In the US, I love to shop farmers markets for the freshest produce, usually picked when ripe, so much tastier than fruit (and veggies) trucked across the country. Look for apricots in the next few weeks—May is the official start of the season in the northern hemisphere. As spring turns to summer, ripe peaches or nectarines are delicious replacements for the apricots in this visually stunning salad. Feel free to change the fruit to whatever favorites of yours are available seasonally where you live.
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette:
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white-wine or sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
For the salad:
6 ounces baby arugula
4 ripe apricots, preferably freestone
8 ounces burrata or fresh buffalo mozzarella
16 very thin slices prosciutto
Small fresh basil leaves
Coarsely ground pink peppercorns
Directions
To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, and honey. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To compose the salad, arrange a bed of arugula on a platter, or divide among four plates. Pit the apricots and slice into wedges, leaving the skin on for extra fiber. Drain the cheese and tear into bite-size chunks. If using burrata, tear directly over the platter or plates to catch any cream. Arrange the fruit, cheese, and prosciutto on the arugula. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, sprinkle with the basil and crushed peppercorns, and serve immediately.
Grilled Chicken Paillards with Olive-Orange Salsa, Spotlight on Olive Oil Varieties, The Danger of Added Sugars and Benefits of Microbreaks
This time of year, I’m in an “Iberian” frame of mind. The olive harvest has just finished in Spain and Portugal, and I love feasting on both the olives and, of course, the fresh-pressed extra virgin olive oil from these Mediterranean countries. To celebrate, this week’s recipe features many of the local flavors. Enjoy!
Two of Spain’s iconic foods—oranges and olives—mesh beautifully in this colorful pimentón-infused salsa. Wonderful with chicken, it also plays well with veal chops, pork tenderloin, shrimp, salmon, tuna, cod, and, of course, your favorite chips!
Ingredients
1 large navel orange
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup rough-chopped pimento-stuffed green olives
1/3 cup diced celery hearts (the inner stalks)
1/4 cup diced red onion or shallot
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the chicken
1 tablespoon dry Spanish sherry
Salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper to taste
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, each 6 ounces
Directions
Step 1
Slice off the ends of the orange and set it upright on a cutting board. Remove the peel and white pith with a sharp paring knife. Working over a bowl, release the orange segments by slicing between the membranes and then squeeze the remnants over the bowl to extract any juice. Cut each segment into 3 or 4 pieces. Add the garlic, olives, celery, onion, parsley, pimentón, cumin, optional hot red pepper flakes, the 3 tablespoons olive oil, and the sherry. Season to taste with salt (remember, the olives will be salty) and pepper. Cover and set aside.
Step 2
Pound the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Brush on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Step 3
Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to medium-high. (Alternatively, you can pan-fry the chicken breasts or grill them on a stovetop grill pan.) Grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning once with tongs, until the chicken is cooked through. Let rest for 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter or plates and spoon the salsa over the chicken.
Yields 6 servings.
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Get to Know Your Olive Oil Varieties
As much as people universally love extra virgin olive oil, for many, their relationship with the olives themselves hasn’t yet blossomed. There’s an amazing variety to get to know. All have a buttery quality, but they range from the extremely mild and smooth to the very wrinkly and pungent. A fun way to get familiar with olives is to set up your own tasting at home with four or more choices from the olive bar at your favorite store. Here are some of the most popular ones to sample:
Castelvetrano: Named for the region in Sicily where it’s grown, this green olive is on the sweet side, perfect for the first step on an olive discovery journey.
Cerignola: Named for an area in Puglia, Italy, these large green olives are toothsome yet buttery.
Kalamata: This classic brown-purple Greek olive is bold in size and flavor, thanks to its distinctive brining in red wine vinegar.
Manzanilla: One of two varieties grown in California, this yellow-green olive of Spanish origin has a slightly smokey taste and is often sold stuffed with pimento. It’s also used to make the canned black olives most of us are familiar with.
Niçoise: This petite and zesty purplish olive, named for Nice on the French Riviera, adds tart spiciness to its namesake salad and other Mediterranean dishes.
Picholine: Another French olive, this one yellow-green, is deeply flavored and somewhat tart, great for your next charcuterie board and enhancing hearty recipes.
Sevillano: Originally from the area around Seville in Spain, this is the other olive grown in California, picked green and also often sold stuffed.
Healthy Kitchen Nugget
To Rinse or Not to Rinse?
