NOM SAUCE 🤤, the best "fast food," and inspiration to write ✍️

Author

Casey Means
May 28, 2024

Welcome back to the Good Energy Living newsletter!

First, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has ordered Good Energy, shared about it on social media and with their communities, and written a review. Because of your support, Good Energy has become an instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! 🎉 This represents a great moment for metabolic health and personal empowerment. 💪 

One of the best things you can do to help this message and mission reach as many people as possible is write a review on Amazon or Good Reads and help others understand why this book was valuable to you. Thank you 🙌 

Now, let’s get into it. This week’s newsletter includes:

  • 🥑 Good Food: My favorite sauce in the world - NOM Sauce! (Atop an easy salmon burger for a healthy summer meal!)

  • 🔄 Good Swap: My order at Sweetgreen when I need a quick on-the-go meal

  • 🧠 Good Thought: The health benefits of writing and journaling, and why you should start a writing practice ✍️ 

🥑 Good food - “Nom Sauce” on salmon burgers 🤤 

Many of you loved the newsletter that outlined summer grilling swaps, so this week I’m sharing an easy salmon burger recipe (with the MOST AMAZING NOM SAUCE) that you can make in the oven or on the grill. They are perfect for summer. ☀️ 

Many store bought salmon burgers are made with farm-raised salmon, and include seed oils and other additives. I prioritize wild-caught fish because it can have more vitamins, omega-3s, and fewer contaminants than farmed fish.

If you are reading Good Energy, you’ve probably learned that omega-3 fatty acids help tell the cell “you are safe,” and they are essential elements of cell structure, healthy inflammatory pathways, and metabolism. Getting enough omega‑­3s also limits the impact of omega‑­6s, a fatty acid that, in excess, is associated with inflammation. The standard Western diet contains a ratio of as much as 20:1 omega‑­6s to omega‑­3s in the diet when it should be closer to 1:1. The higher ratio is largely due to high consumption of refined seed and vegetable oils (including canola, soybean, vegetable, safflower, sunflower, and corn oils—​­ all high in omega‑­6s) and less consumption of omega‑­3‑­rich whole foods, like wild fatty fish, chia seeds, basil seeds, flax-seeds, and walnuts.

While I generally prioritize wild-caught fish, there are some sustainable aquaculture farmed fish options on the market, like Seatopia, which is working to restore ocean ecosystems through thoughtful regenerative practices. Seatopia fish are raised on a diet rich in microalgae, helping it be rich in essential omega-3s such as EPA and DHA. My friend Courtney Swan has a great podcast episode with the founder of Seatopia here.

Let’s dive into this week’s Good Food recipe, by a friend of mine - Chef Ali Lafayette!

The salmon patties are filled with veggies and micronutrients, and the Nom Sauce is packed with flavor. I put the Nom sauce on EVERYTHING - eggs, salads, burgers, Flackers, you name it.

🍔 🐟️ Healthier Salmon Patties with Nom Sauce by Chef Ali Lafayette

Makes 14 patties

🧑‍🍳 Ingredients

  • ½ medium zucchini

  • ½ medium yellow squash

  • 1 cup spinach or kale

  • 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil

  • 1 lb wild salmon

  • 2 pasture-raised eggs

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp onion powder

  • 1 tbsp finely chopped dill or other fine herbs

  • 1 lemon, juice and zest

  • Salt to taste

🧑‍🍳 Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet tray or baking pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. 

  2. Shred first 3 ingredients using a food processor or small grater.

  3. Shred spinach in food processor or finely chop.

  4. Remove skin from salmon if needed, roughly chop.

  5. Pulse salmon in food processor until it resembles minced or ground meat (If you don’t have a food processor, you can thoroughly chop the salmon until it resembles a mince, but you will ultimately get a better texture with a food processor.)

  6. Add salmon, spinach or kale, and shredded vegetables in a bowl, mix until well combined. 

  7. Add eggs, spices, herbs, zest, and salt until well combined.

    • 🗒️ Note: At this point, you can cook a small test patty in a skillet to check the seasoning.

