FOOD

Lessis More

Applying creativity to restricted diets fuels Duane Sunwold’s culinary artistry

STORY BY CARRIE SCOZZARO PHOTOS BY YOUNG KWAK

As an instructor at Spokane Community College’s Inland Northwest Culinary Academy, Duane Sunwold thought he was healthy enough, although tired. But his fatigue, followed by a horrific migraine and extreme facial swelling was actually his body declining into kidney failure.

“I always call it my midlife crisis,” says Sunwold, who 20 years ago was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

His doctor prescribed medication, and while restricting salt was an obvious countermeasure, an SCC co-worker and registered dietician, Erin Clason, suggested he switch to a plant-based diet.

“When you eat any kind of protein,” Sunwold explains, “kidneys actually swell, which is hyperfiltration.” Animal protein is harder for kidneys to process, he adds, so eliminating beef, chicken, pork, etc. from his diet enabled him to get back on his feet more quickly.

Since his diagnosis, Sunwold has turned his experience into teachable moments for his students at both SCC and North Idaho College’s culinary programs.

His candor about his condition, says Sunwold, “teaches the students that when you get special requests in a restaurant, it’s not just making your life annoying; there’s a reason these people have to eat this way.”

Sunwold hopes it also models the relationship between food and health. An astonishing one in three adults are at risk of developing kidney disease. Even worse, 90 percent of those with CKD don’t even know they have it.

Among the warning signs of CKD are fatigue, difficulty sleeping, swollen ankles, frequent urination and “foamy” urine.

“So my joke is I can blow bubbles at the urinal,” says Sunwold, who has given numerous presentations to the health care community, including a 2013 TEDx talk.

Sunwold was determined to help others with CKD continue to enjoy eating delicious food, and so he reached out to Tony Reed, a former SCC student who is now Spiceology’s senior director of innovation and partnerships.

“I had always wanted to do some saltfree herb blends,” explains Sunwold, who connected Spokane-based Spiceology to the National Kidney Foundation, which did a survey of kidney patients to see what flavors they would like.

The result: Spiceology developed 16 salt-free blends with names like Loaded Baked Taters, Really Ranch, and Pizza Pie. Sunwold’s recipe for roasted veggie pasta salad utilizes Spiceology’s Salt-Free Fryless Chicken blend.

Kidney patients’ No. 1 complaint is diet, says Sunwold. “And until I came on board, I don’t think anyone has — no one from the culinary field — has ever worked in this arena. So it was the first time where it’s like, ‘Why can’t we give patients flavor?’”

Flavorful food helps him stay motivated, says Sunwold, whose CKD is in remission, due in part to his lifestyle changes.

“I have to remember my kidneys are on crutches and I have to stay on this diet,” he says.

Rather than feel constrained or disappointed, Sunwold is appreciative of his CKD. Not only has he learned a lot, he says, he’s had to be better organized in his home kitchen and more creative in general.

“It’s made me a better cook.” Recipe on next page

YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

TRY IT YOURSELF

Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad

Duane Sunwold adds verve to vegetables in this recipe that can be easily adapted for any kind of pasta. Or skip the pasta and put these delicious roasted vegetables over pizza or polenta or serve as a nutritious, low-salt side all on their own.

DRESSING

• 2 cloves garlic, minced • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard • 6 tablespoons lemon juice • 6 tablespoons olive oil • 1¼ teaspoons Spiceology Fryless Chicken Seasoning

VEGETABLES

• 2 medium zucchini, sliced • 1 head of fennel, sliced • 8 button mushrooms, quartered • 1 red onion, cut in ½ and then sliced • 4 Roma tomatoes, diced

• 8 ounces uncooked curly pasta, e.g. rotini or radiatori

GARNISH

• 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, shredded • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme • 1 teaspoon fresh oregano • 2 cups fresh shredded spinach

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine dressing ingredients in a nonreactive bowl and set aside. 2. Place all the vegetables in a large, nonreactive mixing bowl and pour ⅓ cup of dressing over the vegetables. Stir to coat. Let the vegetables marinate while you cook the pasta and heat up the grill. 3. Cook the pasta in boiling, unsalted water until the pasta is just tender. Drain the pasta and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process.

