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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Kale & Carrot Salad (from Crazy, Sexy Kitchen)

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Go get a copy of Kris Carr’s “Crazy, Sexy Kitchen” and learn about some amazing new ways to combine flavors and celebrate fruits and vegetables!  This recipe consists of two parts, the salad and the dressing, each prepared separately as follows:

If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.


The Salad:

1 bunch kale, rinsed

1 1/2 large carrots, washed

3/4 cup hemp seeds

1/4 cup scallions, sliced thinly

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced and packed tightly

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced and packed tightly

1/4 cup fresh mint, minced and packed tightly

1/4 cup raisins

The Dressing:

1/4 cup almond butter

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup water

1 garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

#1 Run the washed kale (including the spine) through a food processor with the slicing disk.  Then run the carrots through with the shredder blade to process the carrots.  Mix the kale, carrots and all other salad ingredients in a large bowl.  


#2 Blend all the ingredients for the dressing until they are smooth.  Then add 3/4 cup of the dressing to the salad mixture, and massage (or mix) in the dressing until everything is exceedingly well coated.


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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Spiced Red Lentil, Tomato & Kale Soup

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Here’s something perfect for a cold snowy day.  Thank you to Angela Liddon at Oh She Glows for this simple and glorious winter soup recipe.

If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large white onion (Vidalia), diced
  • 3 celery stalks, diced
  • 1 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp. smoked sweet paprika
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
  • 3 medium tomatoes, diced
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained
  • 1 tsp. each sea salt and pepper
  • 2 large handfuls kale or spinach, torn in pieces

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil for about 5-6 minutes in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the celery and sauté 3 minutes more.

2. Stir in all the spices (cumin, chili, coriander, paprika, cayenne). 

3. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, and lentils. Boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes until lentils are tender and splitting.

4. Stir in kale or spinach, and serve.

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YOUR HEALTHY MENU: New Year’s Eve 2013

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On New Year’s Eve we sat down with old friends to a dinner of avocado-mango salad with shallot vinaigrette, Persian rice (with lentils, raisins and dates), an exotic roasted cauliflower dish (from the food network), and grilled salmon, marinated in mango juice and served with a guava-and-lime barbecue sauce. Chocolate cake with Kahlua for dessert. It was a very special meal, as much fun to make as it was to eat. Here is the recipe for the cauliflower, which I think may have been my favorite of the bunch. I’m planning to make and eat! this cauliflower recipe again as soon as possible.

If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.

1 medium cauliflower, cut or torn into florets (about 8 cups)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 medium clove garlic, minced
scant 1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates, chopped coarsely

Preheat oven to 425 F. Spread cauliflower evenly on a large baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown at the edges, about 20 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a small skillet on medium heat, add pine nuts and stir frequently for approx. 5 min. until the pine nuts begin turning golden. Add the garlic and dates, and continue cooking 2-3 min. more until they soften.  Season with salt. 

Transfer the cooked cauliflower to a serving bowl, add the pine nut/date mixture, and toss to combine.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  

Cheers to a happy and healthy new year!

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The Thing Speaks for Itself: Fat-free Mayonnaise

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In law school, professors teach the concept of res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself.  In other words, this needs no explanation.  

If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.

In my home, when I want to make mayonnaise, I gather an egg yolk, extra-virgin olive oil, and a clove of garlic.  That’s how you make mayonnaise.  To call an item fat-free mayonnaise makes little or no sense.  It’s like offering fat-free olive oil, or fat-free fat.  To show you what I mean, here’s one company’s version of fat-free mayonnaise.  

K***t Fat Free Mayonnaise:
Water, Sugar, Corn Syrup High Fructose, Food Starch Modified, Vinegar, Contains Flavor(s) Natural (Egg(s)) , Color(s) Artificial, Calcium Disodium EDTA As Preservatives, Cellulose Gel, Cream (Cream, Soy Lecithin, Tocopherols, Ascorbyl Palmitate) , Lactic Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Contains less than 22% of Salt, Xanthan Gum, Beta Carotene color(s), Blue 1, Phosphoric Acid, Yellow 6, Phylloquinone (Vitamin K1) , Lemon(s) Juice Concentrate, Di Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Vitamin E).

The thing speaks for itself.

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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chicken & Black Beans

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Had enough holiday excitement for a bit?  Put this together tomorrow morning, and you’ll be very happy tomorrow night.  

If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.