  8. Form mixture into approximately 2” balls and flatten into ½” inch thick patties

  9. Place patties onto parchment on sheet tray.

  10. Bake for 15-17 minutes until firm to the touch and slightly browned. Let cool 5-8 minutes. 

    • 🗒️ Note: If you prefer your salmon more rare, you can bake for 12-15 minutes, but you want the patties to be firm to the touch and not mushy. The egg needs to be fully cooked.

🍽️ Options for serving:

  • Over a bed of organic greens 🥬 

  • In a butter lettuce wrap as a salmon taco 🌮 

  • On grain free bread (I love this flax bread from Nest Wellness)

  • As a “smoked salmon” alternative on a gluten-free toast with cream cheese, pickled onions, tomato, cucumber, sprouts and NOM sauce (recipe below!) 🥪 

❄️ Storage: Keep in the fridge as a grab-and-go snack for busy mornings/days or freeze.

💡 Tips:

  • If you don’t have time for a proper breakfast or lunch, these are great for a healthy protein and veggie boost en route to work as a quick bite.

  • If you’re getting close to the end of your leftover patties, you can smash them up with some of the NOM SAUCE and eat it with crackers like a dip!

😋🫙 Chef Ali’s Signature NOM Sauce

I LOVE THIS SAUCE! 🤤 

It has fiber (beans!), antioxidants (spices, cilantro, olive oil!), healthy fats (almond meal and olive oil), and FLAVOR!

Makes approx. 24 oz or 1 ½ cups of sauce

🧑‍🍳 Ingredients

  • ½ cup chickpeas (preferably cooked instead of dried, but canned will work just fine)

  • ½ cup almond meal (or almond flour if you don’t have almond meal)

  • ¼ cup lemon juice

  • ¼ cup olive oil

  • ¼ cup water

  • ¼ to ½ cup nutritional yeast (or according to preference - Ali likes to go heavy on the yeast!)

  • 1 tbsp curry powder

  • ¼ cup cilantro

  • Salt to taste

  • Water and olive oil to thin

🧑‍🍳 Instructions

  1. Place chickpeas, almond meal, lemon juice, oil, and water into a food processor or blender. Process until fairly smooth, add additional water if needed. 

  2. Add yeast, curry powder, cilantro, and salt. Process or blend until smooth, adding additional water and oil alternatively until sauce reaches desired thickness and consistency. If using a food processor, you may need to run it through a blender to get it super smooth.

If you make it, I’d love to see! Tag me on Instagram @drcaseyskitchen and Ali at @healthysexystrong.

🔗 Download the recipe as a PDF here.

🔄 Good swap - Sweetgreen over other fast food spots

Note: I have no financial relationship with Sweetgreen, I am just a huge fan because they are committed to scaling healthy food options.

The questions to ask when picking a fast casual food spot include:

1️⃣ Can I build a metabolically healthy meal there? To me, a metabolically healthy meal (a Good Energy meal!) means no refined grains, no added refined sugars, and no seed oils. It also means it includes (at a bare minimum) a healthy protein source, lots of micronutrients and antioxidants, and fiber. As an added bonus, it should also include probiotics and omega-3 fats! At many places you can make substitutions or modifications to hit most of these Good Energy points!

2️⃣ What is the ingredient sourcing? I prioritize regenerative and organic (read about regenerative agriculture, here), but also look for brands that are committed to non-GMO and local sourcing. 

3️⃣ Is the food cooked in seed oils? Do the salad dressings contain seed oils like sunflower oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, safflower oil, or corn oil? If you are looking for a 90 second explanation on seed oils, check out this clip from my podcast with Organic Olivia.

