Vegetables

This should be a huge part of every meal. Fresh, organic vegetables and fruits. I encourage you to join a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, either one that delivers to a central drop off point, or to your home.


By doing this, you will be assured of eating what is in season, so that means that the food will be at the height of freshness and full of vitamins and minerals and anti-oxidants. When you belong to a CSA, they only deliver what they grew, and that means it is the right time to eat it. It tastes better when it is in season too.


It also ensures that the food is healthier for you. It won't be grown in a hot house, or flown from all over the world. It is meant to be eaten now.


What would I do with this delivery?


Strawberries and oranges would be eaten as they are.


Artichokes would be steamed.


Avocados would go in salad.


Beets would be roasted in the oven (in a pan with a little water, covered with foil) until tender, about 30 minutes.


Beet greens would be sauteed in olive oil, and served as a side dish.


Chard would be sauteed in olive oil and red pepper flakes added.


Carrots would be eaten in salad, or on their own as a snack.


Celery would be cut up for crunch in a salad.


Green onions, cut into large pieces on the diagonal, added to salad.


Cilantro? In salad, I love whole cilantro leaves for a burst of flavor.


And, of course the lettuce, it forms the base of the salad.

Organic Vegetables

We all want to be lean, or at least not have what some idiot came up with to describe a huge fat stomach that hangs over our pants - a "muffin top" right?

No one wants to feel hungry. Although, I must say, a great deal of "hunger" is thirst and also psychological, but that is way beyond this little blurb!

Anyway, we all eat garbage that may fill us up at the moment, may taste good at the moment, yet it does not sustain us, it does not build muscle and healthy bones, and it makes us fat.

We all know what these foods are- or do we?

Obviously cakes and cookies and ANY packaged snack- I don't care if it is "healthy baked sun-chips" is crap. You can indulge once in a while, and that does not mean every weekend.

Treat your body the way it deserves to be treated. It is a work of art (or it COULD be) and it needs to be treated as such. 

Only put healthy foods into it. Keep it clean with a mild soap, wax it (hee hee), decorate it, cover it at night and keep it warm and safe.

Oh- Eat lots of veg too will ya?

What you see above is my weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery. I get this at work every Tuesday. Here is what I received this week:

Eggs, potatoes, red leaf lettuce, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, beets, broccoli, sugar snap peas, strawberries and oranges. The food is all organic, just picked and it cost $27.00 (that's including the dozen eggs!)

I look forward to my "box" every week. On Tuesdays as I head out the door to run my stairs, I grab my cloth bag, because my delivery is dropped off at the University Food Science building. I run my stairs, jump my rope, then I run to the building where this is delivered. I usually munch on something as I walk back to my office, unless of course I am prepping for a competition, then fruit does not pass my lips, nor does any snack not on the schedule!

It is very important to eat a lot of vegetables not only for the vitamins and minerals, but to provide fiber and the feeling of fullness. When you are reducing calories, it will be the starches. The bread, rice, beans, pasta, the good stuff that we all fill up on. To counteract this, we need to eat more vegetables.

When I am striving to drop body fat, I reduce or eliminate starches at dinner most nights (but I do add it back in every few nights so my metabolism doesn't get used to this). So, I eat 2 to 3 cups of vegetables at dinner. I am full, I am getting carbs (but not starchy carbs) and it is satisfying.

Check out a CSA. I have found that it ensures I eat produce that is in season, not just what's in the store. It is organic, it is local and it is fresh. 

Lots of CSA's deliver to a home and people pick up there, many deliver to businesses. Google CSA today!

CSA Delivery

When my friend gave me her CSA delivery, there were other wonderful things in there besides the Ratatouille in a Box!

The main reason why I enjoy a delivery or a seasonal option, is that it encourages me to eat things I may not pick up at the store. I hate waste, so it all gets eaten!

Most people stick to the same old foods, day in and day out. Even people who are not on a diet have their favorites they generally stick too, it's our nature.

But eating the same old thing gets boring, and when you are bored, you stray....

Eating seasonally also ensures you are eating what is ripe and best at that time of year, so you are getting the best supply of vitamins, minerals and nutrients to keep your body healthy.

I love to combine all sorts of different vegetables together,  it makes familiar vegetables something special.

Above I have carrots, pimientos de padron, chard and kale.

I roasted the carrots. Cut them up, lay them on a large cookie sheet, pop them in a 375 degree oven and stir around once in a while. I roast them about a half hour or until they are soft and starting to get a little caramelized.

The chard and kale get washed and roughly chopped, then boiled in salted water, chard about 3 minutes, kale about 6 minutes. Drain well.

The pimientos (or any kind of pepper) gets chopped, I leave the seeds in for extra heat and flavor. Then I add a small amount of coconut oil to a large skillet and saute the peppers on high heat, turn on the fan, the heat may hurt your eyes!

Once the peppers are browned and softened, I add the chard and kale and carrots into the pan, saute a couple minutes together and then it's done. 

