In the Kitchen with … Marilyn Trail

Ice cream wasn’t easy. From time to time, Marilyn Trail still indulges in the creamy treat, even though it’s not part of Steven Gundry’s protocol.

Flour is also forbidden. Tortillas are out. Oats, corn, quinoa, barley, buckwheat, brown rice, pasta, cereal – even grain-fed fish, poultry and other meats – top the do-not-eat list.

They were even more difficult to ditch than ice cream.

“What I crave is what I grew up on,” said Trail, who was raised on a wheat farm outside Moscow and now splits her time between Palm Springs and her lakeside cabin outside of Worley. “Bread was the hardest to give up.”

For the past five years, the snowbird has been adhering to “Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution,” a three-phase plan that aims to curb carbs, sugar and lectin-rich foods such as beans, lentils and potatoes. Since grains are a no-go, Trail uses lettuce to encase her Salmon Salad Wraps.

Salmon is a staple in Trail’s diet, made up of protein, vegetables and good fats. Whether she uses fresh, frozen or canned fish, it must be wild-caught.

Trail doctors it up with herbs and vegetables, a splash of rice vinegar, sweet pickle relish and mustard.

“The capers and the onions and the celery make a really nice balance of savory and salty and sweet,” she said. “I usually have some of it in the refrigerator. I just love it, and everybody who comes to eat loves it.”

Romaine and butter lettuce are her preferred leaves. Sometimes, she adds fresh herbs, which she grows on the deck of her cabin overlooking the southern end of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Variations include horseradish, parsley, celery leaves, cilantro or “anything chopped up small enough that you like. You could put hard-boiled eggs,” said Trail, who describes her Salmon Salad Wraps as “healthy and delicious.”

Something else she loves about it: “It comes together quickly.”

Trail first learned of “Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution” from friends in Palm Springs who were on the program and were pleased with the results. She went to hear him speak, then made an appointment. Now, he’s her doctor.

“Changing what you eat really matters,” said Trail, who turns 79 in April and weighed around 200 pounds and wore size 20 pants at her heaviest.

Now, “I wear a 10 or a 12,” she said. “I like being lighter because I feel younger. I feel stronger.”

Trail dropped about 40 pounds on Gundry’s diet. The weight’s come off slowly, but – for the most part – it’s stayed off.

And that’s what Gundry intended. “Weight off slow, you’re good to go,” is one of the Gundry-isms in his book and on his website at drgundry.com. Another is: “Weight off fast won’t last.”

Two more: “If you eat ‘dark green,’ you will become lean,” and “If you eat fake fats, you’ll get heart attacks.”

According to his plan, avocados, olives, wild-caught seafood, leafy greens, mushrooms and raw beets are good. Melons and squashes of any kind are not. Goat, sheep and buffalo cheeses are OK, but not cow’s milk. Meat must be grass-fed. Red wine and dark chocolate – as long as it’s at least 72 percent – are allowed.

That was a selling point for Trail.

“I can have coffee, wine and chocolate,” she said. And, “If I can have these things, I can do it. You have to feel like you’re not denying yourself.”

Her roots trace to wheat fields surrounding Moscow and Fairfield, where her great-grandfather, Martin Walser, settled in the 1890s. He became a grain merchant – buying, selling and shipping grain, mostly wheat – before opening a general store on Main Street in Fairfield. In 1910, he moved his Pioneer Store to Worley.

Trail attended boarding school in Walla Walla, returning in summer to the family farm. She graduated from Vassar College in 1958, then moved to San Francisco, Portland, Bainbridge Island and Spokane. She got married, earned a master’s degree in psychology, had two children, divorced, remarried and was widowed. The lakeside cabin has been in her second husband’s family since the 1940s.

Her Salmon Salad Wraps make for light and refreshing lunches by the lake, before or after hiking, kayaking or swimming.

“I was trying to get creative about making things really good and quick and easy – and still be part of the food plan,” she said. “It’s not an easy diet. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a different way to eat.”

Salmon Salad Wraps

From Marilyn Trail of Worley

Three (7-ounce) cans of wild salmon, drained

1/2 cup mayonnaise or vegan mayo (Trail likes Veganaise)

1/2 cup sweet pickle relish

3 tablespoons capers

1/4 cup minced red onion

1/2 cup chopped celery pieces

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Romaine or butter lettuce leaves, for serving

Mash salmon in a medium mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Stir thoroughly. Wrap mixture in lettuce leaves and serve.