Hi Nutritioulicious fans!
I launched a new site for Nutritioulicious today. Please check out my new site and keep following me at http://nutritioulicious.wordpress.com/. I look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to contact me at jessica@nutritioulicious.com or in a comment on the new site.
Keep enjoying the nutritious and delicious food of the summer!
My best,
Jessica
Andy and I went to see Julie & Julia this morning, leaving us very inspired to cook this evening! With our latest CSA delivery of eggplants, green peppers, Swiss chard, and carrots, we decided to make a Greek favorite of ours.
On our honeymoon, we visited Chania, a Greek city on the island of Crete. We were so impressed with the Jewish history in Chania (there’s a beautiful, active synagogue there), and given that moussaka is a popular Greek dish and that we keep kosher, we decided to make “Chania Moussaka” — our kosher version of moussaka (which traditionally has ground lamb and Béchamel sauce). In order to keep some of the creaminess of the dish without dairy, we used some trans-fat free margarine in the cooking process. Normally we cook only with olive oil, but some recipes call for a creamier consistency that you can’t get with oil alone. Don’t be afraid to use margarine (or butter) in small amounts. Here’s how it turned out!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Do you have a favorite Greek recipe?
Last weekend Andy and I rented a house in the Catskills with some friends of ours. Lucky for us, the house had a vegetable garden out back that we were able to use. We found multiple types of lettuce, mint, Alpine strawberries (so tiny and so sweet!), and some gigantic cucumbers. We had seriously never seen cucumbers this size before, and there were a lot of them! In addition to the bounty of produce from their garden, we had brought the veggies from our CSA, including heirloom tomatoes.
I decided that to get the best use out of the cucumbers and tomatoes, I would make a variation on my regular cucumber salad. Instead of just using cucumbers and onions, I used cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and the fresh mint. The end result: A light, refreshing salad that went perfectly with our BBQ that evening.
Cucumber, Tomato, and Red Onion Salad with Mint
Serves 6
Ingredients:
Directions:
Note:
Do you have a favorite summer salad?
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I am seriously into seasonal eating. Another love of mine is dining out. Put the two together and you get Blue Hill at Stone Barns. This is a great restaurant in upper Westchester County that serves fresh-from-the-farm foods put together in interesting, creative ways. It’s not cheap, so it’s quite a treat to go there, but well worth it for a great dining experience.
Last night Andy and I went with another couple who had never been there before. Andy and I have been there a few times before and the menu is always different, based completely on what the chefs bring in from the farm that day. The meal started in quite a nutritious, but delicious, way, with tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce from the farm, shown here, for us to snack on:
The meal was four courses plus a dessert. Although this is a lot of food, the portions are smaller than what you’d regularly find when dining out, so we didn’t feel overly full when we left. Plus, there were lots of veggies, which kept the meal light and clean feeling. Here are some of the highlights of the evening.
Our first course was a summer fruit and vegetable salad with apricots, white peaches, heirloom cherry tomatoes, purslane, and string beans, in a tomato water broth. It was delicious! Here is a picture of it:
Another interesting preparation was a poached egg over kale and chanterelle mushrooms in an eggplant broth. This had a smoky, “umami,” flavor, but was also very light and provided a nice combo of protein and vegetables.
The other two dishes were mostly protein (fish and lamb) with very light and clean preparations as well. And finally dessert was a rectangular dark chocolate parfait with raspberry sorbet and fresh berries. Unfortunately I didn’t get shots of the other two savory courses or the dessert course, but they were delish!
And lastly, instead of petit fours at the end of the meal, we were served two plates of wild blueberries, white peaches, and apricots. What a nice, healthy way to end the meal!
As you can see, although this was a five course plus meal, the portions were small, balanced with protein, vegetables, and healthy fat.
What’s your favorite seasonal restaurant?
