Bring on the Tomatoes!

It is spring! As I organize and re-plant my garden, I bid adieu to the last of my winter carrots and onions. I’ve already planted my bell pepper plants, the strawberries are in full bloom, and the peas are growing so fast I can almost watch those delicate tendrils grab on and vine up. However, it is the optimistic and fragrant tomato that actually calls me by name.

It can be tricky to plant tomatoes and fragile herbs like cilantro in the early spring – In many parts of the country, frost threatens tender, young buds well into May. However, protecting the plants by dutifully covering them at night with row cover and uncovering them in the morning is well worth the effort when that first heirloom tomato hits the taste buds. I can already taste the marinara sauce in my summer menus…

This year, I’m experimenting with potted plants, upside down baskets as well as a new square foot garden. It is fun to watch the tomato and strawberry plants grow upside down, hanging on my porch, and they are beautiful to see out the windows. This is such a wonderful gardening option for city, apartment, and condo dwellers. We can now enjoy the fresh taste of produce wherever we live.

Fruits and vegetables from the garden (or hanging basket) taste better - there is no doubt about it. Especially when they are served just moments after they are plucked from the plant. The produce is allowed to ripen perfectly on the vine or bush, rather than being picked green and allowed to ripen in warehouses or on trucks en route to the grocery store.

I learned this lesson when I joined a CSA. When I was younger I never particularly liked greens, but I ate them because I knew they were such a good source of iron, antioxidants, vitamins A, K, and D, and calcium. Then I tasted the local, and later, the homegrown versions and discovered flavors I never knew existed. My palate was alive with spinach, kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and those potent, tender little Brussels sprouts. And the best news: many of the vitamins in leafy greens are fat-soluble, so a little oil or butter (or the occasional bit of tasty bacon grease, oh my!) is necessary for proper absorption of the vitamins.

Want to be healthier and eat more vegetables because you actually enjoy the taste? Want to teach your children how good, nutritional food is grown? Want to eat locally? It doesn’t get any more local than your backyard garden!

Garden Veggies with Balsamic Vinaigrette

My garden will be producing plenty of tomatoes, zucchini, onions and yellow squash, and I’ll soon be running out of room in my refrigerator drawers! It will be an ideal time to cook dishes like the following recipe, incorporating some of those garden fresh veggies.

FRESH FARM VEGETABLES WITH BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

3 medium tomatoes, diced in bite sized pieces
2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, diced in bite sized pieces
½ onion, sliced in slivers
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar, gently boiled until reduced by half
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 slices bacon, cooked, drained and chopped for garnish

Blanch squash in salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain. Combine squash, tomatoes and onion in medium bowl. In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients except olive oil and bacon. Whisk oil in slowly. Drizzle vinaigrette over vegetables and toss. Garnish with bacon. Serves 4.

Don't Fear the Freezer

Easy things get a bad rap. It’s as if to say, if you haven’t sweated and toiled and sacrificed for something, you haven’t earned it. “Don’t take the easy way out” — How many times have we heard that?

In the world of food, sometimes a healthy skepticism toward easiness makes sense. If you’re hungry for a snack, few things are easier to get your nosh on than a bag of potato chips or Cheetos. Here, though, what you’re saving in terms of convenience you’re more than giving up in nutrition.

There are “easy” foods that can be good for you. For snacking, an apple with peanut butter is a great combination that can be prepared in literally one minute. (While peanut butter is considered healthy as-is, you can up the health quotient even more by buying natural brands, which use less sugar.) In fact, nuts in general are an excellent, easy snack food, when eaten in reasonable amounts. Or if that sounds boring, try the spiced varieties available in bulk at your grocery store.

When it comes to cooking though, one of the easiest ways to find healthy, inexpensive ingredients is to visit the frozen-foods aisle. I repeat: Frozen foods — fruits, vegetables, fish — are your friend.

It’s curious how frozen food seems to get short shrift when compared to canned food. Maybe it’s because canned food has been available to consumers longer than frozen food. Or maybe it’s because freezers are relatively new conveniences (freezers weren’t mass produced until the end of World War II). Shoot, maybe people just don’t have enough room in their freezers because they seldom clean them. Who knows?

Whatever the reason, it’s a shame, because frozen food can be an economical, convenient, and healthy component in people’s kitchens, especially during the off-season for various types of produce. Before they are frozen, fruits and vegetables are picked at the height of ripeness, when they are most nutrient-rich and flavorful. In freezing, produce retains more of those nutrients than the fruits and vegetables that were canned.

Sometimes I’ll even use frozen vegetables instead of fresh. For instance, if I want to make a black bean and corn salad, I’ll usually use frozen organic sweet corn over fresh corn because it’s available year-round. I don’t buy fresh corn on the cob in January because I know it’s been shipped from who knows where (and who knows how long it was kept refrigerated). Frozen corn, on the other hand, is picked when it’s ripe — it’s the next best thing to eating seasonally.

Canned food has its place, but in most situations frozen is better for nutritional content, and it’s still relatively cheap, especially compared to fresh produce that’s out of season. Oh, and another frozen-food convenience: It’s typically already prepped and ready to go! Try it, and take the easy way out.

Ginger Sauce Tweetcipe

This flavorful sauce makes a yummy stir-fry. I triple the amount and freeze several containers at a time. Use it with cooked strips of chicken, pork or beef.

I have a client who loves it with stir-fried slices of carrot, bok choy, red bell pepper, onion and green peas.

Ginger Sauce

¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup fresh grated ginger
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 teaspoons sesame oil
3 teaspoons sambal or a 2 shakes of red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Put all of the ingredients except the water and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Mix water and cornstarch in a small bowl and add to the sauce. Stir for 1 minute.

Nutrition is Essential for Good Health

Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.

—Hippocrates

You are what you eat. Literally. Regularly consuming exceedingly processed, fatty foods will make you feel tired and look fatty - “overly processed,” if you will. A diet rich in fresh foods and lean proteins will make you feel fresh and revitalized and look lean. The occasional birthday cupcake won’t hurt you (in fact I encourage the special indulgence as a treat for the soul) but it is all about balance. I believe it is nutritional imbalance that plays the primary role in the cancer and diabetes rates we see today. If we pay closer attention to our consumption of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, we will be well on our way to increased stamina, better sleep, clarity of mind, and far less disease.

To ensure we get the most out of our food, look to the vitamins and minerals. Vitamins and minerals are enablers, or assistants in the nutritive process. For instance, the suite of B vitamins are necessary for our bodies to properly turn carbohydrates to sugar and create energy (without adequate B vitamins, our bodies store those carbs as fat). We can take vitamins in the form of pills, but the absorption rates are unpredictable; the vitamins and minerals most readily usable by our bodies are found in our food. When we eat fresh, brightly colored, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, good quality dairy and meats, and whole grains, the vitamins and minerals within are readily absorbed by our bodies and are then available for all the necessary nutritional chemical reactions.

To ward against disease, I suggest ensuring a good quantity of antioxidants in our diet. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals so our bodies can focus on repairing and protecting us. While free radicals are an essential part of a healthy immune system, they can accumulate in our bodies as a result of environmental toxins (pollution, chemicals, radiation, etc), physical and emotional stress, and unhealthy fats, preservatives, and pesticides in our processed foods. Excessive free radicals then attack our tissues and make us more vulnerable to many degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and many cancers.

It seems to me that our country needs revitalization, and that starts with its individual citizens. A great way to revitalize ourselves is by retraining ourselves to eat healthier. I’d love to see more people cut down on their consumption of fast food, exercise to reduce stress, and eat a diet rich in organically grown fruits, vegetables and proteins. I think it would make a real difference in so many ways.

Chicken Curry Tweetcipe

I’ve always admired people who can intuitively cook, never needing to look at a recipe. When I cook for a client I always bring the printed recipes because I’m likely to forget an ingredient or two until it’s too late. I rely on my lists and backup systems! However, I was cooking for a client a couple of weeks ago and had forgotten my printed recipe for Chicken Curry with Cashews. So this time I was on my own, no safety net, and I’m happy to report that my client loved it! I like to serve this over brown basmati rice. Here’s the recipe I made up on the spot:

½ t cumin seeds
¼ cup butter
1 chopped onion
¼ lb fresh green beans, cut in half
3 minced garlic cloves
1 T fresh ginger, processed on a zester
3 T curry powder
½ t sriracha sauce (or a dash of cayenne)
salt to taste
1 – 14 oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
¾ cup plain yogurt
4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
1 cup toasted cashews, chopped coarsely

Heat a soup pot over low heat and toast cumin seeds. Stir often and be careful not to burn them. When the seeds start to brown and become fragrant, turn the heat to medium and add the butter, onions, garlic, ginger and green beans. Stir occasionally until onions are softened. Add salt, curry, sriracha sauce, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken and stir. Add tomatoes plus juice, and cilantro. Turn the heat down, stir, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in yogurt and serve. I like to ladle the curry over basmati rice or quinoa, and generously sprinkle cashews on top.

People’s Diets Before & After the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution, which historians say first started in the U.K. around 1760, was less a revolution and more of a gradual but profound metamorphosis of Europe and, close on its heels, North America. And by gradual, I mean about 150 years of invention, improvement and industrial application. Authors like Thomas Hobbs described 17^th Century farmers’ lives as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."

Then the Industrial Revolution brought mechanization and technological advancements. Farming on a small scale was all about maintaining the delicate health of the soil through fallowing, cover crops and crop rotation. With the Industrial Revolution, it became a large-scale process where nature could be managed and exploited, though not always controlled. Control came later, after the harsh lessons of the Dust Bowl years were indelibly printed on farmers who took advantage of new automation machines, farmed ever more acreage but did not heed the appropriate steps to renew and protect the soil as their forefathers had.

Meat and dairy were expensive and rare commodities in pre-industrial Europe. Most livestock was slaughtered in the autumn since grazing areas were scarce in the harsh winters, lending to huge autumn feasts, followed by a bland, meager, almost vegetarian diet through the winter. Then science taught ranchers the finer points of effective husbandry, and grains became more readily available to get livestock through the cold months. Within a century, meat was available to the masses year round, and dairy was more easily produced with the larger stocks of breeding animals each spring. Peasants began to eat like aristocrats.

Exploration and early forms of genetic modification (in the form of selective breeding) brought new peppers, corn, and chocolate from the Americas to Europe, inspiring cooks with bold, new flavors. The chocolate was dark, mostly served as a beverage, and far less sweet than most of today’s impulse buys, but thank goodness for those brave sailors who brought it back and those chefs that made it a part of our Valentine’s Day traditions!

Scientific discoveries and studies enabled farmers to breed and cultivate plants for consistency, quantity, and flavor. Small family farms were replaced with vast fields of genetically similar crops that were easy to grow, but homogeneous and more prone to large outbreaks of disease and pest infestation (meaning stronger systemic fertilizers and pesticides had to be formulated and applied.).

While birth rates were flat during the Industrial Revolution, improved medical care, diet, and sanitation sharply reduced death rates. A growing population needed to be fed, and since most of that population now lived an urban lifestyle, food had to be brought into the cities. Trains sped things up, the invention of canned goods, fillers and additives made the food go further and last longer on the shelf.

Today we can enjoy asparagus in December and mangoes in the Midwestern United States. However, in an effort to feed our exponentially growing population the abundance of fruits and vegetables we now expect year round, we may have taken the industrialization of our food supply too far, stripping our dinner of genetic diversity, flavor and adequate nutrition. Perhaps the pendulum will now swing successfully back to center with a balance of small, local, organic farms and the large homogeneous farms to make the best of all that our ancestors and our great scientific minds have to offer.