Food and Health

We change our wardrobes with the seasons, we should be changing our salad ingredients as well. Eating seasonally not only tastes better, but it requires a lot less energy to create.

In wintertime, instead of basing your salad on something light like a butter lettuce, consider something that weathers the cold climate, like endive, escarole or a more common spinach.

Once you’ve chosen your base leaf, move on to the add-ons. New York City-based chef Carlin Greenstein recommends building the salad around the green and in fall and winter, she likes to add a cooked element for those cold days.

Here is her recipe for a winter spinach salad complete with seasonal fruits (pomegranate, persimmon, and pear).

Winter Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of red spinach
• 1 persimmon
• 1 pomegranate
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 Bosc pear
• Olive oil for sautéing
• A handful of thyme

Direction:

1. Spread walnuts on a tray and place them in the oven for a few minutes, until lightly browned.
2. Cut and de-seed pomegranate.
3. Slice persimmon.
4. Slice pear. She uses Bosc rather than Bartlett because it’s firmer and it stays firm when sauteed.
5. Heat saucepan with a coating of olive oil.
6. Once oil is hot, add thyme. The oils naturally occurring in the thyme come out in the hot oil.
7. After a couple minutes, add the pears to the pan. Turn the stove down to medium. You don’t want to darken these, you just want to get them a little bit caramelized which means the sugars in the fruit are coming out.

A pomegranate, molasses, lemon vinaigrette

Ingredients for vinaigrette:

• 1/2 squeezed lemon
• 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Pepper
• Sea salt

Directions for vinaigrette:

1. Squeeze half lemon into your hand to catch seeds.
2. Add pomegranate molasses, olive oil, pepper and sea salt.
3. Whisk together.
4. Taste using a piece of spinach.

Directions for putting it all together:

1. Add the greens to the bowl and toss with the vinaigrette.
2. Then add the persimmon, pomegranate seeds and the pear.
3. Sprinkle the roasted walnuts on top.

 

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Despite its name, buckwheat is neither a wheat nor a gluten.  Although it is commonly treated like a grass or a cereal, buckwheat is actually the fruit seeds from a plant, or an agricultural weed known as Fagopyrum esculentum.

Buckwheat is a hearty whole food that can be grown in poor soil and weather conditions; it originated in Northern Europe and Asia.  In North America, we often find buckwheat ground into flour, which is an excellent alternative to wheat flour or other glutinous flours, such as spelt, rye, and kamut.

Buckwheat is high in calcium and protein and can be found as a substitute for wheat in gluten-free beer, and its kernels, also known as groats, are an excellent substitute for rice or quinoa.  To top it all off, the hulls of buckwheat are commonly used as fillings for pillows, and as a renewable natural resource, this product is much more environmentally friendly than a synthetic poly-filled pillow.

Most importantly though, buckwheat flour was the original flour used to make crepes.  So for a little gluten-free delight, give this recipe a try:

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Crepes

Ingredients (for 6 crepes):

• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• A pinch of sea salt
• 1 tbsp arrowroot or quinoa flour
• 1 lg egg
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Whisk the water, butter, and egg together and then mix with dry ingredients.  Set aside for 15-20 minutes.  Heat a pan and melt some butter. Once heated, pour some batter into the pan and rotate the pan to get the batter nice and smooth… you don’t want it to be too thick.  Return the pan to heat for a couple of minutes until the top is hard.  Flip the crepe over and let the other side brown.

Serve this delicious treat up with your favourite fruit mixture, maple syrup, or chocolate sauce.  Enjoy!

 

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The Food and Drug Administration is getting serious about some egregious food label lies like those that The Daily Green recently blew the whistle on.

The FDA today notified 17 food manufacturers about 22 food products that violate law because of misleading labeling. Companies that received warning letters have 15 business days to inform the FDA of the steps they will take to correct their labeling.

