Older Bolder Life

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the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Thai-Inspired Larb Salad

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Now the calendar has finally made the turn to early fall, one of our favorite warm salads will soon be back in the rotation, a Thai-Inspired Larb Salad.

I wrote about this one over a year ago on the fly fishing blog Chi Wulff –

…We actually ended up reaching out to chef buddy Libby in Austin to see if she had a favorite version of larb; she tends to work very hard to reproduce classic dishes of great cuisines around the world, and for whatever reason, our palates are fairly closely aligned. Like her, we tend to lean toward making things a bit more spicy (meaning more peppers here), and love the interplay of the lemongrass, cilantro, and mint in this one.

This has become one of our favorites over the spring and early summer season; it’s great spooned into lettuce leaves and eaten “taco style” as we say down here in the South, or served over a bed of finely shredded Napa cabbage…

Fresh lime juice (it doesn’t take all that long to juice 5 or 6 limes) makes a huge different here, and even though it sounds like a lot, use at least 1/4 cup of a good fish sauce. Traditionally made using ground pork (consider grinding your own pork shoulder for this one), we’ve enjoyed this recipe with ground chicken and turkey as well, or a combination.

Though traditionally eaten while still warm from cooking, on the hot fall days remaining – at least here in “The South”, this dish is delicious cold from the fridge too.

2 pounds ground pork, chicken, or turkey (or combination)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup (generous) sliced green onions, white and trimmed green parts
1 cup shallots, thinly sliced
2-4 tbsp minced lemongrass
1-2 tbsp thinly sliced serranos, Thai chiles, or jalapeños
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

Sauce
2/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 to 1/3 cup fish sauce
1-2 tbsp chili paste or chili garlic paste
Optional: 1 tbsp honey or your favorite sugar equivalent

Lettuce leaves, your favorite cauliflower rice, or shredded Napa cabbage for serving

Combine the four sauce ingredients in a small bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside.

Into a large skillet over medium heat goes the meat; break it up as it begins to brown, ladling off any fat and water that comes off. When the meat is roughly halfway cooked, add the chicken stock, and continue to sauté until the meat is just cooked through, another 5-6 minutes.

Now add the green onions, shallots, lemongrass, and chiles, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has for the most part evaporated.

Remove from the heat, add the sauce, cilantro, and mint, stirring to combine well.

Serve over shredded Napa cabbage or in lettuce leaves “taco style” and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Ancho Coffee Pork Tenderloin

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Back a few weeks ago when I posted this Crispy Ancho Coffee Chicken recipe I had a hunch that this particular rub would work wonders on a grass-fed/pastured pork tenderloin. I have to admit, and again readily confess I didn’t develop that recipe (see the prior post) – this spice mixture is just damn good (if not great).

In fact I wrote this about it over on our fly fishing blog ChiWulff several weeks ago –

The flavor of ancho chiles has always kinda reminded me of a sorta sweet, sorta smokey raisin, with a little bit of heat added for interest; combined here with the cumin and just a bit of a dark, freshly ground coffee and good salt, the ancho anchors this very interesting, and tasty, crust.

Over the grill these need to watched carefully and managed over indirect heat or the spices will burn; we think the best way to cook a batch of these up is to sauté them in a skillet in EVOO or avocado oil, taking care to give them time to develop a crispy crust before turning.

Amazing in a taco with all the fixin’s, or topping a tostada or a big-assed salad, these were awesome a few days back on a bed of shredded lettuce and a great guacamole. What a great boat lunch on a hot summer day these would make too…

Well, the rub works amazingly well on pork tenderloin as well, and speaking of pork tenderloin, have you tried cooking it medium rare using a sous vide technique? Sous vide is a wonderful tool to use to produce great proteins (and more), and pork tenderloin, along with a great steak (ribeye around our house), might just be the crown jewel of sous vide meats in terms of bang for your buck and return on your (rather modest) efforts.

By all means you don’t have to sous vide these, a careful grill or roast in the oven would work just fine, but if you’re waffling on sous vide, find a friend with a machine and cook this recipe together – you’ll be hooked for life.

And finally, you can serve pork tenderloin any number of ways, but consider a New Mexico-inspired “red and green” plate (as in the image above) using our Easy Romesco Sauce and either this Columbian Aji or this Columbian Guacamole. Wow, was that delicious.

4 parts fresh ancho chile powder
4 parts ground cumin
1 part (scant) good salt
1/2 to 1 part finely ground fresh dark roast coffee

2 pastured pork tenderloins, silver skin removed

Combine the ancho powder, cumin, salt, and finely ground coffee in a small bowl, stir to mix well.

While not really necessary, I like to paint the pork tenderloins with a bit of apple cider vinegar, then rub with the spice mixture. Cover tightly and throw in the fridge for 2-4 hours.

