Someone on our Facebook page recently asked how you cook kale. And she asked at a perfect time, since we've been getting it almost weekly at Chow Locally, and I've been the one who's been curating recipes and techniques to keep our customers excited!
First of all, a bit about kale. It is actually a type of cabbage that never gets around to forming into a head. In this photo you see curly kale, which is one of the more popular kinds, what you often see used to make kale chips. It comes in a variety of colors and leaf shapes, all of which can be enjoyed!
Here are some of the great things kale can do for you.
1. It can lower your cholesterol. 2. It can lower your risk of cancer. 3. It is a great food for detoxification. 4. It is extremely high in antioxidants — over 45 have already been identified. 5. One cup cooked kale has 1328% of your RDA's for vitamin K, 354% for vitamin A, and 89% of vitamin C. And only 36 calories.
Now that is what I call nutrient dense!
For the longest time, I thought kale was just the pretty gray-green curly stuff you used to decorate party platters, but didn't really eat. Then antioxidants were discovered, and kale topped the charts, and people started deciding, maybe they should figure out how to eat it. It can be a bit of a challenge because it is bitter. Unless you are Kitty, who loves raw kale (this is white peacock kale here), it's best to know a few cooking techniques!
Here are some of the easiest ways to enjoy kale.
1. Juice it. There are a bazillion recipes for juicing kale on the Internet. I am linking you to just one here.
2. Massage it and eat it raw. Interestingly, kale's bitter flavor dials back a bit if you chop it, and massage it with some type of oil until the color pops green. Here is a great blog post with three massaged kale salad recipes, along with more ideas (colcannon, which is mashed potatoes and kale, is a recipe I sent to our customers with this week's box.)
3. Saute it. Super easy, as you can see in this recipe!
4. Make pesto with it. One week we got gorgeous purple peacock kale in our boxes, and it intimidated some of our customers. It's the same vegetable, just a different color, and to demonstrate, I made a purple pesto. You can make this exact same pesto with any kind of kale…curly, dinosaur, peacock, Toscano…because it's still kale!
5. Steam/wilt it. This is one of my all time favorite kale recipes, by Rachel Ray, steamed kale with portobello mushrooms. I often make this dinner!
6. Kale chips. This is all the rage right now. I'm giving you the recipe and I encourage you to try this with any sturdy greens you might have available — kohlrabi and beet have worked very well in my kitchen. 7. Braise it. Braising is a way to slow cook and infuse the flavor of a wine, vinegar, alcohol, broth, or other liquid. I just found this great salsa-braised kale recipe while surfing for this post…it is on my list to try! I hope this gets you started! Let us know how you end up cooking yours!
I love to promote kale in my Whole Foods classes. It has omega-3's, trytophan (building block for serotonin), magnesium, iron, calcium, copper, and zinc, to name a few. It's also a member of the Brassica family, that cancer-fighting clan with more popular cousins named garlic, broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts.
But I always get the same response (see deer in the headlights graphic). I know what's pumping through those brains…"Kale? Isn't that the pretty curly stuff lining the fruit and veggie platter? You can eat that?"
Yes, you can…and should…eat kale.
Here's a trick for you kale virgins, if you're not quite up to the task. Next time you make a smoothie, of any flavor, throw in a handful of kale. You won't even taste it. You can also throw it into your juicer.
If you want to actually taste kale, your next best step is to head to your nearest Whole Foods and try the kale salad which is a staple in their ready-to-eat case. That's how kale is supposed to taste, and according to those who have been on my Whole Foods tours who are encouraged to try the salad, it's pretty good!
Here are some kale recipes for those of you who did so well with steps one and two that you're ready to strike out into the Adventurous World of Kale.
Kale is the new rage. I've even seen it hailed as The New Beef.
Problem is, for newbies to this green way of eating, kale is a bitter veggie to swallow.
I wanted to share some of my favorite ways to work with kale that get you out of the bitter and into the tasty zone!
1. Make chips! I put a photo album on our Facebook page showing you how to do this with pretty much any green, including kale. It's soooo easy!
2. Cook with Parmesan cheese. Cheese, for some reason, helps to take bitterness out of greens.
3. Massage with oil. I'm sharing a couple of links here to recipes describing tis technique, which is basically breaking down the membranes of the leaves with your hands while massaging in a little oil. The first recipe, Kale Salad with Grapefruit, and photo are from friend Valerie Griswold. The second recipe is for the popular kale avocado salad at Whole Foods, which is what I always encourage people to try if they have never had kale. The avocado does the job that the oil does in the previous recipe.
4. Throw a handful into smoothies! You won't taste it at all, and you'll still get the benefit of its goodness.
5. Add to soups. If I get close to the next weekly veggie box and I still have things I haven't used, I make soup. Kale is a great thing to throw in anything.
I just received an email from a client who noticed that every time she added flaxseed oil to her diet, she started to wheeze. We checked online, and sure enough, some people can be allergic to flaxseed. Here are some of the common symptoms of flaxseed allergy.
For anyone who is trying to increase their omega-3's, this can pose a challenge, since the vast majority of foods in the grocery store labeled as omega-3 supplemented contain flaxseed as the omega-3 source. If it turns out you are a flax-allergic person, be extra sure you read those labels!
ALA, the primary omega-3 in flaxseed oil, is not a substitute for fish oil; it has completely different and essential functions. A good way to think of it is that EPA and DHA from fish oil provide the"meat" of the structure of your brain and nerve cells, while ALA acts kind of like"rustproofing", keeping all that DHA and EPA in place that you worked so hard to get in the diet. They both need each other present in order for maximum effectiveness.
