Older Bolder Life

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the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 13 July: Lemony Spiced Salmon Kabobs

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Years ago, living and working in the Salt Lake City valley, we befriended a couple who, among a bevy of interesting quirks, were partners with another guy in a small Alaskan fishing business.

This ‘other guy’ had a boat and spent a fair part of every summer up there and fished (commercially); he sold some of his take to the big canneries, but some, he packed up on ice in coolers, threw on a direct Delta flight, and were then sold by our friends out of their garage, most often 24 hours or less out of the water. And at prices far, far less than local fish markets (there weren’t multiple hands clamoring to take a cut out of the pie).

The halibut was amazing, but the salmon was simply stunning.

I’ll share in the next few weeks our all time favorite fresh salmon marinade (thanks, Judy!), but these kabobs are also one of our favorites (we just did a batch last week).

The kabobs are delicious and Instagram worthy as written, even more so with some thinly sliced vegetables threaded on the skewers, but a tip from a chef friend now has us grilling separate vegetable skewers as cook times differ a bit…

For the spice mix
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 1 T dried)
2 tsp white sesame seeds
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp good smoked paprika
1 tsp good pink or kosher salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 lemons, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced
2 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil

1 and 1/2 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into approx. 1.5 inch pieces

Optional: Thinly sliced baby zucchini, summer squash, red bell pepper squares, etc

For the spice mix, we find it easier to dump all the spice mix ingredients into a mini-processor and whirl them together.

Onto pairs of skewers thread salmon and half-slices of lemon (alternating of course); if you choose to throw some vegetables into the mix, either artfully thread them onto the skewers with the lemon and salmon, or construct several vegetable only skewers.

Brush each skewer with the oil, dust generously with the spice mix, and grill, rotating every 1-2 minutes, until the fish is done to your liking.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday 11 July: Grilled Leeks

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We’re huge fans of the lovely leek around our camp, and love it when big bundles show up stacked in ice at our favorite Central Market here in the metro.

Leeks play well in so many different recipes, but one of our absolute favorite preps is to grill them, though given their size they can be a challenge to cook through on the grill without burning the outer leaves (pending your fire and degree of attention nursing them along, some might take as long as 30 minutes to cook through).

Our friend Chef Libby in Austin showed us this trick a few years back of starting the cook with a quick (no more than 5 minutes!) par-boil, followed by a shock in cold water, then followed by a much more reasonable, olive-oil-basted, 6-10 minutes on the grill.

Don’t forget to prep your leeks carefully, the coarse greens must be trimmed, the body of the leek split and the layers washed thoroughly to remove all the sand they grow in. It’s worth the extra couple of  minutes to do this right.

And a sprinkling of good salt really makes these sing hot off the grill…

4-6 large leeks, trimmed and prepped (see above)
Kosher salt
2 tbsp good EVOO or avocado oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Prep your leeks are detailed above; while you’re doing so bring a large pot or skillet of salted water to a boil. Now gently boil the leeks for just three to five minutes; you’re looking for them to soften a bit but you don’t want their bright green color to fade.

Immediately plunge into an ice water bath; keep the leeks in the cool water until they’re cool, then remove and pat dry.

Fire the grill, brush the leeks with your oil of choice, and grill over direct heat for 3-5 minutes per side. We like ours to crisp up and brown a bit with nice grill marks.

Pull the leeks, and season to taste with good salt, fresh ground pepper, and perhaps even another drizzle of good oil.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Sunday 8 July: Smashed Cucumber Salad

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Summer brings to mind a host of things, but say the word summer around our camp and before too long we’ll be talking about grilling various proteins and lining up our favorite salads and fresh vegetable sides to accompany them.

A couple of years ago I’d picked up my wife from a long day at her work and dropped into one of our favorite eateries in the DFW metro – Smoke – alas unfortunately now closed; it was there that we first tasted this unique salad.

They featured (back in the day) a fusion of Tex-Mex and old school, low and slow barbeque, and offered up an astounding array of sides, one of which was this Smashed Cucumber Salad.

We’ve tweaked it around the edges a bit, but keep coming back to this version of the recipe; simple, minimal prep, and very tasty make it a winner any time of year.

1 pound English (or Persian) cucumbers
3-4 green onions (scallions), sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 serrano pepper, stemmed, seeded, sliced into thin rounds (optional)
1 tsp good salt
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil
1 tsp toasted black sesame seeds
1-2 tbsp chile oil (optional)

Here’s the fun part (after washing and trimming the cucumbers) – grab your rolling pin and (gently) whack the cucumbers until they begin to fracture and break apart. With your hands tear the cucumber pieces into bite-sized chunks, drop them into a colander and sprinkle with the salt.

