Mindful Eats

Sustainable Sushi

School of fish off Bonaire 

History, despire its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. ~Maya Angelou

For a long time I ate seafood and avoided meat, but last year I reversed the situation since seafood has become overfished, and there are more and more responsible meat producers. This leaves me feeling conflicted over sushi, a former meal staple, especially during the summer when the last thing I want is hot food. I've been avoiding sushi, but there are times when I end up at a Japanese restaurant. Happily I found some great resources to help me order sustainable sushi, with simple principles like the 4 S's.

What to do - Order Sustainable Sushi

1. Download this pocket-sized sushi guide from Monterey Bay Aquarium that you can keep in your wallet, or download the iPhone application. 
2. Order vegetable sushi. I am partial to avocado and mushroom rolls.
3. Talk to your server/sushi chef and ask where the fish is from, how it was raised, and how it was caught. Order the sushi that is a "Best Choice" from the sushi guide in step 1.
4. Order with the 4-S rules in mind. I found 4-S from fish guru Casson Trenor, and they are awesome and simple.  
5. • SMALL - order small fish since they are more resilient to overfishing. These include sardines (iwashi), skipjack tuna (katsuo), horse mackeral (aji).
   • SEASONAL - fish are seasonal, and it's best to order off the specials list.
   • SILVER - you know the sushi that still has silver skin on it? Order that. It's high in omega-3s and tasty. This includes mackeral (saba and sawara) and Pacific saury (sanma).
   • SHELLFISH - foods like oysters, mussels and clams are easy and environmental to farm.
6. Avoid tuna. Especially blue-fin tuna, which is endangered. 

Want to learn more? 

• Issues around seafood and overfishing
• Monterey Bay Aquarium sushi guide

What I ate: 16 oz. chocolate milk, brown rice + tofu salad, 12 oz. hemp milk, 1 handful Mindful Mix, 1 pint blueberries, 2 handfuls cherries, 1 mango, 1 large latte, 1 hardboiled egg, Pirate's Booty, dried sliced mangos, cheddar cheese Del Posto dinner: 4 risotto balls, 2 prosciutto balls, 2 parmesan + balsamic vinegar, veal meatball in pastry, lobster salad, 3 steak tartare on crackers, bread + butter + lardo, shrimp salad, garganelli + bolognese, lamb chops, chocolate tartuffo, 60 oz water

Exercise: ran 8 miles

Simple Rhubarb Compote Recipe

Sweet and tangy rhubarb compote

MindfulEats is featuring its first dessert recipe - it hardly gets easier or more natural than this! I recently did some cooking demos with Lela Chapman of Greenmarkets to celebrate the opening of the Greenmarket at the Hester Street Fair (open today and every Sunday). One of the items we made was Lela's rhubarb compote. It fit all the MindfulEats requirements (simple and easy) - only 3 ingredients and so easy we made it outside. This elegant dessert is truly fuss-free. Tangy and sweet, this was a bit hit.

Rhubarb is in season, so now is the perfect time to make it! We stuck to the Greenmarket principle of using only locally sourced ingredients, so this recipe uses honey instead of sugar (which is not grown in the are). I think it makes the compote even better. 

 Raw rhubarb ready to be turned into compote

Rhubarb Compote

Serves 4+

2.5 cups rhubarb
1/2 cup or more apple cider (we used Red Jacket Orchards, which has no other ingredients)
1/3 cup honey

1. Trim off the rhubarb ends and remove stringy pieces so you just have red stalk. Discard or save for vegetable juice. 
2. Chop rhubarb into 1/2-1 inch pieces.  
3. Place in saucepan over medium heat with apple cider. Stir until it begins to break down.
4. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add more apple cider if necessary. You can serve it with all the chunks broken down, or slightly chunky. You can see in the photo above that I served it slightly chunky.
5. Drizzle in honey. Adjust as needed.  
6. Enjoy it warm, or chill it in the refrigerator. I served it alone, but it is delicious with ice cream, yogurt, pie, scones, vanilla sauce, or wherever your fancy takes you.

What I ate: cereal + ground flaxseed + milk, 1 hard-boiled egg, small Jamba Juice yumberry, 24 oz. chocolate milk, cherries, blueberries, egg sandwich, tall coffee frappucino, dried mangos, Mindful Mix, cheddar cheese, handmade tofu + sea urchin, soft shell crab and mushroom tempura, softshell crab roll, sauteed mushrooms, seaweed salad, 60 oz. water

Exercise: Ran 9 miles

Don't have the exercise gene? No problem!