It’s an age-old kitchen question—should you rinse raw chicken before using it? A study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that washing or rinsing raw poultry actually helps spread any bacteria to surfaces in your kitchen, not to mention other foods—and recommends against the practice. If there is anything on your raw poultry that you want to remove, pat the area with a damp paper towel and immediately wash your hands, it suggests.
To prevent the spread of any bacteria, follow these safe-kitchen principles, good for all raw proteins:
Prep all foods that will be eaten raw, like salad and salsa ingredients, before you start to handle raw poultry or meat.
Afterward, thoroughly clean and sanitize all surfaces that could have been touched or contaminated by the poultry or meat or their juices. Clean sinks and countertops with hot soapy water and then apply a sanitizer. Wash hands immediately by lathering up with soap and scrubbing for 20 seconds.
To destroy any illness-causing bacteria, cook poultry until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F as measured by a food thermometer. For most red meat, that magic number is 145°F, but for any ground meat, it’s 160°F.
For Your Best Health
Harmful Added Sugars
You often hear foods with a lot of added sugar referred to as being loaded with “empty calories” because they don’t contain any of the nutrients your body depends on. Now we’re finding out that, worse still, these sugars harm our health and, in particular, the health of the liver, your body’s clearinghouse for sugar. A study done at the University of Zurich found that consuming even moderate amounts of added fructose and sucrose—80 grams or the amount of sugar in about 27 ounces of soda—doubled the fat production in the liver. In the long term, this contributes to the development of diabetes or a fatty liver. And the chief culprit is sweetened beverages—yes, drinks like soda and sweet tea. The World Health Organization recommends limiting daily sugar consumption to between 25 and 50 grams, or 6 and 12 teaspoons.
Fitness Flash
Microbreaks Around the Watercooler
Microbreaks are the new coffee break. Research done at North Carolina State University found that these short workday time-outs for activities like stretching, doing a crossword puzzle, or having a (healthy) snack can boost energy levels or help you meet work demands. “A microbreak is, by definition, short, but a five-minute break can be golden if you take it at the right time. Our study shows that it is in a company’s best interest to give employees autonomy in terms of taking microbreaks when they are needed—it helps employees effectively manage their energy and engage in their work throughout the day,” said Sophia Cho, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at NCSU. What’s more, microbreaks are particularly beneficial on days when you start out tired, Dr. Cho added.
Two of Spain’s iconic foods—oranges and olives—mesh beautifully in this colorful pimentón-infused salsa. Wonderful with chicken, it also plays well with veal chops, pork tenderloin, shrimp, salmon, tuna, cod, and, of course, your favorite chips!
Ingredients
1 large navel orange
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup rough-chopped pimento-stuffed green olives
1/3 cup diced celery hearts (the inner stalks)
1/4 cup diced red onion or shallot
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the chicken
1 tablespoon dry Spanish sherry
Salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper to taste
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, each 6 ounces
Directions
Step 1
Slice off the ends of the orange and set it upright on a cutting board. Remove the peel and white pith with a sharp paring knife. Working over a bowl, release the orange segments by slicing between the membranes and then squeeze the remnants over the bowl to extract any juice. Cut each segment into 3 or 4 pieces. Add the garlic, olives, celery, onion, parsley, pimentón, cumin, optional hot red pepper flakes, the 3 tablespoons olive oil, and the sherry. Season to taste with salt (remember, the olives will be salty) and pepper. Cover and set aside.
Step 2
Pound the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Brush on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Step 3
Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to medium-high. (Alternatively, you can pan-fry the chicken breasts or grill them on a stovetop grill pan.) Grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning once with tongs, until the chicken is cooked through. Let rest for 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter or plates and spoon the salsa over the chicken.
Lazy Strawberry Cake, Spotlight on Olive Oil’s Polyphenols, Using Flax Seed, Diet Principals to Live By, and How to Achieve Your Best Sleep
For this issue of The Olive Oil Hunter Newsletter, I’m super-excited to introduce you to my inspirational friend Magdalena Wszelaki, certified herbalist, holistic nutrition coach, educator, author of Cooking for Hormone Balance, and founder of the nutrition practice Hormones Balance and the Wellena line of all-natural supplements and skin care products.
Magdalena experienced a condition that affects a huge number of women: estrogen dominance. It’s not just an overabundance of estrogen. As she explains it, it’s often an imbalance among the many hormones vital to women’s health, and it can lead to health issues throughout the body. She’s dedicated her life to helping women conquer it.