6-8 chicken thighs
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 can (approx 15 oz) black beans, rinsed until the water runs clear
1 jar (approx 15 oz) medium-spicy salsa 
Mix everything together in a crock pot, along with 3 cups water.  Cook on low all day.  Eat dinner.  If you feel ambitious, you can serve it with brown rice or a lovely green salad.  If you don’t, there’s no need.  It will be plenty delicious by itself, and you’ll have leftovers for lunch the next day.
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What Happens in December Stays in December

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This month, a lot of people are going to gain weight. The problem is so widespread that, especially in people who are working to lose, I make it a point to applaud their efforts even if they simply maintain their weights. That’s because December is probably the single time of year in which people are most likely to eat large amounts of sugar, white flour, and corn starch/syrup. 




If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.




Some folks don’t want to know what they weigh, so we make an agreement. If I do check the number, I don’t tell them what it is. I remind them that I don’t really care about the number itself; I’m just looking for changes, whether up or down, from the last visit.  I really care a lot more about how their pants fit. Are they looser, tighter, or the same? To me, that’s much more important. 




Why is December such a problem? It has to do mainly with amounts, especially of desserts. What happens when you eat a lot of sugar or starch? You use a lot more insulin. What happens when you use a lot more insulin? You store fat more efficiently, and you lose the ability to tell when you are full. Then you increase your food intake accordingly. 


 


In my experience, when a person first begins to eat in a way that decreases the demand for insulin, their appetite takes about three days to modulate. When you eat a diet that requires a lot of insulin, those high insulin levels coat the satiety centers in your brain and make it very hard to tell that you are full. When you eat more intact carbohydrates, more nutritious fats, and fewer stripped carbs, you use less insulin. So by the third day, your body finally realizes that it doesn’t need as much insulin as it did before, and your pancreas “downregulates” insulin production. In my experience, that’s how long it takes your body to begin to adjust to the eating patterns, and to the fact that you don’t need as much insulin as you did before.  

Less insulin translates into less hunger. Three days after you start eating an “insulin-conserving” diet, you wake up noticeably less hungry than you used to be.  

I tell patients not to worry, that the number will take care of itself as they get back on track making smart choices. And it does. So it’s okay to celebrate the holidays.  It’s also okay to have a piece of wedding cake. Or birthday cake. It’s probably okay to have one slice of pie every weekend. Just don’t do it every day. Our insulin levels seem to manage fine if they spike only once in a while. The problem comes when we eat foods that make them spike every day. Because when your insulin levels are rising every day, it’s no longer a spike. It’s just the way they are –high. 

That’s why I say that what happens in December stays in December. It’s not what we do once in a while that gets us into trouble. It’s what we do all the time. You can’t live in December and expect to remain healthy. But you can visit it from time to time. Happy holidays from YHIOYP!




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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Mira’s Fish Curry

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My friend Mira is an amazing cook.  No, it’s more than that really.  She OWNS any kitchen she inhabits.  And she’s a great baker, too, which you don’t see too often.  I’ve seen her operate in commercial as well as private kitchens, and it’s the same wherever she is.  And her food is, well, sensational.  Last weekend she made a fish stew whose flavor was exquisite, so I asked her how to make it.  Here’s what she said:


If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.

“I think you cook like me, and are willing to not have specific amounts, so I can basically tell you what I put in the stew. I sauted sliced onions and garlic, I added sliced red peppers, sauteed some more, added garam masala, curry and turmeric, salt, pepper. Then added a can of coconut milk, let it simmer a bit, added the Tilapia and then at the end the spinach. I am guessing it would work with many combos of vegetables and any number of white fishes. I have been eating it for lunch over brown rice this week.”  

I’m going to give you approximate guidelines for those who are hesitant to start this recipe without them.  But don’t worry — this is a very forgiving recipe.  I would guess that if you use 1 medium-large onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 large red pepper, 2 teaspoons garam masala, 1 teaspoon curry, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 can coconut milk, 4-5 filets tilapia, 3 large handfuls baby spinach (rinsed), it will work well.  And I think that will make a delicious fish stew.

Enjoy!  (and thank you, Mira!)

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The Trouble with Infant Formula

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When I was a fourth-year student in medical school, I had the good fortune to be named a winner of an essay competition sponsored by the John Conley Foundation. I was further honored by the subsequent publication of my winning essay in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Here is a part of the introduction:

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“It takes time to understand that some microbes will continue to mutate more quickly than antimicrobials can be developed to treat them or that manufactured infant formula is not an improvement over the real thing.” Here I was making the point that the technological explosion of the 20th century, as fantastic as it was, would have its limits, and that the patient-physician relationship transcends technology.