Mile 25 at the 2008 NYC marathon

Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential. ~Winston Churchill

Have you seen the study that suggests your genes can influence your desire to exercise? Grrr. I promise your genes are not the determiner of whether or not you exercise. You are! The reason I know this is because I was born without a hint of an exercise gene or athleticism, and now I've been active for over 15 years. I also hate the morning, but I can't imagine life without getting up early to exercise - it's as natural as brushing my teeth (and I didn't inherit that gene either, but I still do it). Oddly enough, some people even consider me athletic. Not bad for a kid that hated gym class and was always one of the last picked for kickball teams. If I could get myself to exercise, so can you.

If you want to become an exerciser, you can. I naturally hate exercise. Well, I started out hating it years ago, and now I only hate it sometimes. Most of the time I tolerate exercise, and every once in a while I even like it. I now work out 5-6 days a week without thinking about it, and I feel out of sorts without it. No one else in my extended family exercises (except Stella), so I know it's not in our gene pool. As a kid, I was the scrawniest, least athletic person around. If it was my turn at bat, all the fielders moved in. 

The only reason I started exercising was because a trainer once told me that old women break their hips because they have such poor upper body strength they slip when they try to lift themselves out of the bathtub. This vision scared me into lifting weights and swimming. I tried to exercise after work, but I was so hungry by then I never made it to the gym. This made me try the impossible - getting up early to exercise. At first I couldn't do it regularly, but I still did it more than the evening. And I found that working out in the morning actually woke me up. I was haunted by the vision of myself as an old lady unable to lift myself out of a chair, so I kept trying to work out, and it got easier and easier. After a (long) while, it became a habit without my even noticing. And the more I exercised, the more active I became.

Anyway, the point of this is don't be scared off by any report that says there is a reason you can't exercise. All you have to do to become a regular exerciser is to want to. If you want to, you will.

What to do - Start Exercising Regularly

1. Find your motivation to exercise. Maybe it's to have more energy, sleep better, play with your kids, look great in a swim suit or not be pathetic. There are so many reasons - exercise makes you smarter, more attractive and more fun. Whatever your motivation is, hold tight to it and make a commitment to yourself.
2. Plan your exercise. Figure out the three times a week you can do it, and the right time - morning, afternoon, evening. It can be a mix of all three, depending on the day.
3. Read this post on mindful exercise on how to get started.
4. Play mind games with yourself. Your brain might hate exercising, but your body is thanking you for it (you just can't hear it because your brain is screaming so loudly). It's like taking the dog out for a walk - take your body out because it needs it.  Silence your brain - listening to music often helps you forget the pain.
5. Take time to feel awesome after every workout. You're getting closer to your goal and you should be proud of yourself. Figure out what you like about it. One of my favorite things about working out is getting to stop at the end - and that feeling only came after a workout. So of course I have to work out to get it.

Want to read more? Here's an article about how genetics can influence your desire to work out. Look through the Exercise section for more tips. If you want to lose weight, you need to watch what you eat too.

What I ate: vegetable juice, strawberries, 2 cappucinos, semolina gnocci + mushrooms, arugula salad, green tea, 1/2 chocolate mousse cake, NYCheese raw milk cheddar, brown rice + ground flaxseeds, steamed tofu + sugar snap peas, Mindful Mix, dried mangos, 12 oz hemp milk, 22 oz apple cider, 40 oz. water

Exercise: ran 7.5 miles

Delivering Happiness: Review and Free Book Contest

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you dream it, you can become it. ~William Arthur Ward

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's book, Delivering Happiness, has hit bookstores. I received advance copies of the book to review, and one of those books will be raffled off to a reader - details at the end.

To be honest, I didn't know that much about Zappos when I started the book - all I knew was that it was an online shoe store and a coworker raved about how great they were after she got her order. I thought her excitement was a little odd since I know she's ordered things online before. I also knew a little about Tony since I follow him on Twitter. He's Taiwanese, around my age, and a gazillion times more successful than me, which predisposes me to hating his book.

I reviewed the book because it's about happiness, and that's what MindfulEats is about - getting healthier and happier. All I knew about the book was that it had a cool title, and when I got it, it turned out to be a business book! Not what I like to read in my spare time. It's a combination of memoir, Zappos history, and organizational theory. And I'm glad I read it.

I used to aspire to borderless work - being so passionate and fulfilled by work that it blends into your life. There's no separation between "work life" and "real life". You are delivering on your mission and you have purpose. You're in the zone. Delivering Happiness reminded me that it's possible. And that made it worth reading. Zappos is Tony's passion (he even refers to it as his calling), and he's created borderless work for himself and others. 

The first part of the book is about Tony's early life and how he got to Zappos. I was ready to quit reading during this part. It reminded me of fake Asian humility, where parents brag by saying things like "It's amazing that little Johnny got selected to play a guest spot with the New York Philharmonic since we can hardly get him to practice" when Johnny's practicing the violin the six hours a day that he's not studying. You can skim this part of the book. Tony basically becomes a hugely successful internet guy in his 20's, then invests it all into Zappos. This is where it gets interesting. Zappos is constantly on the brink of failure, and he and his partners pull it through, all while building a quirky company culture. Their goal is extraordinary customer service, and they live it with their customers, their employees and everyone they come in contact with. They start out trying to create "wow" experiences for everyone, and eventually evolve to today, where they just want to make people happy. That's a pretty sweet mission. 

Tony delivers a couple messages. First, culture is the most important factor for what your company (or neighborhood or family or tribe) will deliver and be about. Second, people are constantly seeking happiness, and the only way to find a constant state of happiness is to live a higher purpose and be part of something bigger than you.

In terms of getting me thinking (one of the way I judge books), Delivering Happiness gets 3 out of 4 stars. I also judge books by how well they are written. 1 star our of 4, but it definitely captures Tony's slightly annoying voice. If the book pushes me into finding the borderless work I used to dream about, it will have delivered happiness and will receive 5 stars (1 more than possible!).

Want the book? For the paper version click here. Kindle version here.
Want more info in general?

CONTEST: to win a copy of the book, leave a comment with your ideal job that will make you happy. The winner will be randomly chosen among entries (except for lame answers - no dealers or strippers or stuff like that) on June 15.

What I ate: 2 lattes, Fage yogurt + ground flaxseeds + strawberries, 1/2 coffee, (full day of eating out) Palm soft shell crab flour wrap + avocados + greens, 4 bites molten chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream; Yelp event of mini-tastings: Luke's shrimp roll, swedish meatballs + mashed potatoes + lox + cucumbers, lobster mac and cheese, Indonesian noodles, kimchi noodles, lingenberry soda, 40 oz. water

Exercise: none

Cooking Demo at Hester Street Fair on June 6

Last year's cooking demo on Stanton Street with NYC Greenmarkets

Do something for somebody every day for which you don't get paid. ~Albert Schweitzer 

Flash announcement! MindfulEats is doing a cooking demo with Greenmarkets tomorrow, June 6th, between 1:30-5pm at the official opening of the Hester Street Fair on the Lower East Side. The weather should be in the nice summery 80s. Stop by for free samples if you're around!

Not your standard cheesy street fair, Hester Street features local food artisans and crafts, including La Newyorkina ice pops, Hominy Hominy corn crunch, Luke's lobster rolls and Sigmund Pretzelshops. It will be open regularly on Saturdays and Sundays between 11am-5pm. You can take the F train to East Broadway or Delancey.

More info on the Hester Street Fair and the foodie artisans that sell there.

What I ate: cereal + milk + dried cranberries, 1 cafe au lait, pistachios, brown rice, steamed tofu + broccoli + shitaake mushrooms, 6 squares dark chocolate, 1 hard boiled egg, pineapple, boiled potatoes, 1 coffee, 60 oz. water

Exercise: 45 min lifting

Asian noodles with asparagus and spinach

Spaghetti, asparagus and spinach

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanich into air. ~John Quincy Adams

Any kind of complicated cooking during the week, especially during the summer, is too much for us. As you can tell from all our recipes, we are big fans of one pot meals. This recipe takes advantage of seasonal vegetables, and all it requires is boiling. It's easy, approximates Asian noodles, and is superfast. What's not to like?

Asian Pasta with Seasonal Vegetables

Serves 3

1/2 lb asparagus (or brocolli or snap peas or whatever is available)
1 lb spinach (or arugula or whatever is available)
3 tablespoons flaxseeds
3/4 bag whole wheat spaghetti (we are partial to the Whole Foods brand)
3 tablespoons soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos
3 shakes sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon Sriracha Hot Chili Rooster sauce (or anything else like Tabasco to taste)

1. Semi-fill a large pot with water and put over high to boil.
2. Trim the asparagus ends by holding the stalk in the middle with one hand and the end with the other. Break off the stem end and discard or save for vegetable juice. Cut asparagus into 3-4 inch pieces. 
3. Wash the spinach and chop into bite size pieces. Place into a large strainer where you are going to drain the pasta.
4. Boil pasta when water is ready.
5. When the pasta is half-done (or there are 5-6 minutes left), add the asparagus.
6. When the pasta is finished, drain pasta and asparagus over the spinach to wilt. Put everything back in the pot.
7. Add flax seed, soy sauce and sesame oil.
8. Mix it all up and enjoy!

What I ate: vegetable juice, cereal + milk + strawberries, 1 slice bread + cheddar cheese, 1 cafe au lait, pistachios, quinoa, steamed tofu + broccoli + shitaake mushrooms, 6 squares dark chocolate, fried calamari, pasta + leeks + cheese, charred asparagus + egg, 1 coffee, 60 oz. water

Exercise: 45 min lifting