Grilled chicken and eggplant salad with arugula pesto

I’m feeling lucky and relaxed, back from another wonderful vacation with my husband spent in the car driving around the Midwest.  Also, even bigger cause to celebrate, I’m a second year resident!  Intern year is over and I feel so proud and accomplished of all that I learned and did in one year (tons of deliveries, dozens of C-sections, gynecologic surgeries, hundreds of emergency and clinic patients.)  More than anything, I’m freaking relieved by the promotion.  The second year schedule is a bit more forgiving and well balanced and there is a scant amount of clout that comes with the job. 

Even though I had an awesome year, it is great to know that it will be somebody else running around labor and delivery trying to get it all done--although I think I’m hard wired to sprint when I hear “doctor for decelerations/delivery/exam” on the overhead speaker.  As second year, we learn how to be consultants to midwives and are in charge of the women’s ER.  Plus, there will be lots of scalpel time as we are primary surgeon to all C-sections at night.  It is amazing how much I’ve seen after just one year, and I’m excited to keep learning and gaining more responsibility as I work my way up.

Perhaps now with a new year and a new job, July is a much better month than January to make New Year’s resolutions.  While in January I was merely trying to survive; to get out of bed, go to work and do the best job I could, I’m blessed to have a bit of time this month to make some real changes in my habits.  I’m feeling bloated after eating a hot fudge sundae every day of my vacation. This is worsened by the fact that even though I joined the gym almost a year ago, I haven’t been at all since February.  (My husband is surely chuckling)

Thankfully, summer is a great time to eat a lighter diet.  I found beautiful small eggplants at the grocery store and they grilled up just great. We have a gas grill as part of our apartment, and I know, I know it’s not charcoal but I’m getting the hang of the grill and hopefully someday can promote myself to hot coals. Even though pesto isn’t necessarily diet food, it at least is a step in the right direction.  I love making pesto with arugula as it has a wonderful peppery bite and is cheaper than basil.  This “salad” can be served hot or cold and would be great over bread, mixed in with lettuce or pasta or can be eaten alone.

Grilled chicken and eggplant salad with arugula pesto

Arugula pesto

Handful loose basil

1 cup arugula

Salt and pepper to taste

Clove garlic

¼ cup grated parmesan

¼ cup walnuts

1 tbsp high quality balsamic vinegar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 lb eggplant

1 lb roma tomatoes, seeded and divided in eight pieces

½ red onion thinly diced

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil and salt for seasoning

To make the pesto, place basil, arugula, garlic, cheese, walnuts, salt and pepper into food processor.  Run until all components are well combined.  Scrape down sides and pulse in balsamic vinegar.  With machine running, slowly add oil until all ingredients well combined.  Set aside

Preheat grill to medium high heat.  If using small eggplants such as thai or Indian as I did, cut in half and salt and brush with olive oil.  If using a large eggplant, cut into 4-5 horizontal slices and salt and brush with oil each side.  With the chicken, salt and oil each breast.  Grill eggplant for about 6-7 minutes on each side until juices run from the eggplant and they are soft to touch.  Grill chicken for about 7 minutes on each side until juices run clear and the chicken has an internal temperature of about 150F.

Dice eggplant into about 1 inch cubes, doing the same for the chicken.  In a large bowl, add eggplant, chicken, tomato and onion.  Add pesto by the tablespoon until each piece of salad well coated.  You will have leftover pesto which can be put aside for a separate use. 

Is Marriage Good For You?

I am loud, disorganized and live by hyperbole.  My husband is quiet, focused and logical.  We’re an unlikely match.  But I can only say that my life has changed for the better since we’ve met.  I feel incredibly blessed.

The New York Times' Pauline Chen had an interesting perspective on the issue of marriage and lifelong health.  Overall, married people have better lifelong health than those who are single, however those that have turmoil in their marriage or ultimately divorce may have more health difficulties overall.  Good communication within a relationship can even promote wound healing.1 

Nobody in this society is stranger to marriage strain and divorce; I am definitely not alien to marital demise.  There is never certainty that everything will be ok.  So I’m just going to take this whole marriage thing one day at a time and count my blessings.  I’m going to try and play my part to be a good wife and a supportive partner. For me, there’s no better way to express my love for my husband than through a pot and pan. 

This recipe is the dish that I make that my husband loves most.  Which is funny because of all the things I make, it’s just stir-fried chicken and cabbage.  The delicious factor is the home-ground five spice powder which gives a unique taste and aroma.  You can always buy pre-packaged spice for a shortcut, but it’s never quite as good as what you can whack up in a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle.

