Peppered Tuna Steaks with Olive Oil, Tomato, and Mozzarella Salad Recipe, Spotlight on Vinegar, How to Choose Fish with Less Mercury, Benefits of Vitamin D and Functional Training

Is spring in the air where you are? For me, spring means it’s time to fire up the grill. And there’s no quicker way to put together a meal than with seafood, especially a toothsome tuna steak. I love the double dip of protein in this recipe (yes, there’s protein in mozzarella!), and what a delicious way to enjoy the Mediterranean-style diet.

If you don’t live near the coast and are nervous about buying fish, you’re not alone. When fish is behind a counter, it’s hard to check for yourself to be sure that it doesn’t have a fishy smell and that it feels firm to the touch. I find it’s so important to make friends with your local fishmonger so that you’ll always be steered toward the freshest varieties. But there’s also another option—buying fish that’s been flash-frozen at sea. This process makes fresh fish immune to the changes in temperature that can affect it during transport. Allow the fish to defrost in your fridge—not on the counter—on the day you’re using it.

Peppered Tuna Steaks with Olive Oil, Tomato, and Mozzarella Salad

• Peppered Tuna Steaks with Olive Oil, Tomato, and Mozzarella Salad

  This recipe brings together a main and a side, each one very simple to prepare. For a heartier meal, couscous makes a great addition—you can even cook it ahead of time and fold it into the salad. ​

  Ingredients

  • 4 center-cut tuna steaks, each about 1 inch thick and 6 to 8 ounces
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Coarsely cracked or ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or more to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 cup pitted, brine-cured olives, such as red and/or green Cerignola, coarsely chopped
  • 2 cups red and yellow grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
  • 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, drained and diced
  • 6 large leaves fresh basil, chopped, plus extra sprigs for garnish
  • Lemon wedges for serving

  Directions

  Step 1

  Trim any skin or dark spots from the tuna steaks, then lightly oil both sides and generously season with the pepper. Put the vinegar in a medium bowl and whisk in the remaining olive oil. Stir in the garlic, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Set aside.

  Step 2

  Set up your grill for direct grilling and preheat to medium-high. Arrange the tuna steaks on the grill grate and grill, turning once, until the steaks are marked on the outside and the desired degree of doneness is reached, such as 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Indoors, you can use a grill pan or contact grill, or even a cast iron skillet to sear the steaks. Transfer the steaks to plates and divide the salad between them. Garnish with fresh sprigs of basil. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing.
  

  Yields 4 generous servings.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Vinegar

Once you’ve stepped up to the finest fresh-pressed extra virgin olive oil, it’s time to enhance your dressings and marinades with the right vinegars. It can be frustrating to start making a recipe that calls for a type of vinegar that’s not in your pantry! Here are the basics of a comprehensive vinegar collection. Since it’s very hard for vinegar to go bad before you can use it up, it makes sense to put these essentials on your next shopping list:
Apple cider vinegar. Touted for its health benefits, it’s a good basic vinegar to use in place of distilled white vinegar.

Balsamic vinegar. True balsamic vinegar comes from the Modena or Reggio Emilia region in Italy. It’s rich and sweet and can be reduced by boiling to make a great syrup for fresh berries.

Champagne vinegar. This one’s a splurge, made from the same grapes as Champagne itself, but a wonderful ingredient for lighter vinaigrettes.

Red wine vinegar. More on the pungent side, this vinegar adds acidity to dressings and vegetable salads.

Rice wine vinegar. Used in most Asian cuisines, it adds both sweet and acid notes to dishes.

Sherry vinegar. This Spanish vinegar adds depth to many recipes—it’s often used as a finishing touch instead of a squeeze of lemon.

White vinegar. This kitchen mainstay is rather sharp—I save it for pickling cukes and peppers.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Choosing Fish to Limit Mercury Intake

Because of growing levels of mercury in fish, it’s important to choose varieties wisely. According to the FDA, yellowfin tuna is a best bet because of its lower mercury content. Mercury is more of a concern with bigeye tuna as well as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. Limiting potential mercury intake is especially important for pregnant women and young children. Check out all the FDA’s seafood guidelines on its website.

For Your Best Health

Benefits of Vitamin D

Taking vitamin D supplements has been in the news a lot lately because people who are even slightly insufficient (which is one step up from having a full-blown deficiency) seem to be more seriously affected by COVID-19. A recent study published in JAMA Network Open adds to the vitamin’s list of benefits. It found that people who took 2,000 IU daily over five years had a reduced risk of developing advanced cancer, especially among those of normal weight.

Fitness Flash

Functional Training

Unless you’re training for a specific event, whether a 5K or a marathon, it may be hard to create a goal that motivates you to be more active. That’s where functional training comes in. This is an exercise strategy targeted at helping you perform better at whatever activities are important to you. That could be hiking with your significant other, playing with kids or grandkids, having sharper skills if you’re in a physical profession (like firefighting), or just making it easier to go about your regular day. You set the goal, and a trainer, such as a physical therapist or fitness coach certified in exercise science and skilled in this type of training, works with you to create the road map you need to reach it.