"Today, ready access to reliable information about the calorie and nutrient content of food is even more important, given the prevalence of obesity and diet-related diseases in the United States," Commissioner of Food and Drugs Dr. Margaret Hamburg wrote in an open letter to the food industry.

Interestingly, several organic brands are also on the list, though the problems didn't lie with the "organic" part of the nutrition claims. Still, it's a useful reminder that "organic" means a food was produced without harsh chemical fertilizers or pesticides, but it doesn't mean it's nutritious. Processed foods are just that - processed, whether organic or not.

One good rule of thumb in the grocery store is to choose the least-packaged, least-labeled foods, like fruits, vegetables, and grains: These will be nutritious and will come free of misleading labels.

Below is a look at the food label lies the FDA is no longer tolerating:

 

 

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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

The tomatoes, cantaloupes, and asparagus you see on grocery store shelves right now may look good, but chances are they don't taste all that great. That's because they're not in season right now and probably had to be shipped from far away or grown in a hothouse.  

Choosing fruits and vegetables that are at the peak of freshness instead brings many benefits. They taste better, are more nutritious, are better for the planet, and are often less expensive than produce that's travelled thousands of miles to reach your table.

We asked chefs across the country to pick one fruit or veggie they just won't eat right now and why. Here are their answers:

• Tomatoes. "Tomatoes should be picked off the vine where they have grown at the natural pace in the summer - outside in the sun. Those are the only ones worth eating. I'm convinced that people who think they don't like tomatoes have eaten them at the wrong time of year." Kevin Gillespie, executive chef, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta.

• Asparagus. "The peak of its season is in spring, but people are able to grow it during the winter further south in places like Mexico because of the weather. By the time this asparagus gets to us in Seattle during the winter, it's probably three weeks old and hardly at its best," Mark Fuller, chef/owner, Spring Hill, Seattle.

• Corn. "I grew up picking corn in the summer and know the flavor of perfectly ripe corn. You just can't beat it," David Myers, chef/owner, Sona, Los Angeles.

• Nightshades. "We stay away from about all fresh nightshades, meaning tomatoes, eggplant, peppers. They're not local, they're shipped across the globe, you can drop 'em out a third floor window and they remain intact, plus they taste lousy," Eric Tucker, executive chef, Millennium Restaurant, San Francisco

• Peaches. "Some people think of peaches the way that Gertrude Stein talked about a rose - but a peach is not a peach is not a peach, especially if you consider when and where you're eating it. In August, there's no more beautiful or more delicious expression of the season. But in March, it's a disaster." Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner, Blue Hill, New York City.

• Melons. "Down here in the south, there's no way you're going to find a good quality melon right now. The taste, smell, and texture are all bad in the wintertime. There's also the mental association to summer. You think of 90-degree days when you think of melons," James Boyce, chef/owner, Cotton Row, Huntsville, Alabama.

• Berries. "They're really expensive. They taste like cardboard. Most of them are coming from South America, and I'm afraid of some of the chemicals used in the growing process," Rob Endelman, founder, Cook With Class, New York City.

What are chefs most excited to start cooking with in the spring? English peas, asparagus, artichokes, morels, and fava beans.

Depending upon where you live, you'll see these vegetables pop up at farmers' markets anytime from late March through April. And late spring is also when we'll start to see ripe strawberries and rhubarb. Anyone who's eaten local strawberries knows they are definitely worth the wait! 

Here's a guide to peak times for popular produce. Or find out what's in season where you live right now. Search for local farmers markets or visit LocalHarvest.

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green's users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

 

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Banana bread is a great way to use up those bananas going soft on your counter. Bananas are also a great way alternative to refined sugar.

The ideal bananas for making banana bread are actually those that you may be less interested in eating. So the next time some of your bananas get overripe instead of tossing them, either consider making a loaf of banana bread or simply freeze them for when you are ready to bake.