Here are some ideas for getting more omega-3's in the diet.
1. Other foods containing ALA include
Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Canola oil Edamame Kale Parsley Pecans Pumpkin seeds Spinach Spring greens Tempeh Tofu
One reason I have not included walnuts, which are typically the first vegetarian food recommended to increase omega-3 intake, is that the omega-6 content is so high that it is mathematically impossible to improve an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio when using them. I love walnuts and think they have some great nutritional benefits for PCOS, but in the rare and special case of a flaxseed allergy, it may not be a food that you would want to eat in large quantities. (I'm working on a pro-walnut post for a later date for you curious types!) Here are some practical ways to incorporate the foods above into your diet.
1. Know your nuts! The nuts with (a) the best omega-3 levels and (2) the best overall ratios of healthy to unhealthy fats include: macadamia, hazelnut, pecan, pine, and pistachio. Those are the nuts you should be using with the most frequency in your snacking and cooking. If you like nut-encrusted fish and pesto sauce…you're in luck! You can also throw nuts in your coffee grinder to make nut powders, which can be added to waffles, pancakes, baked goods, smoothies, and salad dressings. They'll give your creations a little bit of a gourmet twist!
2. Use shredded cabbage in your tacos instead of shredded lettuce. That's how they do it in Mexico…and it's the perfect topping for a fish taco!
3. Get in the habit of throwing a handful of dark greens--kale, spinach, parsley--into your smoothies. You won't even taste them.
4. Pumpkin seeds, like nuts, are easily added to trail mix, thrown on salads, soups, and hot cereals, and ground to include in your encrustings.
5. Cook with canola oil.
6. I've included the three types of soybean that are not tough on thyroid--edamame, tofu, and tempeh. Edamame is a fun snack when popped out of the shell, tofu and tempeh can be the basis for a meatless meal.
7. If you like pesto, you may want to try chimichurri, another parsley-based sauce that I call"South American pesto". It is wonderful on grilled meats and easy to make! I've seen ready made varieties in the grocery store.
8. Be extra careful about omega-6 fatty acids. The less of those in your diet, the less omega-3 you will need to counter their inflammatory influence. For review, except for canola, which is ok, minimize your use of oils beginning with the letters"s" and"c"…safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed. (The reason soy as a food is ok while soybean oil is not, is because the ratio of omega-6 jumps up when you extract and use only the fat and do not buffer it with the meat of the soybean.)
Here are a couple of recipes for you, one for chimicurri sauce, and one for a tasty squash/kale/whole wheat lasagna I tested out this week.
It just takes a little creative thinking to find ways around a flaxseed allergy. Hopefully some of the suggesstions I'm providing turn out to be favorites in your home!
Spinach Kale Whole Wheat Lasagna (from Sunset Magazine, February 2008)
Note: I couldn't find whole wheat lasagna noodles in my store so I bought whole wheat egg noodles and layered them with the other ingredients to make a casserole. It was great! Prep and Cook Time: about 2 hours. Notes: You can assemble and chill the lasagna a day ahead, but add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time. You can also freeze the lasagna, wrapped well in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month and bake it frozen (add 1 1/4 hours to the oven time).
Yield Makes 8 servings
Ingredients 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced 3 peeled garlic cloves (1 minced, 2 left whole) 2 cans (14 oz. each) crushed tomatoes 1 teaspoon dried oregano About 1 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper, divided 6 cups (about 2 lbs.) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-in. cubes 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1 pound Lacinato kale (often sold as dinosaur or Tuscan kale) 9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 8 oz.) (Often, whole wheat pastas are made with flax…be sure to read your labels!)1 container (15 oz.) part-skim-milk ricotta cheese 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 400°. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a 2- to 3-qt. pot over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until thick and flavors are combined, about 30 minutes. Set aside.
2. While sauce is cooking, in a 12- by 15-in. baking pan, sprinkle squash with thyme, remaining olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic cloves and toss squash mixture to coat with oil. Bake until soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 3 qts. salted water to a boil in a large pot.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Transfer squash and garlic to a food processor and purée until smooth.
4. Tear kale leaves from center ribs and discard ribs. Boil leaves until soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain; let cool. Squeeze out as much water as possible and chop finely.
5. In the same pot, bring another 3 qts. salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until tender to the bite, about 10 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water.
6. In a bowl, mix ricotta, nutmeg, 1 cup mozzarella, and remaining 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper.
7. Coat the bottom of a 9- by 13-in. pan with 1/3 of tomato sauce (about 1 1/2 cups). Lay 3 noodles in a single layer over sauce. Top noodles with squash, spreading evenly. Sprinkle 1/2 of kale evenly over squash. Arrange 3 more noodles on kale and top with ricotta, spreading evenly. Top with remaining kale and noodles. Cover noodles with remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.
8. Bake lasagna until juices are bubbling and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.
Grilled Halibut with Chimichurri Sauce from Epicurious.com
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon water 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon minced shallot 3/4 teaaspoon hot red-pepper flakes 3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 4 (6- to 8-ounce) halibut steaks (3/4 to 1 inch thick) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil print a shopping list for this recipe
Preparation
Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic, shallot, red-pepper flakes, and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper until salt has dissolved. Stir in parsley. Let chimichurri stand 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium heat for gas).
Pat fish dry, then brush with vegetable oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper (total).
Oil grill rack, then grill fish, covered only if using a gas grill, turning once, until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total.
Serve fish drizzled with some of chimichurri; serve remainder on the side.
