Stuffed salmon for dinner, a different “dinner” for breakfast, and some nutritional healing

After a full day of packing, I went up to S & F’s for dinner. MMMMMM! We had stuffed salmon, grilled eggplant Thai-style, roasted vegies and a cauliflower “risotto” (riceless). Fred stuffed the salmon with sundried tomatoes, basil, feta, onions, and roasted red peppers. Then, he sauteed the stuffed salmon in butter, brown sugar and lemon until it was brown and crispy on each side.  Wow, what a killer salmon and so easy.  Nice and moist and just barely cooked in the middle. Perfect!

Shannon has been experimenting to try to recreate the eggplant from Spices restaurant in Honolulu.  Her eggplant was pretty darn close and simple to prepare!  If you like eggplant with a little sweet-heat/herby topping, this is the recipe for you.   She thinly sliced small Japanese eggplants and then grilled them with a little oil on them.  Then, when they were almost done, she mixed the sweet chili sauce with 1/2 c. fresh mint and 1/2 c. Thai basil, both minced, along with some sauteed onions as well as fresh white onions, both minced. The use of both raw and cooked onions makes for a great contrast in textures, as well as provides a bit of fresh onion flavor from the raw onions.

Here are picture of the plates, first without the eggplant (we forgot it, but I like this pic as it shows the full cross-section slice of the salmon), and then with the eggplant in front:

Delicious dinner!

So, I went on a run this gorgeous Hawaii morning and then came back feeling like I needed some salt. Before I went to culinary school, I would have a problem every once in a while where I would feel faint because I have low blood pressure (except when I’m driving in Hawaii – people, the accelerator is the pedal on the far right!), and then I would need to eat some salt. Thank goodness FCI cured me of this issue, since there was never a point at which I could get away with using little salt 😉

So, to get my salt fix in, I decided to have “dinner”, or a savory meal, for breakfast. I don’t like eating rules, much, so this fits in line with my eating philosophy. I made a Greek-inspired salad that was incredibly satisfying (and I threw in some braised tofu for good measure). I topped it with just a splash of peppery EVOO and sherry vinegar. Lots of salt in the feta. Perfect! Then, I followed it up with a sweet apple banana and a cup of Kona. Sounds weird, but it was perfect after my run.

Here’s a pic of the salad in my favorite bowl (thanks for making the Hampig bowl Jeff and Ca!):

The reason I love Greek salads is because I think they are a “cleaner” form of a chopped salad, without lettuce, at least the way I prepare them. I definitely love lettuce, but there’s something about just vegetable chunks without the abundance of lettuce in my usual salads that sometimes overshadow the other vegies. That said, I’m a fan of all kinds of salads. I try to eat at least one salad a day, and many times 2. I think it’s a really simple way to get in an array of fresh vegies (the possibilities for vegie and fruit salad combos are endless), which is what most nutritionists say is important for health (don’t just eat one type of vegie, but mix it up during the week and use lots of variety, including dark leafy greens).

One thing I read the other day in a nutritional healing book is that romaine lettuce has some great nutrient qualities to it. If you’re in a rut with dark, leafy greens or are getting bored of eating mixed green salads, try going back to a salad with a base of romaine. Romaine is an excellent source of Vitamins A and K, and a very good source of Vitamins C and Folic Acid (an important B vitamin for heart health). If you eat 2 cups, you’ll get 167% of the U.S. recommended daily intake (“RDA”) of Vitamin A, 120% of the RDA of Vitamin K, 37% of Vitamin C and 32% of folic acid, according to a few sites. See http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=61. Plus, I love that I can feel really full after eating a bunch of romaine, as it has a high water content. And, who drinks enough plain old, good water these days? I’m pretty sure I don’t.

One final word on nutritional healing for the day. I think I have ulcers and I’m going to blame that on being a stressed lawyer for a few years, although devouring extra spicy and acidic foods ever since I was little probably has something to do with it. No matter, I was on the hunt for some herbs or food that would help aid in repair of the problem. I don’t like people telling me what I can’t do, so any “diet” that says I can’t eat x, y and z, just isn’t going to work for me at this point in my life. And, I don’t like defaulting to western medical pills as the first resort. I have been accused of being a hippy at times, and sometimes I do believe I was born in the wrong era (yes, I romanticize the upheaval of the 60s and 70s in the U.S. and the change that was spurred by those years), but I think automatically defaulting to prescription drugs is not the way to go – hippy or not. Try healthier food, try alternative medical remedies, and go exercise for god’s sake! These are not hippy thoughts; these are common sense. Okay, enough proselytizing.

So, I did a bunch of research and came upon something that I think works for me. It’s called Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice Root extract, or “DGL” as it is often labeled. It’s essentially a concentrated form of licorice root. I have been eating a tablet 20 minutes before each big meal and I think it’s helping. The theory is that that the licorice coats the stomach, by increasing mucous and decreasing acid in it, and helps to prevent new ulcers from forming. So far, I have less stomach pain.

A word of caution and a disclaimer: I am not pushing this supplement, nor am I giving advice on the subject. My writing on the topic is really a chronicle for me as I journey into some aspects of herbal remedies and nutritional healing. Do your own homework and ask your doctor before you embark on any supplements, especially if you have any medical conditions and/or you are taking medications.

Read more about the benefits, drawbacks, potentially scary med interactions, and potential side effects. One site I went to see about these is co-sponsored by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/881.html. Another is a University of Maryland Medical Center page at http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/licorice-000262.htm.

Back to packing! Then, off to Michele’s with Mom2, Sabrina and Jim tonight. Fine dining on the water….doesn’t get much better! I just looked at the menu and I think I’ll try something for dessert that looks very scary to me: “Strawberries Foie Gras Forever”. Description: Ripe Strawberries Flambéed With Brown Sugar and Balsamic Vinegar, Foie Gras & Cognac over Vanilla Gelato. Check back tomorrow for an update on this one.