While everyone talks about saturated fat and monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and trans fat, I’m going to give you a better strategy for figuring out what to eat. Instead of FAT, let’s talk about FATTY ACIDS. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Vitamin C Tea
Some days, all you can think about is a little something light to drink. Most of us limit our tea choices to what’s available on the shelf at the grocery store, but the fact of the matter is that you can make tea blends yourself if you ever decide that you would like to try. This particular recipe, with its tart and satisfying combination of Vitamin-C-rich plants and slightly astringent saffron, is from QuitoKeeto, which also displays the most drool-worthy, if pricey, selection of kitchenware and housewares on its site. Check it out and you’ll see what I mean. Continue reading
My Dad’s Thing About Ketchup
My dad is on a mission to get people to eat less ketchup. But it’s not because of the ketchup. It’s because of the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). He has an especially hard time wrapping his brain around the fact that most national brands of of ketchup list HFCS either first or second in the ingredient list. Yuk. So he asked if I would post an entry about this. And here it is, Dad! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Nearly Magical Tomato Sauce
Thanks (and I really mean that!) to my daughter and her friend, among whose many talents I would definitely include garden building, we now have so many tomatoes it’s hard to know what to do with all of them. It’s a wonderful problem to have. I’ve actually been dreaming about dehydrated tomatoes, pickled tomatoes, marinated tomatoes, skewered tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, sliced tomatoes, and … sauced tomatoes. Continue reading
Sugar: Fructose and More
I recently read an article about high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the inexpensive sweetener that is used extensively in highly processed products, like ketchup, barbecue sauce, breakfast “cereals,” soft drinks and sports drinks, muffins, cookies, cakes, and tons of other products that you might not even think of as sweet, like bread and baked beans. This week, a few random musings about sugar, mainly fructose. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Vegetable Borscht
I wanted to share this vegetable borscht now(!) so that, hopefully, you’ll have time to make it the week (freeze), day (refrigerate), or at least the morning before you plan to serve it. Which means that, at the very least, you’ll want to make this recipe first thing in the morning to give its flavors time to blend. Besides its deliciousness, another one of the great things about this recipe is the fact that it meets the requirements of a great many different kinds of nutritional approaches. There’s nothing like making many people happy, all at the same time. And that’s not something that should be taken for granted, either! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Judith’s Eggplant Caponata
We went to a dinner party last week and ate the most elegant dinner, courtesy of my wonderful friend Judith, who mixes a mean martini, makes magic with shallots, has a good knife, and knows how to use it. I highly recommend you give some thought to adding this eggplant caponata to your upcoming holiday celebrations. It’s quite spectacular. Continue reading
Late Summer Moments
As the summer has been winding into fall, these past few weeks have been filled with many moments of the exceptional-yet-ordinary variety. These were moments of crystalline clarity, when nothing existed except for what was right there on the table: the food, people talking and listening, glass, cloth, pottery, and metal. The air sparkled faintly with a transcendent sense of space that was minute and endless at the same time, inconsequential and all-encompassing at once. And I loved it. Consumed in and by it, I loved it. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Red September Soup
I am trying to keep to a new plan, which is to make a crockpot full of soup every Sunday. My hope is that it lasts far into the week, providing warm lunches or dinners to anyone in need, until it’s all gone. I started the first week with a green French lentil soup, but last week I decided to go red — red beans, red lentils, red tomatoes, red paprika. Continue reading
Try This: Earn Your Grain
Nobody likes to think that they aren’t eating a nourishing diet. It kinda feels bad to think that you might be letting yourself down. If challenged, people tend to say that they’re eating pretty well, and that they think they’re making pretty good choices. Completely understandable. Continue reading