Local Eatery Makes Good

Eggplant Restaurant

Because I know people come from all over the world to check out the resources on this site, I don’t think sharing about Los Angeles restaurants is really part of the mission.   But once in a while, you come across a place that sparks the imagination.

A friend introduced me to Eggplant, a Japanese restaurant in the Valley.  They bill themselves as a “Naturally Japanese Restaurant”.  What really got my attention was the first page of their menu which read: We embrace all the gifts from Mother Nature, whether they are from the earth or the ocean.  We believe in sea salt, purified water and additive-free food.  It is our goal to keep you happy and healthy by being natural.

Those of you who have read my blog before might well imagine my excitement over the promise of additive-free food at a restaurant.  Did they deliver?  Absolutely.  Yes, there are the fried bits of this and that.  Handrolls with soy paper.  A variety of prepared vegetables.  We had spicy tuna on crispy rice.  And a yellow tail roll that melted in my mouth.  But the highlight for me was the salmon sashimi with fresh wasabi.  Turns out fresh wasabi is warming and gentle in your mouth.  I’m a big fan of wasabi in the paste form that most sushi restaurants serve, but this experience was really special.

I think it’s good to share the news about a good place that supports healthful eating.  Too much of what we’re served has components that are processed and full of junk.  If you know of other all-natural restaurants that deserve our attention, please share them in the comments below no matter where you are.  Readers are travelers and it would be nice to know where the safe havens are in the world.

If you come to Los Angeles or reside here, you might want to check out Eggplant.  Relax.  Have some sake and enjoy listening to the Beatles as you order that sashimi.  You’ll be glad you did.

Eggplant – 11266 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604

(818) 508-1800

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The Anatomy of a Healthy Snack

Ants on a log

I was really inspired by Luke who said in his comments below that sometimes he gets stumped when it comes to thinking up snack ideas.  Maybe finding the answer is a simple as asking yourself what it is you want to get out of your snack.  For me, I don’t want to overeat.  I don’t want to have a snack and find myself hungry 30 minutes later.  I don’t want to eat something that will make me sleepy or thirsty or bloated.  My focus?  How I  feel.

I know that for a snack to be effective for my body, I need a little healthy fat and protein.  Chocolate covered pretzels, even in a 100 calorie pack, are ultimately going to let me down.  However, if I have pretzels and a spoon of peanut butter or a piece of cheese, I’m going to be just fine.  I keep a snack size pack of trail mix in my purse just in case I don’t have the luxury of getting to a kitchen when hunger strikes.  I like to have something of my own on hand so I’m not tempted to visit a vending machine which is pretty short on healthy options.

Watch the clock.  Does your stomach rumble at predictable times throughout the day?  I need a snack at 4pm every day.  I’ve come to call this tea time and frequently have a cup of tea with my snack since staying hydrated can also stem hunger pangs.

Sometimes it’s just boring to be confronted with the same list of options day in and day out.  So you might want to take a squint at this and perhaps it will jump start your own imagination.  If you have interesting ideas of your own, I hope you’ll share them below and help Luke out!

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Spoiling Your Appetite

Juicy Corn

For the last 7 months, my roommates and I embarked on an experiment – the Sunday Salon.  As the summer started warming up, it occurred to us that it would be torture to continue this tradition through the sweltering months.   Of course, we could serve gazpacho and barbecue outdoors, but we still have to live and breathe in the heat.  The pre-hiatus menu includes ribs, potato salad, corn, green salad, water melon and nectarine pie.  My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Add to the mix that I had a weight loss set back this spring, regaining 13 pounds.  It’s been a real struggle to get things back on track and this morning, for the first time in weeks the scale registered that something had changed.  I lost one of those pounds.  I am over joyed.

In anticipation of tonight’s feast, I intend to spoil my appetite.  It takes 20 minutes for the body to register that it is full.  I don’t know about you, but I can put away a lot of food in 20 minutes.  This strategy will allow me to enjoy small bites of stuff like the ribs and keep my mind sharp enough to focus on the green salad as the main course of my meal.  This is a pre-emptive strike that I’ve used in the past to help manage my eating at a dinner party.  I don’t feel restricted and I don’t have to struggle with crazy-eyed food-craving mania which can sorely test my will power.

