Beef brisket

I always wanted to make a brisket, so I read 10 recipes and winged it. The meat came out delicious and tender. I used grass fed beef from Whole Foods.

First I studded it with garlic, added salt and pepper, then seared each large surface.

I used white onions, fresh rosemary and thyme, and vegetable broth and cooked on low in a 250 oven for about eight hours. The meat came out so soft that it didn't need slicing. I used some of the broth to braise red cabbage.

Hot sauce with cranberries

That's not cranberry sauce, that's hot sauce. Originally I wanted to try something like this recipe, only without canola oil and sugar.

I roasted jalapenos and garlic and boiled my cranberries with tangerine segments, then blended the peppers and garlic and added it to the cranberries.

Fresh Oregano

Herbs and spices are my favorite ways to give oomph to healthy food. A bunch of oregano was $1, and has lovely health benefits, including anti-inflammatory action.

Fresh melt-in-your-mouth black cod from Santa Monica seafood with fresh oregano


Roasted eggplant, onions and garlic with fresh oregano

Salsa verde my way

Roasted tomatillos, white onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and garlic with cumin and black pepper. Blended on high for a creamier salsa.


Shown on my breakfast of eggs and greens.

Bear (and beef) burgers

I used olive oil, finely chopped white onion, and dentes de perro peppers (below) given to me by an incomprehensible but sweet fellow at the French Market in New Orleans, and garlic. I chopped and smashed the peppers with the oil, cumin and paprika. I used an egg to bind the burger and I grilled them on my stovetop cast iron piece.




The beef is 15% fat (left). I estimate the bear at 45-55% fat. What a find. This was the most delicious burger I ever ate.

HCFS - if it isn't so bad, why are you trying to change the name?

And why are you doing that without FDA approval?

Sometimes they get it right

The USDA has passed new regulations making several strains of E. coli illegal in our meat. Thank you!

New Orleans Eating

My biggest obstacle to eating healthy while visiting New Orleans is the salt. I try to drink two gallons of water every day I'm there. Maybe that means the biggest obstacle is the price of bottled water or the state of the bathrooms...

Lucy's on Tchoupitoulas and Girod: Gulf shrimp on blue corn chips with guacamole. I didn't eat the chips or the dipping sauce, which my companion didn't like either. The shrimp were delicious as usual.

I also had a salad with salmon and a ton of bleu cheese. The greens were fresh and the salmon was tender and cooked just like I asked.

For dinner that night at Desire on Bourbon, I had a dozen oysters and Creole shrimp (pictured). The tomato sauce had a kick that snuck up on me. My companion's dinner was too salty to finish.

Lunch the next day was at Sake Cafe II at 2830 Magazine, which is inside a converted church. The sushi was good and I had an unusual warm mushroom salad, drenched in butter. The mushrooms were fresh and tasty.

Dinner at the Red Fish Grill at 115 Bourbon was mixed. I asked for no carrots but they came anyway. I had lamb loin stuffed with lump crab, absolutely fabulous.

My friend had the signature dish, grilled red fish with lump crab meat and she loved it.

Deconstructed eggplant and beef lasagna

Salt, rinse and drain eggplant slices.



Roast them in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes with olive oil and pepper. Then put cheese mixture (whole milk ricotta, grated or finely chopped real mozzarella, Italian seasonings, fresh parsley if you have it) right on top of rounds and heat until cheese is melted.



A veggie mixture of your choice, grass fed grass finished beef with plenty of garlic and white onion and a homemade tomato sauce (tomatoes, garlic, butter, water) topped it off. The veggie mixture shown included Chinese broccoli and red pepper.

Eat food, not supplements

Nutrition science is such a complicated, ever-changing subject. Despite the billions North Americans have spent on antioxidants, there is little evidence they work. What's your best approach for health and longevity? As always, eat several servings of leafy greens (the most ancient "human food") every single day.

