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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Sprout Salad

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Twice this week I brought to work a lunch that was particularly delicious, nutritious, crunchy, flavorful, satisfying and filling, not to mention easy and self-enclosed.  Not just that but it was incredibly inexpensive. 

Like many of the things we eat around here, it did not require more time all in all, but it did take some planning.  I prepared two jars, one with mung beans and the other with green lentils.  You can also use white beans, black beans, soybeans, chick peas, adzuki beans, or any other legume.  

Here is a step-by-step instruction kit for sprout salad.
2T dry beans of any kind, rinsed
water
jar
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olive oil
salt & pepper
1. Place the beans in a medium-sized glass or plastic jar, approx. 2-3 cups in volume, and fill the jar 2/3 full with water.  Then leave the jar on the kitchen counter and forget about it.  Time estimate:  3 minutes.
2. After 6-8 hours, or overnight, drain the water through your fingers while keeping the beans inside the jar.  Rinse once or twice, each time draining all the water.  Now lay the jar on its side and shake the beans so they rest along the sides of the jar instead of on the bottom.  Time estimate: 1 minute.
3.  Rinse the beans twice daily.  Continue to leave the jar by the kitchen sink.  It’s very important to leave them near the faucet where you will see them and remember to rinse them.  Do not put the jar into a cabinet or dark place or you will discover moldy beans in a few weeks.  Time estimate: 30 sec x twice daily x 3 days = 3 minutes.
4.  In 1-2 days you will see tiny root tails beginning to peak out.  In 2-4 days the sprouts will fill the jar at least halfway, if not higher, and they will be ready to eat.  Rinse the beans one last time, cover the jar with its lid and place the jar in the refrigerator.  I like sprouts better with small roots than with long ones, so I harvest on the early side.  Time estimate: 30 seconds.
5.  In the morning, open the jar, and add 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few shakes of pepper.  Then recap the jar, place it in your purse or lunchbag, and take it to work for lunch.  Time estimate: 30 seconds.  (Total time: 8 minutes)
Sprout salad is a great idea when you know that you aren’t going to have time to go to the supermarket to buy fresh greens that week.  If you keep a few containers of dry beans in your cabinet, then you can start a couple of batches whenever you’d like.  Plan to eat your sprouts 1-2 days after you refrigerate them.
Take whatever else you’d like to complement your wonderful sprout salad.  Today I brought multi-colored cherry tomatoes, watermelon slices, and some dark chocolate.  

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If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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Check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great blog posts!

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Follow Dr Sukol on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD.  

To comment on this post, follow Dr Sukol on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol.


The Most Popular Blog Posts of All

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Gotta make this fast because my friend is coming over to garden with me today!

In honor of having reached (and now flown past!) the one-half-million-visit mile marker to Your Health is on Your Plate this past week, and in response to a number of recent requests for direction about where to go on the blog, and what to read first, I’ve compiled a list of the most popular blog posts of all.  They include recipes, food history, food chemistry, and a little bit about words.

Let’s make this crystal — mountain spring water — clear.  These are not necessarily my favorite blog posts (though I am somewhat fond of several), they’re yours!  These are the posts most visited by YOU, the reader, since I began blogging back in September 2009.

So enjoy, share with your friends and other people you love, and spread the word!  There is a world of difference between FOOD and manufactured calories.  Your pants will feel the difference, your body will know the difference, and your brain will thank you for the difference.  Sit back, relax, taste the flavor, enjoy your meals, and don’t forget to eat an ounce of dark chocolate every day.

Now then, this is a work in progress.  As you continue to vote with your keyboards, I’ll continue to keep an eye on where you go most, and share them with everyone.  Thank you again for all your support.

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lia Huber’s Guacamole

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I have to guess that if my counter is covered with large, ripe avocados, then yours is too.  Here’s something that you can do with them.  I’ve always been a big fan of putting hard boiled egg in guacamole, but the jicama is a beautiful addition that gives unexpectedly satisfying crunch
to this particular guacamole.  Don’t skimp on the lime juice!

