Smoked Salmon “Tartare” Recipe, Spotlight on Smoked Salmon, How to Mince by Hand, Understanding Nontraditional Approaches to Healthcare and Exercising to Avoid Afib
Love smoked salmon but looking for a new way to serve it? My take on the popular fish tartare trend uses smoked rather than raw salmon prepped with a simple technique for a sophisticated presentation—enjoy it not only on a bagel but also on toast points, scrambled eggs, baked potatoes…any food you might top with caviar. I’m also sharing insights into how exercise can protect against the irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation and sorting out the meaning of similar sounding terms used in non-conventional medicine.
Smoked Salmon “Tartare”
Smoked Salmon “Tartare”This twist on the classic beef tartare draws on many of the usual accompaniments for smoked salmon but puts them all together in one dish, perfect for a brunch spread or to spread on a piece of dark pumpernickel for a fast workday breakfast.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped red onion
- 1 tablespoon jarred capers plus 2 teaspoons brine
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill, plus more for garnish
- 8 ounces smoked salmon
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon quarter
Directions
Step 1
Place the red onion, capers and brine, olive oil, zest, and dill in a small food processor; pulse until combined and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Step 2
Mince the smoked salmon by hand on a cutting board (see Quick Kitchen Nugget in our weekly newsletter) and add to the bowl; mix well. Note: You can mince the salmon in the processor after you chop the other ingredients, but use the pulse function and check the mixture frequently so that it doesn’t turn into a paste. Taste and season with black pepper as desired. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of dill.
Yields 6 portions
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Smoked Salmon
Any type of smoked salmon will work beautifully in my tartare recipe, but do you know the differences? Some are indeed smoked while others are cured. Here’s a quick rundown.
True smoked salmon can be cold- or hot-smoked. Cold-smoked salmon is usually brined with salt and sugar, then smoked at a very low temperature for many hours. Types of cold-smoked salmon include Nova (short for Nova Scotia) and Western Nova from Pacific salmon, as well as Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian salmon. Each has a different taste, some smokier than others. Sample a few to find out what you like best. Hot-smoked salmon has more of a cooked salmon texture, although it’s still smoked at a relatively low 130°F to 140°F after brining.
People often use the words “lox” and “smoked salmon” interchangeably, but lox is actually cured—and salt-cured at that, giving it a very salty taste. For a milder cured salmon, try gravlax, prepared according to the Scandinavian method that uses vodka, dill, and lemon to “cook” it over a few days.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
How to Mince by Band
A mince means nothing more than a very fine chop. It’s easy enough to do in a food processor if you control the intensity and speed, usually by pulsing instead of letting the machine run continuously, especially when you’re mincing a soft food that could quickly turn into a paste in a machine. But there’s something very satisfying about mincing by hand. You’ll need a sharp knife and a secure cutting board (you might want two in your kitchen in general—one for raw meat and other proteins and the other for everything else). For large and hard foods like onions and carrots, a chef’s knife is ideal. For small and soft foods like smoked salmon and hard-boiled eggs, a smaller paring knife is better.
One mincing technique starts with cutting the food into even, stackable pieces, then making short stacks and using your knife to cut each stack into small pieces. Keep cutting in a back-and-forth rocking motion until the food is fully minced.
For Your Best Health
Understanding Nontraditional Approaches to Healthcare
You’ve likely seen the terms “complementary,” “alternative,” and “integrative health” used to distinguish a healthcare method that differs from traditional Western medicine. But they don’t all mean the same thing, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH.)
If a nonmainstream approach is used together with conventional medicine, it’s considered complementary. Complementary approaches can be nutritional, such as supplements, herbs, and probiotics; psychological, such as meditation and mindfulness; or physical, such as massage and spinal manipulation. There can be combinations, too, such as the psychological and physical approaches of relaxation techniques, yoga, Tai chi, qigong, acupuncture, dance, or art therapy, or the psychological and nutritional approaches of mindful eating. There is a lot of research to support certain benefits of many of these approaches, notably meditation, yoga, Tai chi and acupuncture, for easing pain and stress, but they might not be as effective when used in place of traditional care. When an approach is used instead of conventional medicine, it’s considered alternative.
Integrative health brings conventional and complementary approaches together in a coordinated way (including coordination between different providers) and in various combinations, with the aim of treating the whole person rather than just the ailment. This approach is becoming more mainstream. According to the NCCIH, research efforts are currently exploring integrative health’s potential for pain management among military personnel and veterans, relieving symptoms in cancer patients, and programs that promote healthy behaviors.
Fitness Flash
Exercising to Avoid Afib
Researchers at NYU Langone Health found that adding an extra hour of physical activity every week may lower the chance of developing atrial fibrillation (Afib for short), the most common type of irregular heartbeat, or arrythmia, by 11%. Atrial fibrillation occurs when the heart’s upper two chambers beat rapidly and irregularly instead of at a consistent pace. Left untreated, Afib can lead to stroke, heart failure, and other issues.
Past studies have linked exercise to a reduced risk of atrial fibrillation, but nearly all that research relied on participants’ (often inaccurate) estimates of their own activity levels, this study’s authors said; one prior study did use activity monitors to investigate atrial fibrillation but tracked participants for only one week. To overcome these limitations, the NYU team used data recorded through Fitbit to objectively measure physical activity in more than 6,000 men and women across the United States and for a period of one year.
The study showed that those with higher amounts of weekly physical activity were less likely to develop atrial fibrillation. Specifically, study participants who averaged between 2.5 and 5 hours of exercise per week (the minimum amount recommended by the American Heart Association) showed a 60% lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation. Those who averaged greater than 5 hours had a slightly greater (65%) reduction. Notably, the researchers said, even modest amounts of moderate-to-vigorous exercise, which can range from taking a brisk walk or cleaning the house to swimming laps or jogging, were associated with reduced risk.
“Our findings make clear that you do not need to start running marathons to help prevent atrial fibrillation and other forms of heart disease,” said preventive cardiologist Sean Heffron, MD, the study senior author, an assistant professor in the department of medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and director of cardiovascular fitness and nutrition at NYU Langone’s Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. “Just keeping moderately active can, over time, add up to major benefits for maintaining a healthy heart.”
“These results highlight the value of Fitbits and similar monitors in medical research,” said lead author Souptik Barua, PhD, an assistant professor with the Grossman School of Medicine. “By offering an objective way to measure exercise for years at a time, these tools can provide deeper insight into how different patterns of activity can impact health.”
Dr. Barua cautioned that the study was not designed to tell whether exercise alone directly reduced the risk of atrial fibrillation, nor to detect how that might come about or what other factors might be in play in the reduced risk. However, the association between exercise “doses” and the development of the condition in the study participants was strong. The research team next plans to explore whether working out in the morning versus at night may have different effects on heart health.
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