Older Bolder Life

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The Older Bolder Life Sauce Monday: Quick No-Cook Tomato Sauce

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As the wonderful tomatoes continue to pour into farmers markets these long summer days, we’ve been fiddling around with various recipes for to savor their peak summer flavors.

Of course we’re talking tomatoes on the menu for the nightshade tolerant and those who choose to partake; remember they’re a potent source of lectins per Dr. Gundry, but also packed with lycopene and other beneficial phytochemical warriors, along with vitamins C, A, and host of the Bs as well.

We’ve tended to drift a bit over the past few years from our historical family consumption of tomatoes and tomato-based sauces given our bent toward a keto-inspired food plan, and the sometimes hefty carb counts some tomato sauces in particular have. Like many of you, we’ve transitioned to much less sweet (no additional sweetener) homemade primal ketchup, meatza sauces, etc.

In particular lately I’ve been searching for a no-cook tomato sauce to pour over various vegetable noodles or konjac pastas, and we’ve finally settled on this Quick No-Cook Tomato Sauce as being our favorite.

Why? The combination of a flavor-packed tomato puree (along with garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes) with halved grape or cherry tomatoes, along with the nuts – is simply delicious, and it’s different enough to be novel and interesting as well. Mind the garlic – my wife thinks two large cloves is too much in terms of pungent raw garlic flavor, though garlic lovers may want to throw that third clove in…

The nuts are a great play as well; we’ve used hazelnuts (our fave), almonds, and macadamias – don’t be afraid to experiment a bit.

1/2 cup almonds or hazelnuts

1 pound grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp good salt

1 medium to large fresh garden tomato, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves, divided
1-2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 good olive oil
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp good salt, more to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Toast your nut of choice at 350 for 6-8 minutes; cool and then roughly chop and set aside.

Halve the grape or cherry tomatoes, throw in a large bowl, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt.

Into your trusty food processor or blender goes the large chopped tomato, 1/2 the basil, 3 tbsp of the chopped nuts, the garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, and the other 1/2 tsp of salt. Blend/puree until smooth, then pour over the halved tomatoes.

Stir to combine, then stir in the rest of the basil, the remaining nuts, and the olive oil; mix well. Adjust for salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Recipes, and More 10 August 2019

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Fitness At Any Age: Thoughts From the Week

Much has been written of late covering quarterback Tom Brady’s 19th NFL season which officially started last week; while I’m not necessarily a fan of his TB12 methodology and program being a fit for most mere mortals over 40, Men’s Health recently published a nicely done interview piece on his pre-season training program.

4 laws of muscle; great reminder about the importance of protein (and protein signaling).

Nice piece from Sisson on microworkouts.

91-year old woman breaks age world record in 400 meters.

89-year old deadlifts 405 – twice!

An Eclectic Collection of Other Older Bolder Topics of Interest

5 ways to conquer an impossible task.

Elevated fasting glucose levels raise pancreatic cancer risk. (I lost a good friend years ago to pancreatic cancer – improvements in diagnosis and care have transpired since then, but dammit, what a bad actor that disease can be…)

People with T2DM lowered hepatic fat and improved glucose tolerance on a LCHP food plan in only 6 weeks.

Speaking of protein above, higher protein in seniors may help combat osteoporosis too.

Food, Glorious Food

From vegetarian to butcher.

Should you be thinking about sesame seeds as an allergen? The study…

Countries eating more butter are happier? (Beware the correlation v. causation issue)

Scapegoating red meat? (A chef friend who sent this over had some interesting commentary, more to come in a post…)

Our Recipes from the Week
Sweet Potato Hashbrown Cheeseburger Pie
Libby’s Verde Cashew Wonder Sauce
Easy Romesco Sauce

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Sweet Potato Hashbrown Cheeseburger Pie

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Several weeks ago a friend approached me and asked for help adapting a video recipe she’d seen recently for an upcoming backyard party she was hosting for a group of her daughter’s teen friends.

Apparently they’d discussed doing something “different than the usual burgers and dogs” and wanted a tasty dish that would appeal to teenage palates and yet reasonably accommodate their own recently-adopted paleo/primal food plan.