2 large, ripe avocados
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and coarsely mashed
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
1/4 cup jicama, peeled and cut into a 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup lime juice, divided
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh hot chiles
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chop up the hard boiled egg on a cutting board until the pieces are on the small side but not tiny.  Then scrape the flesh from the avocados into a bowl, add in the egg, and mash “roughly” [Lia’s word] with a fork until more-or-less mixed. Add in the onion, jicama, 2 tablespoons lime juice, oregano, chiles, salt and pepper to taste.  If you’re me, just add in the rest of the lime juice now. Otherwise, add the remainder a teaspoon at a time until you’re happy with the taste. Serve in a beautiful bowl (preferably in the cream, yellow, orange, or red spectrum), or maybe on a small platter lined with bib lettuce.

Take care to blend the ingredients only until just barely mixed, but not so much so that the avocado becomes a smooth paste. You want to see chunks of the avocados along with the jicama, onion and egg. 

And here, from Lia, is a direct link to the recipe: 

http://nourishnetwork.com/2010/02/05/guatemalan-guacamole/ 

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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Then, scroll down and check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” to find a list of great blog entries!

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Follow Dr Sukol on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD.  

To comment on this post, follow Dr Sukol on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol.


Intact Carbohydrate

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I’ve been thinking about the fact that carbohydrate virtually never grows in nature without the fiber attached.  Think about it:  meadow, garden, orchard — they’re all growing vegetables, beans, fruit and grains with the fiber matrix intact.

Along these lines, why do we call flour that’s been stripped of its fiber and germ “refined”?  What’s refined about flour?  When I look up the meaning in the dictionary it says that refinement means to remove the course impurities.  Really?  That got me thinking.

Whose idea was it to imply that the germ and bran are coarse impurities?  I’m pretty sure that it was not a nutritionist.  

I’ve written previously about how words carefully chosen can be employed to influence large populations to behave in ways that they would not otherwise.  Consider, for example, the fact that yogurt without any flavoring is called plain, when it could have been called pure.  Which would you rather buy?

Under the radar, a war of words influences our purchasing and consumption behaviors to an extraordinary degree.  Did you know there’s a special name for nutrition information displayed on the boxes of items like breakfast cereals, crackers, and the like?  It’s called advertising.  

So if word selection is that important, and worth as much to the food processing industry as I believe, then I am offering an alternative tool, to level the playing field as it were.  At the very least it should be a fair fight, and how can it be, when most of us don’t even realize that it’s going on? 

 

I am offering a new term for whole meal, whole grains, beets, dates, and any other food that is rich in carbohydrate and has not been stripped of its fiber matrix.  I’m going to call it intact carbohydrate, as opposed to stripped.  Intact carbohydrate is what you find when you walk outside and pick a tomato.  Or a peach.  Or a green bean.  Or a grain of wheat.  Stripped carbohydrate is what you find in supermarkets and loads of restaurants.

If refined carb is the Western diet’s default setting, then carb that hasn’t been tampered with, even though it grew that way for thousands of years, needs a special descriptor.  That’s the reason for having to call flour “whole-grain.”  As customer demand increases for food that grew the way nature intended, grocery stores are now filling with foods described as organic, grass-fed, pastured, free-range, and so forth.  Consider the fact that those none of those words were necessary 100 years ago.  

Instead of using the term refined carbs, we can call whole grains and fruits (and vegetables and beans) INTACT carbohydrates.  Fussed-with, tampered-with, refined carbs are “stripped.”  After all, having been stripped of their bran fiber coat, or their fiber matrix, that’s what they are.   Intact carb requires no special descriptors; it is what it is.  Intact carb is less likely to be found in a box, by the way.  Intact carb is carb the way nature intended.  Intact carb is food.  Intact carb is found in abundance in the produce section.  It’s potatoes, apples, oranges, lettuce, onions, peppers, kale, cauliflower, rhubarb, broccoli, and kohlrabi, not to mention whole-grain flour and brown rice.

 

Intact carb is NOT food starch, modified food starch, white flour, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, enriched flour, fortified grain, white rice, polished rice or reconstituted anything.  

 

 

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Fresh Tomato Salad

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This is not the time of year to turn on the oven.  Or the stove, for that matter.  But the tomatoes are starting to ripen, and you won’t need more than a knife and a cutting board for this recipe.  It’s simple, but it’s oh-so-much more than the sum of its three ingredients.