I actually got the idea for this recipe on an airplane of all places.  I know, I know, an airplane?! But I was flying to Asia, and the five spice was just so yummy.  Even though five spice is commonly used in Chinese food, it’s not really something that is served most commonly in restaurants.  It’s almost like a punchy version of mulling spices which gives a warming taste to the food.   You gotta try it.

Five Spice Chicken and Cabbage Stir Fry

For the five spice

1 cinnamon stick

5 star anise

15 cloves

1 tsp Szechuan peppercorn

1 tsp fennel seed

Toast the spices on high heat until fragrant in a dry skillet.  Pulse in spice grinder until it’s a fine powder.

For the stir fry

1.5-2lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

½ large onion diced

½ head of Chinese or regular cabbage cut into matchsticks

1 inch ginger finely chopped

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tbsp vinegar (rice wine or white)

1 tbsp sugar

¼ cup Chinese cooking wine or dry Sherry

2 tsp corn starch

In a measuring cup, mix soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, wine and cornstarch.  Set aside.  In wok or large sauté pan, place 2 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil over high heat.  When oil is smoking, add onion, chicken and five spice.  Cook until chicken is almost cooked through.  Add ginger and cabbage and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add sauce mixture and allow to bring to a boil.  Serve over brown rice.

1: Gouin JP, Carter CS, Pournajafi-Nazarloo H, Glaser R, Malarkey WB, Loving TJ, Stowell J, Kiecolt-Glaser JK. Marital behavior, oxytocin, vasopressin, and wound healing. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Aug;35(7):1082-90

Suturing dinner—herbed ricotta chicken roulades

Still alive!  I’m a week and a half into it all.  Seems like a lot longer.  I feel like I know a whole lot more than I did just a week ago and that each day gets a bit more manageable.  Even so, as more straightforward patients seem easier, I am given more responsibility with more complicated patients.  I’m learning how to rule out ectopic pregnancies, diagnose all kinds of infections, and how to do endometrial biopsies.  I have become the queen of speculum exams; I even found somebody’s cervix in the dark as the exam room had no light besides the overhead lamp.

Along with responsibilities in the hospital on the job, we are required, thankfully, to perfect our surgical skills outside of the operating room.   We have a test in September on our knot tying and suturing (a fancy word for sewing).  Even though I grew up sewing, I definitely did not do so on a curved needle.  When you suture in the operating room, you hold the needle with a tool called a needle driver, which pushes the needle through the tissue.  I can do it, but I’m awfully slow.

Along with practicing in our surgical skills lab, I brought home some suture from the hospital to practice at home.  What better way to practice sewing flesh than on dinner?  Sewing meat simulates the operating environment a lot more accurately than the dry toys that we practice on.  Besides, when you make a lovely roulade, it keeps everything together really nicely—much better than interrupted knots. 

So for dinner tonight I made herbed ricotta and tomato stuffed chicken breast roulades with a yummy zucchini orzo on the side.  The only problem was that the suture was flesh colored and thus was difficult to find in the chicken.  I might have swallowed a knot.  If you don’t have suture and a needle driver you could use regular needle and thread, or just use toothpicks or kitchen string to tie it up.  If you are like me and trying to get better at sewing, this is a delicious way to improve.

 Herbed Ricotta and Tomato Chicken Roulades

3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

½ cup all purpose flour

15 oz reduced fat ricotta

½ tsp fresh rosemary

2 tbsp fresh parsley

2-3 tbsp fresh basil

3 cloves garlic

½ shallot

¼ cup parmesan cheese grated

2 tomatoes thinly sliced

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

~1 cup white wine

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Cut chicken breasts in half horizontally and pound down until about 1/8-1/4 inch thick.  Dredge in salted and pepper flour.  Chop herbs, shallot and garlic finely, mix in with ricotta.   Add parmesan, salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil to ricotta mixture.  With each breast, spread a thin layer of cheese and a few slices of tomato.  Roll up widthwise and sew or tie up.  Preheat large skillet or dutch over over medium high heat.  Add olive oil and butter and sear chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes.  Add white wine to cover breasts about half way up, cover and reduce heat to medium low.  Cook until chicken cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Remove chicken from pan, add another tsp or so of salt to the sauce, add balsamic vinegar.  Turn heat up to medium high and cook sauce until reduced by about 50%.  Strain and serve with chicken.

Lemony Zucchini Orzo

½ lb orzo pasta

1 medium sized zucchini, grated

2 cloves garlic finely diced

1 medium shallot finely diced

Juice of one lemon

Splash of white wine

Salt and pepper

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook orzo in salted water according to instructions.  Over medium high heat in about 2 tbsp olive oil, sauté garlic, shallot and zucchini until zucchini cooked through about 5 minutes.  Turn heat off, add orzo, white wine, lemon juice, pepper and cheese.  Stir to combine and serve. 