If cooking sous vide, heat your water bath to 130-135 (F), and cook using routine methods for an hour. Remove, drain, and let rest for 15-30 minutes at room temperature before searing quickly in butter and avocado oil on the stove top or on the grill (my preferred). Don’t sweat it when the rub/spice mixture darkens significantly when seared/grilled – it’s the spices and you’re not burning the outer layer. Don’t forget to be quick about this process to preserve that delightful medium rare cook you’ve just done perfectly in the sous vide bath.

If grilling, cook over medium-high indirect heat per routine, until done to your liking (though I’d personally never cook these past medium…). Let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Serve as desired, and enjoy.

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.

the Older Bolder Bookshelf: Cordain’s The Paleo Diet

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For those among us who like to read, as my family does, we’re going to be posting quick recommendations and reviews of books that we’ve read, studied, and enjoyed along our own health and wellness journey.

We’ll be looking at newer publications as well as come of the classics in this particular health space, as well as some of my personal favorite cookbooks interspersed here and there.

The Paleo Diet was written by one of the longtime thought leaders in the paleo world, Loren Cordain, PhD, now Professor Emeritus at Colorado State University’s Department of Health and Exercise Science in their College of Applied Human Sciences. The book was originally published in 2002 (revised in 2011), making it almost an historical text given how rapidly the science related to ancestrally-focused nutrition plans has evolved over the intervening two decades, though when I stumbled across a used copy at my favorite second-hand book store a few weeks back I couldn’t pass it by.

Cordain’s work in this seminal paleo book was one of the first presentations to the lay public of what we’ve all come to recognize as core paleo principles, and he laid out a very logical and thoughtful presentation of the key historical presumptions upon which the movement was built. You’ll note in reading that further research has refined and modified many of the principles “around the edges”, for example tweaking protein requirements and targets pending specific metabolic conditions, though his framework presented in this book still informs the eating habits of hundreds of thousands of people today.

The Paleo Diet isn’t the final word on eating, and living, ancestrally today, but is a fascinating and informative read, particularly for those interested in taking a deep dive into ancestrally-guided health and wellness. Though it’s not a very popular principle these days, it’s critical to understand history to interpret our world today, and this is book is unquestionably part of the ancestral health movement’s history.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Crispy Ancho Coffee Chicken

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I don’t know about you, but occasionally on these blisteringly hot summer days I just don’t feel like cooking through a big production in the kitchen (or on the grill).

That’s one of the reasons we often grill (or sous vide, or sauté) enough protein at a time to eat for several meals upcoming; it doesn’t take a huge amount of creativity to present good proteins in a variety of ways, and what a great summer lunch chilled grilled proteins make too.

A residency mate of mine married a wonderful woman from New Mexico; she was a delightful and skilled cook, and her delicious food was instrumental in growing our appreciation for the unique flavors of the American Southwest.

She would often make a big batch of these Crispy Ancho Coffee Chicken thighs (breasts work too) for parties; she’d set out the crisped chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces, and the makings for tacos, tostadas, and salads to pile on your plate and devour with gusto.

This chicken works amazingly well over a spicy slaw, colorful salad, or wrapped in your favorite wrap (I recently trialed some pretty danged tasty keto nearly-corn tortillas that worked really well too – I’ll share that recipe soon). As in the images above, I even like these over a bed of shredded lettuce, topped with guacamole (try our simple House Guacamole if you’re looking for a great go-to recipe), and maybe a pickled onion or jalapeño or two.

And please note, with the ancho chile powder and the coffee in the rub, the crust darkens significantly as these cook, though they’re not “burned”; actually the sweetness of the ancho really shines through in the end.

These are really good cold for lunch tomorrow too, you may want to throw another pound in to make sure there are leftovers…

4 tbsp fresh ancho chile powder
4 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp (scant) good salt
1-2 tsp finely ground fresh dark roast coffee

2 pounds chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)

Combine the ancho powder, cumin, salt, and finely ground coffee in a small bowl, stir to mix well.

Toss the chicken with at least half (we use more) of the spice mixture in a large bowl making sure every piece is well coated (use more of the rub if needed). Cover tightly and throw in the fridge for 2-4 hours.

Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before you intend to quickly sear these in a skillet over medium-high heat and preferably avocado oil (though I’ve used ghee in a pinch, it was delicious).

Remember you’re building a crispy seared crust here, so place the thighs in a single layer in the skillet and let them sit undisturbed for at 4-5 minutes before turning, and don’t turn them until a good crust forms (peeking is fine near the end). They’ll need 3-4 minutes on the second side to cook through and get crispy.

Let rest a few minutes, cut into bite sized pieces, drizzle with any accumulated juices, and go to it.

Enjoy.

Introducing the Older Bolder Bookshelf

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We’ve decided this week to add a new feature here on the Older Bolder Life, our blog for Older Bolder Fitness, a more or less weekly book recommendation, sometimes even a more detailed book review, for those among us interested in good health, longevity, protecting and preserving brain function, and good eats.

