.

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!

Simple veggie frittata

The first week of second year flew by, leaving me one week behind despite my good-faith efforts to keep up. No, I don't remember anything about the autonomic nervous system, but thanks for picking up where we left off last January. Last night, I showed up to a potluck empty-handed (save for a six-pack), unable to scrounge together even something simple. How embarrassing!

In an effort to stay sane, a few friends and I had an impromptu dinner a couple of nights ago. Once again spoils from the CSA ensured that we were well fed. Plus, I've now used up my zucchini for the week, which feels like an accomplishment! Onto more challenging items, like adrenergic antagonists.

Zucchini frittata with pesto (looks moderately fancy, tastes delicious, feeds many):

• 1 medium or large zucchini (or any vegetable you like)
• 1/2 red onion
• 2-3 tablespoons pesto, to taste, or a handful of chopped herbs
• 6-10 eggs (~2 eggs per person)
• 1-2 tablespoons butter and/or olive oil
• grated parmesan or other cheese, optional
• salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a cast-iron or other oven-proof skillet on high heat, melt the butter into the olive oil. Slice or chop the onion and add to hot oil, stirring now and then. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Slice the zucchini into very thin rounds. Add the zucchini to the pan and saute until soft (again, softer than if you were eating the zucchini plain). Add the pesto, salt, and pepper to taste.

Beat the eggs together in a bowl. Pour over the zucchini, still on the stove at high heat. Cook without stirring for 3-5 minutes. Grate parmesan over the top and place the entire skillet in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the eggs are set throughout the pan (slice a knife in to check that the eggs are not liquid).

Serve with a salad and/or fresh bread.

Has anything changed?

Back at school, I am amazed at how much everything appears to be the same: social cliques, study habits, daily routine. How did we pick up so smoothly exactly where we left off? We strain to ask each other about summer experiences, but quickly the conversation veers towards apartment redecorating, upcoming dinners out, and lecture content. And yet I get the sense that many people feel changed by their summers, and are keeping that feeling within.

Without much fanfare, they have launched us into second year. Oddly, because there was much more fanfare at the start of first year (the white coat ceremony), this year feels like a significant departure from the past. A series of lectures on the "principles of drug therapy" represents the study of medicine opposed to human biology.

Here's a recipe with a little tweak on the norm, a variation in honor of summer (and my CSA share). My dad, being a food purist in favor of traditional recipes, commented, "What, do you want to eat like you live on a commune?" Despite his objections, the summer squash in this recipe adds a sweetness to the sauce and lightens the dish overall, a nice summer adjustment.

Summer pasta with squash and tomatoes (feeds two):

• 2 cups large macaroni or shells
• 1 medium-sized summer squash or zucchini
• handful of cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• handful of parsley
• parmesan
• 1/2 tablespoon each butter and olive oil
• salt & pepper

Get water boiling for the pasta.

Melt butter and olive oil together in a saucepan. Finely chop the onion and garlic (both peeled), and add to the hot oil. Cook for a minute until fragrant. Chop the squash into 1" cubes (notice a pattern here?) and slice the tomatoes in half. Add the squash and cook for a few minutes until slightly soft, then add the tomatoes. Cook for just a minute and turn off the heat.

Cook the pasta in salted water. Before the pasta is fully cooked, drain most of the water and add the pasta to the saucepan with the sauce. Cook at high heat, stirring constantly, adding pasta water as needed. Stir in chopped parsley and grated parmesan. Serve hot!

+ =

Summer vegetable soup

Back in Albany!

Exciting news: while I was away, I signed up for a CSA (community-supported agriculture) share from the local Patroon Land Farm. This means a fresh load of vegetables each week: beautiful kale, fennel, corn, lettuce, lots and lots of squash and zucchini, etc. For only $100, I will have fresh, local vegetables through October. I like CSA's because they take the decision about which vegetables I need to buy (which, as you might imagine, occupies a lot of brain power) out of my hands. Instead, I am presented with the challenge of how to use different (and abundant) vegetables.

This recipe comes from my friend Sasha's grandmother, the source of many delicious vegetable dishes.

Summer vegetable soup (two small servings):

• 1 large zucchini or squash or several heads of broccoli (really any vegetable you like)
• 4 cloves of fresh garlic
• 1 small onion (I used three large scallions from my farm share instead)
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
• 1-2 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt
• (chicken stock optional)
• salt & pepper

Chop the garlic and onion into small pieces. Heat the olive oil and add the garlic and onions, cooking for a minute, until fragrant. Meanwhile, chop the zucchini into 1" pieces (skin on), then add to the hot pan. Saute over high heat, adding a 1/4-cupful of water (or chicken stock) as needed, until the zucchini is soft, much softer than usual for eating. You should be able to crush a piece using just the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper.