Cooks' notes: ·Halibut can be cooked in a hot oiled large (2-burner) ridged grill pan over medium heat. ·Chimichurri can be made 1 hour ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.
I have a new favorite recipe that I thought you would like! If you use the anchovy paste, you'll get additional omega-3's; if you're vegan it's fine to use soy sauce. I use lite soy sauce to cut the sodium content. I have also cut the oil in half from the original recipe; feel free to add more if you need it. Just remember that it is the fat in the Caesar that can throw the calories out of whack.
Add chicken or salmon…or even canned tuna…for protein…and you've got a tasty, hormone-friendly meal!
Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice - 1 T anchovy paste from a tube (or substitute soy sauce) - 1 tsp. minced garlic - 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard - 3 T olive oil - 2 T + 2 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese - sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste - 4-5 oz. romaine lettuce, thinly sliced, washed and dried - 4-5 oz. dark green kale, washed, dried, and thinly sliced
Preparation
Blend the lemon juice, anchovy paste (or soy sauce), garlic, and Dijon in a food processor and pulse together a few times. Add the olive oil one tablespoon at a time, pulsing for a few seconds after each tablespoon is added. Stir in 2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan and season the dressing with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Put dressing in the fridge and chill until ready to use, or if you want to make the salad right away, chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so. Thinly slice romaine lettuce and kale into 1/2 inch strips. Wash, then spin dry or dry with paper towels.
Place the kale strips in a salad bowl, and pour in salad dressing. Massage dressing into kale with your hands until the leaves change color. Add romaine and toss to coat with dressing. Add the remaining 2 T of freshly grated Parmesan to the salad and toss again. Serve right away.
Yesterday I found kale and portobello mushrooms deeply discounted at the store. I bought them both, since I try to eat kale whenever I can, and my own personal nutrition project is to eat more mushrooms. I hoped to find a recipe that incorporated them both, but figured if I couldn't, I'd be happy with portobello burgers and some kale chips.
I found this super easy recipe by Rachael Ray. This is what it looked like just before serving time. Isn't it beautiful?
Kale is one of nature's highest anti-oxidant vegetables, but it's not one I find many people naturally bring home from the store. They often have no idea what to do with it. Hope you like the recipe.
I still have enough kale left over for making chips. Yay!
Not long ago, I blogged about a new favorite salad of mine, the Romaine-Kale Caesar Salad. I love it so much I make it about once a week! A few weeks ago, I came home from the store and realized I had done what I often do, brought home everything I need for a recipe except one important ingredient. Those are the times when I come up with my greatest inspirations, so I started looking around for what I could create.
My parents travel a lot, and they often bring me something culinary from their trips. I had a package of papaya dressing mix on the counter. As I thought about it, I realized I had some other Hawaiian-inspired ingredients sitting around: frozen mango, rice vinegar, and macadamia nut oil. So I took my basic recipe and started messing around.
Here is what I came up with! I gave this salad the name that I did because"da kine" is Pidgin slang for"whatever", and Kamehameha, not Julius Caesar, is the royalty most recognized by the Islanders as their important historical figure.
So next time you lain has a kanak attack, do what dis haole do. She make 'em a killahz kau kau like dis en dey say"Mahalo, dat was 'ono!" Sometimes dey even ask fo noddah plate. (I got a little distracted by theHawaiian Pidgin dictionarywhile I was writing this and tried it on for size!)
- 1 package papaya seed dressing mix - 2 tablespoons rice vinegar - 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce - 1 teaspoon minced garlic - 3 tablespoons macadamia oil - sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste - 4-5 ounces romaine lettuce, thinly sliced, washed and dried - 4-5 onces. dark green kale, washed, dried, and thinly sliced -1/2 package sesame seaweed snack* -1 bag frozen mango chunks, thawed
Preparation
Blend the rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and Dijon in a food processor and pulse together a few times. Add the macadamia oil oil one tablespoon at a time, pulsing for a few seconds after each tablespoon is added. Season the dressing with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Put dressing in the fridge and chill until ready to use, or if you want to make the salad right away, chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.
Thinly slice romaine lettuce and kale into 1/2 inch strips. Wash, then spin dry or dry with paper towels.
Place the kale strips in a salad bowl, and pour in salad dressing. Massage dressing into kale with your hands until the leaves change color. Add romaine and crumbled nori, and toss to coat with dressing. Add the mango chunks and toss again. Serve right away.
*Seaweed, also known as nori, is a vegan source of omega-3's. Actually, the reason fish have omega-3's themselves, is because small fish feed on seaweed and it is passed up the food chain. It is a popular snack in Asia and the Pacific. Look for it in the Japanese section of your grocery store, or click on the link I provided above to order it online.
The last two weeks I have been spending a lot of time on my new gig with Chow Locally. It has been inspiring and eye opening for one interesting reason related to the readers of this blog. It has reminded me how normal people relate to food.
For the past 20 years I have worked, mostly with people who do NOT have a healthy relationship with food. It often leaves me feeling as though something is wrong with ME for eating the way that I do. Most of the people I am in contact with, with my work, are either clients who bounce back and forth between extremes of restrictive dieting and bingeing…or professionals who are very good with their analysis of food but not always great in the kitchen. Or…people working in the field who are there because of issues they had and may still have and are not admitting that they have them.
I honestly don't mean to offend anyone here…I am just saying it has been a wonderful experience to be in the real world with people who truly embrace I intuitive, mindful, healthful eating.
Here are some things these people do and do not do. Can you do these things? If you are shifting in your chair as you read this, consider that one of the reasons you are not able to make changes that would promote your hormone balance is because your relationship with food is not healthy. inCYST network members are happy to help you repair that relationship, on which you can build a healthy foundation of productive food behaviors.