It may seem a little nuts to go out of your way to ruin your appetite before a dinner party, but if the point is to mix and mingle with old friends and new then the food can become more of a distraction than an enjoyment.  It’s okay to take measures that empower you to make healthy choices when you’re in an challenging environment.  It just takes a little planning.  So give yourself permission to try tricks like spoiling your appetite.  It’ll be okay.  I promise.

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Meal Planning

In the wild, wonderful world of weight loss there are many harrowing adventures that can pull you off of your path.  Sometimes it’s like hacking through the jungle with a plastic knife to serve as your machete.  Everyone has their hiccups but when you find yourself good and truly lost, it’s always wise to consult a map.  In the world of dieting, that map is called a food plan.

When you belong to a clan of one, it’s tempting to just wing it and solve the puzzle “what should I eat” when you’re already hungry.  Here’s the thing – if you’ve waited that long to make a plan, it’s already too late.  Temptation will likely win in a moment of hunger induced weakness.

Meal planning is an effective tool that lets you manage not just your waistline but your budget as well.  By time to create a map of what you’re going to eat is a healthy way to keep your plan intact.  Some people seem to be quite obsessive about it, making it a day long project.  I don’t have that kind of time.  But once per week, spending an hour to take stock of what’s in the cupboard and the fridge helps me use things before they go bad, make a shopping list and create menus all help me stay on track.

One of the biggest challenges for meal planning is coming up with fresh ideas.  I can’t tell you how many mornings I have cereal, Canadian bacon and tea for breakfast.  It does the trick but it’s all too easy to get bored and boredom is a wild-eyed instigator of all sorts of bad behavior.  Perhaps I’ll shake things up and have a breakfast parfait now that berries are in season.  A little yogurt, some raspberries, sliced almonds for a bit of crunch… Sounds good already!  And that quickly, I have a plan.

When you have time, cruise on over to The Meal Outlaw to create your own meal calendar.  It’s free and you can get a lot of really exceptional ideas from other users.  Drag and drop meals into your calendar and create your own menu.  Plug in your own favorite menus for other users to share.  I liked that this is just a foodie site, not necessarily geared toward dieters.  It’s just a place to make a plan with some nifty software that makes it simple and easy to do.

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Making Red Sauce

clemenza makes sauce

If you’re Italian, you gotta know how to make a good red sauce, or as they call it on the East Coast, gravy.  I’m not Italian, but I have friends who are willing to induct me into the art of making a good sauce.  Last night, as I was being instructed by a master, I learned something totally hilarious.  The recipe Clemenza gives Mike in The Godfather is a short hand version of the real deal.

I don’t have quantities of each ingredient for you since what was prepared was a vat of sauce, but as I perfect my skills, I’ll take notes.  For now, here’s what I learned:

Brown the onions then remove them from the pan. When you put the short ribs in, the olive oil should reach about ½ way up on the meat, so you might find yourself adding more.  Certainly, you can also use sausages and meat balls but what this step does is keeps the meat from disintegrating while the sauce cooks.  Sear the meat on both sides, but don’t let it stick to the bottom.  Remove the meat.  Onions go back in, this time with the garlic.  Don’t burn the garlic or you’ll have to start over.  Garlic cooks in just about a minute, so keep your eye on things.  As that bubbles away, add a large amount of sweet basil (maybe 1/2 c.) and a pinch of oregano (a Tbsp).  Add the cinnamon (1/3 c.) and an equal amount of all spice.  One Tbsp of salt and ground anise (a piece of black licorice might do the trick as well).  Let this all simmer as you open about a zillion cans (a.k.a. 8 -10 lbs) of crushed tomatoes or whole peeled tomatoes in puree (which you will need to mash with a potato masher as the sauce simmers).  Then 3 small cans of tomato paste.  Tomato paste doesn’t add more to the flavor but keeps the sauce from separating as it cooks, incorporating everything into lush, rich gravy.  When all these ingredients have had time to get to know one another, you’re finally ready to put the meat back into the sauce.  Let all that stew for a bit and add molasses as it all cooks for about 10 hours.  During this time, you are required to dunk bread into the sauce and adjust the flavors as everything matures.

So if you ever gotta go to the mattresses, you’ll be prepared.  All you need now is some chianti, a loaf of bread… and don’t forget the cannoli.