After resting for 10-15 minutes, shake any remaining water out but don’t rinse the cucumbers. Now pour into a medium bowl and add the rice vinegar, EVOO/avocado oil, green onions, and the serrano pepper pieces (if using), then stir well to combine.

Taste for salt and adjust as needed, hold covered in the fridge for a short time if needed. When serving, drizzle with a good dollop of chile oil and go to it.

Enjoy.

Keto Thursday 5 July 2018: Summer Time (or Anytime) Keto Snacks

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As friends, family, and other folks we run into every week notice the results I’m having personally with my nutritional ketosis run (now in week 12), one of the inevitable questions that comes has to do what do I reach for when the urge to snack pops up?

There are really two answers to that question: one, the true urge to snack (much less the actual hangries) frankly rarely happens in my world after starting my NK run, given my current level of fat-adaption (which has basically erased the need to  snack between meals). And two, on the rare occasional when I do get hungry and for whatever reason it’s not time for a sit-down meal, a little advance planning makes a huge difference, and here’s what’s been on the ‘reach for’ list of late.

The Lowly Radish

Perhaps related to the lowly radish being the first vegetable I ever grew in a Texas Panhandle childhood garden, when in season (much of the year) we keep a small container of trimmed radishes in water in the fridge. They offer a number of health benefits, including a healthy dose of vitamin C and a number of other micronutrients, are packed with fiber and detoxifying agents called indoles, and carry almost no soluble carbs in their tidy red and white packages. And in their quirky, crunchy,  savory way, just taste good with a healthy sprinkle of pink salt.

Boiled Eggs with a Twist

The mighty egg is clearly one of nature’s most perfect foods, and we often keep a few boiled eggs in the fridge for snacking or a quick lunch. They’re great sliced into a big lunch or dinner salad, make a quick egg salad or deviled egg platter, and we’re particularly fond of marinated eggs – try this recipe from Serious Eats.

A Tablespoon of Coconut Butter

Like many of you, we keep a jar of Artisana Coconut Butter in the pantry for all sorts of things, but sometimes just a tablespoon right out of the jar (high fat, very low carb) just tastes great and hits the spot without any kitchen prep or cook time at all.

Butter Pecan Fat Bombs

There are probably hundreds of recipes out there for various iterations of “fat bombs”; I tend to favor an uber-simple recipe of 1/3 cup coconut butter, 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1 T good butter, and 1/4 cup toasted, chopped pecans. Molded in a mini-muffin tin they’re perfectly bite-sized and easy to store in the fridge.

Feta and Olives

My lovely wife and I have long been fans of great Greek cuisine, and try to keep a nice block of Feta cheese in the fridge (in brine); try an ounce topped with a drizzle of very good olive oil (and maybe a sprinkle of oregano – try fresh), along with 5-7 Greek (or your fave) olives. Wow, isn’t that good?

Crudite and Quick Guacamole

We’re of the mind that guacamole with anything is pretty danged tasty, and love this Quick Columbian Guacamole or this Tomatillo Avocado Salsa for dipping crudite into when the impulse strikes (we often end up making that a dinner, maybe with a little bit of cold, leftover protein from the day before…).

Almond Butter and Dark Chocolate

This combination is kinda’ve a no-brainer to include on a snack list; you don’t need much, even a half tablespoon on a few squares of good dark chocolate can hit the spot.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday 4 July: Grill-Charred Green Beans with Homemade Harissa

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We have a friend down in Austin, an uber-talented chef by the name of Libby (she runs a very popular catering business down there); we actually met Libby one summer given the confluence of a couple of passions we share: cooking great food and fly fishing.

Libby bestows on we mere mortals great recipes now and again – like this Grill Charred Green Beans with Homemade Harissa she sent us a few years back.

We happen to share another passion with Libby, that being a love of interesting and spicy foods from other cultures; this quick and easy riff on harissa paste that you can whip up at home quite easily is a great example.

Green beans are a great side year round and this has become one of our favorite preps; seemingly everybody we’ve ever served it to has pestered us for the recipe.