Magdalena Wszelaki
What’s really interesting about Magdalena’s new book, Overcoming Estrogen Dominance, is that her nutrition-based program is a healthy way for everyone to eat because it focuses on a healthy gut, a well-functioning liver, and stable blood sugar—as she describes it, the three-legged stool for good hormonal health.
I love that the new book has dozens of recipes that are free of gluten, dairy, and other allergens, and focus on foods that are anti-inflammatory, so they fit into many diet strategies. Here’s one of her delicious desserts along with healthy tips excerpted from the book.
Strawberries are naturally rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, which keep our immune system healthy. This is a gluten-free cake that those with a dairy intolerance can enjoy as well. And it’s an impossibly easy-to-make cake, which is why it’s called “Lazy Strawberry Cake.” There’s very little hands-on prep—you probably already have all the ingredients required to make it—and it’s oh so good. It’s best served warm.
Ingredients
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish
1 1/2 cups (8 ounces) organic strawberries
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar*
1/2 cup plant-based milk, such as almond or oat milk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup gluten-free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease an 8-inch baking dish (it can be round or square) with some olive oil. Place the strawberries in a medium bowl and add the 2 tablespoons brown sugar, the pinch of sea salt, and vanilla extract. Using your hands or the back of a fork, lightly press the strawberries to release their juices (not too hard—they should retain their shape). Set aside.
Step 2
In a large bowl, whisk together the 1/3 cup olive oil and the 1/3 cup brown sugar, milk, and salt. Add the flour and baking powder and continue whisking just until the batter is smooth. Transfer the batter (it’s not much) to the greased baking dish, and spread it evenly into the corners (otherwise the strawberry juice will seep out when baking). Spoon the strawberries and all their juice over the top of the batter.
Step 3
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Given that the strawberries will release water as they cook, the top of the cake will definitely be a lot moister than the sides and the bottom, but that is perfectly fine. Just make sure to bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out more or less clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 3 to 5 minutes before spooning into bowls.
*If you would like to incorporate less sugar, feel free to cut the amount down to 1/4 cup.
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Olive Oil’s Polyphenols
We talk a lot about the healthy components of extra virgin olive oil. Here are the specific polyphenols that contribute to managing estrogen dominance and are noted for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties:
Gallic acid
Hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein (they also protect the liver)
Oleocanthal (it blocks the production of inflammatory proteins called cytokines)
Oleanolic acid (it also supports the liver)
Healthy Kitchen Nugget
Flax Seed
Flax seed is a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber, which are great for gut health. It is a powerful ally when it comes to dealing with estrogen dominance.
How to use it:
Add it to salads, smoothies, soups, or a glass of water.
Always use freshly ground. It keeps for a maximum of five days in an airtight container.
Do not buy flax seed meal, because it’s old and likely oxidized.
Do not cook it. The flax seed that you put into muffins doesn’t count. For liver-supporting benefits, the flax seed must be eaten raw.
Consume 2 tablespoons per day.
For Your Best Health
Diet Principals to Live By
Need to address a sluggish liver, poor gut microflora, and lack of fiber, not to mention too much sugar and belly fat? Try these diet principles:
Choose whole foods. The next time you go grocery shopping, make sure that 80% of your cart consists of fresh foods instead of packaged, processed items.
Buy organic, non-GMO foods, including meat. Conventionally grown food contains high amounts of pesticides, fertilizers, growth hormones, and antibiotics that contribute to endocrine disruption.
Try an anti-inflammatory diet. This way of eating cuts out the well-documented trigger foods—gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, corn, and nightshades—while also limiting sugar. When you eat inflammatory foods, you add fuel to the fire of your hormonal imbalances. Give it a try and you will feel a difference.
Eat plenty of fermented foods. Look for lacto-fermented foods—those made using lactic acid bacteria—not vinegar—to break down the sugars. These include sauerkraut, dill pickles, and kimchi.
Fitness Flash
Achieve Your Best Sleep
If you’re not sleeping and your energy has tanked, no amount of supplements or good-quality food is ever going to bring you back into balance. To boost sleep quality: Eat to stabilize your blood sugar throughout the day. Stop caffeine by 3 pm or even noon. Use no screens from three hours to 30 minutes before bedtime. And sleep in total darkness—so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face. Cover up the red “power” light on your TV, block the light from street lamps with dark curtains, and cover your electronic clock. Once you start looking around the room, you’ll find sneaky light sources everywhere. If this sounds like too much work, try a sleep mask.