You’ve heard it before: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Despite this being a familiar saying, breakfast is the most skipped meal. It’s such a shame because not only are breakfast foods delicious (why do you think diners serve breakfast all day long?!), but eating breakfast is very nutritious and helps you maintain your weight. Just like a fire won’t burn without wood, your body won’t metabolize (“burn”) food unless there’s food (“wood”) inside. So the end result of skipping breakfast, is that your metabolism won’t be jump started for the day.
So what should you be eating for breakfast? Your breakfast should include complex carbs that are high in fiber, some protein, and some fat. The combo of these three nutrients will keep you satiated throughout the morning.
As you already know, one of my favorite foods is peanut butter, and one of my favorite breakfasts is waffles with peanut butter and fruit. It’s great for kids and adults alike! Here’s a picture of my breakfast from this morning:
The whole-grain waffle (I like Kashi or Vans) provides complex carbs and fiber, the peanut butter provides protein and healthy fat, and the blueberries and peaches (fresh from my CSA Barefoot Organics farm) provide fiber and antioxidants. Well rounded, Nutritioulicious, and a great way to start the day!
What’s your favorite breakfast?
Several years ago when I was in graduate school getting my masters in nutrition and dietetics, I remember having a class discussion about taxing junk food. In theory the tax, similar to the tax on cigarettes, seemed like it would be a good idea, but my classmates and I all agreed that in reality it would never happen. How could the government possibly decide what is and is not considered “junk.” Each individual has his or her own thoughts on this matter. Since that class discussion I didn’t hear much about the junk food tax idea until this past week.
Two separate articles (one in The Economist, the other in The Washington Post) focused on the resurgence of the argument for a junk food tax. The statistics on obesity are there to support this measure: one in four American adults is obese, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate the costs of obesity and obesity-related ailments, such as diabetes, to be $147 billion in 2008, up from $78.5 billion in 1998.
For the most part, the thought has been to tax sugary drinks — mostly soft drinks sweetened with sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. But there has also been some talk of taxing all fattening food of “little nutritional value.” The argument for the tax is that the money made from the tax will provide funding for public health initiatives to prevent obesity. Additionally, proponents of the tax think that taxing unhealthy food will discourage people from buying and eating that food. Sounds like it would be great, right?
While I agree that there needs to be a shift from treatment to prevention of obesity, and that the cost of healthful foods should be less than unhealthful ones, I don’t think this tax will get passed anytime soon. First of all, studies have shown that heavy users of cigarettes and alcohol are less influenced by increased prices than those who smoke and drink less. What makes anyone think heavy eaters of junk foods will be any different?
Secondly, what is considered “junk food”? Is it soda, candy bars, and chips? Or does it extend to white bread, fried chicken, and hot dogs? Undoubtedly the last three foods are unhealthy, providing refined carbohydrates, saturated fat, and nitrites. But they do provide nutritional value in the form of energy and protein.
Thirdly, where do we draw the line between holding people responsible for their actions (in this case buying unhealthy food) and government paternalism? People need to be motivated to make lifestyle changes, not forced into them because of lack of funds. Without motivation and an internal desire to change, people will resort to other measures to purchase junk food and continue other unhealthy behaviors as well.
Lastly, should those who enjoy an occasional sweet treat or salty snack be penalized for the poor choices others make?
As a dietitian, I myself am torn as to how I feel about a junk food tax. What do you think?
In yesterday’s post, Eat With Your Senses, I mentioned that eating takes up a large part of the day. Well, this is certainly true for people who eat for a living. Have you ever wondered how Padma Lakshmi eats all that food on “Top Chef,” yet she still stays slim and fit? Or how about chefs like Dan Barber and Giada who make amazing food, but are always stick thin?
In the recent NY Times article Staying Fit When Eating Is Your Job, Padma says “I just try to cut myself a break — I know I’m going to gain weight.” She keeps different dress sizes in the closet for when the inevitable occurs, which for her is a gain of “10 to 15 pounds a season.” She also makes exercise a priority when her time allows for it. And when the season is over, it’s back to the gym and regular eating until she’s back in shape. Other chefs say that there are times when they eat more because they are testing new recipes or there’s more good stuff around, like the holiday season. But they always try to make the healthiest choices and get to the gym to manage their weight.
