What is sustainability? What should the sustainable athlete look like?  Probably not very different from anyone else who tries to do the right thing by shopping and eating seasonally and locally.  When it comes to the food choices we make its a good idea to start with some basic ethics.  Over time you may find yourself modifying them as you become more confident in where to shop and what to buy.

First lets take a look at what the term sustainability means.  Here are a couple of decent definitions with which I have no problem. The first is from a seemingly unlikely source the EPA  (  http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm )  On their webpage they write. “Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.  Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.”

Not bad.  While our friends over at Wikipedia offer a lengthy dissertation on the subject, one section specific to food systems,  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability  ). It’s worth a read.  Check it out.

Admittedly the label of sustainability may seem to be overused, abused and co-opted by more than one company or corporation. The seemingly obvious conflicts of interest and lack of transparency work to further dilute the meaning and significance of the label.  Still, that is what we have and a better phrase hasn’t popped up yet.  We’ll leave it that eating sustainably can serve as a a road marker to a living and eating ethic. 

So rather than get into a full on scree about what we should be eating, why, where to purchase ( or not) I’m going to offer several guidelines for how I think a well seasoned athlete might purchase the foods they cook and eat.

Things to consider:

1.  Try shopping at a farmers’ market at least once a week.

2.  Buy the things that excite you and don’t be afraid to try a vegetable that you haven’t tried before. 

3.  Don’t agonize over organic vs conventional at this point.  While I am a big advocate of organics supporting a local farmer is far more important.  Small(ish) scale farming more often keeps land in agriculture protecting green space.  It promotes a biodiversity of species. particularly pollinators (  see  http://www.pollinator.org/ ).

4.  Shop Seasonal and Local.  It’s about what is freshest and most nutritious.  It’s about looking at your carbon footprint.  It’s about supporting local economies and communities.

5.  Try to stay away from foods that are in a bag, box or can as much as possible.

6.  Make as much of your food from scratch.  It’ll taste better and will allow you to better understand and connect with the foods you eat.

So the sustainable athlete, along with any specific dietary restrictions or needs, really can participate in supporting sustainable food systems.  It may take time and practice.  But, hey, that’s what we do everyday.

There you have it.

For further reading and opinions on sustainable eating and sustainable food systems see the Sustainable Ingredients page for useful links and suggestions.

 What makes a dish really tasty good?  Where in the process of prepareing a dish does the magic happen? How can I take a small handful of ingredients of a meal and gussey them up so that I’m smakin my lips and looking for seconds?  Well, here at The well seasoned athlete its time to reveal the secrets. And to be honest, its one part ingredient selection, one part technique and one part intuition.

Ingredients-  Typically I begin preparing lunch, dinner or what have you with some ingredient starting point.  It might be a vegetable, might be a super da kine slab of fish or a great looking cut of grass-fed beef from here in NorCal.  Curiously most of my fellow chefs agree that the starting point when composing menus is a particular ingredient which screams “use me, first!”  Its wicked fresh, speaks of incredible integrity or excits in some way.  Other parts of the menu or dish fall into place after that.  The fridge yields a bag of dino kale, some locally grown almonds.  The pantry holds a spice or two which I’ve been dying to try out.  On this day I happened to have two previously prepared items that were just waiting for the right moment to show their stuff.  One thing to keep in mind is that its okay to enhance an ingredient or two.  Here I’ll show you how.

Technique and Intuition–  Let’s dig into a recent dish I prepared and see how it works. Seared Ahi Tuna, Udon with Mustard Greens, Soy Glaze, Gingerd Carrrots  (serves 2 people)

Here is the line up of ingredients.   Places where we will build flavor will be a. marinade for tuna; b. a light seasoning of the noodles prior to plating; c.tangy salad to accompany the dish and be a foil for the other flavors and textures; d. saucy type thing to hit the tuna with that keeps the taste buds wanting another bite. 

•  12 oz Ahi Tuna (it can be in one or two pieces)
• 6 oz Udon Noodles (dried in package ) (note: keep in mind that noodles of almost any kind will double in weight after cooking. So if you’re looking for more carbs then just measure up)
• 3 oz Young Mustard Greens or Spinach (fresh only )
• 4 oz Carrot, (peeled)
• 3 oz Cauliflower or Green Cabbage
• 1/2 oz pickled ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated fine mixed with 2 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup Soy (reduced sodium version is ok) mixed with 1 Tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons hot sauce (your call on brand)

First place for magic: seasoning the fish.  Salt.  After that you can be creative.  Options include, cracked black pepper, chili flakes, zest of lemon or lime ( or combination of), minced garlic, sesame seeds, spice blends such as a North African or Vindaloo work well.  One key is not to get all carried away and throw everything at it.  If its a citrus flavor you are looking for just use the pepper, chile and garlic.  If its the Vindaloo or Indian spice flavors go with the garlic and pepper.  When you use a mix of fresh or dried herbs stick with garlic, pepper and a little citrus zest  . 