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Candied Orange and Olive Oil Sundaes, Spotlight on Oranges, Weight Loss and Citrus, How to Select Ripe Fruit and Chronic Inflammation and Exercise

Are you limiting your olive oil use to main courses and apps? Olive oil is becoming a star ingredient in many baked desserts, but I fell in love with drizzling it over sweets in unexpected ways, as with this week’s recipe for exquisite sundaes. You can take it up a notch by churning your own ice cream if you have a machine. Making your own candied peels is even easier—no special equipment is required, and no part of the fruit other than the bitter pith is wasted. This recipe uses oranges, but the technique works just as well with lemons and grapefruit.

Candied Orange and Olive Oil Sundaes

• Candied Orange and Olive Oil Sundaes

  Forget sauces and sprinkles. Vibrantly fresh extra virgin olive oil enhances these sophisticated sundaes. ​

  Ingredients

  • 2 oranges
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 pints homemade or best-quality packaged vanilla ice cream
  • Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil

  Directions

  Remove the zest from both oranges with a bartender’s zester, which removes it in long strips. Alternatively, make wide strips with a sharp paring knife, peel them away from the sections, cut away any excess pith, and slice them into long slivers. Bring the 1/2 cup of sugar and the water to a rapid boil in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Let it boil for 5 minutes, and then add the zest strips. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the strips are translucent, about 15 minutes. Drain in a colander. You can reserve the flavored syrup for another use, such as sweetening tea or drizzling over a loaf cake. Toss the zest strips with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar (a resealable plastic bag works well for this) and set them on a rack to dry for a half hour or longer.

  When you’re ready to serve the sundaes, place a scoop of ice cream in each of 6 highball glasses or ice cream dishes. Make a depression in each scoop with the back of a spoon. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then top with a tangle of candied zest and a pinch of the flaky salt. Repeat all the layers in each dish—a second scoop of ice cream, olive oil, zest, and sea salt. Serve at once.

  Serves 6 

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Expand Your Orange Palate

Vitamin C-rich citrus is a wintertime fruit essential, but don’t limit yourself to the ubiquitous navel orange. Treat yourself to newer citrus varieties and enjoy intense flavors as you get your fill of essential nutrients. Bergamot oranges are unique in that they provide the oil that infuses Earl Grey tea. Melogold grapefruit are amazingly sweet, while mandarinquats, a hybrid of mandarin oranges and kumquats, have a tart and sweet profile. If you swear by navels, you’ll love the richer taste of Cara Cara oranges, perfect juiced or eaten in sections. Blood oranges are another highly flavorful citrus with a deep orange-red color. Valentine pummelos, a hybrid of blood and mandarin oranges, go one step further. Most unusual of all is the Buddha’s hand citron—imagine a lemon that grew a tangle of fingers! It’s excellent for zest—in fact, it’s all zest plus pith, so buy it to make candied peel or simply use your Microplane grater to create fine zest for recipes or to finish your favorite fish dish.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

How to Select Ripe Fruit

Choosing citrus can seem complicated at first because it needs to be picked when ripe, which sometimes is hard to determine because of the thick peel. The fruit should have bright and fairly uniform color and feel firm. Unlike fruits that can be kept on the counter, citrus fruits do better in the fridge but should be in a bag that allows air to circulate around them. Try putting them in the fruit and vegetable compartment, and rotate them often, making sure they stay dry to avoid developing mold. For easier juicing, let the fruit come to room temperature before squeezing. If you think you won’t use up citrus before it goes bad, make juice and freeze it in ice cube trays. Transfer the cubes to a freezer bag when they’re set, and use them for recipes or to brighten a glass of water or seltzer.

For Your Best Health

Weight Loss and Citrus

Need another reason to increase the citrus in your diet? A study published in Nutrients in 2020 found that eating more fruits and vegetables can increase weight loss in women, who often have a harder time shedding pounds than men. Researchers analyzing results from both observational studies and randomized controlled trials found consistent evidence that eating more fruit and vegetables is a chief contributor to weight loss, especially when you also limit typical high-calorie foods like refined carbs. Eat them most often in their whole form, which is more filling, plus you’ll get more of their fiber. From a health perspective, research just published in Circulation found longevity benefits for both men and women from eating the well-known “5 a day,” but with a specific breakdown: three veggies and two fruits.

Fitness Flash

Chronic Inflammation and Exercise

You already know the importance of muscle to keep you active and to burn additional calories. Now biomedical engineers at Duke University have shown in lab studies using specially engineered muscle fibers that human muscle has an innate ability to ward off the damaging effects of chronic inflammation when exercised. With high levels of inflammation being a threat to good health, anything that tamps it down is great news.

“Lots of processes are taking place throughout the human body during exercise, and it is difficult to tease apart which systems and cells are doing what inside an active person,” said Duke professor Nenad Bursac, PhD. “We discovered that the muscle cells were capable of taking anti-inflammatory actions all on their own.” Looked at from the opposite direction, high levels of inflammation in the body can eat away at muscle over time. That could be another reason it’s important for people with inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis to maintain an exercise routine.

“These results show just how valuable lab-grown human muscles might be in discovering new mechanisms of disease and potential treatments. There are notions out there that optimal levels and regimes of exercise could fight chronic inflammation while not over-stressing the cells. Maybe with our engineered muscle, we can help find out if such notions are true,” said Dr. Bursac.

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Shrimp with Pimentón and Garlic and Spicy Roasted Almonds, Spotlight on Pimentón Peppers, Plus the Benefits of Regularly Stretching

For most people who love to cook, paprika is a pantry staple. And you may even have both half-sharp and sweet paprika for different recipes. But I want to introduce you to a completely different type of spice made from dried red peppers, one that doesn’t come from Hungary but rather from Spain—pimentón. Bordering Portugal, the Spanish region of Extremadura isn’t as well known as other areas of the country, yet it’s special in its own right for the mountains, lakes, and the striking area of La Vera, in the province of Cáceres, where the peppers that become pimentón are grown. The distinct flavor of pimentón comes not only from the climate, but also from a unique, centuries-old smoking process. And, in turn, it’s pimentón that gives the region’s famed chorizo and other pork products their distinctive flavor and color.

Shrimp with Pimentón and Garlic

• Shrimp with Pimentón and Garlic

  This classic Spanish tapas offering is great for a delicious dinner that’s ready in about 5 minutes!

  Ingredients

  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon pimentón
  • 1 pound large or extra-large shrimp, shelled and deveined 
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon

  Directions

  Mince the garlic and set it aside for 10 minutes to allow its healthful compound allicin to develop. Heat a large skillet, add the oil, and sauté the garlic until soft. Stir in the pimentón and then add the shrimp in one layer (if they don’t all fit, cook them in two batches). Cook for 1 minute and then flip the shrimp and cook for another minute until opaque. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the shrimp and serve.

  Yields 4 appetizer or 2 main dish servings.

Spicy Roasted Almonds

• Spicy Roasted Almonds

  Add some spice to the healthful nuts you’re snacking on. Roasted almonds also make a great addition to a charcuterie or cheese board. Feel free to substitute other nuts such as hazelnuts, cashews, walnut halves, or pistachios for the almonds. If you own a smoker, try smoke-roasting the nuts the next time you fire it up. 

  Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole skinless almonds (about 7 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Coarsely ground sea salt to taste
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera) or ground cumin 

  Directions

  Step 1

  Preheat your oven to 325°F. Put the almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until they are evenly coated, then spread them out in a single layer. Roast the almonds until they are a light golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring every five minutes. Drain on paper towels.

  Step 2

  Transfer the almonds to a bowl, season with salt and paprika, and toss to coat. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. 

  Yields 6-8 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Pimentón Peppers

All peppers were brought to Spain from the Americas, but the peppers used to make pimentón have a history all their own, having been given to monks at the Yuste monastery in La Vera by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The monks were the first to dry them and turn them into a powder. Peppers later made their way to the rest of Europe, notably Hungary, where the unsmoked version of the powder became that country’s classic spice, paprika.

The pimentón process remains labor-intensive. After being handpicked, the peppers go to a two-story smokehouse. On the first story is an oak fire that burns around the clock. The peppers are placed on the second story. For two weeks, they’re continually bathed in the aromatic heat and regularly rotated for even crispness. The spice’s full name is Pimentón de La Vera DOP. DOP is shorthand for designation of protected origin and is bestowed when a specific region is recognized as producing certain foods with special local characteristics.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Stock Your Pantry with Pimentón

Pimentón defines many Spanish dishes, such as shrimp with pimentón and garlic, patatas bravas, and paella. It’s also wonderful in deviled eggs, dry rubs and marinades for barbecues, and, for the adventurous, homemade sausages. It marries perfectly with extra virgin olive oil to add heat to any sauté or to popcorn made on the stovetop. I love it on braised greens and cooked legumes.

For Your Best Health

Power of Peppers

Peppers have among the highest levels of antioxidants of any vegetable, including bioactive compounds like vitamin C, phenolics, and carotenoids (the source of their color), all strong disease fighters. The carotenoids include zeaxanthin and lutein, good for eye health, according to International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Pimentón’s spiciness comes from capsaicin, a compound with anti-inflammatory properties. While the amount of all this goodness in a little pinch of the spice is small, all those little pinches can add up to help meet micronutrient needs.

Fitness Flash

Two Types of Stretching

If you’re a runner, you already know the value of stretching as part of a prep routine, but everyone can reap the benefits of regular stretching: better range of motion, added flexibility, reduced risk of injury and post-workout tightness, and increased circulation to deliver more nutrients to muscle fibers. It can also improve posture, reduce stress, and help you move with ease during everyday tasks.

There are actually two types of stretching. Dynamic stretching involves moving each joint through a full range of motion without stopping between repetitions. Do dynamic stretching before you start to exercise to loosen up.

Static stretching involves easing into a stretch and holding it for 20 to 30 seconds. Release the stretch and then repeat the process for a total of three times before moving to the next one. Do static stretching after exercise to lengthen muscles while they’re warm. Start with these static stretches from ACE Fitness.

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