Here is my list of Ten Signs of Healthy Eaters.
1. They try recipes, they don't just collect and/or read them.
2. They do not, after asking for help with recipe ideas, launch into a dissertation about why they eat raw/vegan/paleo/whatever. While they may do these things, it is not their lifestyle or their religion.
3. They have tolerance for ways of eating that are different than their own, even if those ways are not"healthy".
4. They don't need a nutritional breakdown, point value, or calorie count for everything they eat. They know that kale is inherently good, that fried kale is not going to be as nutritionally dense as kale salad, and that kale in general is a better choice than French fries. And so they eat kale. They don't order French fries and then monopolize the conversation explaining or apologizing for their choice. If they do order French fries, they eat them and savor them. They do not hide it, binge on them, or save them for that ridiculous thing known in some circles as a"cheat day".
5. Back to recipes. They use them as guidelines, not dictations. OK, so you forgot to buy the paprika. Make it anyway! Do not let it rot in the fridge because you were so perfectionistic that if you could not make the recipe exactly as directed you were not going to eat it at all.
6. If a new food is presented, they learn about it, ask about it, experiment with it, and try it. They don't offer an immediate"Blech!" simply because it is a new food.
7. If one recipe with a food doesn't work, they do not assume they do not like the food. they give it a couple of tries fixed in other ways before making that decision.
8. They know what is in season. They are in touch enough with Mother Earth to use seasonal variation as a menu guide.
9. While they may enjoy the occasional exotic food, they focus on what is available locally and have fun turning local foods into exotic creations.
10. They savor the finished product, often with a nice glass of wine. A well cooked meal is a work of art, a self-nurturing reward at the end of a hectic day. They would never consider eating it in the car or standing up in the kitchen.
Back when I lived in Palo Alto, spring farmer's markets were pungent. Our farmers came in from Watsonville (awesome strawberries) and Gilroy (garlic capital of the world). You could smell that garlic blocks away! Spring garlic is a younger garlic with a milder flavor. I typically use it in recipes where the rest of the year I would use scallions, shallots, or green onions, to shift the flavor in a slightly different direction…one that always signifies spring.
If you are a gardener, growing your own spring garlic is easy. Simply plant your garlic very close together, and harvest as a way to thin them out, letting the rest mature into the more popular mature garlic.
We've been getting spring garlic in our shares for a few months now. Our first garlic almost looked like green onions, but last week's batch started to show the beginnings of cloves in the buds. Aren't they beautiful?
I decided to use a couple of them to make my new favorite salad topping, spring garlic crispies.
I was getting ready to saute some kale which I would scramble eggs. I heated up the olive oil and threw in a minced head of spring garlic. Only instead of just barely browning them, and leaving them in the oil to cook with the kale, I fried them to a crisp and removed them.
Then I sprinkled some on top of the finished eggs and kale. The kale was cooked in garlic-flavored olive oil, and topped with more garlic. And was it ever tasty!
These little crispies are the greatest addition to salads, sandwiches, cooked vegetables…give it a try! I have become fond of whole wheat toast with slices of roasted beets, sprinkled with goat cheese, and topped with garlic crunchies. Try it! Definitely my new spring flavor!
Spring garlic is most typically found at farmer's markets or small grocers. Look for it…or mark your garden calendar with a reminder to plant your own next year.
Have you ever heard of Freekeh? I had not, until this past spring at Natural Products West. It is a roasted green wheat that originated in the Middle East. Like quinoa and farro, it is higher in protein than traditional grain products. It also has a relatively low glycemic index. Freekeh has been a bit of an underground favorite, but has recently been showing up in stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. It is great in pilafs and all things Mediterranean, simply use as the grain base in your favorite recipe. However, if you'd prefer, I'm posting a couple of recipes I found here for you to try. Here is a simple Freekeh breakfast recipe provided by the Greenwheat Freekeh people. You can also buy their product online " />
buy their product online if you can't find it in your local grocer. Freekeh(TM) Breakfast 1 or 2 Granny smith apples one box of 400gm Freekeh cinnamon any dried fruit you like (ie raisins and apricots) as much as you like. Method First cook the whole grain Freekeh (or cracked grain Freekeh for some variation). All you need to do is to empty the whole box of grains in a pot and cover with water plus a little more (Freekeh cannot be over cooked and is very resilient). Cook for about 35 minutes or so until the grains are soft. If using cracked Freekeh only cook for about 15-20 minutes. (One other possibility is instead of cooking the Freekeh to simply soak it overnight in the fridge with water with a towel on top) While waiting for the grains to cook, chop and dice one or two apples (no need to peel, and Granny smith are best). Place the diced apples in a dry pot on low heat and stir for about 1 -2 minutes. Add only less than 1 teaspoon of water. Add cinnamon and stir for one more minute. Wash as many dried fruits as you like (dried apricots and raisins are good) and add to the apples. Stir for 1 more minute or so. Tip the fruit mixture over the already cooked grains and mix well. Let cool. Place in the fridge. The breakfast cereal should keep for 10 days or even more. To eat. Take a scoop or two of the mixture add some milk and put some wallnuts or cashew nuts or both on top. Heat in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the microwave and place a dollop of vanilla yogurt in the middle. In the summer you do not need to heat in the microwave and only use the yogurt without the milk… but then again you may come up with new variations to this recipe! From Bon Appetit Magazine comes this recipe for Chicken with Kale and Freekeh-Lentil Pilaf Ingredients Vinaigrette 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 1/2 cup Sherry vinegar 2 small garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons finely chopped Hunza raisins 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice Kosher salt Pilaf and Chicken 4 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided 1 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2"-thick cutlets Kosher salt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 garlic clove, smashed 1 pound kale, large center ribs and stems removed, torn into pieces 1 cup cooked freekeh 1 cup cooked lentils Preparation Vinaigrette Stir cumin in a small dry skillet over medium heat until toasted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; add vinegar and garlic. Let stand for 30 seconds. Transfer to a blender; add oil and next 3 ingredients. Purée. Season with salt. Pilaf and Chicken Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt. Working in 2 batches and adding 1 Tbsp. oil between batches, cook chicken in single layers until browned on both sides and just cooked through, 2–3minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Remove pan from heat; add 1/4 cup water. Stir, scraping up browned bits. Whisk in 1/4 cup vinaigrette. Scrape sauce into a bowl. Melt butter with 1 Tbsp. oil in same skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until just beginning to brown, 1–2 minutes. Discard garlic. Working in 3 batches and adding more oil as needed, add kale to skillet and toss until wilted, 1–2 minutes per batch. Transfer to a large bowl. Season lightly with salt. Cover to keep warm. Add freekeh and lentils to same skillet. Increase heat; stir until warm, 2–3 minutes. Spoon pilaf onto plates. Top with chicken. Whisk juices from plate with chicken into sauce; drizzle over chicken and pilaf. Top with kale.