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Flo’s Potatoes

PotatoBefore

Just when I thought I had exhausted ways to chef up the humble potato, I’m proven wrong – in the best possible way.  I’d rather be wrong and happy than right and miserable.  So when I ran into a brick wall, my roommate pulled this simple and delicious potato recipe out of her memory file.  It’s something her mother would do for parties and it’s perfect for backyard barbeques.

There are many varieties of potatoes but they really come down to two different types – starchy or waxy.  A starchy potato (like a Russet) is perfect for baking.  Waxy potatoes hold up better in stews and soups (like Red potatoes).  My favorite potato is the Yukon Gold which is a newer variety that falls somewhere in between.  For this recipe, we used a waxy white potato that came out with a creamy consistency that was similar to the richness of scalloped potatoes without all the cream.

Ingredients:

1 potato for each guest

1 large onion sliced

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Potato After

You’ll need two pieces of foil for each potato.  Slice each potato, but don’t go all the way through.  Let the skin hold your potato together.  Between each slice, slip some onion.  Place the potato on top of the first piece of foil, season and put a pat of butter.  Wrap the foil shut and then wrap the potato in a second piece of foil.  This prevents the juices from escaping so you won’t have flare ups on the grill as the butter leaks out.  You can use a season salt instead of or in addition to the spices listed here.  We ditched Flo’s use of Lawry’s Season salt in favor of simpler flavors.  Adding minced garlic or shallot would be nice, too.  Play around with it and have fun.  You’ll find that the final presentation is lovely.  Leftovers keep well and warm nicely whether re-imagined as hash browns or just used as is.

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Strawberry, Not a Berry

Strawberry Salad

Visiting the local Farmers’ Market this weekend, it was impossible not to be swept away by the amazing aroma of fresh strawberries wafting on the breeze that softly cut through the mid-morning warmth.  Everywhere I turned there were cartons of them calling out to be taken home and eaten.

Turns out, strawberries aren’t really berries.  Lumped in with the expected blueberries you’ll find tomatoes and grapes on a botanist’s list of berries, but not our fragrant friend, the strawberry.  They actually aren’t really fruit either.  They’re what are known as accessory fruits.  Not sure I have a complete handle on what that means, but I don’t really care if they taste so sweet.

So the strawberry is a delicious little guy who doesn’t really fit in to our notion of what classifies something as a fruit or a berry.  Does everything have to fit neatly into chart of classifications to be marvelous?  I say no!  Vive la difference!  But now the strawberry faces a new attack.  According to the good folks at Credo Action –

“On April 30, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation proposed that the state approve use of methyl iodide for agricultural purposes, despite ongoing outcry from prominent scientists and the general public.”

Strawberries are particularly susceptible to picking up toxins especially when conventionally grown, finding its way onto the annual Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen list again this year.  It’s recommended that you go organic when you can with strawberries to protect yourself against the chemicals that are used when growing them.

The health benefits of strawberries are numerous.  With 3 grams of fiber per serving, you’re getting the same amount as from an average piece of bread for about 1/3 the calories.  Plus, you’re getting almost 150% of your daily recommended dose of Vitamin C.  Not too shabby for a non-berry, almost fruit whatchamacallit.

Perhaps you like yours with champagne.  Or whipped cream.  Try something surprising like a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or add them to a green salad.  Anyway you serve them, if you go organic, you’re doing something good for yourself.  And that’s good for all of us.

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Angels and Devils

Pineapple Angel Food Cake

Every family has their own legends and lore.  My family boasts an aunt who allegedly cooked for Al Capone who allegedly loved her cooking.  While I’m not able to tell you what she made for him, I can get you ready for the summer barbeque season with a quick dessert recipe that will please the saints and the sinners in your life with equal delight and ease.

There’s a whole subdivision of cakes called “dump cakes.”  Horrible name, I know.  But essentially you dump some sort of fruit with liquid into a bowl of store bought cake mix which is quickly mixed together and poured into a pan.  Not all cake flavors are created equal.   The confection I offer you today is Pineapple Angel Food Dump Cake.  How can I advocate cake on a healthy regimen?  A one ounce piece of Angel Food cake is roughly 70 calories.  The pineapple doesn’t do much to add to that total.  We’re still safely under 120 calories.  A reasonable treat for those summer gatherings that will taste way naughtier than it actually is.