The video was a fairly uninspired version of this recipe, with store-bought, industrial seed oil-prepared string potato crisps as the bottom layer, devoid of any spice, yet it offered some promise.

We set to experimenting a bit, playing with different versions of sweet potato for the foundation – including crisped up oven fries, sautéed crispy home-style fries (medium dice), though for taste, texture, and interest, finally settling (somewhat to my surprise, I first guessed that homemade oven fries would win out) on this hashbrown version where we essentially made a large sweet potato rosti for the base and then built the cheeseburger “pie” on top of that.

We’ve even served this recently for an informal dinner with friends, where it was a big hit. And as with any burger you can dream up – add whatever tickles your fancy to the stack, like sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, your favorite quick guacamole, pickled onions or jalapeños, and so on…

Don’t be intimidated by making a giant rosti, just pat the grated hash browns out into your largest skillet (preheated with a bit of avocado oil) and cook over medium heat until browned and crispy. Slide the rosti out onto a large cutting board or platter, place another cutting board or platter over and invert, then slide the rosti – uncooked side down – back into the pan to finish. My big skillet is large enough that I needed to cut the rosti in half to fit it onto a sheet pan without overlapping the sides. Easy peasy, and well worth the effort.

2 large organic sweet potatoes, trimmed and grated
1 tsp good salt
2-3 tbsp avocado oil

1/3 pound bacon in 1/4-inch dice
1 medium onion, diced
1 pound grass fed ground beef
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chile powder
1 tsp good salt

1/3 cup avocado oil mayo (homemade is best!)
1/3 cup homemade Primal ketchup
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup dill pickle chips, finely diced
2-3 tbsp dill pickle brine

1/2 to 1 cup grated cheese of choice
Handful of grape or cherry tomatoes
Small head iceberg lettuce, shredded

Clean and trim the sweet potatoes, then grate. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add half the avocado oil, and then spread the grated sweet potatoes in the pan, patting into a firm, even layer. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the bottom begins to brown; lift an edge to peek. You may need to turn the heat down if getting too crispy. When browned, turn the rosti as per the last paragraph above. Cook for another 6-8 minutes until browned, then slide onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet (you may need to cut it in half if you have a big skillet as we do).

Now sauté the diced bacon until crispy, remove to drain, leaving the drippings in the pan. Sauté the onions until softened (6-7 minutes over medium heat), then add the ground beef, cumin, chile powder, and salt. Cook until the meat is browned and crisp, breaking it up as you go; set aside when done.

While the meat is browning, to make the sauce combine the mayo, ketchup, sour cream, pickle chips, and brine; set aside when well mixed. Grate the cheese, rinse and halve the tomatoes, and shred the lettuce.

When ready to assemble, fire the oven broiler, then spread the hamburger mixture over the potato cake, top with the grated cheese, and then the bacon. Slide under the broiler until the cheese has melted. Drizzle with the sauce, top with the shredded lettuce and tomatoes, and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Bookshelf: License to Grill

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There are a bevy of great grilling cookbooks on the market these days, and no doubt more to come, with I’m guessing a great one or two to come forth focusing in particular on ancestral foods.

That said, the critical point of where you source proteins for the grill duly recognized, great grilling cookbooks don’t have to be ancestrally focused to be useful for us all. Many a great grilling chef (and cook) have trod the fascinating path of meat and heat before us, and left us a treasure trove of great recipes, tips, and tricks along the way.

I’m something of a cookbook collector from way back, one of the most used cookbooks in our family collection is in fact this one: License to Grill, written by acclaimed chef Chris Schlesinger and editorial genius John “Doc” Willoughby (1997). This is one that you’ll want to track down and read through if it’s not on your self today.That’s a pic of my own well-worn copy from the back porch last night, digging back through for a recipe component I couldn’t quite remember…

Chris Schlesinger is a renowned chef and restauranteur; he currently owns Back Eddy in Westport, MA, and formerly founded and managed the East Coast Grill and Jake and Earl’s Dixie BBQ, both in Cambridge. He’s written numerous cookbooks and has long been recognized as one of the true geniuses around the grill.