And if you don’t have a grill basket yet, this recipe may be the very excuse you need to pick one up…

1 medium red bell pepper
3 medium Fresno chiles
1 medium jalapeno chile
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 + 2 tbsp good olive or avocado oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin (or more)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (or more)
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

2 lb fresh green beans, tipped and trimmed

Start by roasting/charring the peppers on the grill, under the broiler, or over a gas flame until soft and charred. Throw the peppers in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let them steam for 12-15 minutes.

When they’ve steamed, peel off the charred skins, stem and seed, then chop coarsely and drop into your trusty food processor along with the minced garlic, and 1 tsp salt. Pulse into a coarse paste and scrape down the bowl.

Now add the the oil, lemon juice, coriander, and cumin until smooth; season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Toss the trimmed beans into a bowl, drizzle with the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and stir to coat all the beans. We like to now grill (in a grill basket) over fire on the grill, though you can also char in a cast-iron skillet (or other heavy skillet) on the stove top. The objective is to grill the beans, picking up some char and blistering, until they’re perfectly crisp-tender.

When the beans are done, toss them back in the bowl you drizzled them with oil in, drizzle the harissa over and mix well. These are great warm or at room temperature too.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Sunday 1 July: 1015 Tomato Salad

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Here’s another long time family favorite salad we find ourselves reaching for now that tomato season is in full swing – 1015 Tomato Salad.

The 1015 of course refers to the sweet onion born and bred here in Texas, though I can assure you this dish will be just as delicious with whatever sweet onions you might reach for, whether they be Maui, Walla Walla, or Vidalia. (Brand me a traitor, but after growing and tasting them all over the years, I still think nothing beats a Walla Walla onion.)

The grandmother we sourced the recipe from used to drizzle a teaspoon or so of good raw honey over the salad before serving, but we’ve grown to savor it without; try it both ways if your current routine allows and see what you think…

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (grab some mixed colors)
1 pound various ripe tomatoes, trimmed, cut into wedges
1 small Texas 1015 (or other sweet onion), thinly sliced, start with 1/2
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
1/3 cup fresh chives, cut into small pieces (1/2 inch or so)
3 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil
1-2 tbsp good white wine vinegar (perhaps even more)
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Optional: Drizzle of good honey (no more than 1 tsp)

Prep the tomatoes, onion, and herbs; combine in a bowl with the oil of choice and vinegar (drizzle with the honey if using). Stir it up to ensure all the tomatoes are well coated and season to taste with the salt and pepper. Adjust the vinegar and amount of onion to suit your clan.

Cover and throw in the fridge if not using immediately; don’t make more than 4 hours ahead or the tomatoes will soften too much…

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 15 June 2018: Bunless NOLA Burger

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A few years back (in my pre-Primal/Paleo life), while passing through New Orleans traveling from Texas to Georgia, I stopped and grabbed what was at the time one of the most outrageously good burgers I’ve ever eaten in my life.

It was a crafty mixture of fresh ground chuck (20% fat for the best flavor), andouille sausage diced very small, with a splash of hot sauce and finely chopped toasted pecans thrown in for good measure. Tangy blue cheese was melted over the top, and among typical burger fixin’s were also the Southern staple pickled okra and slow-caramelized onions, with a spicy Cajun-inspired mayo to boot.

We’re long past the days of tasteless, chewy, toxic burger buns getting in the way of some serious burger enjoyment (bunless all the way!), and now and then we’ll mix these together and grill up a batch for bunless burger party Cajun style.

At bare minimum pick up some fresh ground chuck for these, and consider grinding (or having your butcher grind) up a mixture of 40% chuck, 40% brisket, and 20% short rib for the best burger you’ve ever imagined.

Burgers
3 lb ground chuck (20% fat), or a mix of chuck, brisket, and short rib
1 lb andouille sausage, cut into very small (< 1/4”) pieces
1/2 cup (generous) finely chopped, toasted pecans
1-2 tbsp hot sauce, Crystal preferred for authenticity
2 tsp good salt
1-2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Cajun Slather (Mayo)
1 cup homemade avocado oil mayonnaise
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2-3 tsp. of your favorite Cajun/Creole seasoning mix (caution, they’re salty)
Optional: 1-2 tsp of Crystal hot sauce, or Sriracha

Essential Fixin’s
Crumbled blue cheese
Pickled okra pods, 16 or so, split lengthwise
Caramelized onions
Firm sliced tomatoes
Lettuce
Anything else your heart desires

Gently mix the burger ingredients together by hand, and then, using a very soft hand, shape into 8 8-ounce patties. Chill on a baking sheet in the fridge for an hour at least.

Stir up the cajun slather (mayo) and let rest in the fridge.

Fire the grill, and grill these bad boys over a medium hot fire for roughly 4-5 minutes, then turn, throw on the cheese, and grill another 3 or so.

Build your bunless burger masterpiece and go to it; try these with the pickled okra too – the crisp burst of vinegary goodness is a great fit.

Enjoy.

Four Plus One Key Tips Before Starting Your Nutritional Ketosis Run

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Given the success I’ve personally had with my nutritional ketosis (NK) run, I’m asked almost every day by folks considering an NK trial for tips, tricks, hacks, and cheats to potentially “make it easier” to succeed with nutritional ketosis. Here are several tips I share with friends and clients who are contemplating or just starting a nutritional ketosis trial…

Nutritional Ketosis Tip No. 1: They’re Aren’t Any Simple Hacks to Get the Results You Want

As an aside, count me among the many who despise the term ‘hacks’ and the pursuit thereof. There are some things in life you can obtain by using cheats or shortcuts, but the most critical benefits of nutritional ketosis (and many other things) simply can’t be earned that way.

Here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about to the right; one of my email accounts is used for a popular fly fishing blog and has been in use for years, so unfortunately a fair amount of spam email oozes around the filters and into my inbox.

What’s been the most popular spam topic the past few weeks? How to cheat your way into ketosis without cutting your carbs.

There are host of great reasons to try a nutritional ketosis run, the principle being you want to turn your body into a fat-burning machine. That takes a bit of time and attention to truly accomplish, and despite the claim that celebrities know hacks to cheat their way into NK, they don’t.

Nutritional Ketosis Tip No. 2: Lay the Groundwork First Over 2-3 Weeks BEFORE Starting

Stepping into nutritional ketosis is a relative piece of cake if you’ve done some preliminary diet “housekeeping” to begin with. The most important dietary housekeeping is sorta’ve along the lines of cleaning the most obnoxious things out of your house – one, getting rid of grains and heavily processed carbs, including sugar in all its forms is one, and the second essential dumping the toxic, industrial-processed seed oils that are commonly stocked in pantry and restaurant around the world.

If you’ve been enjoying a LC/MP/HF eating plan for a while, your probably ready to start your NK run; if not, take 2-3 weeks (or more) to transition from the standard American diet to a low carb model (before going very low carb with NK).

Nutritional Ketosis Tip No. 3: Plan to Stay the Course for at Least Six Weeks

No matter how you’ve been eating before, truly starting nutritional ketosis will cause your body to make some adjustments as you preprogram your metabolic machinery. I agree wholeheartedly with those who suggest you make at minimum a 6 week commitment to the process, promising yourself you’ll wade through whatever adjustments come your way. And as your body adapts to fat-burning, there are several breakthrough windows that are exciting to watch and feel – though for most that’s territory that occurs in week three and beyond.

Nutritional Ketosis Tip No. 4: Mind Your Macros, at Least When Starting

Two of the most common challenges faced by those starting a trial of nutritional ketosis are 1) consuming too many carbs, and 2) consuming too much protein, the excess of which is converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis and either utilized or stored.

Plan to spend at least a few days early on charting your daily food intake in a detailed record and using FitDay or other tools (you can do it by hand too!) to track your macros, shooting for roughly 7% or less of daily calories from carbohydrate, 20-25% from protein, and the remaining 68-73% from good fats, at least when starting out, though pending your personal results you may want to dial back the carb and protein contributions as you progress.

Nutritional Ketosis Tip No. 4+1: Consider Monitoring Urinary Ketones When Starting

There are tools available to everyday consumers that allow monitoring for the presence of ketones/ketone related products in urine, blood, and breath; the three methods vary considerably in terms of ease of use, cost, and accuracy among other things.

When starting out, I personally recommend that NK adventurers if so inclined test for urinary ketones (the urinary chemical we’re testing for is acetoacetate); the testing strips are (relative to the others) cheap, readily available, easy to use – you just pee on the stick, and the results are typically glaringly easy to see.

Of note – as one becomes more keto-adapted / fat-adapted (can happen to some very quickly – even as early as 7-10 days), urinary ketones disappear, and some folks can be in NK and not test positively on the strips.

Testing of any sort carries a real risk of creating an obsession with the data (and changing your approach based on data manipulation primarily); I encourage my clients to pursue a less rigid, more intuitive approach (more on another day).