I’m a big fan of Sweetgreen because the answers to the 3 questions above are YES, and because:

  • They support farmers and producers who participate in regenerative practices. 🧑‍🌾 

  • As of October 2023 they cook ALL of their protein, veggies and grains in extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. 🧑‍🍳 

  • Many of their salad dressings/toppings are seed oil free - these are the ones that use olive oil 👇️ 

    • Red Wine Vinaigrette

    • Sweetgreen Hot Sauce

    • Extra Virgin Olive Oil

    • Balsamic Vinegar

    • Lemon Squeeze

    • Lime Squeeze

    • Crushed Red Pepper 

  • They are committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2027 ♻️ 

  • Their salads are DELICIOUS! 🥗 

The launch of Good Energy coincided with the launch of their grass-fed, grass-finished steak which meant that my team and I ate at Sweetgreen multiple times when we were in New York, and we absolutely LOVED the steak.

What does it mean to be grass-fed, and grass-finished? This means that the cow spent its entire life grazing on grass, just as nature intended. This makes the steak high quality, nutrient dense and flavorful, and it’s also one of the gentlest ways to raise cattle while also supporting soil health. 🐄💩 

Levels has a great blog article on how to order a metabolically healthy meal at Sweetgreen. My go to Sweetgreen order includes:

  • 🥬 Base: Half mixed greens and half kale

  • 🥑 Toppings: Chickpeas, broccoli, cucumbers, purple cabbage, avocado, chopped apples, roasted sweet potatoes, and almonds 

  • 🥩 Protein: Grass-fed grass-finished steak

  • 🍶 Dressing: Red wine vinaigrette

Check out how Sweetgreen stacks up against other popular fast-casual options, and if you live near the 1,000+ Sweetgreen locations in the United States, consider swapping out your fast-casual option (Chick-fil-A, Panera, Chipotle, etc) with a visit to Sweetgreen.

How to interpret the chart:

  • 💚 Green: Uses primarily organic ingredients, sourced with local growers and suppliers

  • 🟡 Yellow: Meat without antibiotics and no added hormones, some ingredients are organic, seed oil free options are available

  • ❌ Red: Not organic and ingredients rely on primarily conventional farming practices and use seed oils

Note: Shake Shack uses beef that does not have added hormones or antibiotics, but is not organic.

Here is the list of sources if you want to check them out:

I am hopeful that other restaurants will follow Sweetgreen’s leadership.

🧠 Good thought - The power of writing - even if you don’t want to write a book! ✍️ 

❝

my heart woke me crying last night

how can i help i begged

my heart said

write the book

- Rupi Kaur

This is a poem I mentioned in a unique podcast episode with Levels on the the behind the scenes process of writing Good Energy. If you’re interested in the process and timeline of writing a book, check out this episode!

I have had this short poem from Rupi Kaur taped to my computer monitor for the last several years as I have become increasingly concerned about the massive (and lethal) blindspot of our healthcare system to metabolic health and the connected root causes of so many of the diseases ailing us in the modern world. Over the years, my heart has been crying louder and louder: write the book!

But the beliefs that ultimate led to the siren call within me to write Good Energy didn’t emerge overnight… they emerged out of twenty years of regularly writing in my journals, and in particular from writing about the experiences I’ve had interacting with so many parts of the healthcare system over the past 20 years. I believe that the habit of writing has more compounding interest than almost any other act. Small regular investments pay outsized dividends over time: these investments help rapidly synthesize, advance, and evolve our thoughts and perspectives while also protecting against the loss of rich life details that could be extremely valuable to us in the future.

It’s also, oddly enough, an efficient use of time: writing something down means its memorialized and you don’t have to spend time in the future trying to remember what you thought or the details of a valuable memory. So much of Good Energy stems directly from journal entries from my time as a surgical trainee, from the time around the death of my mother, and my time as a medical student. I had no idea at the time that those scribbles would turn into a book. (As a Swiftie, I also have always been inspired by how Taylor Swift credits her success in the music industry to her lifetime habit of journaling).

More than synthesis, writing is a release so that what is inside of us can get outside of us, and in this way I think it is a key part of our health journey. I believe that fully expressing our authentic, integrated selves in healthy ways is key to our maximal health. Fear can limit us from fully and authentically expressing ourselves and fear can also distort mitochondrial function (chapter 9 of my book - entitled Fearlessness - is devoted to this topic). We are wired to be afraid of banishment from the tribe so we often hide our thoughts. Our journey to health in part is overcoming these fears. Writing can dramatically help with this. It’s a lever of flow.