It was decided that this dish was going include some Udon noodles, simply prepared by boiling. Easy enough, 9 minutes in boiling water, drain.

But here we can add a “behind the scenes” flavor by tossing with a two teaspoons of soy, two teaspoons of oil (olive or saflower), a dash of sesame oil and dash of hot sauce.  A light hand is needed here.  This is only to season the noodles, not make a sauce.  You’ll hardly taste it but the flavor is there and helps set up the palate for the rest of the dish.

Next, the young mustard greens or spinach.  Texture wise we have big flavored but sexy, soft tuna happening, silky noodles, a crunchy, tangy salad lurking ahead.  Traditionally this would call for a wilted or boiled vegetable like our greens.  Fresh flavor, fresh texture but soft and somewhat similar to the noodles.  The greens provide essential nutients, a vibrant color contrast but don’t fight the other elements of the dish.  All we do is give the greens a light steaming for 1 minute. Uncover and leave on the stove off the heat until ready to plate.

Now for the crunchy, tangy salad I mentioned above.  Shredded carrot mixed with chopped up raw cauliflower (or cabbage).  To get this right shred the carrots small.  You can use a box grater, the shredder blade of a food processor (Cuisinart) or a Japanese mandolin.

The cauliflower is just sliced thinly.  No need to make it pretty, its going to fall apart anyway and the thinner the better since it won’t be getting cooked.  (if you end up using cabbage give it the same treatment as the carrots)

pickled ginger I put up last month

Mix the carrots and cauliflower in a bowl and add 2 Tablespoons of chopped pickled ginger and 2 Tablespooons of the pickled ginger vinegar. Allow the salad to sit for 10 minutes before serving  ( Now don’t worry.  If don’t have pickled ginger then simply grate 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ginger and toss with 2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar.  Let sit for a few minutes before mixing into the salad.)

Now its time to pull this together.This is where Intuition comes into play. Timing is important.  Which order do cook everything?

1. Marinade Tuna.
2. Prepare Carrot Salad.
3. Reduce soy, honey, vinegar, hot sauce mix to a glaze. (takes only about 2 minutes in a small non-stick pan)
4. Steam greens.
5. Boil noodles.
6. Cook the Tuna (this can happen while the noodles are in the pot cooking.
7. Toss Noodles and Greens together with seasonings.
8. Slice Tuna, plate up the noodles, garnish with sauce and salad.

Bingo!

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (466g) Servings Per Container

Amount Per Serving Calories 720    Calories from Fat 160    % Daily Value Total Fat 18 g 28 %  Saturated Fat 3 g 15 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 65 mg 22 %  Sodium 1780 mg 74 %  Total Carbohydrate 80 g 27 %  Dietary Fiber 9 g 36 %  Sugars 12 g    Protein 57 g

Vitamin A   350 %  Vitamin C   90 %  Calcium   10 %  Iron   30 %

Broke out the exclamation point for this one.  As well as the word epic.  The drive to the   CCCX  Race at Manzanita Park near Prunedale began just before 7am in 30+mph winds, sheets of rain and half light.   Kurt and I hung on for dear life car surfing at 30mph on 101.

Arriving around 9am we went thru reg, pinned numbers on, suited up and readied the rigs.  Did two laps of a mostly rideable and long course ( near 2 mi) , pulled off the course and hosed down the bike.  Since it was raining dogs, cats and something else a proper warm up was not a proper warm up.

As cross can be the course had changed dramatically from practice look around to race time.  Several sections became un-rideable, one 50 yard long section went along the first base line of a ball field and unsurprisingly became a 8 inch deep bog of brown the texture of pancake batter only containing hints of green.  Formerly grass.  Not a good race personally with a 5th place finish and feeling like it should have been more.  But that’s racing.  Rolled thru the finish and lined up at the hose for the post race wash down.

Next morning padded down to review the damage.  Every moving part had a scratchy sound coming from it.  Move the brake arms…. scratch, scratch.  Chain…more o’the same.  So began the tear down which only went deeper and deeper.  Bottom end had water inside the BB shell.  Drive side bearings sounded like they needed some attention. Brakes required an overhaul that had me digging around with Q-Tips.   Oh Man!

