The government has made an effort to let us know what we should be eating on a daily basis by creating the Food Pyramid. Rather ironic, wouldn’t you say? Here we are at the top of the food chain and we’re the only animals in need of eating instructions.

And in light of more and more evidence of poor decisions made by our elected officials, maybe we should educate ourselves and figure out what we should eat on our own.

Okay, having said that, I’m going to throw my two cent’s worth into the mix. More irony, you say? I suppose so, but at this point, there’s an overload of complex and confusing information from too many sources. It’s time to slow down and rethink things. We all have to eat, why is it so confusing to choose a healthy diet? Why are we so obsessed with food and yet so unhealthy as a culture? Part of the problem is too many choices in a world of food politics and an industry worth billions of dollars a year — in the United States alone. That can make eating complicated and even stressful.

It doesn’t have to be.

Here are a few tips for healthy eating and a simple recipe for snacking.

1. Eat whole, fresh food (preferably organic).
2. Make whole plant sources, especially vegetables, legumes, and fruit your foundation. You can even eat veggies for breakfast — it’s okay, trust me. Use gluten-free whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and teff.
3. For the most part, choose foods you can hold in your hands and wash. Can you wash a box of Kraft mac and cheese or a package of ding dongs? You can wash a tomato and you can rinse brown rice. See how easy that is?
4. Don’t eat food that never spoils. Remember my HFCS post? The pink snowballs and the chocolate hockey pucks? As I mentioned, I’ve had those on my closet shelf for over a year. If it doesn’t rot, it’s not food.
5. If animals, insects, and bacteria won’t eat it, maybe we shouldn’t. Food that has been sprayed with chemicals to repel critters is not a good choice for people either. Whoa, that doesn’t mean bugs are smarter than we are, does it? Yikes, maybe so.
6. You’ve all probably heard this one before — don’t eat foods from the middle of the grocery store. Stick to the periphery where the real food is located.
7. Make it yourself. Learn from your grandmother. Enjoy the cultural wisdom of food. My mother grew up in a very poor family in the south during the depression. I mean dirt-floor poor. They had few food choices, but somehow the family was fairly healthy. All they could afford was assorted beans, cornbread, dandelion greens, whatever fruit or nut tree was around, some oatmeal and an occasional pig, chicken, or fresh-caught game (birds, fish, rabbits). My grandmother also made them all take a dose of cod liver oil regularly. Hmmm? When you think about it, you’ve got some very healthy food choices there. They either grew or caught everything they ate. I know things are different now and you just don’t have time to go rabbit hunting on your lunch hour, but it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
8. To sum it up: eat less, eat slower, use smaller plates, choose fresh ingredients, eat more vegetables, skip the junk food, and savor your food. Part of eating healthy is enjoying what you eat, how you prepare it, the cultural variations, and sharing it with others.

Gluten-free, dairy-free yummy hummus to eat with all those veggies

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (15 ounce can — preferably organic)
3 cloves peeled garlic
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup water (add slowly so you don’t end up with sloppy hummus, you may not need all of it)
1 teaspoon wheat-free tamari (I use the San-J brand as they routinely test for gluten) *
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or omit if you don’t want zingy hummus)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

This is another one of my “launching pad” recipes. You can customize this any way you want. Switch out the garbanzo beans for pinto or cannellini beans, add minced chile peppers, parsley — whatever your heart desires (or whatever ingredients you have on hand).

Mince peeled garlic in the food processor until finely pulverized. Add beans, tahini, lemon juice, water (a little bit at a time), tamari, salt, cumin, coriander, and cayenne pepper and blend until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate. Remove and let hummus reach room temperature before serving. Blend in cilantro and serve with fresh veggies. Carrots, celery, broccoli, jicama, gluten-free crackers (Mary’s Gone Crackers original flax seed crackers are a favorite of mine), olives — whatever you can think of.

* San-J Wheat-Free Tamari is gluten-free, but contains soy and corn.

Enjoy!
In good health,
Melissa

Did you know that the word cabbage also means money? Or, that you can use it as a verb to mean take off with someone else’s stuff? That might not be the exact dictionary definition, but there’s more to this heavy head of dense nutrition than meets the eye. Variety in word meaning, variety in color, and variety in use. A seasonal super food indeed. Rather than write a little bit about several foods, I’ve decided to focus on cabbage this month and include a recipe (see the rest of the seasonal food list at the end of this post). Here’s the rundown —

Cabbage is available all year, but late summer and early fall is peak harvest time. I have to be honest (disclosure time), I’ve never been a big cabbage fan and can hardly stand sauerkraut. But as Bob Dylan once sang, the times they are a-changin’. I’m still not keen on sauerkraut (I know, I know — it’s really healthy), but I suddenly have a crush on cabbage. My CSA buddies at Grant Family Farms have been delivering cabbage by the truckload lately. I’m determined to eat everything I get from them each week, so even though I’d prefer a double dose of the pears or apples in lieu of the cabbage, I’m starting to like the stuff. A lot.

The basics

Whether green, red, purple, or white, choose the heaviest heads with nice firm leaves. Red and white varieties have dense, tightly packed leaves. Savoy cabbage is greenish-yellow and has loosely packed, ruffled leaves. Napa or Chinese cabbage has light green leaves and grows in an oblong shape with wide, crispy stems. I love using Napa cabbage as a “boat” or “wrap” for tuna or salmon salad. Bok choy, another type of cabbage, looks a bit like Swiss chard, with white stalks and big, green leaves.

Health bites

First off, since my work focus is on intestinal health, I have to mention that research indicates raw cabbage juice is a fast and effective treatment for peptic ulcers. Cabbage is a rich source of the amino acid, glutamine, which stimulates the production of cells that line the stomach and small intestine. This increased cell production facilitates healing. According to Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition, cruciferous vegetables (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower) also contain isothiocyanates, which inhibit enzymes that activate carcinogens and trigger the production of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens. Cabbage also contains indoles, which may help block DNA damage from carcinogens. If that’s not enough, cabbage is also rich in some high-end phytonutrients (plant chemicals) that contain sulfur compounds called sinigrins. When you chop, chew, and digest these compounds, they help fight against colon cancer. Good, good, good. We want our bodies to fight the good fight against intestinal diseases and cancer.

On to the regular stuff. Cabbage, especially bok choy, is high in bone-building calcium, magnesium, and manganese, which may come as a surprise. Yes, you can get your calcium from plant sources if you don’t eat dairy! (For a complete list of non-dairy calcium sources, check here.) Cabbage is also rich in heart-healthy nutrients like folic acid, vitamin B-6, omega-3s, potassium, and vitamin A. So far we have bone-building and heart-healthy, which fits nicely into my sport-specific nutrition plan (you know I’m into that whole exercise thing, right?). Cabbage is also high in energy-producing B-vitamins and muscle-building protein. Protein? Wow, and it’s so low in calories! It’s on my list of my super foods.

Fix it tips

If your cabbage is wilted and funky, just peel off a few of the leaves. Cabbage leaves are so densely packed, it’s probably still fresh a few layers down.

Part of the reason I’ve never been fond of cooked cabbage is that stinky, rotten egg smell. Ugh! The smell comes from the break-down of sulfur-containing substances. Hydrogen sulfide is released in the process, which I don’t find remotely appealing. To avoid that, cut it finely and cook it quickly, which is healthier anyway. Use a fast stir fry method or steam lightly. To maintain the red color of cooked cabbage, add a touch of lemon juice or vinegar to the cooking water.

Now, who gets gas when they eat cabbage? Show of hands, please. No one? I don’t believe you. But just in case you know someone who does — if you cook it in two stages, you can avoid the gas issue (or at least mitigate it). Boil, discard the water half-way through the process and start over. I’m not crazy about boiled cabbage, but if cabbage gets to you, try this method.

Other than lightly sautéed in a touch of vegetable broth, I much prefer it raw. Here’s a cabbage salad my mom used to make when I was growing up. It was the only way I’d eat cabbage when I was little and now that I’m being inundated with the stuff, I’ve brought this recipe back to life. I’d forgotten how good it is. Yum!

what you need

3 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 - 1/2 cup peanuts *
1 - 2 bananas, sliced
very small amount of Spectrum organic mayonnaise (or whatever kind you prefer)

what you do

Put cabbage, raisins, peanuts, and banana slices in large bowl. Add a small amount of mayonnaise — a little goes a long way. Gently toss and serve immediately.

