Dear Mark: Food Fatigue Editionby
Mark Sisson Recently by Mark Sisson: 7 Foods You Don’t Need To Buy Organic
First of all, I think we can all agree that Primal food is a solid foundation of taste, nutrition, satiety, density, and volume. When you put a piece of well-cooked grass-fed steak, free of sugary salty soybean oil-infused sauces and unnecessary breading in your mouth, you appreciate that this is how meat was meant to be. When you use fresh vegetables, kale that bites back and asparagus that snaps in your mouth and cooked carrots that manage to be both tender and crispy at once, you know the goodness of produce. And these fill you up, they nourish, they enrich your life. Still, though, we humans possess the ability to perceive and appreciate a nearly infinite range of flavors and textures. Hundreds (if not thousands) of cuisines and flavors beckon, and we should probably entertain their advances. If we don’t, if we eat the same things all the time, we may run into food fatigue. I’m probably a bad example of this, because I’m the type of guy who’d be pretty happy with just ten or so foods for the rest of my life. Still, even I like to change things up now and again. And it seems I’m not alone. This edition of Dear Mark is geared directly to you. Let’s go:
Eggs truly are the perfect breakfast item. They feature high quality protein, animal fat, and, particularly if you have access to real pastured eggs, a micronutrient profile that puts nearly every other food to shame. Plus, eggs also provide a nice dose of cholesterol and choline, two brain-boosting nutrients that you’ll likely put to good use. Oh, sure, you could make the argument for liver or oysters as being more “nutrient-dense,” but who wants to cook up a batch of beef liver every morning? Eggs are simple and easy. But they’re also boring, or so some people believe. Eggs are just eggs. You can scramble them, boil them, make omelets, or fry them, and not much else. Yeah, eggs have become the quintessential breakfast food, which wouldn’t be a problem if we hadn’t backed ourselves into a corner with our preconceived notions of what constitutes breakfast. We need to expand our breakfast horizons. Breakfast needn’t be dominated by over-easy or scrambled eggs seasoned solely with salt and pepper and cooked in butter. I love eggs like that – don’t get me wrong – but some people need variety. I would be loathe to suggest shifting your focus away from eggs for the aforementioned reasons. Instead, come up with some new variations of old favorites: Hard-boiled eggs are handy and hardy, but the yolks can get a little chalky if you let them cook for even a half minute too long. If you’re rushing about trying to get ready for the day, you’re bound to make a mistake and overcook the eggs. The solution here, of course, is not to take up bagel eating or force IF into your life. It’s to try a soft-boiled egg. With a soft-boiled egg, the yolk stays creamy, velvety, runny and the white gets custardy. I cover cold eggs with an inch of water in a pot then bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Upon boiling, shut off the heat and cover the pot. After four minutes (three minutes if you’re starting with room temperature eggs), dump the water. I prefer peeling the eggs under cool running water while they’re still warm, but others say to plunge them in an ice bath. If you’re strapped for time, the cool water is good enough. Lately, I’ve been dusting the eggs with black pepper (lots), sea salt, and turmeric. Far superior to dry hard-boiled eggs (with less oxidation of the cholesterol to boot) and hard to mess up since, if you mess up and go over the time, you end up with pretty good hard-boiled eggs.
Other ideas?
These variations are small and often require no additional prep time, but they really and truly pay off. The resulting dishes taste better, taste different, and are arguably more nutritious than their predecessors. You maintain the ease and nutrition of an egg breakfast without succumbing to monotony. Win win.
Also, don’t limit yourself to the things I suggested. Look around for more suggestions from similar eaters. The point is that eggs are culinary blank slates that happen to be delicious on their own. Feel free to toss in some berries, bacon, sausage, sweet potato, grilled onions, or whatever else strikes your fancy, because everything goes with eggs. I’m serious – name something and I bet it goes with eggs.
First of all, I don’t think you should give up “meat.” It’s an essential part of the human diet, it’s full of highly bioavailable micronutrients, and, well, it’s just really, really good for you. However, I do think we tend to run the risk of forgetting that an animal is so much more than “meat.” A pig is not just belly and loin. A cow is not just ribeye and burger. A chicken is not just breast and wing. There are so many incredibly diverse, delicious, and nutritious parts to an animal that we do ourselves a disservice by sticking to just “meat” – and we can easily find ourselves stuck in a food rut as a result. Listen to Lew's recent podcast with Mark Sisson December 15, 2012 Copyright © 2012 Mark's Daily Apple
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