Category Archives: Olive oil

Testimonial from an Old Friend

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I was scrolling back through some posts that I wrote over a decade ago, and came across this one. I decided to include it here once again to highlight the message that diabetes is reversible. A great many people feel that their diagnosis is inevitable, and that once it appears on their list it will stay forever. Not true.

Further, it isn’t exactly diabetes that’s the problem. It’s high blood sugars. It isn’t a diagnosis of diabetes that’s the problem; it’s uncontrolled diabetes. When I was practicing, I made the point with my patients that I would do whatever it took to help them keep their blood sugars normal. Activity, food choices, mindfulness, and, yes, medication. That’s how important it is to maintain your blood sugars in the normal range. Elevated blood sugar levels are like glue. They interfere with circulation, digestion, immune system function, brain function, and more. So here goes.

Just over a year ago, a near and dear friend was lying in a hospital bed. He had been admitted several days earlier for a leg infection, but it was not responding to the appropriate first-line IV antibiotics. He was frightened, and in terrible pain.  

When I first heard about my friend’s hospitalization, I expected that he would soon feel better. But this was not the case. As a physician, I began immediately to sort through the medical reasons that he might not be responding to the treatment. It didn’t take long for me to ask the right questions. What do his blood sugars look like? They were far above normal.

What is the first reason to consider when an infection isn’t healing? Uncontrolled diabetes. Though he had never actually said so, I surmised that my friend was likely diabetic. I called him. And it was true. He had actually been diagnosed with diabetes several years prior, but never wanted anyone to know. I shared a few basic recommendations, and the very next day his blood sugars and pain began to improve. The infection resolved over the following days. As you will see for yourself, he never looked back. With his permission, here is the update my friend sent a week later:

“I’m thinking of you and smiling as I eat my breakfast. Starting my day today with King Oscar brand “Finest Brisling” SARDINES packed in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. …Delicious! They are just sooo good swirled around in that rich, delicious olive oil. I love my food. Now, I know some people might turn their nose up at sardines for breakfast …. but I also know that there is a doctor in Ohio who thinks sardines are a great breakfast. So I think of you and smile.”

Many months later, I received another message. “You were there for me in my darkest moment, so I feel a little medical update is in order when I have nice news to share. My endocrinologist has sent me away! Dismissed! Doesn’t want to see me anymore. For three followup visits in a row (the last two being 6 months apart) my numbers have been spot-on, boringly normal with little or no medication. Weight. Blood pressure. Blood sugar, etc. Even the cholesterol is normal. I’m taking a vitamin, a baby aspirin, and 10 mg/day of Lipitor. That’s it. And the endocrinologist is recommending that my regular doc followup in four months and remove the 10 mg of Lipitor and we’ll see what happens. That would mean zero prescriptions. Not too shabby.”

“I’m flabby [personal part] so I won’t be posing for playgirl magazine, but I’ve got no gut hanging over the belt whatsoever. Went from waist size 54″ to 32″. And the 32’s are loose and comfortable. It’s amazing.”

Peace,

R…”

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Orange Soup

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One of our family’s favorites, Orange Soup (mah-RAHK kah-TOME), is a recipe that I have shared in the past. I have found that no matter how large a pot you make, it is always gone within a couple of days. In other words, this recipe makes a lot of soup, but it still won’t last very long. It’s quintessential comfort food.

In case you happen to like words and their derivations, marak katom is named for its vibrant orange color, which happens, in Hebrew, to be a completely different word (kah-tome) than the fruit (tah-pooz). Its many constituent orange vegetables, coupled with deeply yellow-orange spices, turn this soup into a phytonutrient party. 

Please note that you will need an immersion blender to make Orange Soup.

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
approx 2 lbs. (1 medium) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3-4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into thick rounds
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
6-8 cups water
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. coconut cream

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat until fragrant and swirling. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are browning at the edges. Browned onion edges contribute a lot to the depth and flavor of soup, but burnt onions are a bummer. So keep a close eye on the onions as they near the end of the ten minutes. Add garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric, and cinnamon, and stir well for 30 seconds to allow the flavors to bloom. Add the cubed squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and 6 cups of water. 

Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 45 minutes until vegetables are all very soft. Remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the salt and pepper. Allow to cool for a little while, and blend until smooth with an immersion blender. Then stir in coconut cream. 

If you would like the soup to be a little thinner, you can add another cup or two of water. Serve immediately, or leave it on the counter for several hours, and then reheat just before mealtime. Serves 8-10 in bowls or 10-12 in cups. 

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Yellow Eye Heirloom Bean Soup

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Today was a lovely day, temperatures notwithstanding. School was cancelled, of course, because no one in their right mind could require children to stand outside in these temperatures waiting for school busses. This is why, having received the text from my daughter late yesterday, family camp was in session today. 

The children unrolled our many yoga mats end-to-end all over the living room, and then raided the pantry to build a long winding row of mostly dry and canned beans that they subsequently climbed over and among for close to an hour. In the meanwhile, I put up a pot of soup in my beloved 5.5-quart Staub Dutch oven (cocotte). Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Red Lentils & Sweet Potatoes

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I think that it might be exactly the right time of year to have this recipe in the refrigerator. You can make this recipe over the weekend, and then have it ready to eat on the days between the endless holiday parties, celebrations, after-work stopovers, and other seasonal social events. It’s incredibly flavorful, it’ll give your mind and belly a well-deserved rest, and you’ll be glad not to have to think too much about what to make for dinner. Or lunch.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Spicy Roasted Cabbage

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This is the story of a recipe that begins with the simplest, most humble of vegetables, a single whole cabbage. Cabbages tend to be underrated when in fact they are quite remarkable. They remind me of chameleons, with the ability to camouflage themselves in all kinds of surroundings. Fermented pickled sauerkraut, sweet acidic cole slaw, toothy grilled cabbage “steaks,” comforting colcannon (potatoes & cabbage), fried with eggs, braised, roasted. I think I’ll stop here. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: August means Tomatoes!

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When a former Jersey girl tells you that she likes tomatoes, there’s a good chance she is not kidding. I would go so far as to say there’s just one time of year when tomatoes are truly worth eating, and that time is now. This is when I celebrate tomatoes; the rest of the year I just go through the motions. 

If I had a saying for this time of year, it would be something like this: “Thank you, sun; thank you, rain; thank you, farmers; and thank you, Vitamix.” Everything ripening, with celebrations of local peaches and tomatoes wherever you turn. A season of gratitude. Here are two recipes from a collection I make only at summer’s end, one requiring a high-speed blender, and the other just a good sharp knife. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Heather’s Snazzy Salsa

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A while ago, when I was still in practice, my office held a special lunchtime celebration to honor a staff member expecting her first baby. Heather contributed this salsa, and it was so GOOD. By popular demand, the recipe was distributed via e-mail the very next day. Continue reading →

David Leite’s Orange Cake: Baking with Olive Oil

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Some years ago the Jewish Daily Forward published an essay of mine entitled Trans Fat: How a Staple of Pareve Foods is Hurting Our Waistlines. In this essay, I explained that processed-food manufacturers at the turn of the twentieth century attracted large numbers of customers from among recent Jewish immigrants with marketing campaigns based on the fact that the partially-hydrogenated (i.e., trans) fats in newly developed shortenings were pareve, meaning that they contained no meat nor dairy ingredients. This was revolutionary, because it allowed desserts traditionally made with dairy ingredients to be made suitable for meat meals. Procter & Gamble advertised that “The Hebrew Race has been waiting for 4,000 years” for a solution to its shortening problems. Endorsements were received from rabbis and other community leaders. Margarine, Crisco, and non-dairy “whiteners” rapidly supplanted traditional fats to become an integral part of what we now consider traditional Kosher cooking. In fact there is nothing traditional about it, and a thousand years of kitchen wisdom were lost in just two generations. Continue reading →

Cooking with Spice and Heat

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I have learned, mostly over years of reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows with my dad (of blessed memory), that one way to make spices really bloom is to heat them briefly in some olive oil. This past Monday, I made shakshuka for my entire book group, and I did not skimp one bit on the spices. A double recipe of this shakshuka translated to 4 teaspoons of sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of the Serrano chili powder I was lucky to discover the last time I was in Napa. Continue reading →