This only takes two ingredients: 1 box cake mix, 1 can pineapple (in juice, not syrup).  If you plan to top with whipped cream, make that three ingredients and grab a container of heavy whipping cream.  Pour a 15 ounce can of crushed pineapple with juice into a bowl of Angel Food cake mix.  Stir and pour into an ungreased 9×13 pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool and serve.  If you plan to top it with whipped cream, you want to reserve a couple tablespoons of pineapple at the outset.  Pour heavy whipping cream into a bowl and use a hand mixer to whip the cream.  Fold in the reserved pineapple and you’re all set with a fresh and easy summer dessert.

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Sunday Supper

Cheers!

It’s easy to focus on the tangible ingredients that go into a meal.  Weighing and measuring the right proportion of this or that to get the right balance of nutrition.  But what about the emotional impact of eating.  Who are you eating with?  Do you find yourself bowing out of an uncomfortable lunch date with a co-worker by working through lunch or eating at your desk?  When you have your dinner, do you eat it while watching TV instead of conversing with the people around you?

Each Sunday, the roommate and I host a dinner.  We’re never completely sure of who is going to join us or how many people will be there.  Some dinners have been riotous and some have been a bit tense, but each has been a profound experience that gives us something to reflect on throughout the week.

As this week dawns, I ask you to take a minute and think about how you feed the senses other than taste and smell when you dine.  I recommend that you break out the china and the good wine glasses for no particular reason.  Make Wednesday a day of celebration.  Let go of the junk that’s already built up over the work week and listen to some jazz while you dine.  Invite a friend over for pizza and catch up on things.

It’s important to remember that there’s more to a meal than food.  We need to find ways to feed our souls as well.  Do something just once this week to make yourself feels special, even if it’s just finding time to pack lunch and put a smiley face on the paper bag.  Remember how special you are and know that the act of fueling up is a chance to celebrate how marvelous you really are.

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The Pleasure of Polenta

Have you had polenta lately?  Thick, creamy and surprisingly simple, polenta is cornmeal cooked up with hot water.  Those of you from the South might better recognize this dish as grits.  Versatile, inexpensive and straightforward, I even found a recipe

Yummy Polenta

that let me do something other than stand over a double boiler mixing for an hour and a half.  It called for a lot more time but much less elbow grease.  Can you guess what the secret was?  Yep.  A crockpot.  I threw in some cornmeal and water and turned back to my latest screenplay.  I returned infrequently to stir things up and after 6 hours, I had the perfect side dish for my roommate’s French pot roast.  Surprisingly rich, this requires just two ingredients: cornmeal and water.

So here’s how it works –

2 cups of cornmeal

8 cups of water

1-2 teaspoons of salt (according to taste)

Set crockpot on high for 1 hour.  Turn down to low for the next 4-6 hours and that’s it.

You can add parmesan or cream if you’d like, but this slow cooked masterpiece is creamy enough on its own.  This dish comes in at 183 calories with only 4 grams of fat for a third of a cup.  Unless you’re feeding an army, you’re likely to have leftovers.  Polenta, once set up in the fridge, can be sliced into cakes that can be grilled, stacked or layered with flavors sweet or savory.  Make a low calorie lasagna alternating slices of polenta with ratatouille and a little goat cheese.  Warm in a frying pan and serve with a bit of honey or jam for breakfast.  Let your imagination run wild.  This is a basic that can stand up to just about any variation you throw at it, so have fun!

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Hard Boiled Eggs Made Easy

by Laura Richter

Whether or not you celebrate Easter, hard boiled eggs are a great way to add protein to a green salad or they make a quick snack when you’re on the go.  I peel mine ahead of time and pop them into a baggie with a pinch of salt.  Voila!  One of my favorite things about eggs is that they pack a lot of nutritional punch for very few calories.  I love fried eggs, but not only are

BlogHardboiledEggs

they less portable, the cooking method can add fat and calories that are easily avoided if you opt for hard boiling them instead.

Older eggs are better to use.  They will peel more easily than really fresh eggs.  Of course, you don’t want rotten eggs either.  A quick test is to put the eggs in water.  The ones that sort of stand up are perfect.  The ones that lay on the bottom are really fresh and the floaters… toss those suckers out – they’re bad!

It doesn’t matter what color the shell is.  The color of the shell tells you more about the hen than the egg itself.  So don’t let that be a big deciding factor.  It really doesn’t make much difference.  It’s not that difficult to hard boil and egg, but there are a few tricks that improve the final product.

So grab your box of eggs and place them in a pan of cold water with a load of salt.  The salt helps make the eggs easier to peel.  Turn on the heat and bring it all to a boil.  When the water is finally boiling, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes.  When time is up, transfer the eggs to an ice water bath.

When you slice your egg open, that weird gray/green ring will not be present.  Instead, your egg will have a sunny yellow yolk and it’s a beautiful sight.

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Avocado Salsa

by Laura Richter

For a few weeks now, my roommate and I have been making Sunday dinner. We’ve had some really amazing guests and menus. However, every Monday morning we both seem to have gained a little weight. After a record weight loss this week, I was hoping to avoid the post dinner bloat. I was in charge of appetizers this week and I kept it

Avocado Salsa by Laura Richter

simple. I turned to avocados to give me a fresh and healthy pre-dinner snack and it was a hit. This is a go-to recipe for me and I’ve used it at parties often. It’s been requested when I am going to friends’ BBQs. It’s so simple and with avocados on sale at the market, it’s also fairly easy on the pocket book.

Avocado Salsa – It really feels far more decadent than it is. It takes just a few moments to put together and I’m happy to report that there are no leftovers despite having made a quart of the stuff. You’ll need only 2 ingredients – salsa and avocados. You want 1-2 ripe avocados for each pint of salsa you use. Dice the avocado, throw it in a bowl, add salsa and gently mix. Voila! A fast, easy and healthy dip that will be a hit any time you break it out.

There are many reasons to find ways to incorporate avocados into your diet if you don’t already enjoy this wonderful fruit. One fifth of an avocado has about 50 calories and makes a perfect spread on your sandwich, replacing mayonnaise (or fake mayonnaise) at a fraction of the calorie cost while providing a load of other nutrients that can’t be beat. Its mild flavor lends itself well to unexpected uses such as a base for vegan chocolate mousse. While I haven’t personally tried this yet, I’ve got a friend who has tattooed Facebook with her reports of enjoying this dish.

I hope, as BBQ season begins, you get a chance to try out Avocado Salsa for yourself. I’m sure your guests will love it.
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Making a Lunch Master Plan

by Laura Richter (March 22nd, 2010)

When was the last time you gave school lunch a second thought?  Unless you’re a parent, you probably haven’t thought about it since you graduated.  School lunch was disgusting.  Guess what?  It pretty much still is.

BrownBag - Laura's Blog

I was intrigued by an article in the LA Times about Jamie Oliver’s crusade to address school lunches in America.  A mission that seems woefully overdue for those of us who remember that ketchup was once counted as a vegetable back in the 80s.  I was inspired to research what the current menu offerings are at school.  Interestingly enough, most menus are protected and can’t be viewed unless you create a profile, but I found what is offered this month by one company and thought I was going to faint.  Fried chicken of some sort every Monday and pizza every Friday, the rest of the week is littered with starchy options with few fresh fruit or vegetable options.  Yuck!

Most of us get sleepy after a carb load like what these kids are eating.  Not really the ideal meal to create alert students ready to spend the afternoon working on math or science.  So what’s our take away from this?  Sound nutritional choices at lunch can prepare us for whatever we might face in the afternoon no matter what age we might be.

I can’t solve the school lunch issues, but I can give you a few tips that I hope will help you reframe how you plan your menus whether you’re dealing with your own lunch or lunch for a whole mess of folks.

Eat the Rainbow: When planning a week of lunches, try to remember that in order to get a full spectrum of nutrients, you should aim to get a full spectrum of colors.  Take another look at that school lunch menu.  There are days where kids get turkey on bread with a side of pears.  That’s a beige lunch.  Ever have grilled cheese with tomato soup and a glass of orange juice?  That’s a mighty orange lunch, my friend.  Keep the tomato soup but add a green salad with a warm bread stick and a sparkling water instead.  You’ll improve your nutritional content and keep the calorie count down.

Remember the Basics: One fruit, one veg and one dairy – a serving of each will keep your diet balanced throughout the day, helping you maintain healthy blood sugar levels and ensuring that you’re getting good basic nutrition and that you can pay attention during that two o’clock meeting your boss is going to rope you into.  Stable blood sugar means you can pay attention.  How you make that happen doesn’t have to be fancy.  Applesauce comes in portable containers.  Cheese can be in the form of slices on your sandwich or spreadable in some celery.

Plan Ahead: One key to my diet success is planning meals in advance.  I’ll cook up a pot of soup then package it into single serving portions.  This works for just about any cooked meal.  So go ahead, double that dinner recipe and make your individual portions out of the remainder.  Pop into the freezer and you’ve got your own frozen entry ready to go when you need it.  Bonus – you know exactly what went into making that entrée so you’re not caught by surprise additives that can dehydrate or cause subtle but disruptive allergic reactions.

Treat Yourself: Don’t skip out on small indulgences.  Taste is one of the five senses and it’s important to honor the sensual experience eating provides.  Rome wasn’t built in a day; your butt won’t get thinner in one day either.  The ascetic route won’t serve you.  Go ahead and have the pudding pack or the dark chocolate.  If you’ve planned ahead (see above step), you can treat yourself to something special that makes your lunch a gift.  Find ways to say “I love you.”  It’s as important to say to ourselves as it is to say to those around us.
Thanks,

Laura
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Salty & Sweet

by Laura Richter

Through a process of experimentation, I’ve made a discovery all on my own only to find that there is evidence to support the bold claim I’m about to make.  If I reduce my salt intake, my desire for sweets goes away.

Lemon & Salt - Laura Richter

Yep, you read that right.  Through this sideways approach, I can actually set my body up to crave or not crave certain foods.  Imagine the freedom from white knuckled will power as the only means to overcome a sweet tooth.  It’s been a huge relief.  And there is more help on the way.  A New York state assemblyman has proposed that salt be banned from food prep in restaurants.  Perhaps a little extreme, but when a friend went to culinary school, she also had to go back on her blood pressure meds.  Surely there’s a happy medium to be found somewhere in all of this.

Clearly, one does not have a whole lot of control on what happens in the kitchen when we go out with our friends.  You can ask your waiter to go easy on the salt or ask that no salt be added to your dish so you can season it tableside.  Even In-N-Out will refrain from adding salt if you make that request when ordering your burger.  Of course fast food cheeseburgers are probably not the best dietary choice you can make, but I did say In-N-Out.  You gotta have one of those every once in a while.  Am I right?  This once in a blue moon treat is plenty salty if you’ve sufficiently reduced your sodium intake.  Until you get out of the habit of eating salt, you won’t really be able to taste when your food has been over salted.

I believe that salt should enhance the flavors of the foods we eat but all too often we drown out the nuances of fresh ingredients with too much sodium.  Sodium is something we’re unbelievably heavy handed with and making a few simple adjustments can have a huge impact.  You can cultivate a cleaner palate by using simple cooking tricks at home.  Of course you can turn to garlic, but its potent flavors can also overpower quite easily and you still might not be able to discern when your food is too salty.

One technique that I’ve stumbled on to is the use of lemon in cooking.  Fry up some hamburger with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of dill.  You might be surprised at the flavors.  It’s bright and tasty.  You can add a quarter cup of this to a salad for some protein and if you feel your salad needs some salt, you can safely do so.  Lemon is great on steaks and chicken.  Don’t be afraid to experiment.  Where you might sprinkle some salt, you might want to opt for a little fresh lemon juice instead.

Still not convinced that you have to worry about the sodium levels in your food?  You might want to think about this; the maximum recommended amount of sodium is 2400 milligrams.  A ¼ teaspoon gives you 500 milligrams.  So the maximum recommended dose of salt each day is roughly 1 ¼ teaspoons.  I can assure you that much, and more, is used in the preparation of food you eat each and every day.

Processed foods have high levels of sodium, frequently one serving will have more than a third of your daily recommended amount.  What portion of the food you eat comes in a wrapper or a box?  When was the last time you checked out the nutrition label?  You might want to take a second look at what you’re eating already.  It could change what you crave as your day unfolds.

If you’ve got other sodium reduction tips, please share them with us.  We’re on this journey together and I’d love to hear your ideas.