* Peanuts aren’t nuts, they’re actually legumes. Shelled peanuts should be packaged in a tightly sealed container and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Avoid exposing nuts to heat, light, or humidity as they can become rancid (not good). Aflatoxin is a potentially toxic fungus that grows on peanuts in warm, humid temperatures. Past problems with this prompted the FDA to enforce a ruling banning foods that test positive (20 ppb) for aflatoxins. Peanuts are healthy snacks, just make sure you store them correctly. While they’re not easy to find, organic versions are starting to find their way into health food stores. Farmers in New Mexico are producing the majority of organic peanuts.

Here’s the rest of my “Seasonal Foods For September” list —

artichokes
lima beans
okra
pears
peppers
eggplant
cauliflower

In good health,
Melissa

Autumn is harvest time and I’m getting a load of wonderful fruits and vegetables with my weekly CSA delivery. This time of year also ushers in change, and what better way to embrace this change than to focus on nature’s abundance and our own health. Michelle at theaccidentalscientist is hosting this month’s Heart of the Matter blogging event (HotM). The fall theme is Protecting Your Heart While Preserving the Harvest. Check Michelle’s blog next week for a round-up of recipes from this tasty little subculture of heart-healthy food bloggers.

I love having nutritious snacks on hand when I’m out on the trail, but it’s next to impossible to cart around fresh fruit in a backpack. Plus, I like to bring food that is light-weight and easy to stuff into a pack.

Dehydrated apple slices have become a favorite of mine. Remember that old saying — an apple a day keeps the doctor away?

Well, your grandmother was right. Apples are full of antioxidant flavonoids, boasting a very high concentration of quercetin, catechin, phloridzin, vitamin C, and chlorogenic acid. Trust me, those are all good things. Apples also contain both insoluble and soluble fiber (for a detailed explanation of fiber, check here). The insoluble fiber in apples helps ferry out the bad cholesterol (LDL) hanging out in your digestive tract. The soluble fiber helps get rid of LDL produced by the liver. Both of these actions reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke by lowering total cholesterol levels. Studies show people on high-fiber diets have less coronary artery disease than people on low-fiber diets. If that’s not enough, the flavonoids (especially quercetin) demonstrate significant anti-inflammatory ability that protect our arteries. Many of these heart-healthy substances are in the skin, so eat the whole thing, skin and all (not the seeds as they contain some toxic compounds).

Don’t substitute apple juice for the real thing or you’ll lose the majority of antioxidants. It’s always best to go back to the source. Fresh is better, but when you have an abundance of apples and you want to save some for later, dehydrating is a good way to do it. This method doesn’t subject food to the same high temperatures that canning or processing does, so the nutrient value is much better.

dehydrated apples
* These dehydrating times and temperatures are based on my store-bought Excalibur Dehydrator. Times and temperatures may vary.

what you need
several washed, cored and thinly sliced apples
lemon juice or vitamin C ascorbic acid to prevent over-browning (this isn’t necessary, but it does make the apple slices look a little better)

what you do
soak apple slices in vitamin C bath for 10 to 15 minutes
drain and place on dehydrator trays according to manufacturer directions
temperature: 135 degrees
time: 7 – 8 hours until leathery
place in tightly sealed ziplock bags and store in cool, dark place

Stick to that apple a day rule and you’ll cut your risk of heart disease.

Enjoy!
Melissa

I’ve returned once again from my alter-ego role as wilderness woman and found another box full of fresh CSA veggies awaiting my arrival. Help! What do I do with all this stuff? Especially when I’m off in the backcountry for days at a time. It’s not like I can haul around bags of fresh produce with me on the Colorado Trail.

Plus, I’m growing some of my own herbs as well, so I have an abundance of mint, cilantro, rosemary, sage, and basil that I’m adding to everything I cook, bake, dehydrate, and drink.

Anyone care for a mint julep?

To sip while munching corn chips and cilantro salsa? Or cilantro guacamole?

Actually, I’ve never had a mint julep, but I do love my cilantro. I’ve been adding it to everything from corn chowder in the backcountry to cornbread here at home. But before I launch into the recipe, here’s the nutritional profile of cilantro. It truly is a super food.

First, let’s get things straight. Cilantro refers to the leaves of the coriander plant. They look similar to flat leaf parsley. The seeds of the plant are ground and called coriander spice. Cilantro has a vibrantly fresh smell and it adds a distinct flavor to foods, especially southwestern fare. I love it, but apparently not everyone else does. In fact, there’s a whole website dedicated to living the anti-cilantro lifestyle. They even sell “I hate cilantro” clothing and accessories.

Hmmm? Sure seems like there are better ways to spend your energy other than hand-wringing over a harmless little herb.

Aaahh, but on the flipside, the Chinese believe cilantro to have aphrodisiac qualities and use it in love potions. Maybe cilantro is the secret ingredient in Love Potion # 9.

The Coasters? Or The White Stripes?

But I digress. I’ll blame it on too much high altitude, fresh air, and a wandering spirit.

Back to cilantro and why it enjoys “super food” status. Cilantro is rich in all kinds of beneficial phytonutrients, flavonoids, detoxing substances, and antimicrobial compounds. One of which has been found to have twice the antibiotic power of the commonly used drug, gentamicin. In fact, researchers found several different antibiotic substances in fresh cilantro, suggesting its use as a potential food additive to prevent food-borne illnesses. According to other studies, cilantro was found to normalize blood sugar levels and to help stabilize lipid levels.

Not to mention the fact that 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro contains less than 1 calorie. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this little gem.

I made some Mexican spoon bread last night with Bob’s Red Mill GF Corn Bread mix, cilantro, green chiles, creamed corn, and cheese, but it didn’t come out perfect. It was good, but not perfect. I need to work on it a little more before I pass the recipe off on my blogger friends.

But, my friend Megan, self-described quinoa virgin, sent me this recipe today. Out of the blue. She didn’t even know I was was sitting at my computer daydreaming about how to finish this post. This was Megan’s first experience with quinoa. I guess because she’s one of those wheat eaters and hasn’t had to venture into that parallel universe of alternative grains and flours. Little did she know it was more fun over here. Thanks, Megan — you saved the day. Here it is, her personal comments and all.

quinoa and corn salad
1 cup quinoa
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
2-1/2 cups corn, fresh or frozen (I used fresh, 5 ears)
1 small red onion, minced
2 jalapeno or seranno peppers, seeded and minced
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 scallions, minced
2 tbsp finely minced chives
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce, or to taste

* add grilled chicken if you want

1. Place quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold, running water. Bring water to boil in a small pot, add the quinoa and salt and bring to a boil again. Cover and reduce heat to low for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the pot covered for an additional 5 minutes. Strain off any excess liquid and spread the quinoa out to cool on a tray while preparing the remaining ingredients.

2. Steam or lightly sauté corn until just tender and cool to room temperature. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss. Season with additional salt, pepper, or hot sauce to taste. Serve with fresh lime wedges.

Serves 6 (Ah, I don’t think so.)

Yum, sounds great!
Melissa

P.S. Miles Collins, prolific chef/photographer from England, has an interesting blog post about hawaj spice blend which is absolutely wonderful and contains ground coriander (cilantro) seed. I’ve used my own version of this in chana dal and love the flavor it imparts.

I know, I know. I’ve totally lost it, but it’s not my fault. Josh at the Grant Family Farms CSA keeps plying me with kale. What’s a girl to do when her touch and glide crisper drawer is filled to the brim with bunches of dark green leafy things? Simply shutting the drawer has become an effort in futility. I’ve dehydrated, sautéed, and steamed my way through plenty of hearty greens lately, so I thought it was time to try something new.

Chips. Healthy chips. And what packs more nutritional punch than kale? Seriously, kale is over-the-top with healthy vitamins and minerals.

But before I launch into all that, did you know that LAY’S brand is America’s favorite snack food?

You didn’t?

Well, the website states that the country’s most popular potato chip is now more irresistible than ever before! Oh, great, just what we need. More moderately addicting, hard-to-resist, nutritionally-void, artificially flavored, calorie-laden snack food. And get this, the website lists 57 different flavors of potato chips! Fifty-seven? What’s that about?

They offer everything from LAY’S Loaded Potato Skins Flavored Potato Chips to LAY’S Crab Spice Flavored Potato Chips. Ugh — crab spice? And what the heck are loaded potato skins flavored potato chips? What does that even mean? I looked up the nutritional facts and ingredient list on the loaded version and found it difficult to sift through. Included in the long list of ingredients were 5 different artificial colorings. That’s not real food. Do we really need to feed our kids yellow 6 lake, yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, or blue 1?

Here’s a healthy alternative and you can rest assured that kale does not contain gluten, which is always a concern with prepackaged foods containing hard-to-decipher ingredient lists.

Mineral-rich kale chips

1 bunch kale, washed, stemmed, and cut into 4 inch pieces (thereabouts)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (don’t over-oil them)
sea salt or your preferred spice mix

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in middle of oven.
• Toss kale with olive oil and spread out on large cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with sea salt or spices.
• Bake in oven for 7-8 minutes. Stir once and bake for 5-7 more minutes.
• Enjoy immediately. These do not save well.

The charming butcher at my local Whole Foods gave me some of his super-secret sassy rub that I used as the spice for my version of kale chips. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t tell me what was in the mix and I didn’t have a sassy decoder ring to figure it out. After thoughtfully sniffing, tasting, and playing with the stuff, I decided it contained red chile pepper flakes, sesame seeds, ground pepper, garlic salt, and sea salt. I tossed my prepared kale in olive oil, spread it out on a baking sheet, sprinkled the sassy rub on it, and baked it. YUM! Be careful though, these chips are hard to resist and border on being addicting!

Nutritional profile:
Kale is part of the cruciferous family and is a descendent of the wild cabbage. Cruciferous veggies and their sulfur-containing phytonutrients are thought to be protective against cancer. Kale also contains high amounts of the eye-protective carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin. These substances help the eyes filter out damaging ultraviolet light and provide protection against cataracts. Think of kale as a plant version of polarized sunglasses. Full of anitoxidants, kale also helps boost immune function and protects our cells against oxidative damage. One cup of kale contains only 36 calories and is an excellent source of vitamins K, A, C, manganese, fiber, — even calcium, so throw some in your shopping cart and enjoy the benefits.

*Kale contains goitrogens and oxalates, which may be of concern to some people. Goitrogens are natural substances that, in large amounts, may interfere with thyroid function. Oxalates are part of a naturally occurring group of molecules called organic acids and are found in plants and animals (people included). Our bodies convert other substances into oxalates. We also obtain them from the foods we eat. In some rare health conditions, oxalate intake should be restricted. Check with your doctor if you have concerns about this.

In good health,
Melissa
P.S. I will be heading off into the wild blue yonder to add some more segments to my Colorado Trail journey, so if I don’t respond to comments immediately, I will when I return. Onward . . .

Antioxidants. Oxidative damage. Phytochemicals. Photosynthesis. Polyphenols. Tocopherols. Glutathione. Enzymes with antioxidant activity. Yada, yada, yada.

What does all that mean?

If you focus on real food – fresh and simple food, it really doesn’t matter. Food is much more than all these nutritional constituents that sound so impressive. Plus, it’s rather daunting when food is reduced to natural chemical components that are sometimes hard to distinguish from the unnatural ones. All the words get confusing, whether it’s the good stuff or the bad stuff.

As a nutrition therapist, all these geeky words appeal to me. But food is more than science. Or less, depending on how you want to look at it. We’ve made it all incredibly complicated when in reality, it should be easy and fun. Food is fun, don’t you think? Otherwise there wouldn’t be an entire TV Food Network dedicated to creating elaborate chocolate desserts, 30 minute meals, grilled foods, comfort foods, and down-home cooking (among others). And who hasn’t rolled their eyes at another Rachael Ray book, magazine, or product? Geez, when does that girl sleep? It’s a good thing she sticks to 30 minute meals.

You wouldn’t be reading food blogs if you didn’t think bringing good food to your table wasn’t important, but sometimes we get so focused on the individual nutrients being delivered from a piece of food that we forget about the whole. The benefit of these individual ingredients might not be the same without consuming the whole food and letting them work their magic together. What I mean by that is – go to the source. Eat a whole apple, a piece of salmon, some broccoli, a tomato, or a handful of walnuts. Whole, fresh foods are gluten-free by default and each has its own assortment of healthy nutrients that work as a team.

The Standard American Diet is rather dreadful in many ways, and we know it, so we’ve accessorized our diets with all kinds of trendy and novel substitutes for the real thing. There are so many supplements on the market, who knows what is what. Nutrients are being added to packaged foods as a marketing tool. Food that is reengineered to come in a box isn’t natural, but to make it more appealing to the consumer, manufacturers add something special like vitamin D, fiber, iron, or omega-3s and boldly announce it on the package. Something to catch your eye and make you think it is somehow better than the original food. For example, even the most fortified baby formula doesn’t compare nutritionally to mother’s milk, which is whole food in its finest form.

Okay, I’m not totally against packaged or processed food, but it’s important to limit your intake and stick with whole, fresh, real food choices. And contrary to what it might sound like from the first few paragraphs of this post, I’m actually quite fond of the science behind the food and I do take supplements, but we don’t need to get neurotic about it. We simply need to eat a variety of whole foods and pick from a range of colors, which ends up providing us with an assortment of vitamins and minerals.

Now back to the first word in this post – a science word – antioxidants.

Antioxidants are molecules, or substances in foods, that are protective to normal physiological functions in the human body. They slow or prevent oxidation, which is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. To make a long and rather complicated story short, free radicals can cause cell damage. We don’t want that. Foods high in antioxidants protect us from cell damage and boost immune function. Vitamins A, C, and E are antioxidants, as are selenium, lycopene, lutein, glutathione, and beta-carotene. But don’t worry about that, just eat your fruits, veggies, and nuts.

The following is a list of the top 15 foods with the highest antioxidant content per serving size. The complete study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

blackberries
walnuts
strawberries
artichokes, prepared
cranberries
coffee
raspberries
pecans
blueberries
cloves, ground
grape juice
dark chocolate
cranberry juice
cherries
red wine

Okay, so this doesn’t mean 4 cups of coffee in the morning, a bar of dark chocolate at lunch, and a bottle of wine at dinner. But it does mean those foods are rich in antioxidants and can be included in a healthy diet if eaten in moderation.

Add these foods to your shopping cart and enjoy a daily dose of antioxidant protection! See below for one of my favorite treats. Redwood Hill Farm goat yogurt topped with mixed berries. Yum!

In good health,
Melissa

Hey everyone – we have a winner from the “name these mushrooms” contest I posted last week. Although I was surprised Cindy, our little rocket scientist/culinary blogger from cindalouskitchenblues, didn’t give us the right answer, we did end up with another science girl joining the ranks. And by the way, Cindy does get honorable mention for her sense of humor. I have to admit, I love it that we’re forming an online clique of geeky science girls. Very cool, and you do know it’s hip to be square, right?

Michelle from the accidentalscientist (PhD in Biology) guessed maitake mushroom for the first one and lion’s mane for the second, which is right on both accounts. Yeah! Congratulations to Michelle. Of course, she did say her home town has a mushroom festival every summer, so it sounds like she’s something of an expert (compared to the rest of us, anyway). Sarah had the first one right, but not the second one, so this not-so-grand prize goes to our biologist.

Michelle, email me at melissa@glutenfreeforgood.com and pass along your address and I’ll mail you your prize. But first, you get to choose the color – blue or cream. The prize is a Nigella Lawson Citrus Squeezer from her kitchenware collection and it does exactly what the name implies. Squeezes juice. I have one and love it for squeezing fresh lime or lemon juice and the cool thing about Nigella’s version is the seed catcher. Very smart design move, Nigella.

Big decision, Michelle – cream or blue? Aren’t they cute?!

Nutrition notes
Maitake mushroom: this mushroom’s scientific name is grifola frondosa, referring to the mythical half-lion, half-eagle beast, the griffin (which, by the way, is my son’s name – just the Griffin part). The Japanese call it maitake. It’s also called hen-of-the-woods, has a nice, earthy flavor, and is prized not only for its taste, but its medicinal value as well. Studies show maitake mushrooms as having the following therapuetic benefits:
• activates the immune system
• anti-cancer properties
• normalizes lipid levels
• protects the liver
• reduces elevated blood glucose levels
• helps suppress weight gain
• helps maintain normal blood pressure

Lion’s mane mushroom: this one has a unique appearance and does look a bit like a long-haired loofah. Like the maitake, it’s know for its medicinal, as well as culinary properties. Legend has it that these mushrooms promote “nerves of steel and the memory of a lion.” (I thought elephants were the ones with the good memories – but I can’t remember.) Research supports its traditional use as:
• immune system booster
• stimulates the synthesis of NGF (nerve growth factor), which may protect nerves from
deterioration
• helps promote cognitive function

Wash, cut and sauté in olive oil and add to rice dishes, veggies, soups, stews, or whatever comes to mind. They taste good and they’re healthy. Yum!

In good health,
Melissa

This is the second installment in a nutty series I launched a couple of days ago. I’ll start today with the basic walnut and follow up with two more exotic choices.