If possible, start with warm tomatoes, straight from the garden.  If not, room temperature tomatoes will work just fine.  But do NOT make this salad with cold, recently refrigerated tomatoes unless you like the taste of corrugated cardboard.
By the way, the end result looks particularly beautiful if you can get more than one color of tomatoes.  But it’s a great recipe either way.
3 medium-large tomatoes or 2 cups of cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil (it’s a generous amount, but you need it)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
If you’re using large tomatoes, turn them on their side and slice through them into large round cross sections.  Then layer them in a large shallow bowl. 
If you’re using cherry tomatoes, slice each one in half, and toss them into the bowl. 
Then sprinkle on the salt and olive oil, and mix well.  Give it a at least a few minutes to make a juice at the bottom of the bowl before you serve it.  

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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Then, scroll down and check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” to find a list of great blog entries!

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Follow Dr Sukol on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD.  

To comment on this post, follow Dr Sukol on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol.

Peach, Nectarine, Apricot, or Plum Chutney

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You should see my kitchen counter.  My husband adores stone fruits, and ‘tis the season!  I love them all, too, but something needs to be done about this, because there is much more than we can eat.

Here’s something wonderful you can do with nectarines, peaches, apricots and plums, in any combination you choose.  I am crazy about sweet and sour, so this recipe resonates with me.  Also, it freezes very well, so you can save some to serve with your Thanksgiving turkey.

4 ripe peaches, nectarines, apricots or plums in any combination 

1 cup pitted cherries (optional)

1/4 cup very thinly sliced sweet onion (like Vidalia)

4 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon garam masala 

Halve, pit, and slice the stone fruits into thin slices. Add the onions and cherries (optional). Combine in a large bowl, and add the honey, vinegar, and spices. Toss gently, and let stand at room temperature 1-2 hours, tossing occasionally. Then refrigerate. 

This chutney tastes great cold or at room temperature.  

Note: If you can’t find garam masala, substitute a good, fragrant curry powder.  The taste will be different, but also wonderful.  

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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Then, scroll down and check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” to find a list of great blog entries!

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Follow Dr Sukol on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD.  

To comment on this post, follow Dr Sukol on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol.


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Roasted Red Cabbage

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Ingredients

1 whole cabbage, rinsed and cored (peel away any dry or moldy outer leaves)
2 T olive oil
1 t kosher salt
(and that’s it!)

This red cabbage has been sitting on my kitchen counter for almost a month.  Enough is enough.


Yesterday I readied a cookie sheet by heating it first at 450 for a few minutes, and then tilting it to spread 1 T olive oil evenly over the surface.  Meanwhile, I sliced a whole head of red cabbage into approximately 3/4 inch slices and then laid them on the heated, oiled cookie sheet for roasting.  Some slices were thinner and some thicker, but I ended up with 7-8 slices in all.

Then I poured a bit more oil into my hand and spread it all over the cut surfaces of the cabbage, sprinkled them with kosher salt, maybe a bit less than 1 teaspoon, and returned the cookie sheet to the oven.

The cabbage roasted at 450 for about 20 minutes, got flipped with a big, broad spatula, and then roasted for about 10 more minutes.  Beware: the volume of cabbage shrank by almost half!

This is a simple and truly delicious recipe.  A whole head of cabbage was eaten by just 5 people!


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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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Then, scroll down and check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” to find a list of great blog entries!

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Follow Dr Sukol on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD.  

To comment on this post, follow Dr Sukol on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol.

Benjamin’s Strawberries

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A few weeks ago I received this email from a friend: “Benjamin [my friend’s son] picked two quarts of strawberries for you. The berries were small this season because of the odd spring we had and they don’t last.  You’ll need to pick up for tonight’s dinner and finish or freeze them by tomorrow.  Call me at home immediately if you are interested. I won’t be home after 6:00 but Benjamin will be here with his Dad to answer the phone and door.”  I hurried over.

The berries were gorgeous — sweet and perfectly ripe.  My friend was right about that.  I needed to figure out what to do with them fast.  There were just two of us at home, not enough to eat 2 quarts of berries in 12 hours.  I could have frozen them, but I didn’t want to save them for another time, I just wanted to make them last a little longer.  I had read about a trick, and this was a perfect opportunity to try it.