My lovely wife and I have been avid readers since we met in college several decades ago (and long before that actually), and invest a fair of time and effort to curate what in our minds at least is a very interesting and eclectic home library.

And while it’s perhaps in this day and age considered to be a dated and old-fashioned concept, I remain utterly convinced that it’s possible to become deeply knowledgable (dare I say even develop legitimate expertise) about almost any topic on the planet via reading and study, and one of the venues to gain that knowledge is by reading great books.

My intent will be to focus on solid reads, both current and foundational in the Primal / Paleo / ancestral health worlds, as well as great cookbooks (hey, it’s obvious we love great food around here…). I’ll do my best to see if I can wrangle some books to give away as well.

More to come….

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday: Turmeric Cabbage Coconut Stir Fry

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Perhaps it has something to do with the fact my lovely wife and I grew up in the South, eating slaws and chow chows prepared lovingly by matronly grandmothers and diner / greasy spoon cooks during our childhoods – but I’ve confessed before that we enjoy cabbage prepared in a variety of ways.

We typically enjoy a simple cabbage slaw with this Chile Lime Vinaigrette at least once a week and add a bit of cabbage to many of our favorite salads. Though we don’t savor fish tacos as often as we once did, who doesn’t love a spicy fish taco inspired slaw (we have several in the rotation), and I’ve stockpiled a number of cooked and sautéed cabbage recipes over the years as well.

This Turmeric Cabbage Coconut Stir Fry has become one of our favorites this spring and early summer as it’s a little different than many cooked cabbage recipes we’ve seen, and when cooked for just a few minutes the cabbage maintains a delightful crunchiness.

Though optional (recipes are made to be adjusted to your own palate and interests anyway) the poblano chiles and fresh peas add a splash of color and interest as well, as do the coconut flakes and the sautéed mustard seeds.

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tbsp avocado or coconut oil
2 tsp yellow or black (or both) mustard seeds
1 small-medium cabbage, trimmed and thinly sliced/chopped
1 poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, cut into thin strips or small dice
1-2 dried de arbol chiles, roughly crushed OR 1-2 tsp red chile flakes
1 tsp good salt
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Optional: 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot; add the mustard seeds, cover, and shake gently until they begin to pop.

When the popping slows, add the poblano and / or the dried red chiles, sauté for a minute, then add the cabbage, salt, and turmeric. Stir to mix well, then cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until the cabbage begins to wilt but still has some tooth (crunch). Add the coconut and peas if using, mix well, and cook another minute or so until heated through.

Remove from the heat, then stir in the cilantro and lemon juice; taste and adjust seasonings as needed (usually salt and lemon juice).

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 3 May: Tomatillo Pico de Gallo

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Sunday is Cinco de Mayo, an event I’d actually forgotten about this past week with a somewhat crazy schedule, a week of severe and flooding storms here in North Texas, and a main computer failure first thing Monday morning.

For those of you who might not remember your Mexican history as well as you should, Cinco de Mayo is observed to honor and commemorate the Mexican Army’s hard-fought victory over the invading French at the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862. Frankly the better equipped French, present in overpowering numbers as well, got their butts kicked, hence the parties still planned for the upcoming weekend.

Growing up and living in Texas for years Cinco de Mayo has been something we’ve embraced with joy, not only due to the historical aspects, but also for the chance to celebrate the wonders that authentic Mexican and beloved Tex Mex fare bring to the table.

Hardcore Primal and Paleo enthusiasts may grunt and groan and roll their eyes at the mention of Tex Mex, and to be sure some classic Tex Mex dishes are packed with enough unhealthy foods to last you a month or more, but there’s plenty about the cuisine to love too.

We’re particularly fond of great salsas that perk up and complement proteins of all sorts; here in Texas they’re often referred to as a “table salsa” or “table pico”. They’re most often prepared in house with fresh ingredients, and bring a burst of heat and a bright blast of acidity (lime juice often) to the flavor party.

Most table salsa and picos are tomato-based, though we’re big fans of this tomatillo version. It’s bright, herbal, tart (from the tomatillos and the lime), and can be spiced up as much as you care to with the jalapeños.

I’m doing this over a grilled ribeye, sliced thin, and plated over a salad tonight. See you around the fire tonight.

12 ounces tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and cut into rough 1/4-inch dice
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
2-4 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, finely diced
2-3 garlic cloves, grated or minced
3-4 tbsp fresh lime juice (or more)
1-2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1-2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
Kosher salt to taste

Prep the ingredients and combine all but the salt in a small bowl, stir well. Taste to see if you’d more lime juice (or any other ingredient for that matter), adjust for salt, then cover and throw in the fridge for an hour to allow the flavors to meld together. Stir well before serving.

Enjoy.