I love nuts – they’re a perfect addition to healthy food choices and walnuts are one of my favorites. They’re full of good protein and fats, vitamin E, and magnesium. A great source of vegetarian omega-3 fatty acids, studies show walnuts aid cognitive function, promote cardiovascular health, and have anti-inflammatory properties. Who doesn’t need a boost in all those areas? Walnuts are rich in the essential amino-acid l-arginine, which may help lower blood pressure. They also contain a antioxidant called ellagic acid which supports healthy immune function.

Although available year round, walnuts are harvested in the winter. Because of the high fat content in nuts, they should be used quickly or stored in the refrigerator – and eaten in moderation as they’re also high in calories.

Add walnuts to granolas, hot cereals, rice, salads, baked goods, pie crusts, or trail mix. Walnut oil also makes for rich and tasty salad dressings.

walnut hummus wraps
what you need
1 can drained chickpeas
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (omit if you don’t have them)
2/3 cups chopped walnuts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
sea salt to taste
large leaves of Romaine lettuce or Napa cabbage (washed and dried)

what you do
With the back of a fork, mash the chickpeas in small bowl. Stir in walnuts and sesame seeds. Whisk together the oil, lemon, garlic and salt. Combine the chickpea mix with the dressing and chill for an hour or more. Fill crisp lettuce or cabbage leaves with mixture and serve immediately.

* This recipe is a variation of one from Bryanna’s Vegan Feast ideas.

According to our friends at Wikipedia, pistachio trees have been around for about 80 million years. Eighty million – how do they know that? They also say that pistachios aren’t nuts in a botanical sense, but are in a culinary sense. Hmmm?

Okay – on to the nutrition part, which is what we really need to know about anyway. Although I must admit, I might throw out that 80 million year thing next time I’m snacking on pistachios at a party. Does that sound like you’re smart, or just esoterically strange?

Shelled pistachios are sweet and earthy-green in color. The green color is natural and comes from the chlorophyll in the nut. Don’t eat dyed-red pistachios – what is that all about? Pistachios aren’t red, they’re pale beige with a meaty-green hue to them. Whoever decided they should be red must not be aware that they’ve existed just fine in that drab natural color for the past 80 million years. Geez, why mess with a good thing at this point?

And get this, one ounce (just one) of pistachio nuts contain as much fiber as an apple and more than that in a half-cup of spinach. They’re also high in vitamin B-6, thiamin, phosphorus, and magnesium. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. Like the rest of the nuts, they’re high in fat so they go rancid quickly. High in fat also means high in calories, so go easy on the nuts.

Now – what are these little gems?

If you guessed hazelnuts or filberts (be honest), you’re right. Filbert is hazel’s domestic partner. They’re similar, hang out together, and depending on where they’re grown, are called one or the other. I’ll spare you the details as it gets a bit convoluted, but trust me, they’re the same nut. I love hazelnut flour for baking* and who doesn’t like hazelnut chocolate truffles? Or Nutella, one of my favorite backpacking staples. Nutella isn’t the most nutritious product around, so I’m really not advocating it, but it does serve its purpose out on the trail.

Speaking of backpacking and Nutella, here’s another riveting fact you can throw out at your next social event. The number of jars of Nutella produced in 1 day stacked up equals almost 25 times the height of Mt. McKinley. Oh my gosh – who is eating all this stuff?

Back to the healthy version, which is the source and that’s always best. Hazelnuts are high in thiamine and vitamin B-6, as well as other B vitamins. Like the rest of the nut family, they’re high in fat (not bad fat though), so store in the refrigerator.

* Hazelnut meal/flour is naturally gluten-free, has a sweet, nutty flavor that I love, and adds richness to baked goods. It’s also low in carbohydrates and high in fiber and protein. It’s a great ingredient for GF pie crusts. Substitute 20 - 25% hazelnut flour in your recipe. Yum!

Okay, that’s enough nut talk for today. Part 3 in this nutty series will follow.

In good health,
Melissa

Nuts are a mainstay in my diet. I love them for lots of reasons, one being how versatile they are. I throw them in salads; blend them up to make nut butters and energy bars; use them to make granola and trail mix; add them to rice dishes; bake with them in the form of nut flours and meals; eat them by the handful; and on an on. There’s no limit when it comes to creative ways to use nuts in recipes. That’s what’s so great about cooking and baking – you get to make things up, color outside the lines, have fun, and not follow directions.