The chicken and the egg. They came together.

Raw eggs make great food.  If you’ve ever been to my house for dinner, or eaten something I brought to a party, you’ve probably eaten raw eggs.  Yes, I know, I’m a horrible friend because I didn’t tell you, and now I’m announcing it on the internet.  You may never come back.

But before you decide that you’d rather not acquaint with me, let me just say this.  Yes, salmonella infection is a risk if you eat raw eggs, and yes, I put you at risk.  Even so, according to the CDC, 1 in 10,000 eggs are currently contaminated with salmonella 1.  The highest rate of egg contamination is in the Northeastern region of the US, which, thankfully (not to off-put the lovely inhabitants of New England) I do not live in. 

A risk is a risk.  Let’s put this risk into perspective.  As a human dweller of North America, you have about a 40% lifetime risk of getting cancer, a 4/10,000 risk of having a pulmonary embolus if you take birth control pills, and if you were born in 2000, which obviously you weren’t, you have a 35% lifetime risk of developing diabetes! 2,3,4. So, one in ten thousand? I’ll take my chances on a creamy, yolky, tiramisu and work on becoming that one in three with “a touch of sugar”.  I guess my risk of salmonella is actually higher since I probably eat 200 plus eggs a year, but even so, most of them are cooked.*

Salmonella can dwell in the ovary of the chicken, and thus the egg becomes infected before the shell is formed.  Proper washing of the egg does NOT prevent salmonella, even though when I was sheepishly watching Rachel Ray the other day, she said her husband told her to put the eggs in warm water and whatdyaknow it’ll go away!  Check your sources, lady.  Even so, using fresh eggs and keeping them refrigerated can prevent the bacteria from multiplying. 

Eggs and chickens are not the only foods that put you at risk of salmonella.  Vegetables, peanut butter and other “safe foods” are contaminated with some nasty pathogens.  In a 2009 report analyzing food related bacterial illnesses in 2006, 21% of cases were related to poultry, 17% were related to leafy vegetables and 16% were related to fruits and nuts 5.  One multi-state outbreak was attributed to “baked goods contaminated by floor sealant”.  Maple syrup is not the same as polyurethane.

Raw egg yolks make a beautiful base for a salad dressing.  They emulsify the fat and water based ingredients to make a rich, creamy dressing.  In this salad, which is my punchy version of a Caesar salad, I like to add poached chicken thighs which are moist and flavorful, boiled new potatoes for starch, radishes for a strong bite, and red chilies for a kick.

Elizabeth’s Caesar-ian Section Salad

For the dressing:
One egg yolk (I like to separate eggs with my hands)
Juice of one lime
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
One clove of garlic smashed and finely chopped
¼ cup finely (and freshly) grated parmesan cheese
Lots of black pepper
1 tbs finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbs finely chopped fresh mint
medium shallot diced finely
½ tbs salt
¾ cup olive oil

1 lb chicken thighs
1 lb new potatoes boiled until tender
Radishes, finely sliced
½ pound of romaine washed, dried and chopped
½ red chili seeded diced finely
1 yellow pepper chopped
2 green onions chopped

For the dressing:
Separate the egg yolk from the white, add the garlic, lime and vinegar, whisk together. Add the parmesan, pepper, salt.  Add ½ cup of olive oil in a steady stream whisking constantly.  Add the shallots and herbs, add remaining ¼ cup oil.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours for flavors to blend if you have the time.

To poach the chicken:
In a pan with lid, fill with water about ½ inch-1 inch, season with salt, add chicken.  On medium-low heat simmer chicken, covered for 10 minutes and then flip.  Cook for 10 more minutes.  If you are using chicken breasts instead, reduce the cooking time to about 7 minutes on each side.

To assemble salad, slice up chicken and potatoes.  Add veggies and toss dressing (you might have extra dressing).  I’m assuming people know how to put things in a bowl.

 

 

1.http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salment_g.htm#What%20is%20the%20Risk

2. http://seer.cancer.gov/

3. Farmer, RD., et al. 1997. Population-based study of risk of venous thromboembolism associated with various oral contraceptives. The Lancet 349, no. 9045:83-8.

4. Narayan, KM., et al. 2003. Lifetime risk for diabetes mellitus in the United States. JAMA : Journal of the American Medical Association 290, no. 14:1884-90.

5. 2009. Surveillance for foodborne disease outbreaks - United States, 2006. MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 58, no. 22:609-15.


* Disclaimer: if you are pregnant or immunosuppressed in any way, don’t eat raw eggs.