Thanks,

Laura Richter

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Colcannon

by Laura Richter

St. Patrick’s Day can be a great day to get together with friends for a feast and some beer.  As with all celebrations, there’s the risk of gaining weight due to overindulging.  There’s certainly a spate of advice on how to manage your diet while at a party.  Eat an apple before you go out.  Have an extra workout.  Drink sparkling water with a piece of fruit in it.  Puh-leez!  We’re

BlogColcannon

talking about a Guinness guzzling, corned beef and cabbage eating, bar crawl with a gang of your best friends.  I’m not about to tell you to skip out on anything (except driving yourself home afterwards).

I give you Colcannon.  Colcannon is a combo of mashed potatoes and greens, usually cabbage or kale. Cruciferous vegetables are believed to be strong cancer fighting vegetables (1) and the nutrients in these vegetables actually stimulate your body to flush out toxins (2).  Of course, to take full advantage of the health benefits, you might want to go easy on the quantity of beer that accompanies your Colcannon.

Personally, I try to avoid overly processed ingredients.  The nice thing about this dish is that you can use real butter and even heavy cream without adversely affecting the health benefits (within reason, of course).

Colcannon:

1 head Cabbage, coarsely shredded

1 Leek, sliced

1 Onion, sliced

1 Tbsp. Caraway Seeds

1 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

4 large Potatoes

1-2 Tbsp Butter

¼ cup Milk (or Cream)

Get the potatoes peeled and boiling first.  I know many people quarter their potatoes for boiling but I cut them into eighths, for quicker cooking time.  It should take about 25 minutes for the pieces to be soft enough to mash. You will want to mash your potatoes so they’re slightly runny (add more milk and butter as needed).

In a deep skillet or pot, throw in the cabbage, leek and onion.  Put a lid on the pan and over medium heat allow the vegetables to sweat.  Occasionally check on them and give them a stir.  They should appear to be shiny after about 10 minutes and soft in about 20 minutes.  Stir in Caraway Seeds and Vinegar.  Vegetables should be hot, a bit limp but cabbage will still have a bit of crunch.  Remove from heat.  (Overcooking cabbage contributes to bitterness some people complain about.)

Add potatoes to vegetables a little bit at a time until the vegetables bind together.  I eyeball it as when making coleslaw.  The green vegetables should be the dominating element but who doesn’t like mashed potatoes?  So have fun and come up with the proportion that works for you.  For fun, you might want to add a bit of ham or bacon but only if you plan to forego the corned beef altogether.

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/foods/cruciferous/

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=19
Thanks,

Laura
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How to Dress Your Salad for Success

by Laura Richter

Are you reading the labels of the foods you eat?  Of course, I shop the perimeter of the store where the freshest foods are found, but there are some pantry items that require deeper exploration of the store.  There, lost in the corridors of processed foods, I examine the list of ingredients before I buy.  I always worry when I see the frequent appearance of the letter X.

An X word I’m always on the look out for is Xanthan Gum.  Ever heard of it?  If you are a salad eater and a label reader, you’ve certainly encountered this processed food gem.  Xanthan gum frequently appears in bottled salad dressings.  It thickens the liquid so that the heavier particles don’t sink.  Without it, salad dressings normally separate, spices floating on the bottom and oils floating to the top.  Basically, it’s added for appearance.  The bra of the dressing world, Xanthan gum lifts your ingredients and suspends them.

Not all uses are cosmetic.  People on a gluten-free diet may find this in the foods they eat to replace the stickiness of the missing gluten.  So for people with wheat allergies, this isn’t such a frivolous additive.

“Xanthan Gum is made from the outer layer of a tiny, inactive bacterium called Xanthomonas campestris. It is an excellent all purpose thickener for dressings, gravies and sauces. Its unique ability to hold small particles of food together makes it the ideal substitute for gluten in gluten-free baking. Most recipes call for only 1 or 2 teaspoons, so it goes a long way.”

– Vitacost.com (http://www.vitacost.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Premium-Quality-Xanthan-Gum?csrc=GPF-039978025555)

So what’s the big deal?  Why am I sharing this info with you?  Xanthan gum is itself an allergen for some folks.    The symptoms are rarely apparent yet they are very dangerous.  Xanthan gum can cause a short term elevation in blood pressure.  For people who are fighting to lose weight and take better care of their hearts, this salad dressing favorite can be counter-productive.  Most people are unaware of changes in their blood pressure because it’s rare to have any outwardly detectable physical symptoms.  It would be so much easier if there was a rash or swelling to let us know about this shift but all too often this is not the case.