Basically the advice is simple: Balance. “Moderate what you eat; don’t panic when work makes you overeat or when you can’t work out; and pay attention to what you are eating.” This last point goes back to mindfulness. If you’re going to eat for a living, be mindful for a living too.
If there’s one activity that occurs the most throughout the day, every day, it has to be eating. Between breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, there is very little time in which food does not play a starring role. Because it occurs so often, eating can become very mindless — it’s something you know you have to do, and often in a busy day it’s done without much thought and attention. And for some people, perhaps yourself included, eating is an emotional response. That is why mindful eating is so important.
The Center for Mindful Eating defines mindful eating as “a state of being aware. It is a process of observation and attention in the flow of changing stimuli and perceptions. Mindfulness is ‘in the moment,’ present, engaged awareness. An important characteristic of a mindful state is that it is free of judgment. Also, mindfulness is not a passive state; we apply intention when we are mindful.” Being mindful when you eat requires you to use all your senses. Most people understand that you use sight, smell, and taste; however, it’s important to realize that you also use the senses of hearing and touch when you sit down to a meal.
Using all your senses helps you slow down at meal time, which allows you to recognize your hunger and fullness cues. To eat with your senses requires you to take the following steps:
Using your senses and answering the questions above will help you to slow down at meals and allow your body to tell you, rather than the other way around, whether you’ve had enough to eat.
Do you try to eat mindfully? If so, what works for you?
As you already know, I am very excited to see “Julie & Julia,” and of course with the movie coming out this week, there have been tons of articles about Julia Child, her cooking, and how we currently cook in comparison. One article in particular, that of Michael Pollan in this past weekend’s NY Times Magazine, was of most interest to me. In “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” Pollan makes the following great points:
But here’s what I don’t get: How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves? For the rise of Julia Child as a figure of cultural consequence — along with Alice Waters and Mario Batali and Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse and whoever is crowned the next Food Network star — has, paradoxically, coincided with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements and the decline and fall of everyday home cooking.
That decline has several causes: women working outside the home; food companies persuading Americans to let them do the cooking; and advances in technology that made it easier for them to do so. Cooking is no longer obligatory, and for many people, women especially, that has been a blessing. But perhaps a mixed blessing, to judge by the culture’s continuing, if not deepening, fascination with the subject. It has been easier for us to give up cooking than it has been to give up talking about it — and watching it.
Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia arrived on our television screens. It’s also less than half the time it takes to watch a single episode of “Top Chef” or “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star.” What this suggests is that a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves — an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for.
Women working outside the home may be a reason for less cooking, but I know plenty of men who cook, my husband included. So there must be other factors at play.
I am left asking the same question as Pollan, “What is wrong with this picture?”
“The best part of waking up …” This slogan may not be used anymore, but it still applies for many people (my mother and husband included) who can’t start their day without a cup of coffee. For years researchers believed that coffee was the cause of multiple diseases, including heart disease and cancer. So is all the coffee that Americans drink really okay for them?
I was recently catching up on some of my nutrition magazines and found a great article in Today’s Dietitian about current coffee trends and benefits. Trends listed in the article, written by fellow dietitian Sharon Palmer, include:
And it seems as if every day there is news about the health benefits of coffee. Just today I saw an article about coffee’s benefits in the NIH August newsletter. While some people, like those with ulcers, reflux, and sleep disorders, should stay away from coffee, others who were previously concerned about the popular beverage can breathe a sigh of relief. Coffee has been shown to be beneficial for those with type-2 diabetes, liver cancer, and other diseases. Most probably these benefits are due to the high level of antioxidants found in coffee.
It’s good to know that coffee has so many benefits, so go out and enjoy a cup of joe … or two!
Keep in mind: