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congratulatory tuna

Last night I used Matt's excellent LSAT score as an excuse to make an extravagant dinner I've been planning.  I made a lighter version of the pan-seared beef tenderloin with port sauce and balsamic onions recipe from Gluten-Free Girl.  I couldn't find the recipe on the website, but it's from this book.  I cooked the onions as directed (but accidentally added 50% too much balsamic) and I used peppered sushi-grade tuna steaks instead of tenderloin (lower fat, omega-3's).  For a starch I made a 2:1 garnet yam/cauliflower mash with salt and pepper and a little bit of low-fat buttermilk as an alternative to traditional mashed potatoes (lower carb and fat, higher vitamin A and fiber).  This was surprisingly flavorful but gentle enough to complement and balance the rest of the dish.  I topped the whole thing with some snowpea sprouts for the appearance of elegance and voilà!  Despite my criminal overcooking of the tuna, we both thought the dish was delicious.  My only warning is, if the balsamic/port onions are reduced too much (or you accidentally add extra vinegar), they run the risk of overwhelming the lighter protein.

 

We drank a 2009 Chinon Rive Gauche, an organic Cabernet Franc, which was recommended by an employee at Astor Wines.  Though I thought it wasn't a bad pairing I doubt we'll purchase it again--something with a little more oomph would have better suited the food, especially the balsamic onions.  So if the wine doesn't work, what better accompaniment than some music as rich and romantic as the meal?  Bossa nova may bring about ideas of 60's cheeseball watch-me-do-a-swinging-dance-step-while-I-bring-you-another-Manhattan-and-sidle-up-to-you-on-the-couch, but it's the perfect amount of sleaze to counter the seriousness of the dish.

at the bar

Something a respected nutrition professor has recommended to my class: never admit to being a nutritionist at a dinner party.  As other guests would feel compelled to show a gaping lesion to a dermatologist, so they would share their most intimate dieting downfalls and bowel frequency with a dietician.

As a mere graduate student my enthusiasm for the subject is intact and I enjoy sporadic discussions with the nutrition layman, though my knowledge is still limited.  Recently a friend of my boyfriend, Matt, requested to speak to me.  Apparently he's been a vegetarian for a long time and was concerned about nutrients he may be missing out on.  OK, I thought, I can do that.  Omega-3's, B12, iron... I had a few solid points to emphasize while he waited to order his next beer.  When we finally got around to talking he dismissed the issue of vegetarianism--which I brought up--and asked me what to eat to prevent Alzheimer's.  Maybe my glass of wine had clouded my brain, but I could not think of much to say to him.  It's a new point of attention, right?  There's still research going on, years before any real recommendations can be made, eat omega-3's and colorful veggies.  Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.  Michael Pollan can get on my nerves, but I can't fault him for having a sweeping statement for good nutrition.  After all, I'd just recommended the most generic healthy diet for prevention of a specific disease.

On an unrelated note, this week I will be cooking mashed cauliflower and sweet potatoes as an alternative to mashed potatoes.  This will be accompanying tuna steaks cooked by a beef steak recipe from Gluten-Free Girl with some other healthy substitutions (omega-3 spread instead of butter, low-sodium chicken broth instead of veal stock).  And some leafy greens, to prevent Alzheimer's of course.

chicken bone way

When I lived in Williamsburg I walked my dog, Sam, past aluminum-sided immigrant houses and knew the chicken bone-littered areas to avoid.  I've even seen the old men sitting on benches with Styrofoam containers, chowing down and discarding the inedible bits of chicken wings.  When I moved to beautiful Fort Greene I imagined strolling past 19th-century brownstones with the pup, taking in the architecture and the friendly stoop-dwellers.  Instead I am staring at the ground, trying to spot the bones before Sam does.  Fort Greene's chicken bone problem is out of control!  Where are so many chickens coming from that they must be consumed while walking down the street?!  Then I see it: A teenage girl with a group of friends exits a deli with a bag.  She stands on the sidewalk and draws greasy bits of the former bird out of the bag and slides them into her mouth.  When she gets a bone she picks it clean and tosses it.  About this time she comments to her friend that there isn't enough skin and she got ripped off, then she finishes the food and crumples the bag, walks to the curb and drops it in the street.  A trash can is four paces from where she is standing.

 

Cooked chicken bones can kill a dog, and I've reached in Sam's mouth and pulled out all different sizes.  My dog-craziness directs many of my concerns to Fort Greene's large canine population, but what about these chicken wing purchasers?  In a case study for class a man's daily diet included eight chicken thighs from a fast food restaurant.  Eight sounds like a lot, but when you think a chicken thigh is about the size of a fist, the volume isn't too outrageous.  But at four ounces each, the meal totals almost 3,000 calories.  3,000 calories!!  That's a day and a half for most people in one component of dinner.  So what do we do, as dieticians, when we're faced with someone who eats like this and really doesn't want to change?  My first thought is to rip the chicken away and yell, "STOP STOP YOU'RE KILLING YOURSELF!" and hope that sticks.  But this doesn't work on Sam, and I doubt someone who understands what I'm saying will be much more receptive.  As my teacher explained, we have to bring them down to four chicken thighs, maybe.  Four is still upwards of 1,500 calories but it's a big improvement.  This career requires patience.  For now, no poultry from a bag for me.