By simply putting bananas in the freezer, you will stop the ripening process. The skins will turn black, but once you’re ready to use them simply defrost them with their peels on and once they’re thawed peel them and they’re ready to be cooked.

Getting our sugar from whole fruits

Bananas are a really healthy alternative to processed sugar. While fructose is a sugar, it’s nothing to be afraid of - in moderation - when found in whole fruits. Fruits are not only packed with vitamins and minerals, but they’re full of fiber.

Bananas - with about 2 to 4 grams of fiber per fruit - are one of the top five fruits rich in fiber (others are pears, apples, figs, and blackberries), which helps to cut the risk of diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

Sugar-free banana bread recipe

Many of these ingredients can be left out since bananas have such a distinctive flavor. So if you find yourself without baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla, nuts, or even salt, you can leave them all out and still bake up a tasty loaf of bread.

Ingredients

• 3 mashed bananas
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter (you can substitute the oil or butter with applesauce)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup flour (can be white, whole wheat, spelt, you can experiment here)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Mash bananas in a bowl.
2. Add oil (or butter) and eggs and mix until creamy.
3. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Stir in the nuts.
5. Oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
6. Pour mixture into pan.
7. Bake at 325°F for 45 minutes to an hour. To check if it’s done, insert a knife or toothpick in center and if it comes out clean, it’s cooked.
8. Cool on a rack.
9. Remove from pan and slice.

 

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Packaged salads are not nearly as clean as their "pre-washed" and "triple-washed" labels suggest.

Recent Consumer Reports' tests found bacteria that are "common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination" in many of the packaged salad greens it tested.

The nonprofit group tested 208 containers of salad greens and found that 39 percent of the samples exceeded acceptable levels for coliforms and 23 percent had unsafe levels of enterococcus.

On a positive note, these tests didn't find disease-causing bacteria such as E.coli O157:H7, listeria, or salmonella in any of the samples.

"It's never a good idea to have fecal bacteria in your food or water because it means that untreated waste has gotten into them somehow," says food safety expert Marion Nestle. "But only toxic bacteria make you sick, and the good news in this otherwise queasy-making study is that they didn't find any."

No one is suggesting that you stop eating salad. Just take some of the precautions below to make sure you're eating the safest greens possible:

• Always wash salad greens, even if the bag says "prewashed" or "triple-washed." Rinsing won't remove all the bacteria, according to Consumer Reports, but it may remove residual soil. Washing with plain water works as well as anything else, says Nestle. There's no need to use detergent, vinegar, or special produce washes.


• Buy packaged greens as far from their expiration date as possible. In the tests, Consumer Reports found that many packages with higher bacteria levels were one to five days before their use-by date.
  
  Packages of salad that were six to eight days away from expiration date fared better, according to Consumer Reports. (It's also interesting to note that many of the packages with the highest amounts of bacteria contained spinach.)


• Choose fresh greens over packaged when you can. Bagging changes the environment in ways that might promote bacterial proliferation, says Nestle. A fresh, whole head of lettuce is usually less expensive than a bag of lettuce too.
  
  Buying local may offer extra protection since greens tend to be fresher so their bacteria haven't had as long an opportunity to multiply, Nestle notes, and this ought to reduce the risks of centralized contamination. However, in the Consumer Reports tests, it didn't make a difference if greens were organic or if the greens were packaged in plastic clamshells or bags.

 

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green's users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

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If you’re always looking for a low-fat, high-protein, delicious, and versatile snack, then look no further.  Let us discuss hummus.

With its main ingredients being chickpeas, tahini (crushed sesame seeds), garlic, and lemon juice, hummus is an excellent source of dietary fibre, protein, zinc, iron, and foliates. Combine hummus with vegetables, whether as a dip or on a salad, or as a spread on sandwiches.

Hummus is a great, healthy alternative to other high-fat dips, dressings, and spreads like mayonnaise or sour cream.  As a plant-derived protein, it is also a sustainable source of protein to incorporate into your diet.