Rear wheel bearings now need a rebuild.  Well for anyone who races cross I’m preaching to the choir.  A teammate who is new to cross and has a new rig asked for advice for what to service and the following is what I wrote out.  Its December after all.  Racing cross every weekend (sometimes twice) exacts a toll.  Crack open a favorite, program the pod and settle in.  It’s what we do.

There are probably 5 major (depending) places to spend some attention.

Its pouring outside and its going to be an epic day of Cyclocross  racing tomorrow.  What with three days big rains and more on the way I needed something to distract me from the deluge out the back door.

One of the joys of cooking is finding neglected ingredients that are affordable.  Quite often these may the over looked root vegetable like celery root or turnips, herbs like Summer savory, or cuts of meat like pork shanks, beef flat-iron or lamb neck.   Among these I’m going to add lamb ribs.  If you enjoy good lamb like I do then grabbing several handfuls of these when they show up in the butcher case are a reason to celebrate.  If the ribs are in one small slab no problem.

You can simply run a knife down between each one or every other one if you chose.  Either way is fine, they’ll cook up the same.  Juicy and delicious.  But first a bit of marinade is in store.

Like any rib product they benefit from a bit of aggressive seasoning and slow cooking.  For these I  don’t go the sweet and sticky BBQ route but tend to give them an herby treatment with some chile and citrus.  Garlic never hurts as well.  Slow roasting  (see Techniques ) in the oven or grill is the ticket here.

First a we throw together a heady rub of oregano, thyme, fennel, parsley, garlic, black pepper, kosher sat ( for a good primer on salt types go here: foodnetwork kosher-vs-table-vs-sea-salt  ). Add in several teaspoons of fresh lemon zest ( my preference is meyer lemon) and a teaspoon of red chile flakes. Another tasty marinade idea would be mixing about  2 tablespoons of Za’atar with the garlic, oil and salt.  Next muss this up with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and rub it in vigorously over all the surface of the riblets.  I like to let them sit for at least several hours at this point, even better over night.  A good trick is to use a zip lock bag.  This is also a super trick for any type of marinated food.  Easier to store in fridge.

Here are the herbs lined up a ready to go.

After some time together its time to grill.  Even in the rain the urge to grill can’t be held back.  Use a low heat for these and move the fire to one side with the riblets arranged on the grill on the other side away from the fire.  Put the cover on the grill and let them go for about 20 minutes, turning them over every 8 minutes or so.  Unlike pork ribs you don’t want these fall off the bone done.  They’re going to have a bit of grab to them.  Something like a medium well doneness but not charred. Remember low and slow.

While we let the riblets do their thing we turn our attention to the rest of the menu.  I chose a very simple warm potato salad.  This is a great fall back for when time is short.  Start with one pound of yukon gold potatoes left whole  (yukon gold history)  in a pot of water large enough to cover them with about 1/2 inch of water (start with cold, please).  Add a half teaspoon of salt and a bay leaf.  Set to boil and cook uncovered until the tip of a knife glides effortlessly through them.  This should take about 18 minutes from the time you turn on the flame.  When they’re tender done drain the water off.  Let them sit in the pot for a few minutes to cool.  When you can handle them cut each one into 1 inch pieces.  No need to be a stickler about shape here.  As you dice them up put them back in the pot.   When all are cut up add 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons chopped parsley, a bit of kosher salt and 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar ( oh heck if all you have is red wine vinegar then that’s okay).  A couple turns of the pepper grinder and its good to go.

Lastly, to round things out I decided to serve it all with a super salad of sauerkraut  (Sonoma Brinery.) and torn leaves of escarole or frisee.  You can use whatever your favorite might be.  And if you don’t have one then now’s the chance to do some research.  Cabbage is your friend.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (498g) Servings Per Container

Amount Per Serving Calories 600    Calories from Fat 290    % Daily Value Total Fat 33 g 51 %  Saturated Fat 9 g 45 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 120 mg 40 %  Sodium 1240 mg 52 %  Total Carbohydrate 37 g 12 %  Dietary Fiber 7 g 28 %  Sugars 4 g    Protein 40 g

Vitamin A   30 %  Vitamin C   80 %  Calcium   8 %  Iron   25 %

Two things that really excite me are exploring farmer’s markets and good cured pork belly.  While these may seem totally non-related it’s the former that quite often provides the inspiration for using the other.  Such it was this past Saturday when I came upon a large mound of spinach a farmer was selling.  These were beautiful small plants cut off at the base so you had these small sprays of arrowhead shaped leaves, crisp and tender.  I grabbed about 6 each.  I think it was under $2 total.