Don’t just take my word for it, there are tons of studies that show writing for as little as 15 minutes can lead to improvements in mental and physical health. One study found that students who were prompted to write once a week about an upsetting experience, had less intrusive thoughts and noted feelings of positive growth. 

In Good Energy, I mention writing as one of the main tools for overcoming chronic fear. This excerpt from the book says:

Gratitude journaling is a powerful catalyst for positive change in our lives and in the world.

So whether you are writing to process an upsetting experience, writing as a form of a gratitude practice, or just writing for the sake of self-expression and exploration, my biggest advice is to just write. It’s never too late to start and there is NO right way to do it.

There are challenges, of course. The research tells us that, given the opportunity, we interrupt ourselves on average every 3 minutes. One of the best ways I find to not fall prey to this “distraction industrial complex” that milks our attention for profit is to set a timer for any period of time, perhaps even starting with just 10 minutes, lock your phone up in a K-safe, and just write. See what wants to come through you!

If this feels hard to do, jump on FocusMate and get some accountability for your writing habit! I used FocusMate all the time while writing my book. To stay accountable to writing, I’ve done a slew of structured activities over the years post-college that I recommend, things like: Weekend and or multi-week writing courses and retreats (I’ve done these through Stanford’s Medical Humanities Writing Program and also Portland Literary Arts), writing clubs (there are many on websites like Meetup), or simply sitting with friends and writing. Google around for local literary organizations and groups.

📚️ If you are looking for more inspiration, I’d recommend reading any of these 4 incredible books about writing and creativity:

When I was writing Good Energy, I listened to these books on Audible in the mornings as I was preparing breakfast and taking a morning walk and it helped inspire me for the day.

Get started, today - set a timer for 10-minutes! You never know what will emerge.

With good energy 💓 

Dr. Casey

👀 In Case You Missed It

💬 Live Q&A with Commune on June 11th

Have any questions for me about metabolic health and Good Energy? Join me on June 11th for a live Q&A session where I answer questions about Good Energy and my course with Commune, “Optimize Your Metabolism” (Note: Taking the course is not required to attend the Q&A).

Commune will be collecting questions until June 7th 12PM PT. To RSVP and submit your questions, click here.

🗞️ Good Energy in Dear Melissa and Friends

I had chat with Whole30 CEO and good friend Melissa Urban where I broke down buzzwords like “metabolism” and “inflammation” in truly accessible ways, offered practical, actionable tips to improve your energy, sleep, and hormonal balance; and reduce your risk for chronic disease. Read the full issue here.

📚️ New book alert!

My dear friend Dr. Robert Lufkin is releasing his latest book Lies I Taught in Medical School on June 4th. The book is based on Dr. Lufkin’s experience as a full professor at both UCLA and USC medical schools. It is a riveting, cautionary tale of how medicine has gotten things so wrong (and continues to) in several key areas in the US healthcare system. Read this book to get detailed instructions on how to keep these errors from ruining your health today. Pre-order here.

My lovely friends Kimberly Snyder and Jon Bier just launched their newest children’s book Chilla Gorilla & Lanky Lemur: Journey to the Heart! This is an endearing adventure that helps everyone navigate big feelings while discovering inner peace and become more heart centered. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Order your copy here for yourself and your kids!!

My wonderful friend Dr. Elisa Song recently released her new book Healthy Kids, Happy Kids: An Integrative Pediatrician's Guide to Whole Child Resilience. In this groundbreaking, evidence-based guide to raising healthy kids in our modern world, Dr. Song bridges the gap between conventional and holistic pediatrics and delivers a clear roadmap to help kids thrive. Order your copy here.

🎙️ New podcasts!

Check out these new podcasts from the past few weeks where I talk about Good Energy and all things metabolic health:

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