Self-Care Salad
I haven’t written anything here in a few weeks; midterms followed closely by finals have kept me rather busy, and that’s given me a opportunity to think about self-care in the context of the whole monolithic Med School thing.
It’s been so easy to de-prioritize taking care of myself when I can fill every minute with studying for X or reading paper Y or working Z shifts at the clinic. But emphasizing academic performance over my own well-being is not sustainable (nor will it make me a better physician in the long run). So, even though it is finals week I wanted to give myself enough slack to take a moment or two to eat a real meal, write a blog post, and just exist independent of biochemistry and medical microbiology.
A salad was sounding good to me today, since I’ve been looking for ways to increase my vegetable intake while reducing sugar. Noting makes you question your diet quite like learning exactly how the body processes each and every thing you eat… So, I dug up this recipe my mom gave me a while back (thanks ma!), and wanted to share it with you, should you need a momentary respite as well:
Self-Care Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 large handful of greens
- 1 orange, peeled and sectioned
- 1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 package extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch strips
Marinade/Dressing:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1 and 1/2 Tbs honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Dash of cinnamon
- Cayenne powder, to taste
Mix the dressing ingredients together and use approx. 1/2 of the dressing to marinate the tofu. Let rest in the fridge for 30 min. (try not to use this time to cram for a test; relax for a minute or two first). After marinating, sear the tofu in a pan over medium heat, around 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown. While it’s cooking, put greens in a bowl and toss in the onion and orange. After the tofu is cooked and has cooled for a moment, top the salad with a few strips and add a couple spoonfuls of dressing.
Easy, healthy and quick to throw together, this was just the meal I needed today! Enjoy!