I poured all the berries into a large bowl, covered them with water, and added a couple of teaspoons of white vinegar.  I stirred it around gently with my hand and left it to sit for a few minutes before pouring off all the water.  Then I spread out the berries onto two dish towels and left them there for a while until they were completely dry.

I scooped up the berries and put them all back into the green, pressed-paper, quart containers in which they had arrived.

And it worked. The berries lasted for several days, which was enough time for us to eat them all. And the taste yielded absolutely no hint of the vinegar.  I’m looking forward to trying this out on blackberries and blueberries too.

Many thanks to Benjamin for all his hard work!

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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Then, scroll down and check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” to find a list of great blog entries!

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Follow Dr Sukol on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD.  

To comment on this post, follow Dr Sukol on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol.


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Zucchini Frittata

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This recipe (from Lia Huber at Nourish Network), with just a few very simple ingredients, reminds me of a truly wonderful dish made with potatoes instead of zucchini (and called tortilla espagnola) that a very sweet young woman from Spain made for us on a number of lucky occasions many years ago when our children were small.

2 medium-sized zucchini
1 large sweet onion
4 tablespoons virgin olive oil, divided in two equal portions
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 tsp. each salt and pepper
8 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven on broil with the rack in the upper third of the oven.

Slice the zucchini and onion crosswise as thinly as possible, no more than 1/8 inch thick if you can manage it. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the zucchini and onions until tender and beginning to soften for about 10 minutes. Add parsley, salt, and pepper, allow to cool 5 min. Then slide vegetables into a large bowl, add the beaten eggs, and mix well. 

Reheat the sauté pan over high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Swirl the oil and then pour in the egg mixture, tilting the pan to spread it evenly. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 min. Run a spatula around the edges and shake occasionally until the center of the frittata is almost but not quite set.

Transfer pan to the oven and broil the frittata 3-4 minutes until the top of the frittata is browned. Then invert onto a large serving plate. Serve warm or allow to cool and serve at room temperature. It turns scrambled eggs into a great dinner or a spectacular brunch. A thin slice with a pickle makes a great snack. 

 

Keep Your Enemies Closer

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Yesterday morning I looked down and saw a tiny ant crawling along the elbow of my left arm.  I felt the urge to flick it away, but not to squash it.  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, I thought.  

Recently, researchers have discovered that the communities of microbes living in the guts of normal-weight individuals differ significantly from those in the guts of obese individuals.  Other researchers are finding evidence to suggest that some common autoimmune diseases (like asthma) may result from decreased early exposure to bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that, in previous centuries, would have primed our young and immature immune systems, and protected us, later on, from this class of sometimes devastating diseases.  

The extensive and inappropriate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in animals of all kinds, including humans and livestock, is being linked to a myriad of consequences, such as severe secondary infections like C. dificile colitis, against which we might ordinarily be protected by the community of healthy bacteria harbored in the normal gut.

 

You might say that the bugs are our friends.  They are, at the very least, our neighbors.

When my children were young and felt ravaged by the latest cold virus, I would explain that it was helping them to grow their “antibody library” so they would be better protected as they grew.  We strengthen the bugs and they strengthen us. We occupy the same space. We inhabit their world, and they inhabit ours.  We are not at war. 

Why does the obese individual’s gut harbor a different community of bugs?  I am guessing that it may have something to do with what we feed those bugs.  Feed them food, and the ones that work with us will thrive.  Feed them edible, processed, food-like items, and the ones that work with us cannot survive.  Other bugs move in to take their place.

Have you ever made a project with papier mache?  The recipe, consisting of just flour and water, results in a glue that dries hard and sturdy.  You can count on that.  Papier mache doesn’t rot because the bugs don’t eat it.  I’m not sure what white flour does to the bugs in your gut, but I’m sure it’s not pretty.  Being fed bread and water makes me think of prisoners in solitary confinement.

The bugs in our gut are intrinsically related to our health in every way we can imagine, and a great many more than that, I suspect. 

 

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.   They may not be enemies at all.

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

———————————————————————-

Then, scroll down and check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” to find a list of great blog entries!

———————————————————————-

Follow Dr Sukol on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD.  

To comment on this post, follow Dr Sukol on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol.