Tasty Bytes - commentary on food and nutrition - Part 14

22Oct

Bean there, done that

The low carb craze has generated many an interesting recipe. The latest I ran across is a cake using black beans to replace the flour. Now, I’m not into low carb so much as I am always looking for alternatives to wheat.
Why avoid wheat you say?
Well, there is research out there that suggests some people can not tolerate wheat. For these people, eating wheat can cause allergic reactions and other ailments such as arthritis and headaches. Read more about wheat at the Weston A. Price Foundation website.
In any case, reducing heavily refined products such as bleached white flour is not a bad idea for anyone.
So how about a chocolate cake with no flour? It’s made by whirling up whole black beans, almond meal, eggs, cocoa, sucanat, baking powder and a bit of butter in a blender and baking. I tried it out today and I have to say it was quite yummy. I didn’t feel guilty after having this ‘bean’ cake either since there was actually some nutritional value to this tasty afternoon treat. Much better for the kiddies as they won’t get that ultra refined carb roller coaster ride and instead have a bit of protein for a more even supply of energy.
I need to make a few adjustments to the recipe as I thought it was a tad dry. After that I think I’ll try and make a carrot cake using adzuki beans as the base. Or how about a white bean blueberry crumb cake…or a pinto bean lemon poppy seed muffin?

Permalink Filed under: General, Nutrition & diet, Recipe development 1 Comment
17Oct

Change is in the air

I enrolled in a Holistic health program a month ago and am studying heavily this weekend for a quiz on Tuesday (yes, writing this blog entry is a form of procrastination.) The foundation for the program I am in is “Eating for Health.” Appropriate isn’t it? – given my love of food and eating.

The “Eating for Health” model is founded on the principle that we can feed our body’s nutritional needs with high quality, nutrient rich foods. If we do, then we will be able to live a long and healthy life. Makes sense to me. In the ideal world, all we would need to do to maintain our health is to eat a varied diet of high quality whole foods. The need to down pills to fix this ailment or that would be vastly reduced. The need to fill up on synthesized vitamins and minerals would be left only to those who choose to ignore their body’s call for say broccoli and instead indulge in mint chocolate chip ice cream (Hey, it’s green!)

Alas, most of us have been in this battlefield of life – bombarded and compromised by pollutants, toxins, food additives & preservatives, insecticides, herbicides, antibiotics and growth hormones. Not to mention the stresses of everyday living – all these things take their toll. To top it off, we are then lured by advertisers that say we really do need those artificially flavored blueberry Shrek fruit rolls. Some things we didn’t know about and some we willingly let in – all these foreign substances that open us up to illnesses or allow our ‘bad’ genes to spring to life.

As I pondered and studied it hit me – a sort of mystical “woo woo” feeling came over me. Sitting in front of my computer, surrounded by notes, I felt this sudden connection to nature. Wow, we are a part of nature not apart from nature. Get this – Nature provides the ‘perfect’ vehicles for our survival in the whole foods around us. Through our disconnect – our, oh so busy lives – we have forgotten to listen to our bodies, trust in the instinct that tells us what particular nutrient rich food we need in this moment.

Furthermore, where does this need to control and make our food supply ‘safer’ come from? Why do we feel the need to douse our food with chemicals, play with its genetic material, pump it up with synthetic growth hormones, pummel it with microwaves, fumigate it with noxious gases and figure out ways to make food last longer than the average human life? Is it through man’s arrogance and ignorance that we shun the simplicity of nature – that it’s already here in all it’s perfection – that we just need to be still and listen. How have we allowed ourselves to squander these gifts of nature? Have we succumbed to the dark side? Does it always have to do with greed? Big corporations working in concert – mega food conglomerates, chemical manufacturers, biotech companies, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, the medical establishment. They all feed on each other – heck, they all feed on us! Turning our flesh and blood into corporate profits. Holy Cow! I’m depressed…Quick – get me some St. John’s Wort!

Thank goodness there are options – you know there are always options. We can choose to make changes. If we just start taking those small steps in the right direction, we can create a new paradigm for ourselves, our families and our communities.