When I think about an overarching theme for the 20th century, I think about how large things got. Skyscrapers, phone companies, fast food supply chains. The bigger the better, we used to say. Growing up in the second half of the 20th century, I don’t think we really thought about how big might be big enough. Too big had not yet occurred to us. Yet here we are in the 21st century, thinking about solutions to enormous problems that have resulted from unlimited bigness.

At the time I wrote that winning essay, I did not yet see that manufactured infant formula was just one among many types of edible compromises available for sale. [Note, as an aside, the scientific allusion in the word “formula.”] In the 20th century, technology was thought to be the solution, and the solutions were assumed to be absolute.

I didn’t realize what I know now, that there are thousands and thousands of edible compromises on the market. Food is a little bit different from formula, I know, because there are certainly some moms and babies who will be unable to nurse. I’m glad we have manufactured formula, like medication, for them. But the rest of us, as well as our pets, for that matter, will never need formula, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, or maltodextrin, or corn syrup, or any of the thousands of other sources of manufactured calories that fill miles and miles of super-duper-market shelves across this nation. Not just that, but these manufactured calories have played a major role in one of the greatest pandemics in human history.

So you tell me: Was justice done?  [Name that movie reference.]


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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Toby’s Kale Chips

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Once again, Toby comes through with another great recipe.  If you have a dehydrator for step 4 below, that’s great, but if you don’t you can still make this recipe by setting your oven at the lowest possible setting.  Just keep the door cracked open a bit to let the excess moisture evaporate.  

If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.

1/2 red or orange bell pepper

1/8 c. almonds
1/8 c. pumpkin seeds
1/4 c. cashews
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 small date, pitted
3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
salt to taste
1 bunch kale
1. Remove the central stems from the kale.
2. Using a high-speed blender or food processor, make a sauce by blending together all the other ingredients.   
3. Pour the sauce over the kale and mix very, very well until all of the kale is covered with dressing.  
4. Dehydrate until crisp.  

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Looking for Black Stockings in Vegas

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I presented two talks at a conference on Preventive Medicine in Las Vegas this past week, and awoke the first morning to discover that my black tights had not made it into the suitcase. This did not jive with my plans to present myself as a tights-wearing professional. Ugh. So I left my room soon after 6 am in search of a new pair of black tights.


If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes! Wondering why I capitalize the “f” in Food? See Food with a Capital F.

The first place I stopped was at the sundry store at the hotel. Two friendly women directed me to the pantyhose, and I was delighted to see a large display of stockings in all the usual colors.  

Now many of my readers know me, but more don’t. So here’s what you need to know about me: I am small. Really quite small. Think of me as the Dr. Ruth of Food. If I stand up very, very straight I can claim that I am just about 5 feet tall. Most of my clothing is size 4 or 6. I hope you’re getting the picture.

Back in the store, I began of course to scan the stockings for a pair of Size A black stockings. To no avail. To my relative horror, there were no A size stockings at all. Just B and Q. I am obiously not a Q, and B is a long shot. I turned back to the two friendly women, a feeling of panic beginning to rise in the back of my throat, and asked whether I might be mising the size A stockings. They recommended I try the Walgreens across the way, and I ran out of the store.

But there were no size A black stockings in the large display at Walgreens either. Well, that’s not exactly true: There were two pairs of small-sized “nude” stockings on the bottom shelf. I didn’t want nude; I was looking for black stockings. 

America, WAKE UP!! As I hope you have already surmised, this post isn’t really about stockings. Is it really okay with you that Americans are growing so large that stores no longer see the need to carry small-sized stockings? Is it REALLY OKAY with you? Because this isn’t about stockings. This is about obesity, about arthritis, hypertension, gout, heart disease, and that greatest scourge of all, diabetes. Because if there is no need for size A stockings at Walgreens, then we’d better be prepared to spend a lot of money on medicines, on bypass operations, on dialysis, and on nursing home care for stroke patients. We’d better get ready to spend our days as caregivers to parents with dementia brought on by long years of poor nutrition and lack of exercise.  

Is it really okay with you? It’s not okay with me.

P.S. I left Walgreens with a pair of B-sized stockings, which bagged slightly around my ankles, and was later rescued by the A-sized-black-stocking-bearing daughter of a business colleague, who had found them at a local outlet.


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