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The Olive Oil Hunter News #6

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Grilled Skirt Steak with Salsa Verde Recipe, Spotlight on Indoor Herb Gardens, the Power of Protein-Rich Foods and Weight Training

Americans have had a love affair with the backyard grill for nearly 100 years, and you have carmaker Henry Ford to thank. Back in the day, wood was used in various components of the Model T, and the milling left quite a lot of scrap. Ford found a way to capitalize on the waste, using a formula developed by a chemist for combining it with tar and cornstarch and turning it into lumps. Ford marketed the new product as briquettes, and they were soon being sold in grilling kits at car dealerships, adding another facet to the adventurous American lifestyle he had pioneered. 

As grilling (and smoking) meat has been elevated to a culinary art, many chefs have turned to natural hardwoods, not just as a flavor enhancer but also as a full alternative to Ford’s invention. I prefer hardwood lump charcoal to briquettes because they don’t contain any additives. Above all, you want to stay away from briquettes labeled “fast-starting” because they contain lighter fluid—in fact, lighter fluid shouldn’t have any place in grilling. (The Healthy Kitchen Nugget below has more on how to use hardwood.)

Grilled Skirt Steak with Salsa Verde

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #6 Grilled Skirt Steak with Salsa Verde

    If you love to grill like I do, you probably don’t limit yourself to summer BBQs. Here’s a perfect dish for a crisp fall evening.

    Ingredients

    For the salsa verde:
    • 1-1/2 cups packed flat-leaf parsley 
    • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1/4 cup capers, drained
    • 1 to 2 anchovy fillets (optional) 
    • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
    • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons) 
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice 
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest 
    • Kosher salt 
    • Freshly ground black pepper 

    For the steak: ​

    • One 2-pound skirt steak
    • Kosher salt
    • Freshly ground black pepper 

    Directions

    Step 1

    To make the salsa verde, roughly chop the parsley and place it, along with the olive oil, capers, anchovies (if using), vinegar, garlic and lemon juice and zest, in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse until the parsley is well chopped, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a gravy boat or a small bowl and set aside. 

    Step 2

    Set up your grill or grill pan for indirect grilling, and heat it to medium-high. Generously season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper. Grill for about 3 minutes per side, or until done to your liking. Let rest for 2 minutes before carving thinly against the grain. Serve with the salsa verde.

    Quick kitchen hack: Carving the right way is key with certain cuts of meat, like skirt or flank steak. Whether you see it described as “on the diagonal,” “on a bias” or “against the grain,” it means the same thing—slicing in the direction opposite the meat’s muscle fibers. So, if you’re looking at your steak and the fibers are running vertically from top to bottom, you want to slice horizontally or across from side to side. The reason is simple: This creates a more tender chew.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Quick Croutons to garnish homemade meals

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Indoor Herb Gardens

If your outdoor herb garden is nearing its end or if you don’t have one at all, it’s time to start growing herbs indoors. Parsley for my salsa verde is a great first choice, and then consider basil, cilantro and rosemary for a versatile mix. 

All you need are a few steps to replicate the outdoor conditions that herbs like. Because even a sunny windowsill doesn’t get a full 14 or so hours of summer-style daylight once fall arrives, grow lights are a great help. You can get a simple floor or desk model to shine on your plants or go full board with a stacking modular shelf and light system that can support racks of plants (to see one example, check out gardeners.com).

Starting new plants from seeds will give them a healthy advantage if you think you’ll move them outdoors come spring. But it’s easier (and faster) to buy small transplants if you want a head start. According to University of Maryland Extension, a good rule of (green) thumb is to use two parts of soilless potting mixture and one part of perlite. If space allows, grow each herb in its own pot—that way, you can water each one with the right frequency. Make sure your containers have drainage holes and sit in a dish or tray to catch any excess water. Keep your plants away from drafts as well as heat vents. Mist them every day to create some humidity, especially if the air in your home is dry. Be patient before cutting in order to give your herbs time to take hold. And when you do clip some sprigs, resist taking more than a third of the plant at one time. Find out more here.

Healthy Kitchen Tip: Chimney Starter

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Grilling Tip: Chimney Starter

My friend Steven Raichlen, the ultimate grill master, has an amazing website called barbecuebible.com, where he details the best ways to get your grill fire going. The secret is a chimney starter, a metal cylinder or box with two sections, one for the charcoal and the other for a wad of newspaper. Place the loaded chimney starter on the bottom grate of your grill, light the newspaper and, in 15 to 20 minutes, the charcoal will be ready to go.