Here are some things I’ve done over the past month. As my budget has allowed, I’ve incorporated more locally grown organic foods into my diet. I’m preparing more whole grains, eating a lot more seaweed, sprinkling ground flax seeds on fruit or green salads or fried rice or whatever. I’m cutting back on refined foods, sugar and processed foods – oh no my cereal… And, I’ve stopped using the microwave to heat up my food. Has it made a difference? I think so, time will tell as I starve the bad habits and feed the good. I’m learning to listen to what my body needs rather than what it wants – trying to choose the healthy alternative. There are many more changes to come, that is for sure!

Jeez, how’s this for procrastinating…back to studying…

Permalink Filed under: General, Nutrition & diet 1 Comment
06Oct

Wild or farmed?

Many of us are trying to make better choices in our diets. I’m currently enrolled in a nutrition program and the subject of wild or farmed fish came up. So what’s better? I guess it just depends…what I learned is that there is more to each point of view than simple blanket statements. To make a choice, we have to put in a bit of thought and educate ourselves.
Yes, I suppose ‘wild’ may be better but you have to check that the fish is not on a seafood watch list that indicates that particular species is overfished. You can find this information online at various sites such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium. But then, you do still have to worry about fish from polluted waters that may be contaminated with mercury or pesticides. What’s the alternative?
So what about ‘farmed?’ Our instructor brought up a good point here…there are farms with good practices and there are farms with bad practices. Gosh, there sure is…so don’t lump all farmed fish into the same basket. Chickens are raised on farms after all and we can make a good choice by buying organic or free range chicken so why not with fish?
‘Wild’ or ‘Farmed?’ It just depends…for myself I only buy fish from a reputable fish market – a market who’s staff can tell you exactly where the fish is from. And I do try to read up on what’s on the “Best Choice” list from the Monterey Aquarium site. I do prefer wild fish for the flavor but recently tried an organically fed salmon and it was good.

My instructor’s feeling is that one to two servings of fish a week is more beneficial than detrimental to your health as long as the fish is from a good source.
What are the benefits of fish? Fish is a great source of protein, fish is low in saturated fat, fish from cold ocean waters are high in Omega 3 fatty acids which the typical diet is severely lacking, and fish is a good source for trace minerals. One caveat is that the farmed fish may not have significant amounts of Omega 3’s depending on their diet – some farmed fish are fed a lot of grains along with fish meal where as wild salmon eat other fish.
So with a bit of knowledge you can go out there and enjoy a few servings of fish a week without harm.

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18Sep

Moon cakes

I’ve been so busy lately that I almost didn’t notice it is my favorite time of year. I love fall. The sun, lower in the sky, loses it’s summer brightness and dims to cast a warm glow. The shadows it casts become long stretching across the landscape. Trees turn beautiful hues of yellow, orange and red. The markets are brimming with the last of summer’s offerings and beginnings of the fall harvest. Life is abundantly good! What a great time to celebrate…and that’s what the Chinese thought way back in 2000BC when idol worship was all the rage. Back then, and at this time of year the idol of choice was the Moon of course. Who couldn’t help but notice on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month the moon shone big bad and bright. Exhausted from the long summer days working the land and the harvest finally all in, someone thought – what a great time to have an all night party when you could actually see who you were partying with and not have to bother with all those smokey torches.

Well, I suppose times have changed and idol worship is out so now we call it tradition. Through the years the celebratory traditions of the Autumn Moon Festival (or Harvest Moon Festival) has evolved. The current tradition of giving moon cakes to relatives and friends began relatively recently during the Sung Dynasty in 1100 AD. Moon cakes, round to symbolize reunion, are eaten with family and friends while gazing up at the harvest moon. And, if you can’t be with your loved ones at least you would all be gazing up at the same moon thinking of each other.

I love moon cakes. What are moon cakes? Nothing like moon pies though those are pretty darn tasty too. Moon cakes are a very solid – some liken them to the holiday fruit cake – disc shaped pastry ranging in diameter of a little over an inch to three inches (think hockey puck.) There are probably hundreds of varieties of moon cakes made but typically a moon cake is filled with a sweet filling like lotus bean or red bean paste or ground nuts all wrapped in a brown sugar pastry. Sometimes you will find a salted egg yolk in the middle.

Where can you find one of these moon cakes you ask? Well, head on down to your local Chinatown bakery or even grocer and you will find lots of them. Some fancier Chinese Dim Sum restaurants will even offer them. If you go to a bakery though, you can try out a few varieties to see which ones you like. My favorite is the lotus seed paste with an egg yolk.

Well, off to San Francisco Chinatown to enjoy the Autumn Moon Festival and get myself a few cakes.

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05Sep

I hunt for figs

I love fall…the longer shadows, the sunlight has a bit warmer cast and here in the Bay Area we get Indian Summer. Besides all that, the figs on the neighborhood trees begin to swell up into sweet ripe purple orbs…or green if you’re spying a calimyrna or a kadota. A few weeks ago, you could catch me on a daily basis peering over the fence assessing whether it was worth dragging the ladder over to pick the bounty. A few times I even jumped the fence to take a closer look…don’t worry the neighbors know of my fig love. Finally, one very hot afternoon I declared it was time. The household gathered round and we trekked over to pick a few bags full.

I’ve loved figs since I was a kid. Figs were popular in my family whether in the form of fig newtons in our lunch boxes or fresh off my mom’s fig tree in our backyard. For the rest of human kind, figs have been enjoyed for over 5000 years. Figs have been found in Egyptian tombs as a healthy snack in the afterworld. The Greeks and Romans used figs fresh, roasted, dried and as a sweetener before sugar was discovered. It was the Romans who were instrumental in introducing figs to other parts of Europe. In turn, during the late 1700’s the Spanish missionaries introduced figs to California. Today, you will find fig trees growing all over the state. Nutritionally, ounce for ounce figs have more fiber than prunes, more potassium than bananas, and more calcium than milk. And oh so much of that ‘good and good for you’ fiber.

Figs, a soft super sweet fruit with numerous edible blossoms and seeds encased in a thin edible skin, are a member of the Mulberry family and has two fruiting seasons. A short one in the spring and a longer more abundant one mid to late summer. Some common varieties you will find are the green ‘kadota’ and ‘calimyrna’, the brown ‘brown turkey’, and the purple ‘black mission.’ I pretty much love all varieties but the green ones rank up there. The purple ones are great for extra the antioxidants.

When shopping for figs, pick soft ripe fruit free of bruises, mold or nicks in the skin. A few small natural cracks are fine. Figs do not ripen off the tree so avoid firm unripe fruit. Key to this point is going to your neighborhood Farmer’s Market. You’ll rarely see a truly ripe fig at a grocery store. My favorite farmer is Rick Knoll – his figs are just oozing with ripe syrupy fig goodness. Do not wash until just before you are about to eat or prepare the fruit and if necessary, you can refrigerate for 1 or 2 days. If you’re picking fresh from a tree, grasp the stem between your fingers and twist. It’s a little tricky at first because you have to try not to squish the soft fruit at the same time. So what do I do with the bags and bags of figs? I eat them fresh – yum yum. Or dry them to use in baking and compotes. Or as I did last night, marinate them in balsamic, olive oil, honey and mint for a hour and then grill them (broiling will work too.) I served them on little grilled toasts with a dollop of ricotta that had been spiked with mint, honey and a squeeze of lemon. But don’t stop there! Search the internet and you’ll find loads of recipes for figs and proscuitto, fig tarts, fig jam….

Permalink Filed under: Gardening 6 Comments
22Aug

About Xylitol

So what about xylitol – it’s another safe sugar substitute. Yea!

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol and does not require insulin to be metabolised. It’s been used in other countries for years by diabetics as a safe alternative to sugar and artificial sweetners – notably Russia and Japan. And it does not promote tooth decay so you’ll find it in many sugar free chewing gums, mints and toothpastes. There are many other studies that show other health benefits to the use of xylitol – check it out on a search on the good old internet.

