Darya Pino

Summer Tomato named one of TIME Magazine's 50 Best Websites of 2011

Darya — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:22:09 +0000

I'm completely blown away by this.

Thank you TIME Magazine for including me in this list of rockstar websites. I'm honored and delighted to see healthy eating starting to get some recognition from the cool kids.

xoxox

Darya

Sex for your mouth (aka my appearance on Epic Meal Time)

Darya — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:16:09 +0000

Last week I made a guest appearance on the grossly unhealthy show Epic Meal Time. Somehow the space-time continuum is intact.

Enjoy!

Geek alert: My thesis work on neural stem cell development is now published

Darya — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:11:44 +0000

I just happened to be browsing on Pubmed and noticed that my latest paper is finally published. It's super geeky stuff about the molecular control of neural stem cell development in the olfactory bulb, but a lot of you have asked to see my work so here it is.

You super geeks are extra lucky that you can view the entire manuscript for free. Check it out here.

And if you're wondering how on earth I survived working on something so technical and tedious for six solid years, I can assure you I'm wondering exactly the same thing.

Enjoy!

What do roosters do exactly?

Darya — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:57:23 +0000

This came out a few weeks ago, but it's still worth sharing.

The clip is of my boyfriend Kevin and co-host Alex on their podcast Diggnation. Apparently no one in the room knew the exact function of roosters in relation to egg laying, so they decided to call me and ask.

Please note: this contains potty-mouth language and is not intended for those with delicate sensibilities.

Protip: Hens can lay both fertilized (with rooster) and unfertilized (sans rooster) eggs.

Chillin' with Jamie Oliver at Bar Jules

Darya — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:44:50 +0000

Jamie Oliver and Darya Pino at Bar Jules

Last night I unexpectedly ended up at a dinner with Jamie Oliver. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, meeting up with good friends at my favorite restaurant is not exactly unusual. But I was certainly honored to share a table with someone doing such amazing work--spreading the message about real food and real health. Keep fighting the good fight Jamie :)

Huge thanks to Chris Sacca for the invite and for snapping this photo.

Toaster eats artichoke like a human

Darya — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 03:38:03 +0000

This was cracking us up. Our little foodie puppy @toasterpup tried his first artichoke tonight, and instinctively knew to scrape it with his teeth.

Amazing.

I'm kind of a big deal (and more on new the dietary guidelines)

Darya — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:55:02 +0000

This morning I put on my best Veronica Corningstone and made an appearance on News Nation on MSNBC. They called me yesterday and asked if I could make a comment on the new USDA Dietary Guidelines that were to be announced this morning. I jumped at the opportunity, and was looking forward to skewering the government for putting the US Dept of Agriculture (industry lobbyists) in charge of our dietary guidelines instead of the more appropriate FDA or HHS (public health advocates).

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find the new guidelines are a huge improvement over the last set issued in 2005. I cheerily sent MSNBC my revised talking points and headed down to the studio.

I guess they didn't get the message, however, because the segment was focused almost entirely on salt reduction--something I don't find particularly interesting. Needless to say I was not prepared to answer why the FDA singled out African-Americans to reduce salt intake. I apologize for my bumbling non-answer.

The show was still fun though. My favorite part being when anchor Tamron Hall exclaimed, "I don't remember the last time I ate a vegetable!"

Yikes.

Since I didn't get to make my points on air, I've included my thoughts on the new guidelines below. As noted above, I'm most impressed that the guidelines for the first time emphasize health over lobbying efforts. We still haven't seen the revised Food Pyramid (coming in a couple months), but this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Highlights from the USDA Dietary Guidelines 2010

For the first time they prominently focus on the obesity epidemic and the population's need to lose weight. Emphasis on EATING LESS unhealthy foods.
Eat less: "solid fats" aka saturated and trans fats, sugar, salt and refined grains. This is unfortunately a little cryptic.
Translation: Eat less junk and processed foods
Drink water instead of sugary drinks. Yes!
Eat more nutrient dense foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lowfat dairy, seafood, lean meats/poultry, beans, nuts & seeds. Agreed! Though I consider dairy optional.
I'm happy they emphasized eating more whole foods, not just nutrients.
"Half your plate should be vegetables." Woohoo!
Good emphasis on replacing less healthy choices with healthier ones (e.g "solid fats" with healthy oils, refined grains with whole grains, meat with seafood)
Emphasis on physical activity is good, though this has very little impact on energy balance since even strenuous exercise burns relatively few calories.
Generally a huge improvement, now the challenge is to make the message clear to the public.

The entire segment is in the video above. Can you tell I tried to dress like a grown up?