Sorry, I couldn't resist that…the slogan"kale is the new beef" has always made me laugh, knowing as soon as the next superfood on the horizon…and its marketers…figure out a way to bump kale out of its current favored superfood slot, it will be pushed to the last word in that slogan!
I was so interested to read a new study this week about a favorite"diet" food, popcorn, that we sometimes think of as being pretty empty nutritionally but something to satisfy the need to crunch. Turns out, popcorn is more than a pretty face, it's got some great antioxidant power!
Some scientist, and I'm guessing someone who's not so fond of green food, decided to run popcorn through antioxidant testing and it scored pretty well! In fact, because the water in fruits and vegetables dilutes the concentration of polyphenols (the type of antioxidant popcorn contains), ounce for ounce, the antioxidant content of dryer popcorn is even higher.
Remember, however, that the way you fix popcorn can quickly detract from this nutritional potential. We're not talking kettle corn here, and we're not talking pre-prepared microwave envelopes, and we're certainly not talking movie popcorn. Here are three ways you can take advantage of popcorn and keep it focused on the good part.
1. Air pop it. Simple enough.
2. Make your own microwave popcorn. Here's a great set of instructions from the Snack Girl blog.
3. Trader Joe's sells a bagged popcorn cooked in olive oil, which I will go for in a pinch.
There you have it, a whole grain, low fat, high fiber, low glycemic, anti-oxidant snack. Enjoy!
American Chemical Society (ACS) (2012, March 25). Popcorn: The snack with even higher antioxidants levels than fruits and vegetables. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 26, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2012/03/120325173008.htm#.T3CJEqUT3-M.mailto
If you're a frequent traveler, chances are you have already had an opportunity to experience the new security measures at the airport, which include the new full body scanner.
One of the biggest concerns about this scanner has been the radiation exposure these scanners emit. Because radiation can affect fertility, a concern of many readers of this blog, I did some fact checking.
What is interesting to note is that before these scanners were even in existence, anyone stepping on an airplane was already increasing their exposure to radiation! In a 1998 study published in Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, scientists concluded that an airline captain is exposed to 37% more radiation per year (219 millirem) than a nuclear power plant worker in the same period of time (160 millirem). For the pilot, that is the equivalent to 22 chest x-rays, for the power plant worker, 16 chest x-rays.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, in an independent study, reported that the average scan with the TSA backscatter x-ray scanner provides 0.0024 millirem of radiation exposure. Meaning, you would have to have 4,000 TSA scans to equal one x-ray. The people at greatest risk for increased radiation exposure from these machines is most likely the TSA workers themselves, who conduct their work in the presence of the scanners for hours at a time.
Bottom line:
1. Your biggest dose of radiation exposure is actually coming from the time you spend on the airplane at altitude, not the short amount of time in the scanner. 2. If you are a pilot, flight attendant, or frequent flyer with concerns about fertility, it certainly is a good strategy to start being more diligent about your intake of antioxidants. I've listed the important ones below that are consistently recommended as cancer fighters. 3. If you are a reporter researching the scanner issue, instead of scaring travelers, perhaps the more relevant issue is why TSA is not requiring its employees to wear dosimeters to be sure their own exposure over time is not an occupational risk. It might also be a very quick way to identify a machine that is malfunctioning and exposing flyers to unnecessary additional radiation. 4. Flight crews and TSA employees might want to consider packing their bags with more fruits and vegetables. Especially since these are not items commonly available in airport food courts. 5. In addition to the standard security questions TSA members should ask for your 24 hour diet recall to be sure you're sufficiently protected for your flight. (Couldn't resist that one…just KIDDING!) 6. For our specific population most likely reading this post, I strongly recommend you discuss your travel strategy with the appropriate caregiver if you have a history of cancer, are in the middle of infertility treatment, or have a history of sexual abuse. It's best to know what choices are most appropriate for your personal situation before standing in the TSA line.
So if you're heading home at altitude for Thanksgiving, consider that the broccoli, cranberries, and sweet potatoes (even a small extra sliver of pumpkin pie) aren't all that bad if you're going to have seconds. Enjoy them, as well as your family.