I’m going to provide you with a launching pad of information and some ideas about nuts. This post is part 1 in a nutty series.

Okay, what are these little gems?

If you guessed macadamia nuts, you’re right. Macadamias are large, spreading evergreen trees native to the rain forests of Australia. They were introduced to Hawaii and California in the 1880s and two of the original trees are still standing on the Berkeley campus of the University of California.

According to a 2003 study sited in The Journal of Nutrition, macadamia nuts, despite their high level of fat, favorably modified lipid profiles in men with high cholesterol levels. Organic macadamia nut oil offers a healthy one-to-one omega-3/omega-6 fatty acid ratio, has a higher smoking point than olive oil, is incredibly versatile, and tastes pretty yummy drizzled on fish, veggies, or salads. The chopped nuts taste great in baked goods, homemade trail mix, and tossed into spinach salads. It also makes for a nice (although rather expensive) moisturizing oil.

I love pecans – must be that sweet tooth of mine. I add them to my granola, put them in cookies, use them in my apple pecan cheesecake, and mix them into salads. They’re sweet and rich, but aren’t at the top of my nutritional profile list. They have a relatively high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids – the other way around is much better. They’re also high in calories.

On the other hand, they’re low in sodium and cholesterol. Plus they’re rich in manganese, which helps maintain normal blood sugar levels, promotes healthy thyroid function, and aids in keeping bones strong and healthy.

These are Brazil nuts and despite their name, the largest exporter of the nuts is Bolivia and not Brazil. The tree is huge, reaching 100 to 150 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 3 to 6.5 feet. It’s one of the largest trees in the Amazon rain forest, which I find fascinating. These trees often live for more than 500 years and can even reach 1,000 years old if conditions are right. Isn’t that cool?!

According to Wikipedia, Brazil nuts are harvested from wild collection rather than from plantations. This model is being advanced as a sustainable way of generating income from the rain forest without destroying it.

Brazil nuts are high in saturated fat and can be substituted for macadamia nuts in many recipes. They’re also commonly used in fruitcakes or pressed for oil. Brazil nuts are rich in selenium, magnesium, and thiamine. Some studies suggest selenium is protective against prostate cancer.

Shelled nuts that contain a lot of fat, like macadamias and Brazil nuts, become rancid fairly quickly, so store them in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!
Melissa

How appropriate that my “punk-rock-gluten-free Betty Crocker” daughter keeps me well-stocked with high quality sweet spices. She’s more on the spicy side than the sweet side, but she definitely knows where to buy the best spices and herbs. And when and how to use them. I’m still waiting for a photo and post of her famous apple crisp (hint, hint).

So, what do you know about cinnamon? Other than you used to mix it with white sugar and sprinkle it over buttered white bread and broil it in the oven for a treat when you were little. Ugh, and to make matters worse, the bread was probably Rainbow Bread. A high gluten, low value treat. Well, if nothing else the cinnamon at least provided a boost to something that was totally devoid of nutritional value.

Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices known and is indigenous to Sri Lanka. It was treasured as a flavoring, sought-after as a medicinal herb, and even used as an embalming agent (probably limited to royal mummies). Legend has it that the Roman Emperor Nero burned a full year’s supply of cinnamon at the funeral of his wife in 65 AD. Sweet tribute. Cinnamon is also mentioned in many classical writings as well as several places in the Bible (don’t ask me where).

On to the nutritional benefits of cinnamon, which are numerous. I’ll list a few of the reasons I like it, other than the wonderful sweet – and even savory – taste.

• helps reduce fasting blood glucose levels in diabetics
• helps reduce triglycerides, LDLs, and total cholesterol
• works as a circulatory stimulant
• has antibiotic abilities
• is anti-ulcerative
• helps with digestion
• is a carminative (fancy word for helps relieve gas and bloating)
• is a diuretic

The healing abilities in cinnamon come from three essential oils found in the bark: cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl acetate, and cinnamyl alcohol, along with some other good substances. So, use it in baking; sprinkle it on hot cereal; use in curries; and add it to smoothies, teas, and other beverages.

healthier cinnamon toast
• one piece gluten-free bread (millet, Montina, etc.)
• drizzle with flaxseed oil
• sprinkle with cinnamon and a touch of organic brown sugar
• broil until lightly browned

Here’s to a sweet and spicy life!
Melissa