Leg of lamb steak with coconut butter

Broiled New Zealand leg of lamb steak with Spicely Mexican seasoning and plenty of coconut oil, then topped with coconut butter

Very fresh orange roughy

from Santa Monica Seafood. Pasture butter, garlic, mustard, cumin, black pepper, lime and herb salad.

Lamb lion chops with chimichurri coconut butter

I warmed up the coconut butter and added yellow onion, garlic, and chimichurri. Then I seared one side of the chops, flipped and added the butter mixture to the top.

The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD

There are a lot of books about emotional eating out there, but I particularly enjoyed this one for the rigorous scientific explanations of brain functions. That kind of narrative can be hard to follow for those of us who aren't neurosurgeons, but Dr. Kessler managed to make the most complex living organism, the human brain, accessible. He also takes the food industry to task for its manipulation of these brain functions to make products more and more difficult for many people to resist. If you are an emotional eater and feel you might relate to a science-based program to control your addiction, you want to pick up this book.

Stuffed cabbage with lamb and beef

There weren't enough large leaves to wrap two of the meatballs. I sliced some onions, garlic, and cabbage into the broth of water and canned chopped tomato. After bringing the sauce to a boil, simmer on low for about 45 minutes, basting about three times.

I had a hard time removing whole leaves from the cabbage after cutting off the base, so I'm going to try another method next time. I've read that you can freeze the head of cabbage or core and then immerse the entire head in boiling water to make it easier. I boiled the leaves for 5 minutes in salted water, then rinsed with cool water.



One pound of fatty grass fed grass finished beef plus one pound of lamb equals six meals for me. I seasoned with pepper, paprika and oregano, plenty of garlic and white onion.

Zucchini boats with ground beef

1 lb grass fed grass finished 15% fat ground beef
3 large zucchini
onions
garlic
coconut oil
2 eggs
ground hemp
oregano
thyme
pepper
paprika

These huge cheap zucchini were smiling at me at the Farmers Market. I eat about 1/3 lb of meat per meal, so three large zucchini boats makes for perfect portioning.

Carefully use a knife and spoon to scoop out the zucchini halves. I saved the flesh to cook up in my eggs tomorrow morning.



Cook the onions and garlic in the coconut oil until soft, then add the meat until just brown. Season this mixture heavily with oregano, thyme, pepper and paprika because the zucchini are not seasoned.

Remove this mixture from heat and let it cool off completely before adding two eggs and some ground hemp. Gently mix and spoon into your zucchini. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

GMO foods are not the way to feed the world

This article links to several studies, some brand new, shooting down the notion that factory farms are the only way to feed the exploding population. GMO foods and crowded inhumane farms are not the only way.

Sockeye salmon with Meyer lemon and fried bay leaves and garlic

Snipped the bay leaves into tiny pieces so they'd get crunchy along with the fried garlic, sliced Meyer lemon thin.

Chemicals in our Food

Short article that sums up the lamentable current state of the relationship between the FDA and the food industry when it comes to regulating chemical additives and preservatives in our food. There is literally no way to evaluate the various combinations of these concoctions that we put in our bodies and allow to be put in the bodies of our children. The voluntary "Generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) program is a joke, as you might expect.

Cuban-inspired lamb stew

My trainer Troy Alvarado is writing a cookbook. A recipe for ropa vieja, a Cuban beef and tomato stew, will be included. It inspired me to make this lamb stew with a leg of lamb steak that I cut up. First I browned the meat and removed it from my stew pot, as with any stew, to get those intense flavors. I added onions and garlic to the oil and sauteed them until soft, then the peppers, tomato paste, tomatoes, along with salt, pepper, cumin and a bay leaf. I much prefer fresh tomatoes but they are expensive right now.

Beef stew with u choi

I feel comfortable leaving a pot in the oven on low during my training up the street. Browned grass fed stew pieces in grapeseed oil, removed from heat, cooked onions and garlic. Varied textures from long cooked u choi and Southern greens in butter cooked fresh while the soup heated. Vary your veggies too.

Still Skeptical of High Fat Diets?