For Your Best Health: Protein-Rich Foods

For Your Best Health

Protein-Rich Foods

Protein-rich foods don’t just taste great, but they’re also the body’s building blocks, keeping muscles strong and helping us stay vital and independent. But did you know that our protein needs increase as we get older and that eating more of it has many benefits? 

One study, published in the journal Nutrients, found that people who eat between 20% and 50% more than the standard suggested daily amount (that’s technically .36 grams for every pound you weigh) have greater lower-body strength and a faster walking speed. 

Another study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, compared protein intake among its participants and found that those who ate the most protein had less risk of developing Alzheimer’s than those who ate the least. The researchers pegged an ideal amount at about 120 grams of protein a day. 

The top highest protein-rich foods are lean beef, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken, fish and shellfish, with about 7 grams per ounce; eggs, with 6 grams each; edamame, lentils and beans, with 8-9 grams per half cup; milk and yogurt, with about 8 grams per 8 ounces; and nuts, with 4-6 grams per ounce, according to Hopkins Medicine.

Fitness Flash: Weight Training

Fitness Flash

Weight Training

Diet is only one part of the health equation. Exercise is the other. While cardio workouts are vital, you might not be getting the weight training that you need for optimal strength. If the idea of working out with weights doesn’t appeal to you, research published in Sage Open Medicine points out that resistance bands can be just as effective. And a research review in the journal Sports Medicine found that we can get great gains, particularly in arms and legs, from these stretchy pieces of elastic, even later in life. The bands come in a variety of tensions, so you can easily increase the difficulty as you gain strength to keep those gains coming.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #4

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Extra Virgin Fresh Pressed Olive Oil-Roasted Vegetable Platter Recipe, Spotlight on Healthy Fats, Roasting Vegetables Right, Finishing Salt and Bone Loss

As a fan of the Olive Oil Hunter, you know how I love the freshest, healthiest ingredients (including extra virgin fresh pressed olive oil) and always want to know where they come from. That pretty much explains why on any given weekend, you’re sure to find me at my local greenmarket. Seasonal is my mindset—it means planning meals around what’s available rather than hunting around to find the exact ingredients to match a recipe. That’s why I also love another great source of locally grown bounty: community-supported agriculture, or CSAs, where you buy shares of a farm’s harvest in advance (find yours at localharvest.org). I get inspired every time I open a new box of produce. 

This issue’s recipe is the perfect example of my food philosophy. Here’s why…

  • The Olive Oil Hunter Newsletter Vol. 2 Olive Oil-Roasted Vegetable Platter

    This dish brings together a rainbow mix of both familiar and exotic veggies. You can definitely make it your own by choosing from what’s available locally. Whatever you include, slow roasting brings out the flavors in each ingredient, so you get different taste sensations with every bite. Using a very wide selection of vegetables also makes this a great main dish, but you can serve it along with a protein if you wish. And if there are any leftovers, I like to add just a splash of balsamic and enjoy them cold for lunch the next day.

    Ingredients

    • 4 parsnips, trimmed, peeled and cut into 1.5″ cubes
    • 6 large carrots, trimmed, peeled and cut into 1.5″ cubes
    • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1.5″ chunks 
    • 4 yellow or candy stripe beets, peeled and cut into small wedges  
    • 2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and sliced into wedges
    • 2 red onions, trimmed, peeled and sliced into wedges
    • 1 sweet onion, trimmed, peeled and sliced into wedges
    • 1/2 pound sunchokes, peeled and halved
    • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, divided
    • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for serving
    • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 
    • Maldon sea salt flakes for finishing

    Directions

    Step 1

    Preheat your oven to 400°F. Combine the hard vegetables—parsnips, carrots, squash and beets—in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon thyme and drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add salt and pepper, and stir gently to coat the vegetables evenly. 

    Step 2

    Repeat in a separate bowl with the softer vegetables—the fennel, onions and sunchokes. (See more about roasting mixed vegetables in the Healthy Kitchen Nugget below.) 

    Step 3

    Tip the hard vegetables into a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan large enough to hold them in one layer without touching; they need room to get a nice crisp on the edges. After 30 minutes, add the soft vegetables to a second baking sheet, place in the oven, and continue cooking for about another 30 minutes until all the veggies are tender in the center and caramelized. For even browning, use a spatula to occasionally turn all the veggies throughout the roasting. Transfer all the vegetables to one large serving bowl, drizzle with more olive oil if desired, and sprinkle with a few grains of the Maldon salt.