BEST ANTIOXIDANTS FOR COUNTERING RADIATION
Vitamin C parsley, broccoli, bell pepper, strawberries, oranges, lemon juice, papaya, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts.
Vitamin E mustard greens, chard, sunflower seeds, turnip greens
fortified whole grains brown rice oatmeal flax dried beans fish sunflower seeds asparagus kale cauliflower potatoes oranges eggs
Looking at this list, I can see where more than a few of you may be deficient. If you're avoiding carbs completely, don't know what to do with flax, and avoid eggs because you think the yolks are too high in cholesterol…you've knocked out some of your strongest thiamine contenders.
Here's a great recipe for a healthy eggplant parmesan with whole wheat panko to get you started. You could easily mix some ground flax into the bread crumbs to pack an even stronger punch.
I'm also thinking kale chips, cauliflower curry, asparagus omelets…this week's challenge is hardly punishment, at least in my kitchen!
So many of you are artistic, and appreciative of color…it occurred to me while working on another project the other day, that perhaps thinking about food in a different way would work better with your creative brains.
We had a challenge recently at Chow Locally, we got a beautiful head of peacock kale. Many people who received it had questions about what to do with it, and when I looked online for recipes to share, I didn't find many. And that meant my weekend was going to be devoted to coming up with ways to use it that were easy to make and not too avant garde.
I went with my backup for greens, pesto, and came up with this really pretty final product! The recipe can be found here.
Another one of our customers, Barefeet in the Kitchen's Mary Younkin, also a food blogger, came up with this beautiful purple smoothie made from the same kale. She went with more of a fruity theme, which you can read about on her blog.
In recent weeks, I've also enjoyed some other colorful creations!
Here are some egg salad wraps. I used a simple egg salad recipe and added chopped spinach for color. And I saved a few leaves of a gorgeous head of Merlot lettuce for the wraps. Simple recipe, made exotic simply by switching out the colors!
We had a bunch of bright lights chard, so I made risotto, another one of my favorite ways to use greens. The stems are a beautiful array of reds and yellows, so instead of throwing them out, as many risotto recipes will tell you to do, I minced them, sauteed them, and added them in for a confetti effect.
This head of romanesco surprised me by turning fluorescent green while it slow roasted! I really didn't do much to this, it decorated itself in the oven. But I loved the surprise that came out of the oven!
And here is a Daikon radish slaw! I was really doubtful about this one since radishes are not my favorite veggie, but it was so colorful it enticed me to taste it, and I ended up loving it!
We're no different from Mother Nature's other creatures. We are attracted to foods for a variety of reasons. One of the most important ones is color. Fortunately, the foods that add color are usually the ones loaded with nutrition.
When you are in the kitchen, take off that healthy cooking hat and put on your creative"PCOS brain" hat. Ask yourself where the color is! If it's not inherently there, don't be afraid to deviate from the recipe. Create your work of art, and trust that if it's naturally colorful, something in that food is going to benefit your health.
We all know we should more veggies. But it doesn't often work out that way. I think a big part of it is the part of our brain that decides how to prepare them, gets locked into thinking they either have to go into salads, or they are steamed on the side (like the ubiquitous broccoli I mentioned in my recent restaurant review). Juicing is ok…but for our group, the high carbohydrate to protein ratio is not really hormone-friendly.
I also think, this same part of the brain that persists in thinking vegetables are bland and boring, is the one that also has us believing that if we are"good" and we eat veggies, we are giving up things we like to eat.
If that is not the worst marketing for a great concept I have ever seen!
Why not…make something you like with new and different ingredients? (slaps forehead)
Here is a collection of links to recipes for pizzas, in which the crusts are made of vegetables instead of flour. Majorly simple way to healthify your dinner without compromising taste.
inCYSTer Christine Marquette recently gave a great, detailed webinar about supplements and PCOS. In it, she pointed out that there are certain nutrients women with PCOS may need more of because their metabolism is altered.
What I've been wondering ever since, is whether or not they need more because their intentional eating plans have thrown them out of balance…or would they need more even if they ate absolutely perfectly? The research does support these additional needs, but what the studies do NOT do, is provide women with healthy food for a period of time to discern whether those needs exist even when the diet has been brought back into balance. I suspect the needs would still be different, although not perhaps not quite as remarkable as they are when you're not eating well.
I thought, once a week, I'd introduce you to a vitamin or mineral and challenge you to see if you eat enough of it, regularly, over the course of the day.
Once you bring all of your vitamins and minerals back to baseline, then you can more accurately determine whether or not supplementation is going to work for you. If you want to check out how you're doing, check out http://www.fitday.com/, where you can enter all of your foods and check out how your own intake measures up to the recommendations for the vitamins and minerals.