No less than the nationally respected dietician Susan Kleiner has developed a high fat diet (46% of calories from fat in this case) for the new Abs special issue from Oxygen magazine. She's still a little too scared of saturated fats in my opinion, and uses canola oil, which I totally avoid. It was based on Jeff Volek's research, which I've alerted you to before.

Top Sirloin with Red Cabbage and Chinese Broccoli

I bought a large top sirloin steak from Rocky Valley (the "farmer to you beef" people at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market). I've never been quite this successful with top sirloin before - look at all that juice! All I did was throw it in a hot stainless steel pan until it charred up, sprinkled on some chimichurri. I had it with buttery red cabbage and Chinese broccoli.

Tequila Turkey and Fun with Veggies

Stumbled on the evidence that cooking a turkey breast with tequila keeps the meat moist. This one also has Meyer lemon juice and paprika.

I have liked cooked celery in soups and stir fries, so I tried it with roasted cauliflower, cumin and turmeric. It came out soft and sweet. I had it for lunch with ahi and fried garlic.


Baby purple broccoli is pretty.

Dare I Say "DUH?"

I honestly don't understand why we need studies to tell us that changing our food changes our brains. It seems so obvious that your thoughts and your actions are precipitated by your brain, which runs on the food you eat.

Long story short: heal yourself with food.

Indonesian Meatballs

I had another go at Charmaine Solomon's Rempah-Rempah (Indonesian meatballs), leaving out the coconut this time. I fried them in grapeseed oil and they came out subtle and tender.

3 parts ground beef
2 parts ground lamb
2 eggs
yellow onion
garlic
fresh grated ginger
black pepper
turmeric
cumin
ras el hanout

I beat the spices in with the eggs before mixing with the meat.


Since I had a lot to do this weekend, I tried not to spend too much time on my chicken. Sliced red onion and a fresh squeezed orange with some pepper made a lot of lovely juice, which I enjoy because I microwave the food with veggies for lunch at work.


Shot of beautiful flowering broccoli from the West LA farmers market. I'm eating even more vegetables than usual because I've gone completely off dairy.

Cavewoman Style and "Walk Away" Chicken

If you get the chance to prepare some bison, remember that it is a lean meat, so if you don't like medium rare or rawer meat, it might not be best for you because it will get tough if you overcook. Ease into it by trying a moist dish with ground bison, such as a lasagna, and break the meat up when browning.
I made a .68 lb ribeye, considered a fattier cut, by burning it in a hot skillet for four minutes on each side and then letting it rest for about 10 minutes longer. The only seasoning was salt and pepper, and I ate it with broccoli.





"Walk away" chicken is the easiest thing to do when I have lots to do on the weekend, need lunches for the week. I simply brown with olive oil for lots of deeper flavor, add chopped onions and garlic, dump on the Italian seasoning and some paprika or chili powder, and walk away.

Cumin Chicken with Red Peppers

I wanted to make stuffed peppers with these gorgeous peppers but my beef was bad. Instead I sliced them up with onions, garlic, pepper and cumin. Squeezed an orange over the top.

You can make this even if you think you can't cook! All the veggies and the citrus marinade keep the meat nice and moist even when I reheat in the microwave for lunch at work.

I also took advantage of some time on this chilly Sunday to prep fresh veggies and hard boiled eggs for my week.

Wild Food Industry Hijinks - Wood in Your Food

I think most people have heard by now about the FDA's limits on rodent parts, feces and hairs in processed foods, but this one is new to me. Did you know that many common products use cellulose, or wood fibers, to stretch more expensive ingredients? Wow.

Making it Happen - Turkey Thighs

We all have to find that time to prepare the proper food to keep us on the healthy track. I threw these turkey thighs in the oven just before I went to kettlebell class and came home to an apartment that smelled wonderful. I squeezed pink grapefruit over my thighs after seasoning both sides with pepper and Italian seasoning blend. I chopped up some garlic too. Today I had it with broccoli rabe.