Turn off the heat and allow the zucchini to cool. Using a food processor or immersion blender, puree the zucchini entirely, then add sour cream or yogurt to taste. Enjoy warm or cold.

Everything has grown much greener since I left

Cooking keeps me sane

Today, after a very good but relatively stressful day in a new place, it was such a relief to come home, unpack my groceries, fill three straw baskets with a variety of produce and dried goods, and chop some carrots and zucchini. Order at home and confidence in a task I know how to do well. The challenge of cooking within local constraints is one I can handle and even find exciting.

This morning I took the history and physicals of five pregnant women in for their routine check-ups. I asked three very simple questions, learned to read a urine stick and measure uterine height, and even got to learn and practice using a sonogram. The women were healthy and the history a little too simple for my taste, but overall it was more patient interaction, independence, Spanish, and technology use than I'd had to date.

Carrots and zucchini with cumin:

• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-cm thick rounds (the carrots in Guatemala have so much flavor!)
• 2 medium zucchinis, sliced into 1-cm thick rounds (I used spherical zucchinis instead and sliced them into quarters first)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp canola or olive oil

Heat oil in a pan with one slice of garlic until the garlic sizzles, then add garlic and cumin. Stir for half a minute, then add carrots and zucchini. Sauté, adding 1/4 water if needed to keep from burning. Cook for just a minute or two so that the vegetables retain their crunch and flavor. I didn't even season with salt and pepper, but you could.

Middlesex

Hormones are nuts. The adrenal glands resemble small clumps of fat on top of the each kidney. Yet they synthesize hormones that control metabolism and sexual characteristics: and what is more important than food and sex?

I just learned that if you have a defect along the pathway that makes cortisol (a 21-hydroxylase defect, to be exact), your body will go into overdrive to produce all the intermediates in the pathway on the way to cortisol. It's like if someone doesn't return your phone calls: you may call and call again until they call you back and you know they've received your message. While the missing end-product (cortisol) is one thing, excess of these intermediates can wreak havoc all over the body: in particular, the excess testosterone in females (especially fetuses) leads to male characteristics (such as male or ambiguous genitalia). Treating the mother with the end-product -- returning the phone call -- will signal to the fetus that everything is OK. The overdrive will recede, and a female baby will end up normal.

Last night I had a pasta primavera for dinner (makes two servings):

• 4 small zucchini or 1/2 large zucchini, cut into rounds
• 1/2 cup English peas
• 2 chopped scallions or other herbs (parsley, etc.)
• 3 sliced or chopped garlic cloves
• ~1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp butter (optional)
• dash of white wine (optional)
• 1/2 box spaghetti
• parmesan
• hot chili flakes
• salt and pepper

The key to this, I think, is to barely cook the vegetables. To barely cook the pasta, even. As the pasta water boils, heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and add the garlic (and wine if you're using it). Cook at medium heat until fragrant; add the zucchini and herbs and cook for 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat and wait for the pasta to finish. When the pasta can bend but before it's fully cooked, drain almost all of the water and pour the pasta plus some pasta water into the frying pan with the zucchini. Add the peas and cook at high heat until the water has evaporated and the pasta is done to your liking. Season with parmesan, chili flakes, salt and pepper.

Walnut and zucchini pasta

There's nothing like studying the biochemistry of omega-3's to whet your appetite for some walnuts and flax seeds. Combine that with a few nutrition lectures on PUFA's and MUFA's (poly- and mono-unsaturated fats) and you've got yourself a meal.

As it turns out, cells build fatty acids as long saturated molecules like this:

Then process them by de-saturating some of the bonds (adding a double bond) to make a variety of different molecules used in the body:

But cells can't just add a double bond anywhere they'd like: in particular, they can't add double bonds 3 or 6 carbons down from the far end. Thus, we can't make omega-3's or omega-6's ourselves, but we still need them, so we have to acquire them through the foods we eat!

Salivating, I know. But don't get me started on saliva, I've just finished studying that too...

The following recipe is not particularly original (see Mario Batali's ambitious Pansotti -- ravioli -- with Walnut Sauce and Smitten Kitchen's zucchini strand spaghetti) but it's so easy and delicious that every busy cook should be making it.

For one large serving:

• 1/8-1/4 cup walnuts, toasted (good source of omega 3's)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 zucchini or 4 baby zukes, sliced into rounds
• 1/4 box of pasta
• olive oil (good source of monounsaturated fat, which lowers LDL cholesterol)
• parmesan
• red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper

Prep the vegetables as you boil the pasta water. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the pepper flakes and garlic for about a minute, then zucchini rounds. Cook for just a few minutes, until the garlic is toasted and the zucchini is slightly soft but still has some crunch. Cook the pasta until just before it's ready (still fairly al dente), then drain. Add the pasta and walnuts to the frying pan and toss everything for 1-2 minutes until the pasta is to your liking. Serve with salt, pepper, and Parmesan.