Incorporating rich vegetable-proteins, such as chickpeas, into your diet is also a delicious way to reduce your carbon footprint.  So the next time you’re trying to think of a nice, light afternoon snack, try whipping out some corn chips to enjoy with a bowl of hummus.

Buy or make?

With its origins in the Middle East, pre-made hummus is sometimes available in food stores throughout North America.  However, it is also very simple to make yourself. Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, can be bought pre-cooked and preserved in cans at most grocery stores.

If you have a little bit more time and would like to avoid preservatives, chickpeas can be found in their raw form at most bulk-food stores and health food stores.  Soak these beans in water for 24 hours, then cook them for a couple hours and they are ready to go!

For those of you with a green thumb, you can grow chickpeas yourself in your garden or in a sunny window.

If you’ve never given hummus a taste, give it a try! You may be surprised at just how delicious a chickpea spread can be…

Christie’s Lip-Smacking Hummus:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of chickpeas
• 1/3 cup water
• Juice of 2 lemons
• ½ cup tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ tsp. salt
• Cayenne pepper
• Fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper, and cilantro or parsley.

 

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Almonds, almonds, good for your heart, the more you eat the more you … lower your LDL cholesterol, improve your complexion and digestion, and reduce your risk of cancer.

If you are looking for a simple and healthy snack while you’re on the run, then go on and grab a handful of almonds.  Once considered a food that is high in fat, research shows that this fat is monounsaturated, which actually helps reduce the risk of heart disease.

Almonds are also high in protein, and jam-packed full of fibre, calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, and other antioxidants. And as a bonus, supplementing your diet with whole foods, such as almonds, is a delicious way to lighten your eco-footprint with less processing and packaging.

Commonly referred to as a nut, almonds are actually the seed of a fruit native to the Middle East.  Almonds can be found year-round in grocery stores and markets worldwide as they are now cultivated along the shores of Europe, Africa, and most commonly in California.

Popular almond forms and snacks

The popularity of almonds is not limited to their raw form.  Known for their sweetness, almonds have been used for centuries in delectable desserts and baked goods. As they are low in carbohydrates, almonds can be made into flour, which is an excellent baking alternative, especially if you are sensitive to wheat or gluten-intolerant.

Similar to soymilk, almond milk is becoming increasingly popular, especially for folks who are lactose-free or vegan.  Finally, an excellent alternative to peanut butter is almond butter, which is found to be less salty and, better yet, it can be eaten in places that are otherwise “peanut-free.”

So, if you’re looking for a snack that’s nutritious and delicious, give almonds a chance.  Here are some quick and easy almond snack ideas:

• Spread celery sticks or apples with almond butter.
• Mix up raw almonds with pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, and other nuts.
• Throw chopped almonds into a bowl of cereal or in a cup of yogurt.

If you are looking for some almonds with a kick, try these tamari almonds...

Tamari almond recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole almonds
• ¼ cup tamari, soya sauce, or Bragg liquid soy seasoning (for a gluten-free alternative)
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• A pinch of cayenne pepper

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread almonds on baking sheet and toast almonds in oven for 5 minutes.

Remove the toasted almonds from oven and toss them with tamari, lemon, and cayenne pepper, and then bake for another 5-10 minutes. Turn off oven and let the almonds sit for another 10-15 minutes or until the almonds are dry.

Enjoy! Serve to guests, give as a gift, or keep a secret stash at the office for those mid-afternoon snacks.

 

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In recent years, many diet books have blamed plant foods, which are high in carbohydrates for the obesity crisis. But health care professionals have advised against low-carbohydrate diets for a long time.

A low-carb diet tends to be heavy in animal products - this requires the production of an extra ton and a half of greenhouse gases compared to a plant-based diet.¹ A diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruit, and legumes is both environmentally responsible and can help maintain a healthy weight.