John Willoughby is the executive editor of Gourmet magazine, formerly of Cook’s Illustrated, prolific cookbook author, and graduate-level writing instructor at Harvard’s Radcliffe Seminars.

This is not the fanciest, prettiest cookbook you’ll find; there are just a few pages of images interspersed among the detailed and thoughtfully written recipes, each presented with a short story personalizing some aspect of the recipe or the food itself.

The cookbook itself is fairly classically organized, offering succinct but useful thoughts on fire and preparing food, along with set of recipes for appetizers, cooking on skewers, beef and pork, fish and other seafood, fowl, hobo pack cooking, extra-spicy offerings, low and slow genuine ‘Q, sides, condiments and sauces, and a few (non-ancestral!) desserts.

I’ll bet if you dig around you can find a well-preserved used copy of this one, as well as some of Schlesinger’s other nifty cookbook offerings.

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Wednesday: Libby’s Verde Cashew Wonder Sauce

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This past week I was chatting with our friend Chef Libby in Austin about different sauces she uses to dress-up proteins during the long, hot Texas summers, adding interest and flavor to the food she dishes up in her catering business.

Being based in Austin she of course has a decided bias toward the flavors of Texas, one of her favorites being Tex-Mex or Southwestern cuisine (I share her bias as well!). She’s been using a variety of nut-based recipes the past few years to create innovative sauces; this has in part been driven by increasing requests for vegan-compliant recipes, but also because they just taste good, hold well, and can be worked into a variety of other dressings and flavor profiles.

One of her go-to versions is what she calls her Verde Cashew Wonder Sauce, based on either raw or roasted cashews, a handful of flavor-packed fresh herbs, a splash of acid, and whatever flavor additions her recipes for the day call for.

Libby insists her very favorite version uses fresh lime juice (instead of the vinegar), cilantro, and a bit of arugula for its peppery bite, along with a chopped serrano or two, though she was careful to point out that the sky is the limit in terms of what herbs to use.

She also noted there were two other minor decisions to make; one, whether to use raw or roasted cashews. Of course, if using roasted cashews, be mindful of the oil they’re roasted in, and you’ll (most likely) want to dial back the added salt (adjust to taste). After making dozens and dozens of recipe batches, she said she prefers to use roasted nuts for the added flavor dimension as well.

The second decision to make is whether or not to soak the nuts for 10 minutes prior to blending; Libby said her vegan chef friend who taught her the recipe always soaked raw cashews, though Libby insists the recipe works just as well without soaking in her kitchen, whether using raw or roasted nuts.

We’ve enjoyed this one alongside a bit crudite platter and cold ancho cumin coffee roasted pork tenderloin this week…

2 cups cashews, either raw or roasted
1 cup fresh, tender herbs, i.e. parsley, cilantro, dill, basil, chives, etc
2-3 tbsp unseasoned rice or white vinegar
1-2 tsp good salt
1 cup (plus a bit more) filtered water

Optional (see notes above)
1-2 crushed garlic
Lime or lemon juice instead of the vinegar
Chipotles in adobe
Other fresh peppers (i.e. jalapeño or serrano)

If soaking the cashews: bring two cups of water to a boil, place the cashews in a heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over, cover for 10 minutes, then drain.

To prepare, add the nuts to your trusty blender, add the herbs, vinegar or citrus juice, salt, and one cup filtered water. Blend for one to two minutes until smooth and yogurt-like; you will likely need to add a bit more water.

Enjoy.

Reclaiming Health and Fitness After 40: Five Quick Thoughts

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A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to reconnect with a friend from residency days back in Salt Lake City in the mid-80s; we were residency mates there in the University of Utah hospital system before he headed back home to San Diego to set up his practice and later found his own company.

My friend had something of an unusual story; he was a gifted mechanical engineer who later went into medicine with a goal of designing adaptive equipment for people with profound neuromuscular disease and injury. He was a delight, one of those rare hyper-intelligent and inquisitive people we all (rarely) have occasion to meet, and was an uber-fit skier, distance runner, and surfer.

Without boring you with details, through a mutual connection in England, he’d heard of my recent health transformation, and ended up calling to chat one afternoon. We covered a lot of ground in an hour, but he was particularly interested in what I’d done to reclaim my health and lessons I’d learned along the way. He shared that he had an adult “child” in her mid 40s who desperately needed a lifestyle and fitness change, and he was at the end of his rope trying to encourage her to start. He shared, among other things, that she felt she was “too far gone” to ever make a meaningful impact.

Thinking about it on the fly as we talked, I offered him five quick thoughts about reclaiming health and fitness after 40 gleaned from my own experience.

It’s Never Too Late to Start

I am profoundly and utterly convinced that it’s never too late to jump in with both feet, start moving physically, and reshape one’s approach to nutrition. At 57 I did just that, and started from a point of metabolic and physical disaster – 412 pounds, unable to tie my own shoes some days, with so many aches, pains, and symptoms I’m embarrassed to list them all. Now, just a bit over three years later, I’ve lost nearly 200 pounds and 20+ inches at my waist, am more fit than ever, and am even training for sprint competition in Senior track and field events upcoming.

Clearly your mileage may vary, but I have clients now in their 80s who’ve made similar changes and reshaped their approach to life. It’s never too late.

Reclaiming Health and Fitness After 40 Is a Long Game

Expectations can be an interesting beast to tame, at least for most of us. We’re an impatient society, and often fall prey to tall tales and crazy promises to shed improbably amounts of excess weight and gain extraordinary levels of fitness over very short time frames (30 days wonders) by following some magic diet, taking a wonder supplement, or copying the routine of a sculpted gym barbie with an Instagram following.

Attaining optimal health, fitness, and wellness at any age is a long game, most often measured in months if not years, but particularly for those of us north of 40. It’s a lot more enjoyable journey if you embrace the long view, and don’t sweat the day to day and week to week stuff.

Reclaiming Health and Fitness After 40 Might Take Baby Steps, But Take ‘Em

Talking with my friend, we agreed that life in today’s world, at least for the majority, is astoundingly sedentary. Many sit all day at work, commute sitting, come home and eat a poorly composed meal, and then sit on the couch for the next four hours before tossing and turning at night and starting it all over again.

Thoughtfully incorporating movement into the day can make a world of difference when starting from fitness ground zero; we’ve all heard the suggestions (park at a distance and walk in, get up and walk 10 minutes every two hours, etc), and these steps are easy to incorporate into one’s day. I’m a HUGE fan of walking outdoors, still do it daily to start my day myself, even on sprint training days, and just about every one on the planet can do it with minimal investment in time and equipment.

Baby steps turn into meaningful fitness routines over time.

Reclaiming Health and Fitness After 40: Embrace the Aches and Modify

One of the things I learned with my 30+ years in medicine is that the human body, despite its astoundingly complex design, function, and capacity to repair itself, is nonetheless designed to wear and tear over time. It’s inevitable, though manifests differently and at unique times for all of us.

The point: we all have our various aches and pains, joints that have been injured or have advanced markers of degeneration (read wear and tear); some days you’re going to be more sore and achy than others. Accept that reality, and modify, modify, modify exercise and fitness to accommodate your function on a given day. Remembering that you’re playing a long game makes this strategy more sensible too.

Personally I’ve been astounded at what a difference rebuilding functional strength has made in my own “aches and pains” related to prior orthopedic injuries, and just general activity and functional tolerance. Of course, that’s in part related to the last point…

Personally Optimizing Nutrition Makes Life So Much Better

Finally, I suggested my friend gently remind his daughter that there is a far, far better way to fuel the human machine than via the SAD (standard American diet). The point I tried to convey was simple from our perspective – the food we eat now is so much tastier, interesting, and flavorful than any we’ve consumed over the years, AND is so much healthier – less inflammatory (there’s that aches and pains concept again), less atherogenic, and more physiologically sensible given the science that has evolved over the past twenty years.

Personally I think for almost everyone walking on the planet, metabolic flexibility is the holy grail of nutrition – not being in ketosis or rigidly adhering to some arbitrary set of dietary rules. There is no one size fits all nutrition plan. Metabolic flexibility is key for anyone at any age, but perhaps even more meaningful for those of over 40, busy with all that life has to offer.

The challenge, of course, is to find the nutrition plan that resonates with your own particular physiology and metabolism, and make the tweaks and adjustments that work for you. It can be done, and again, it’s never too late to start.

Enjoyed the call JS, best of luck with your daughter and I’m happy to help any way I can.

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Monday: Easy Romesco Sauce

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We’ve been talking a lot about sauces the past few weeks, and deservedly so.

Sauces are workhorses during the summer grilling season; they add flavor, interest, color, and sometimes even texture to meals featuring grilled and roasted proteins and vegetables. Chilled sauces can even help you play the temperature game with foods, which can be especially refreshing during these dog days of summer.

I’m not sure where we first came across the recipe for this Easy Romesco Sauce, but it’s become one of our favorites this summer. The careful application of fire and time renders bell peppers (and perhaps a Mediterraneo Dulce) – for the pepper tolerant – tender and almost smokey in flavor. Let them steam covered for 20 minutes and the skins slip off in your fingers, and they’re a cinch to stem, seed, and chop.

Romesco sauces originated in Spain and most that I’ve run across are tomato based with either almonds or hazelnuts added; this is one of those sauces that allows you to shake things up and build it to suit your (family) palate. The roasted pepper base in this recipe simply resonates with our palates at home.

This sauce brings together a cast of players you might not think of at first blush, though most of us in the ancestral food space appreciate the nifty flavor of almond butter; add in a bit of garlic, tart acid in the form of a flavorful vinegar, and a pinch of spice, and you’re in for genuine treat.

We had this again a few nights ago with an ancho-cumin-coffee rubbed pork tenderloin and a spicy pepita jalapeño cauliflower rice; I made a batch of this Columbian Aji Sauce to have a red and green (thank you New Mexico) effect for the sauces – it’s was amazing…

2 large red bell peppers, whole
1 red Mediterraneo Dulce pepper, whole (optional)
Avocado oil or EVOO for grill grate
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tbsp almond butter (unsweetened)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar (sherry or rice wine vinegar in a pinch)
1 tbsp avocado oil or EVOO
1 tsp good salt + more to taste
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Grill the whole peppers over high heat, on the grill is best but you can char them over a gas burner or under the broiler as well. Place in a large bowl, cover, and let steam and rest until cool enough to handle (15-20 minutes).

Skin, stem, and seed the peppers, then place the flesh in your trusty blender along with the garlic, almond butter, vinegar, oil, salt, smoked paprika, and the cayenne. Blend until smooth, taste for salt, and thin if needed with a splash of oil or more vinegar.

Best served immediately, though can hold in the fridge (covered, airtight) for a few days.

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Recipes, and More 3 August 2019

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Food, Glorious Food: Nutrition News This Week

From the “How Can This Be News?” file: Packaged food is ultra-processed.
The Wall Street Journal weighs in on the “fasting fad” (really, you’re going to call it a fad?)

Foraging foodie and chef: Sarah Glover. (Our photojournalist daughter has been invited to Australia for a series of stories and hopefully will have time scheduled with Ms. Glover…)

The Southern Foodways Alliance fall symposium.
Tart cherry juice for improved cognition? The lay report and the study it’s based on.

Turning the tables on the fake meat game, here’s a radical process for turning vegetable matter into meat protein.

Food, Glorious Food: Our Recipes from the Week

Spicy Thai-Inspired Shrimp Stir-Fry
Chile Peanut Cauliflower Rice
Garam Masala and Cucumber Dip

Older Bolder Health News Roundup That Caught My Eye This Week

Resistance training improves neural plasticity in a rat dementia model.

Speaking of resistance training, here’s an interesting interview with Charles Polquin – Aerobic Exercise May Be Destroying Your Body, But Weightlifting Can Save It.

Should the Alzheimer’s amyloid theory be put to rest? (Free MedScape account required).

Walking makes us happier, healthier, and brainier. You have to appreciate their tagging walking as a superpower.

How to think about your own mortality – at least one view on the issue. The author’s bio is fascinating…