Because xylitol is only slowly absorbed and partially utilized, you will find it a great low calorie substitute to sugar. More specifically – 2.4 calories per gram or 40% less than other carbs.

Xylitol is a natural substance found in many vegetables and fruits, as well as in some species of hardwood trees such as birch. In fact, most of the xylitol you’ll find out in the market is extracted from birch pulp. And – your body even produces anywhere up to 15 grams daily.

So how does it taste? It is sweet with a very slight cooling sensation. You can use it 1:1 in place of sugar but one word of warning – eating large amounts of xylitol can cause intestinal distress with some people more sensitive than others.

My experience of using it in small quantities such as to sweeten a fruit-ade or tea has been without problems.

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15Aug

What about them tomatoes

August is a great time of the year to visit your local Farmer’s Market. You can taste freshly picked fully ripe produce as you take in the sight of multi-hued tomatoes, eggplants, squashes, beans and peppers all the while surrounded by the heady aroma of ripe melons, soothing lavender, fragrant apples and sweet juicy peaches. A trip to the market can cause serious sensory overload!

I never knew tomatoes had flavor until I tasted my first vine ripen tomato way back in my college days. After that experience, I only brought tomatoes in season or grew my own.

Tomatoes, originally from the Andes, has been alternately revered and feared. In the same family as Belladonna, tomato leaves are indeed poisonous but its fruit, the tomato, is not. Later, tomatoes were thought to be an aphrodisiac and was called ‘the Apple of Love.’ In Italy, tomatoes were much more accepted and was known as pomodoro or golden apple referring to the first tomatoes which were probably yellow cherry size tomatoes. At the turn of the century, it was thought that tomatoes caused cancer. Then it was later ‘discovered’ that by cooking for at least 3 hours the toxins could be inactivated. After World War I, community farm groups interested in raising awareness of nutrition began programs for youth to start home gardens. Tomatoes became very popular because they were so easy to grow. In fact today, tomatoes are the most popular home garden vegetable and the 3rd most popular canned vegetable.

Tomatoes, did however, take another dark turn in the 50’s and 60’s when profit minded agri-businesses sponsored research to develop small hard thick skinned tomatoes to withstand mechanical harvesting and long distance travel. Flavor was sacrificed resulting in my childhood experience with pink cardboard flavored tomatoes. In the past decade, heightened awareness of nutrition and the search for natural and ‘wow what a concept’ flavorful foods has brought about the resurgence of heirloom or pre agri-business varieties of all types of fruits and vegetables including tomatoes.

Heirloom tomatoes refer to tomato varieties that were grown in America’s past and have thankfully regained popularity. A few examples include the ‘green grape’ cherry tomatoes, green and orange striped ‘green zebra’, yellow and red ‘marvel stripe’, the large pale yellow ‘great white’, the greenish red ‘cherokee’, the large pinkish red ‘brandywine’, and the bright orange ‘gold dust.’ Tomatoes also range in flavor with some as sweet as sugar to some with more acid.

When shopping for tomatoes, look for tomatoes which give slightly to gentle pressure, have no soft spots or broken skin. Avoid rock hard tomatoes which do not have full color because unripe tomatoes will never have as fully developed a flavor as a true vine ripen tomato. When you take them home remember that refrigeration will rob a tomato of its flavor so its best to store in a cool place outside of the refrigerator. Don’t be afraid to have fun and try the many varieties.

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14Aug

Love for sandwiches

I love sandwiches – virtually any depending on the mood. Sandwiches are fun…the combinations are endless and vary from incredibly simple to really fancy.
I just bought a pannini grill – what fun to play with my new toy. So far I’ve grilled eggplant, portobello mushrooms, medallions of pork tenderloin and a number of grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum.
Lately I’ve been dining on the basic grilled cheese but also meatloaf with a big slice of cheddar and good ol’ american yellow mustard. Yum Yum
But yesterday I had the most incredible sandwich – one that will be toasted into my memory forever. Do you ever have those experiences? When you eat something so incredibly good that you recall years later – “oh, that quail dish was so good…” Ok, maybe it’s just me…
Back to the sandwich, my sister in law Cathy and niece Sammie trekked over to the City yesterday to visit Anne Gingrass at Desiree Cafe in the Presidio. I hadn’t seen the cafe since she expanded and had a hankering for her cooking.
We perused the menu and Cathy decided on the grilled Ham and Cheese and I decided on the grilled Cheese with Swiss Chard and Potato. As we anxiously waited for our sandwiches we sipped on refreshing Ginger Mint tea while we played with Sammie.