Low-carb diet linked to obesity

A recent study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that consuming a low-carbohydrate diet (less than 47 percent of calories from carbohydrates) is associated with a greater likelihood of being overweight or obese.² This July 2009 study found that the lowest risk may be in consuming a diet with 47 to 64 percent of calories from carbohydrates. This was not the first study with these findings.

According to a Northwestern University study, the thinnest people on Earth are those who eat the most carbohydrates. The study of more than 4,000 men and women 40 to 59 years of age from the U.S, Great Britain, Japan, and China found that people who ate a high carbohydrate diet were much thinner than their high-protein, low-carbohydrate eating counterparts.³

If Atkins diet enthusiasts think that is a stunning conclusion, the researchers also found that people who eat the most protein are actually the heaviest.

Even more notable, the more animal protein consumed, the higher the person’s weight and the greater risk to his or her health. According to study leader Linda Van Horn: “Without exception, a high-complex-carbohydrate, high-vegetable-protein diet is associated with low body mass. High-protein diets were associated with higher body weight.”

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association affirmed that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet does not cause weight gain. Researchers found that women following a diet low in fat and high in fruits, vegetables, and grains actually lost weight. The study, the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, followed close to 50,000 post-menopausal women for more than 7 years.⁴

Eat complex carbs for good health

There are two classes of carbohydrates, simple and complex. Refined grains produce unnatural and inferior products and have been robbed of important vitamins, minerals and fiber. Whole grains are generally brown or tan and refined products are universally white as in white bread, white rice, white sugar and white flour. Products such as these contain simple carbohydrates and should be avoided.

Carbohydrates are an important part of a healthy diet, however one should always choose whole grain foods, which contain complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates take longer to break down and the slow absorption of sugars provides the body with a steady supply of energy and also limits the amount of sugar that is converted into fat and stored.

Ounce for ounce, carbohydrates have fewer calories than either fat or alcohol, and eating carbs does not lead to weight gain, unless, as with any food group, they are eaten to excess.

Marie Oser is a best-selling author, writer/producer, and host of VegTV. Follow Marie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vegtv

Sources:

1. Gidon Eshel and Pamela A. Martin, "Diet, Energy, and Global Warming," Earth Interactions, vol. 10, no. 9 (April 2006), pp. 1–17.
2. Carbohydrate Intake and Overweight and Obesity among Healthy Adults 
Anwar T. Merchant, Hassanali Vatanparast, Shahzaib Barlas, Mahshid Dehghan, Syed Mahboob Ali Shah, Lawrence De Koning, Susan E. Steck
Journal of the American Dietetic Association - July 2009 (Vol. 109, Issue 7, Pages 1165-1172.)
3. Achieving dietary adherence Linda Van Horn.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association - April 2004 (Vol. 104, Issue 4, Page 515.)
4. Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Weight Change Over 7 Years. The Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial. JAMA 2006;295:39-49.

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Even the most ardent bacon lovers will admit that that dealing with leftover bacon grease is no fun.   

What should you do with it? Let's start with what you should NEVER do: Pour it down the drain.

Even the tiniest amounts of bacon grease or cooking oil can clog up your pipes and ultimately back up sewer systems. 

Rinsing with a lot of hot water as you pour it down the drain won't help. Once that grease cools down, it solidifies and sticks to pipes.

Luckily Earth 911 has plenty of suggestions for how to responsibly dispose, reuse, and even recycle your leftover cooking oil.

• Absorb small amounts of grease with shredded paper, used kitty litter, or other absorbent materials and then throw it in the trash.
• Pour oil in a metal container (coffee cans are a popular option). You can throw it out once it solidifies.
• Some people save bacon grease or used cooking oil to reuse for cooking. If you choose to do that, you might want to strain it first and store it in the fridge. Again, a coffee can comes in handy.
• A growing number of communities are offering residents the ability to recycle their cooking oil. Search Earth 911 for local options.

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green's users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.