Set aside to continue draining. 4. Cook your vegetables. a. If using a grill to cook your vegetables: preheat to 400 degrees, oil the grill basket and allow it to heat up with the grill. Cook vegetables until they turn golden brown, stirring every 4-5 minutes to encourage even browning. b. If using the oven to cook your vegetables: oil two baking sheets and spread vegetables evenly in a single layer. Roast at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes until the vegetables brown evenly. 5. Pour grilled vegetables over the top of the pasta. Add the remaining dressing, garnish with fresh herbs and shredded spinach, toss and serve.

Makes eight, 1-cup servings.

— RECIPE COURTESY OF DUANE SUNWOLD, Assistant Professor, North Idaho College; Hospitality Instructor, Spokane Community College

a feast of gratitude

thank you Spokane for giving us the opportunity to be part of your celebrations

2021

BEST CATERER

A Love of Growing The owners of Colter’s Creek revived a nearly defunct vineyard and now share the fruits of their labor with a new generation BY LEANN BJERKEN

Colter’s Creek’s main vineyard is this hillside near the Potlatch River; founders Melissa

Sanders and Mike Pearson share a love of chemistry and wine. MIKE BEISER PHOTOS today for wine.” While they waited for the older vines to recover and the newly planted vines to mature and start producing grapes, the couple decided to create a first vintage using grapes from various other Northwest vineyards. “For that first vintage in 2008 we used grapes from other vineyards in the Lewis and Clark Valley, the Snake River Valley, and some from Washington,” she says.

Melissa Sanborn and her husband, Mike Pearson, have combined their mutual love of growing things and drinking wine into a fruitful business.

“Being in the vineyard and growing the grape that people will eventually enjoy in their glass is really rewarding,” says Sanborn. “I don’t think either of us would do this if we couldn’t have a hand in growing the grapes we use.”

Born and raised in Spokane, Sanborn moved to Moscow in 2001. It was there that she met Pearson, an electrical engineer turned chemist and founder of Anatek Labs, a full service environmental analytical testing laboratory.

“My bachelor’s degree was in chemistry, so we had a shared interest there,” she says. “We discovered we also shared an interest in wine when I decided to return to school to study wine science through WSU’s food science program.”

Sanborn says the couple soon learned about the Lewis and Clark Valley, and not long after that their thoughts turned to starting their own winery there.

“The Lewis and Clark Valley was one of the Northwest’s first grape-growing regions up until Prohibition wiped everything out,” she says. “It was also close to Moscow and Mike’s business.”

She says that on their first venture out exploring properties along the Clearwater River in 2007, the two noticed an abandoned vineyard with a for sale sign.

The site had been planted in the 1980s by property owner Larry Spencer, with 5 acres of chardonnay, white riesling, and rkatsiteli, an Eastern European white grape. In the 1990s then-new owners Larry Kornze and Sherman Stapleton expanded that to include three additional acres of Bordeaux grapes including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot.

It was a striking opportunity. “We got in touch with the Realtor, and everything just kind of fell into place,” Sanborn says. “When we bought the property, there were about 7 acres of vines still alive. Thankfully we were able to revive those and are still using them Over the next few years, the pair continued planting and grew the vineyard into what is now a 30-acre production site, located at the confluence of the Clearwater and Potlatch Rivers.

“We produce about 5,000 cases of wine each year, so we’re still pretty small,” she says. “We don’t use big tanks, because we don’t produce that much.”

While most wineries are segmented, with cold storage in one room or building and production, equipment storage, barrel room or cellar in separate areas, Sanborn says Colter’s Creek is more compartmentalized.