My January detox plan

Darya — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:46:36 +0000

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions, but I do want to start 2011 off on the right foot.

After a season (err, year?) of too much partying, eating and drinking, I'm ready to cut out all the crap and get my healthstyle back on track.

These aren't resolutions and this is not a diet. But this is my plan to give my health a little kick in the ass for January. Because I'm worth it.

For the rest of the month* this will be my plan:

1) No sugar. I'm not breaking this one, there's no reason I can't go 4 lousy weeks without dessert.

2) No alcohol. This will be the hardest to keep, but even on the few inevitable exception days* I don't plan on going nuts.

3) Eat most meals at home. Restaurant food is rich, and has been my biggest problem for the past 12 months (not eating out is much easier when you're a single grad student living in SF--you just can't afford it). When I cook at home my meals are both healthy and delicious, so this is not a sacrifice. It just requires dedication.

4) Gym 5-6 days per week. Working out is a joy when you've been taking good care of yourself. I want to feel fit and strong by the end of the month.

5) Practice meditation 3-5 days per week. I'm new to meditation, but have found it is very helpful in two key aspects of my life. First, mindfulness is half the battle in healthy eating. Mediation is great for helping eat mindfully so you can slow down, eat less and truly appreciate your food. Second, all my life I've struggled with insomnia. Meditation is by far the most effective way I've found to fall peacefully asleep without medication. I use the guided meditation CDs by Jon Kabat-Zinn. I highly recommend them.

I like to keep it simple, so that's it.

Who's with me?

*I do have a few scheduled exception days--not having beer when going to see the Lakers demolish the Warriors is an impossibility

How I got Kevin Rose to like eggplant

Darya — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:11:37 +0000

Thai eggplant

Eggplant isn't easy to love. It's often slimy, frequently bitter and can be heartbreakingly flavorless. But it sometimes just takes one great experience to make us reconsider.

My boyfriend, while always a good sport about it, has made it pretty clear that eggplant is not his favorite food. He says it's a texture thing. So I've avoided cooking it for most of the season until I knew I could do something special with it.

That chance came this past weekend when I found a bunch of delicious Thai ingredients at the farmers market. I have a Thai eggplant dish up my sleeve that is pretty spectacular, and one of its features is that the eggplant is pan fried in light oil, so doesn't get very slimy.

I usually make this dish with Thai basil, but that is no longer in season so I used fresh mojito mint and cilantro instead.

I served the eggplant with some brown rice and it was a huge success. If you prefer, it's even better served with rice noodles.

"I can honestly say this is the best eggplant I've ever had in my life." -Kevin Rose

Darya's Thai eggplant

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
1 small stalk lemongrass, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 Thai chilies, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 Japanese eggplants
1 bunch fresh mint, leaves plucked
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Fresh lime slices
2 tbsp tea oil (coconut or olive oils also work)
Brown rice or cooked rice noodles

First, slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and cut into half inch pieces. Sprinkle generously with kosher or sea salt and let sit while preparing other ingredients.

Heat oil in a pan until hot, add onions and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add ginger, lemongrass, garlic, chilies and stir one minute. Add fish sauce and cook another 30 seconds. Add eggplant and stir.

Arrange eggplant in single layer in pan and cook until evenly browned, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. If the pan begins to get too dry, you can add another dash of oil, fish sauce or even soy sauce. When the eggplant is almost done, add the mint (or basil) and rice noodles if you're using them and cook until eggplant is done.

Remove pan from heat and stir in cilantro and squeeze on juice from 1/4 lime. Use the rest of the lime wedges and a few cilantro strands as garnish. Serve and enjoy.

Pairs great with Corona beer or dry white wines such as viognier.

Mediocre pho at My Father's Kitchen

Darya — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:09:49 +0000

Mediocre pho

Pho is one of my favorite foods on earth, and I've been actively searching for the perfect bowl for years. I've had a few decent versions here and there, but never anything remarkable or consistently good.

I've always believed SF could do better.

So you can imagine how excited I was to see that San Francisco Chronicle food critic, Michael Bauer, had recently been to Vietnam and dubbed My Father's Kitchen the best pho replicate in SF.

I finally made it out there tonight, but to say I was disappointed would be a tremendous understatement.

The spring rolls were bland, as was the creamy peanut sauce that accompanied them (I added fish sauce and Sriracha to make them edible).

The noodles in the pho were alright--no clumps and not falling apart--but the broth had almost no spice or flavor. Even after adding lemon, jalepeno, fish sauce, vinegar and Sriracha, the soup was still barely worth eating. I even stole some cilantro off another dish to help it out, but to little avail.

So I'm a bit disappointed in both the restaurant and the critic, and am still looking for perfect pho.