So to round out the Butternut Squash Risotto dinner the other night we put together a salad using the fresh spinach, cubes of smoked bacon and a vinaigrette using some of the rendered fat, olive oil, sherry vinegar and sugar. A classic sweet and sour treatment.  The aroma and flavors resonate back to when I was a teenager in Pennsylvania.

The goal in this dish is to let the ingredients do their thing and get out-of-the-way   Essentially there are only three elements to this salad, the greens, the bacon and a simple dressing.  No need to fancy it up.

A quick rummage in the freezer produced a piece of slab bacon which I sliced 2 ounces into 1 inch x 1/8 inch slabs.  I like a Lardon I can sink my teeth into. First we set the slices into a shallow pan (I use a 6 inch non-stick saute pan) with about  3/4 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  Bring this to a simmer and let it go undisturbed for about 10 minutes.

Keep an eye on them.  Eventually the water will evaporate, the bacon will give off its fat, combine with the olive oil and begin to fry itself.  I find this a super way to build loads of flavor into a dressing or sauce.  The end result is a crisped, cooked bacon and a trove of fat/oil that can be used (or not) for your sauce of dressing.  Its okay if you don’t use all of it.  That’s not the point.   Flavor is the point.  So don’t be shy.Scoop out the bacon and keep warm.  Next we add a 1/4 cup of diced onion ( or shallot), 3 Tablespoons Sherry vinegar, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar and bring to a simmer for 1 minute.  Add a few turns from the black pepper grinder (if don’t have one, get it.  Its one of those kitchen essentials).

Best way to finish this one-off is to have a largish stainless steel bowl.  You can use any large kitchen pot or pan if that’s all you have at the time.  No problem.  Heat up the bowl or pan.  Not too hot.  Add 1/2 of the dressing and warm.  Add the spinach leaves.  Toss, toss, toss.  This is a great time to practice using those new metal tongs you save for the BBQ grill. 

Add a low flame under the bowl to keep it warm.  You just want to keep the whole thing warm but not cook it.

If you need a tad more dressing it’s there so go ahead.  Taste, taste and taste again.

Now without a moment to spare transfer the whole thing to a platter and crown it with the cooked bacon pieces (Lardon ).

Never looked so good.  Now sit down and eat.

Here are the nutrionals:

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (151g) Servings Per Container

Amount Per Serving Calories 340    Calories from Fat 240    % Daily Value Total Fat 27 g 42 %  Saturated Fat 8 g 40 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 55 mg 18 %  Sodium 1240 mg 52 %  Total Carbohydrate 14 g 5 %  Dietary Fiber 4 g 16 %  Sugars 2 g    Protein 16 g   

Vitamin A   50 %  Vitamin C   20 %  Calcium   6 %  Iron   15 % 

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More than once I’ve had teammates and friends quiz me on how risotto is made. The comments generally run from.  ” Seems like its complicated.”, “Doesn’t it take a long time to make?” To ” What kind of rice do you use?”  In response I would say no, no and arborio.

Marcella Hazan, the wonderful Italian cook and cook book author describes risotto as a uniquely Italian technique for cooking rice.  In her book The Classic Italian Cookbook she writes “Risotto can be made with almost any ingredient added to the rice… The variations are inexhaustible.”

There are umpteen jillion recipes for risotto out there in print and on the web.  They pretty much have one thing in common, Arborio rice.  There are several variations on this rice but don’t be put off by packages that read Super Fino, Carnaroli, Vialone Nano.  They all can be used to make this wonderfully creamy, luscious dish.  And it takes no more than 20 minutes from start to finish.  Basic ingredients include the rice, a small amount of diced onion, several tablespoons of good quality olive oil, about 11/2 quarts stock and/or water (both boiling or near so) and a generous blizzard of first rate grating cheese like parmesan or pecorino.

What we’re going to show you here is one version.  Its moving into winter here and so we’re going to use a terrific seasonal ingredient, Butternut Squash.  One squash of about 3 lbs in weight will give you enough squash for two meals, easy. Here we cut off the ends, peel it with a vegetable peeler, scoop out the seeds and pulp then dice or cut into 1/4 inch pieces.  They could be cut larger but you want them to a comfortable bite-size and in proportion to the other indredients in the dish.Ends Trimmed and Halved

Peeled

Seeds and Pulp Scooping

At this point since you have enough squash for several meals you could go ahead and cook it all then either freeze or refrigerate what you don’t use first time round.  You can blanch the squash a couple of ways,  Here we chose to roast the squash in the oven.  You can also braise it.  See the techniques page for how to do it.  Season the squsah with a sprinkling of kosher salt, a thin sliced clove of garlic (it could be grated or minced, doesn’t matter) and 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika.  This is an ingredient you should have around and if you don’t, get some.  Its super stuff for adding depth to sauces, vinaigrettes, marinades, you name it.