You might find that despite reducing carbs, you’re still tired an hour after your meal.  A spike in blood pressure can leave you feeling tired and worn out afterwards, not unlike a blood sugar spike (which is why you probably cut the carbs from your lunch in the first place.)  Experiment with cutting out foods that have Xanthan gum and see if there’s a change in your energy levels.  This means many salad dressings, virtually all cream cheeses, and plenty of gluten free products will need to be avoided.

On the up side, fresh salad dressings cost less money, taste marvelous and really let the flavors of your salad shine through.  Bottled dressings don’t really save time, so you’re not losing anything on that score.  Items I like to keep on hand for quick, fresh and delicious salad dressings are:

Olive oil

Something acidic – Lemons and Various vinegars

For a creamy dressing – Cottage cheese and Sour cream

Various spices and Fresh herbs

A big favorite of mine lately is 2 Tbsp Sour Cream, 1 Tbsp Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar, dill, cayenne and fresh cracked pepper.  I throw this into the salad directly and mix by tossing it all together.  It’s enough to dress a salad for 2 people, so when you do the caloric breakdown, it’s about 150 calories for the entire recipe.  That’s 75 calories per serving.  Not too shabby.
Thanks,

Laura Jean Richter

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Diet Season

by Laura Jean Richter

Researching a product I recently discovered I came across a perplexing phrase: Just in time for Diet Season!

Diet season?  Really?  After having a good laugh about this I began to think about what might define Diet Season.  It’s the post-holiday, pre-bikini portion of the year where we take stock of the damage done over the holidays.  The shame.  The panic.  The frenzy.  The temptation to buy magic candy bars that will melt away the pounds… all hallmarks of Diet Season and all of it likely to induce the kind of stress that triggers emotional overeating.  The implication of “Diet Season” is ludicrous – as if we only need to watch what we eat for three months out of every twelve.

Spring has sprung but instead of subjecting yourself to the psychological damage of Diet Season, perhaps you can take a moment to really assess your situation.  There is a difference between being fat and being unhealthy.  Shifting your focus from a body image that may be doing more harm than good to engaging in more healthful practices designed to improve the quality of your life might be just the thing to help you make permanent change that can free you from the yo-yo dieting that many of us have fallen prey to over the years.

I’m a big fan of eating seasonally and by visiting Farmers Markets in my neighborhood in the last year I’ve lost nearly 50 pounds.  There’s a lot more to what I’m doing than just eating salads, but starting with fresh ingredients that were grown nearby is a substantial step in the right direction.  I’ve also found that eating this way is good for the pocketbook as well.  Instead of purchasing expensive processed foods and throwing them together, I’ve saved money by whipping up such things as Stewed Eggplant and Mushrooms over Couscous or making the mostly vegetarian 5 Ingredients Soup.  It should be no surprise that it’s a simple soup made with 5 ingredients from the market – something tomato-y, something vegetable-y, any variety of beans, herbs and water or stock.  Focusing on vegetables first and cooking seasonally has been a huge benefit to changing how I eat.  Latching on to a practice of eating according to the seasons rather than under the influence of advertising gimmicks has set me free from the torture and depression of Diet Season.

To get you started on a new cycle of healthy eating in synch with the planet and your local environment, I’m including a few helpful websites below.  Get out to the Farmers’ Market, get some Vitamin D, pick up some delicious fresh food and get off the Diet Season train!  You’ll be glad you did.

The Sustainable Table
“Sustainable Table celebrates local sustainable food, educates consumers on food-related issues and works to build community through food.”

Local Harvest
“Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer.”

Eat Well Guide
“The Eat Well Guide® is a free online directory for anyone in search of fresh, locally grown and sustainably produced food in the United States and Canada.”

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Laura Richter

Laura is a feature film writer and a true foodie. She has a passion for all things tasty and is on a personal journey of becoming more healthy. She has lost over 40 pounds on her own and she will be sharing her journey through the recipes, emotions, and experiences of creating a healthy life!

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Tags: alternative health, blog, diet, food guide, Laura Richter, weight loss

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