    Hint: If using traditional red beets, prepare and cook them separately to keep their bright color from transferring to other vegetables. Oil and season them in their own bowl and then roast them in a separate pan or at one end of a baking sheet.

    Yields 8 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Fresh Pressed Olive Oil

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Healthy Fats: Fresh Pressed Olive Oil & Nuts

Don’t get me wrong—butter has its place. But when it comes to healthy fat, extra virgin fresh pressed olive oil can’t be beat. Nearly every week brings a new study confirming the benefits of vegetable-based fats and EVOO in particular. And make no mistake about it, fat is an essential part of the diet; among other roles, it’s needed to use the fat-soluble vitamins A, E and K in the foods you eat. Ironically, the rise in obesity in our country can be traced to the low-fat craze back in the ’90s, when the fats in packaged foods were replaced with sugars. True, the fats used in those products weren’t great, but the sugars were even worse! We now know that the mono- and polyunsaturated fats that come from healthy sources, like olives, hazelnuts, walnuts and grapeseed, make for healthy oils—“healthy fat” isn’t a fad! There’s even research published in The New England Journal of Medicine showing that eating a Mediterranean diet with extra virgin fresh pressed olive oil and nuts can significantly lower blood pressure, blood sugar and total cholesterol.

Healthy Kitchen Tip: How to Properly Roast Vegetables

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Roasting Hard Versus Soft Veggies

Whenever you’re roasting different vegetables together, the right prep work will ensure that they all cook evenly, but make tweaks to the standard rule of thumb that states they should all be cut in the same size. That rule is true only when you’re making all one type, like root vegetables or cruciferous vegetables. When you’re roasting a mix, there are better methods. You could cut the soft ones into bigger pieces than the hard ones and roast them together. Or go for the simple option in the recipe above when you have to use two rimmed baking sheets anyway: Roast the hard veggies first, and then pop in the second sheet with the softer vegetables about 30 minutes later. Check for doneness every time you open the oven to turn them during the roasting—everyone’s oven is slightly different, and you’ll quickly learn what works best for you.

For Your Best Health: Finishing Salt

For Your Best Health

Using Finishing Salt

I love the slight crunch of a high-quality finishing salt with a noticeable texture, like Maldon. But what about the problem of too much salt in our diets? The fact is that nearly three-quarters of the salt we eat doesn’t come from the salt shaker—it’s in packaged and prepared foods, including fast food. The American Heart Association points to the top “salty six” categories to avoid: packaged breads and rolls, deli cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, canned soup, frozen breaded chicken nuggets, and burritos and tacos. So, seasoning at home isn’t the problem, and when you use coarser grains like Maldon, Himalayan sea salt from Pakistan, and Australia’s Murray River sea salt flakes, you’ll see and taste the salt more but actually use less. You’ll also get some natural minerals that are typically processed out of standard table salt (replaced instead with additives and anticaking agents). You also won’t have a problem sticking to the healthier daily max of 1,500 mg (about 2/3 teaspoon) of salt when you add just a pinch here and there.

Fitness Flash: Bone Loss in Men

Fitness Flash

Bone Loss in Men

You’ve likely heard of osteoporosis, when bones have thinned so much that you’re at a higher risk for fractures. But here’s a surprise: Bone loss doesn’t affect women only. It can happen to men, too. 

Bone loss is typically gradual, and a bone mineral density test can spot it at an early stage, when the condition is called osteopenia and there’s more time to slow it down. The test uses a special type of X-ray called DEXA that captures images of your bones’ mineral content, often at the hip and lower spine. It’s painless and takes just a few minutes. The results are given as a T-score: −1 and higher is normal, between −1.1 and −2.4 is osteopenia, and –2.5 and below is osteoporosis. 

Many health organizations suggest waiting until you’re 65 to get the test, but it should be done earlier if you have risk factors such as a history of smoking or of fracture, a thyroid condition, liver or kidney disease, a family history of osteoporosis, being tall and very thin, or taking medications that can hurt bone health like corticosteroids. Talk to your doctor about the right testing timetable for you. 

Most important of all is that you can take steps to strengthen or maintain your bones right now, no matter your age. Do 30 minutes of weight-bearing exercises, like walking or running, on most days of the week, and add twice-weekly strength training to your overall fitness program. Since both types of exercise also strengthen muscles, you’ll appreciate feeling stronger, too.

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