“Our production room is the main and largest part of the facility, at about 5,000 square feet,” she says. “Our cellar is built underground to utilize natural ground cooling for bulk wine in barrels, our warehouse is chilled to house case goods, and our crush pad is outside as it doesn’t need heating or cooling.”

Sanborn describes production at Colter’s Creek as quite traditional. “Our vineyard is laid out pretty steeply, which makes it neces-

sary to hand-pick the grapes,” she says. “We use automation where we can, but we also do a lot of things by hand.”

She says the winery employs 10 key employees, plus part-time and seasonal workers.

“Both myself and Mike are involved in administration, but he oversees the vineyard and fixing anything that breaks down, as well as overseeing the winery and staff,” she says. “And we have great employees who handle the sales and marketing, as well as events.”

Sanborn says the two biggest factors that set Colter’s Creek apart from other wineries are its location and its traditional approach to production.

“Not only are we one of only 60-some Idaho wineries, but we’re one of the few located in the Lewis and Clark Valley,” she says. “And the fact that we plant, grow, produce, bottle, age and sell everything ourselves is something special. As the industry evolves it’s rare to see a winery that’s not outsourcing in some way.”

In addition to its Potlatch production site, Colter’s Creek has two tasting rooms, both of which are situated in historic buildings that have been remodeled. The first, a former pharmacy in Juliaetta, Idaho, houses a tasting room and restaurant that opened in 2012.

The second, a tasting room and wine bar that opened in 2018, occupies the first floor of Moscow’s historic Hattabaugh building. The building’s upper floor, which previously housed apartments, was remodeled into a boutique hotel space in 2021.

“People are always looking for neat, fun spaces to stay, and it offered a good connection to our tasting room there too,” says Sanborn.

Colter’s Creek has 17 grape varietals growing in its vineyards, 15 percent of which are white, with the remaining 85 percent being red varieties.

“We’re working to get more white varietals into production, because there seems to be an increased interest in white wines,” says Sanborn. “Because of our size, the types of wine we produce vary each year depending on the vintage.”

She says the rosé and syrah are among the winery’s most popular bottles.

“The rosés are popular because we only make a couple each year, and we don’t make a lot of it,” she says. “Idaho in general is pretty well known for syrah, and ours are no exception.”

When it comes to pairings, Sanborn recommends pairing the syrah with lamb chops, while the cabernet franc or cabernet sauvignon shine when paired with meats or even pizza.

“In the late summer I also enjoy pairing our rosé with anything tomato based — your fresh salads, bruschetta, etc.,” she says.

Sanborn says what she most enjoys about being a winemaker is growing and tasting different wines from all over the world.

“I love drinking different wines and picking new varietals that we can possibly grow and produce here,” she says. “There are so many wine grapes I don’t know about yet, and we’re always discovering more.”

In fact, Sanborn says the winery is already experimenting with a few different varietals, and this year will be its first year working with a white grape called friulano.

“It’s another unique, Italian varietal that’s not widely planted in the U.S., so it will be fun to see how well it grows here,” she says.

FOUR NORTHWEST TASTING ROOMS FEATURING FULL BISTRO MENUS TO ENHANCE YOUR WINE TASTING EXPERIENCE

JOIN US FOR LIVE MUSIC

AT THE SPOKANE TASTING ROOM SUN SUNDAYS 4-6PM

SPOKANE’S “BEST OF” WINE TASTING ROOM 4 YEARS IN A ROW

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF PREMIUM WINE, CONCERTS & COMMUNITY

PICNICS ARE BACK AT ARBOR CREST! PICNICS ARE BACK AT ARBOR CREST!

We want to extend a big THANK YOU to our community for helping us keep the wine flowing! We are now welcoming back picnics at the Estate! This means you are welcome to bring in your own food during concerts and daytime visits. From Our Family to Yours, Cheers Spokane!

SPOKANE’S PREMIER SUMMER CONCERTS SPOKANE’S PREMIER SUMMER CONCERTS

AGES 21+ ONLY TICKETS ON SALE AT ARBORCREST.COM