Vitamin A How do you do with the following foods? liver carrots broccoli leaves (not the commonly eaten florets) sweet potatoes butter kale spinach pumpkin collard greens cantaloupe egg yolks Keep this list handy over the next week and think of ways you can be sure you're getting enough vitamin A. Here are some suggestions. 1. If you make your own smoothies, be sure to throw a handful of leafy greens into them. Even if they're fruit flavored, a handful won't make a difference flavor-wise, but they'll make a huge difference nutrition-wise. 2. If you juice, which is the easiest way to get tons of vitamin A, be sure to balance all that carbohydrate with some protein. The biggest problem with juicing for people who tend to be insulin resistant is the huge carbohydrate load in comparison to the protein juice tends to not provide. 3. Always buy the darkest possible greens for your salad 4. Think kale chips, broccoli chips, etc. They're easy to make and tasty to munch on! 5. If that hour between arriving home and eating dinner is a problem, stock your refrigerator with baby carrots and hummous to snack on while you wait. 6. Try putting spinach leaves instead of plain lettuce on your sandwiches. 7. I'm a huge fan of omelets and frittatas. I never ate Swiss chard until I learned to put it into a frittata. It's also a great way to clean out the vegetable bin at the tail end of the week, it's a cheap dinner (it adds some eggs to your diet), and it's so easy on those nights when you come home exhausted and not wanting to think about anything complicated for dinner. 8. Boil up some eggs and keep them handy for snacks and to top salads with. We tend to be afraid of eggs because of the outdated information about cholesterol. They're actually quite healthy, quite convenient, and something that can make getting vitamin A…as well as protein…a little bit easier. 9. Still have an abundance of vegetables after eating the frittata? Why not make some soup! I have a slow cooker and it is the best appliance for making an easy dinner. A few minutes in the morning and I've got the house smelling great by late afternoon. If thinking about this in the morning while you're rushing out the door just isn't going to work…try putting everything in the slow cooker the night before and programming your smart phone to remind you to plug it in before you leave for work. 10. Stir fry! It's quick and it's easy. You can also buy chopped up vegetables if you want it to be even easier. OK, let's do it! Let us know how you do with the challenge, or if you have new suggestions to add.
I promised I would report back on the broccoli chips experiment. This is a winner!
The recipe is super easy. Wash and tear kale or broccoli leaves into chip-sized pieces, pat dry with a towel. Spritz with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes (10 was sufficient in my oven).
If you're a vegetable hater, seriously, try these chips. They'll win over even the biggest skeptic.
If you have any left over, crumble them over a salad or into some cooked rice or quinoa like herb sprinkles. It's a great flavor!
I have a little gadget in my kitchen that makes this recipe really easy. It's called a Misto Olive Oil Sprayer. Simply fill it with olive oil, pump it to build the pressure, and you can spray olive oil on your cooking project without the use of propellants.
Last week I was at the farmer's market, admiring a beautiful box of greens. I noticed a woman looking longingly at the same box. So I asked her if she liked kale.
"Oh, I do!" she answered."But I had to give it up when my husband went on Coumadin."
Coumadin is a blood-thinning agent that is being prescribed more frequently than it used to be, as blood that clots too easily is one consequence of inflammation. Since leafy greens are high in vitamin K, a nutrient that promotes blood clotting, patients prescribed Coumadin are advised to limit their intake to a level they can consistently commit to eating. That commitment factor intimidates many people out of eating them at all.
What is ironic about the Coumadin dilemma, is that leafy greens are packed with omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, both of which hold potential to fight the very inflammatory process that is likely creating the need for Coumadin in the first place.
So how does one back themselves out of this corner once their previous lifestyle has backed them into it?
Here are a few things to try. Note, Coumadin is NOT a drug to mess with, so if you choose to make these suggested changes, it is essential that you communicate with the physician in charge of managing your blood clotting issues. If your condition is improving, medications will have to be adjusted to maintain clotting balance. It is best to make these shifts one at a time and wait 6 to 8 weeks to see how your body responds, rather than make too many changes at once, which can make it challenging for your physician to keep up with what is happening.
1. Shift your fat consumption, as much as possible, away from omega-6 fatty acid-dominant fats. They are easy to remember, they primarily begin with the letters"s" and"c"--soybean, safflower, sunflower, sesame, corn, and cottonseed. (Canola is the exception to this rule). They are primarily found in processed foods and in restaurant cooking, places where the price, not the quality, of the oil, is determining recipe makeup.
Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.
2. Add more vegetarian, non-leafy omega-3 foods into your diet. Flax is one of my favorites. You can add ground flaxseed into your smoothies, oatmeal, homemade vinaigrettes…and you may want to try a relatively new product on the market, flax milk, as a substitute for coffee creamer. If you are adventurous, try some chia seeds on your salad!
Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.
3. Try a protein-containing snack at night. It can help to stabilize blood sugar and cravings for sweets throughout the day, which keep you from being tempted by baked goods containing those oils.
Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.
4. Work on getting your seafood omega-3's. Note: ALL seafood, not just salmon, contain omega-3 fatty acids. If salmon is too fishy for your taste, spend some time at a knowledgeable seller such as Santa Monica Seafood, and try some of the recommendations they have. One of my favorites, which is available at Santa Monica Seafood, as well as Safeway, is barramundi, a sustainably farmed, mild-flavored whitefish that has a lot of versatility with regards to cooking technique.
Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.
5. If you are not a fish eater, consider a fish oil supplement. Despite what the supplement companies tell you, fish is fish; I've seen great changes in clients using Costco's Kirkland brand. The most important thing about using fish oil when you are taking Coumadin, is that you take it consistently. If remembering it is a challenge, program your smart phone to send you a daily reminder.
Check in with your physician to see how you are doing. If your clotting times have improved enough to get the greens-eating go ahead, good for you!
Later this week I will share some ideas for getting greens in your diet consistently without burning out on them.
This question comes up from time to time, and since inCYST is so big on flaxseed, it's a good idea to have information at your fingertips.
Around the Internet, caution regarding the use of flax while pregnant is easy to find. The rationale for this caution is that mothers and fetuses are especially sensitive to hormones.
The Internet is also full of advice from flaxseed manufacturers promoting its use, because it can be converted to DHA, which as this blog consistently discusses, is crucial for conception, pregnancy, and development of a healthy baby.
Neither of those assertions is totally correct.
I dove into Pub Med last night and looked for any research to support the advice against flax during pregnancy. I couldn't find it. What I DID find was a whole host of animal studies, primarily done on pigs and cows, with mostly positive findings. It's always important to remember that animal studies do not always extrapolate completely to humans, but they do give us an idea of what's going on.
Effects of flaxseed consumption during pregnancy (again, in pigs and cows) included: --healthier immune systems in babies --better growth in babies --after having one baby, a shorter time to ovulation (restored fertility) --breast milk with a higher omega-3 fatty acid content and a lower omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio --higher brain omega-3 content in babies --increased levels of EPA, another omega-3 important for prostaglandin function and healthy blood clotting --higher pregnancy rates --larger follicle size --higher conception rates --lower miscarriage rates --higher progesterone levels
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS While I'm always excited to report positive links between nutrition and fertility, you all should know when I look through the research I am actually searching hard for the BAD news. This is such a high-risk specialty! The very last thing I would want to do is encourage our readers to make choices leading to frustration, disappointment, heartache, and loss of our own credibility. So I want to make it clear, the benefits of flax can be achieved only if it's used with respect.
Flax cannot replace fish oil. Some flax supplement manufacturers promote its use because it is converted into DHA and therefore can be used as a supplement for flax. Not true! The studies I perused found different effects for both, meaning you need both in your diet.
If your diet is imbalanced, flax won't make up for it. One study I found showed that when protein intake was low, flax supplementation was not beneficial. This would be a scenario not uncommon with our vegetarian readers, if their definition of vegetarian eating focuses more on what to eliminate rather than what to include, or is the remnant of an eating disorder. As always, supplements work best in a well-nourished environment; they cannot replace balanced, nourished eating.
Finally, if you choose to use flax…IT MUST BE GROUND. In other words, the flaxseed tortilla chips at Trader Joe's were not what made these studies work.: )
I've heavily referenced this post to save the skeptics the work.
I hope you find this helpful!
Rao SS, Kale AA, Joshi SR, Mahadik SP. Sensitivity of fetus and pups to excess levels of maternal intakes of alpha linolenic acid at marginal protein levels in Wistar rats. Reprod Toxicol. 2007 Nov-Dec;24(3-4):333-42. Epub 2007 Jul 28. Yu B, Khan G, Foxworth A, Huang K, Hilakivi-Clarke L. Maternal dietary exposure to fiber during pregnancy and mammary tumorigenesis among rat offspring. Int J Cancer. 2006 Nov 15;119(10):2279-86. Ambrose DJ, Kastelic JP, Corbett R, Pitney PA, Petit HV, Small JA, Zalkovic P. Lower pregnancy losses in lactating dairy cows fed a diet enriched in alpha-linolenic acid. J Dairy Sci. 2006 Aug;89(8):3066-74.
Petit HV, Twagiramungu H. Conception rate and reproductive function of dairy cows fed different fat sources. Theriogenology. 2006 Sep 15;66(5):1316-24. Epub 2006 Jun 2. Farmer C, Giguère A, Lessard M. Dietary supplementation with different forms of flax in late gestation and lactation: Effects on sow and litter performances, endocrinology, and immune response. J Anim Sci. 2010 Jan;88(1):225-37. Epub 2009 Sep 25.
Colazo MG, Hayirli A, Doepel L, Ambrose DJ. Reproductive performance of dairy cows is influenced by prepartum feed restriction and dietary fatty acid source. J Dairy Sci. 2009 Jun;92(6):2562-71. Farmer C, Petit HV. Effects of dietary supplementation with different forms of flax in late-gestation and lactation on fatty acid profiles in sows and their piglets. J Anim Sci. 2009 Aug;87(8):2600-13. Epub 2009 Apr 24. Brazle AE, Johnson BJ, Webel SK, Rathbun TJ, Davis DL. Omega-3 fatty acids in the gravid pig uterus as affected by maternal supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids. J Anim Sci. 2009 Mar;87(3):994-1002. Epub 2008 Nov 7.
Galbreath CW, Scholljegerdes EJ, Lardy GP, Odde KG, Wilson ME, Schroeder JW, Vonnahme KA. Effect of feeding flax or linseed meal on progesterone clearance rate in ovariectomized ewes. Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2008 Aug;35(2):164-9. Epub 2008 Jun 5.
I just returned from the Natural Products West Expo in Anaheim, California. This show is where companies providing products to health food stores, Whole Foods, etc., bring their information and samples to introduce to buyers. I came home with enough trends and food ideas to keep me blogging until next year's conference! It was really exciting to see the many possibilities for people who want to eat healthier but who do not want to sacrifice taste.
One of the trends was snacks from the sea. I wasn't fond of a lot of them, but one I really loved was the toasted seafood snacks made from nori. Nori is the seafood used to wrap sushi with. It's now becoming popular on its own, for its nutritional value, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, and vitamin C. There's even a little bit of DHA, the kind of omega-3 that is primarily found in fish. Those are a lot of the things you hear me writing about here. For you vegans out there, take note of the vitamin B12!
Toasted nori is very much like the kale chips many of you told me you are now enjoying. It's very light and probably not something that would cure a case of the munchies, but crumbled onto salad or into a seafood salad, into soup, or on top of a pizza, they would be a great and tasty way to add nutrition to your diet without having to take yet another supplement. I will say that the type of fat is not the one you see us recommend here, but the amount you are likely going to get in the way I envision most of you eating this, it's not going to be the food that makes or breaks your fatty acid balance.
This product is so new the website listed on their package is not even up yet. For those of you who read this down the road, you will eventually be able to learn more at http://www.jayone.com/.
For now though, these nori snacks are available at amazon.com. Here is the order link for the salted flavor., and there is a sweet flavor to try as well.