Roasting Squash with Garlic and Smoked Paprika

Next we take the diced onion and saute or sweat it in the olive oil over a slow flame for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft.  Don’t brown it whatever you do.  Doesn’t look good, doesn’t taste good in this dish.

Now we add the hot liquid.  Increase the flame as you do this, something close to a medium flame should work.  Just don’t crank it.  You can use chicken stock (home made is the best) or water.  Of course a bit of stock even if its only half the total liquid will give you lots more flavor.  Not to mention the vitamins and minerals in the home made version.

Liquids get added in several stages.  Add roughly 1 1/2 cup of hot liquid at a time, stirring often.  Don’t let it stick to the bottom of the pan.  A little elbow grease and attention here are all you need.  But don’t hover and stir constantly.  There’s no need to.

Its getting creamy now and at this point its about 15 minutes till being done.  The judge is the bite of the rice.  Its similar to pasta in how you call it.  When you add the last of the liquiid add the cooked squash ( or what ever else you might be adding like roasted mushrooms, cooked and pulled chicken).   Stir to mix and let it go until the rice is ready.  Now you’re good to go.  Even if the rest of the meal isn’t all there yet you have a good 5-8 minutes to pull it together.  Just throw a lid on it and pull it off the flame.

 

Now with everything done its plate up time.  Here is the full recipe along with the nutritionals.  Remember that recipes are only guidelines.  And don’t be afraid to play with your food.

Butternut Squash Risotto (enough for 3 servings or 2 with leftovers)

1 cup Arborio Rice

½ cup yellow onion, diced small

2 cups roasted butternut squash (or other hard squash or vegetable of choice)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 quart chicken broth (hot or simmering)

2 cups water (you can use all water or all chicken broth but I like the mix.  Its plenty flavorful and lets the other ingredients shine through) (hot or simmering)

¼ teaspoon kosher salt (you can use sea salt)

4 Tablespoons grated parmesan or pecorino

Heat oil in heavy bottom sauce pan or pot.

Add onion and cook slowly for about 5-8 minutes or until soft.  Do not brown.

Add rice and stir to mix well.

Add stock in 1 ½ cup at a time stirring as you add.  Make sure the mixture is at a good simmer as you go. The rice will absorb liquid as it cooks.  The mixture will soon become creamy in texture which is a good thing.

Continue to add the stock then the water stirring often.

Add the cooked squash or vegetable and stir to mix.  Cook for at least another 5 minutes.  (The whole thing should take around 15 minutes.  Check the grains of rice for doneness by judging if they have a gentle firmness inside as you bite.

When done you can serve immediately or cover and set aside for up to 5 minutes.

Here are the nutrtionals for the dish.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (645g) Servings Per Container

Amount Per Serving Calories 530    Calories from Fat 150    % Daily Value Total Fat 17 g 26 %  Saturated Fat 3.5 g 18 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 15 mg 5 %  Sodium 790 mg 33 %  Total Carbohydrate 79 g 26 %  Dietary Fiber 7 g 28 %  Sugars 9 g    Protein 19 g   

Vitamin A   310 %  Vitamin C   40 %  Calcium   20 %  Iron   10 % 

The well seasoned athlete is about how athletes of all types can learn to be better cook and eat well.  Here you will find tips and instructions on how to shop for ingredients, choose recipes, prepare delicious and healthy foods from scratch.  Emphasis will be on ingredients, technique, affordability and ease of preparation.

Useful advice on how you, the athlete, can live, work, train, compete and eat well.  Without breaking the bank.

Cooking for yourself is way cheaper than eating out.  That includes eating takeout.  Anything you buy and eat that is fully or semi-prepared (think frozen, prepared meals, or any convenience food product from top ramen to hamburger helper) is going to hit your wallet much harder than if you shop for fresh product and prepare it yourself.

We will provide nutritional analysis information for our recipes as a reference point for making sure you, the athlete, have the information you need to fulfil your particular training dietary needs.

Why we’re different. 

Look around and you will find almost no practical information on how to feed, you, the athlete well.  Nutrition searches will yield often vague and at times hard to understand info on what nutrients you should be eating.  Not how to find them, shop for them, arrange them into thoughtful, delicious menus and not how to prepare them, step by step.

Many information sources will offer the same boring info on the skinless piece of chicken unspecified fish species, broiled or sautéed, a sorry excuse for a sauce, some whole grain concoction or pasta badly done.  While it may be food its not what we really want to eat.

Here at the well seasoned athlete we will break it down, give the recipe life, context and the encouragment  to eat well, everyday.