Our sandwiches arrived golden and crispy on the outside and hot and yummy on the inside. One bite into my grilled Cheese with Swiss Chard and Potato sandwich and my taste buds did a big high five. To my chagrin, when my hands were full of sandwich Cathy switched the other half of my sandwich with her ham version. The ham was great too but that chard sandwich…between two pieces of sturdy white sandwich bread was a slice of melted white cheddar, a generous layer of sauteed swiss chard and tender discs of creamer potatoes. I enjoyed every bite of my Chard sandwich and will be craving it for weeks to come.
Luckily the chard I planted a few weeks ago in the garden are starting to sprout…off I go to check on their progress.

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26Jul

How sweet it is…

Being in the business of feeding people I am acutely aware of what I feed myself and am increasingly aware that what we feed ourselves affects our well being in so many ways. I’ve recently been trying to find new healthier ways to get that ‘sugar’ fix without the sugar and without all those poisonous artificial sweeteners. Did you know saccharine was banned because it was found to cause bladder cancer? It is, however, still allowed as an ‘at the table’ additive.

Did you know that there is a government agency that has listed over 160 symptoms and reasons to avoid the consumption of aspartame? Did you know that pre-approval research on sucralose showed shrunken thymus glands and enlarged livers and kidneys?

Do browser searches on each sweetener and you will find a wealth of information on why you should avoid the three artificial sweeteners like the plague.

So what’s the alternative? For about a year now I have been using Sucanat as much as possible. Sucanat is dehydrated sugar cane juice – that is not refined sugar. While Sucanat is still ‘sugar’ it is not refined so it contains certain vitamins and minerals which offset the deleterious effects of it’s refined form. Still, it’s not quite so good for you but miles better than refined sugar though not a good sub for diabetics.

Most recently, I’ve been exploring two alternate sweeteners: Stevia and Xylitol. First I’ll write about Stevia Stevia is an herb native to Paraguay. The leaves are very sweet – in fact it is said to be 300 times sweeter than sugar. You can find it in it’s natural form – ground leaves or in an extract form. I bought a small jar of Stevia extract to try from my local Vitamin Shoppe and also noticed it’s available at Trader Joe’s. So far I’ve used it to sweeten drinks and it has worked great. Not the exact taste of sugar but pretty darn close with no unpleasant after taste. I’ve read that different brands can taste slightly different so try out a few brands as you may prefer one to the other. Next I’ll be experimenting with stevia in baking. So far I’ve concluded that Stevia is a great sugar alternative and is a great alternative for diabetics. Do a browser search and find out about Stevia’s intriguing history and why it hasn’t been readily available until recently – could it have to do with not being able to patent natural substances and a certain corporation convincing the FDA Stevia should be kept out of the country even though places like Japan have been using it safely for over 40 years? The current artificial sweetener market – made up of chemical substances patented by large chemical companies is a multi-billion dollar industry afterall. More later about Xylitol.

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25Jul

What’s wrong with this picture

Yesterday while strolling along College Avenue, I passed a couple pushing a stroller with a child – no more than two years old. He sat there like a floppy doll with a big gulp sized soft drink between his legs -straw in his mouth. Yikes! Did you know that last year there were 171 million people worldwide with Diabetes. This statistic is expected to double in the next 30 years. A frightening statistic to be sure, but what can we do to stop this epidemic from growing? With so much information out there you would think it wouldn’t be too hard to educate ourselves. Unfortunately in this fast paced world where we have barely enough time to even just get a nutritious meal in, it’s difficult to find the time to sift through all the information out there. But with so much at stake don’t we owe it to ourselves and our families to try?

Ok, off my soapbox.

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