I will use this mixture for a "bowl", and add 4 ounces chicken and 4 ounces rice. For flavor, some fresh lemon or rice vinegar is great.

I also got some beautiful beets, so here I have the finished product

 
These are washed, then placed into a small roasting an and covered with a bit of water, about a half cup, then tightly covered with foil. I roast them at the same times as the other vegetables, they can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour depending on size. You need to check them by poking with a sharp knife, the knife should slip easily into the center if they are done.

Let cool a bit then the skins scrape off easily, quarter them and toss in a bowl with salt, pepper and a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Let this marinade until you use them.

Beets are great in salads, or as a side vegetable.

Ratatouille

My good friend belongs to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Hers is the typical setup, you sign up for a certain length of time, say 6 months and every week, ya get what ya get!

Mine, I get a choice if I want to buy it each week, either I say yes or no, and it's at work, easy to walk over and get it, so I have the best of both worlds.

My friend is also quite the jet setter, she is always going here or there, often out of town for a few days. I love it! Why? Cause she needs someone to eat her veg!

She gets her delivery every Wednesday, so when she is  planning a trip, I get an email from her with her itinerary and I get the food. A week ago I got the delivery and when I opened it up,and took stock, I had eggplant, tomatoes, basil, onions, peppers and squash, why it was ratatouille in a box!

I pulled out my Chez Panisse cookbook and got to work, you can see most of it all diced up in the picture above. That's what takes the most time, the dicing and slicing. Once you do that, it comes together quickly.  

Ratatouille is best served cold, odd I know, but it is and that makes it even easier to prep ahead. If you have never had it, it is a French vegetable stew, not lots of liquid, but a creamy, rich texture that goes great with fish, grilled meats or chicken.  

Don't let this recipe, or ANY recipe scare you. Cooking is an art, which means you create it with what you have. If you don't have one ingredient, it does not ruin the dish, it merely changes the dish. The absolute only time you must have all ingredients is in baking, and baking is a science.

I have never been very good at baking, I think I am more artistic!

1 large eggplant
Salt
3 onions

3 red bell peppers (or any color)
4 summer squashes

5 tomatoes
10 cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Hot pepper flakes

1 large bunch basil (about a 1/2 pound)

 

Set aside a handful of the basil leaves for garnish and make a bouquet garni with the rest by tying kitchen twine (cotton only!) all around it like a bundle.

Cut eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes (leave skin on), salt liberally and leave it to drain in a colander.

Peel and cut up the onions, the peppers, squashes, and tomatoes, keeping them all separate. Everything should be cut into pieces about the same size as the cubed eggplant.

Smash and peel the garlic and chop it coarsely.

Press down on the eggplant to extract more water and dry it.

In a heavy bottomed pot, heat some of the olive oil and gently fry the eggplant until golden. It will stick, and get a little mashed up, don't worry. Drain and reserve the eggplant.

Add more olive oil to the pot and over medium low heat start sauteing the onions. When they are soft and translucent, add the garlic, the hot pepper flakes and the bouquet garni. Stir for a minute.

Toss in the peppers, cook for a few minutes. Add the squash, cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes.

Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally then add the eggplant and cook another 15 to 25 minutes until everything is soft and the flavors have melded together. Remove the bouquet garni, pressing on it to extract all the flavors.

Adjust the seasoning with fresh chopped basil leaves, salt, pepper and a little extra fresh chopped garlic if you like.

Serve warm, cold or room temperature.

 

 

 

 

I have mine with a piece of fish, David and Cooper spoon a large helping on their plates, drizzle with extra olive oil and have it with grilled Italian sausage. 

Ratatouille is a wonderful, earthy taste of Provence, give it a try you may have only a week or two left for those wonderful ingredients as winter is soon upon us.

Butternut Squash and Turkey Soup

This soup was very nice, creamy (yet no cream), spicy and very healthy.

It is from the Precision Nutrition Cookbook by Dr. John Berardi.

I love soup. I usually tend to make the broth based soups because I just cannot eat the cream, so having one with a creamy texture is great!

This is one I would make again, and it was easy to do.  This serves 8 ( a big guy gets double)


Soup Base:

1 Tbsp coconut oil
5 cups butternut squash (skin removed, roughly chopped)
1 cup roughly chopped onion
1 Tbsp grated or minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup water

Soup Garnish:

1 lb, 10 ounces ground turkey
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

Olive Oil cooking spray

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

 

Soup base:

Preheat large pot on medium high heat, add coconut oil and squash, saute until lightly browned. Add onion, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 Tbsp of broth; saute for 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Add remaining vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft (approximately 30 minutes). Prepare garnish while soup base is cooking. Let soup cool a few minutes. Puree in blender or food processor until smooth and pour back into pot.

Soup Garnish:

Season turkey with salt, pepper and cumin. Preheat large non-stick frying pan on medium heat and lightly coat with spray. Saute turkey until lightly browned and completely cooked, breaking up meat into small crumbles. Add cooked turkey and cilantro to soup base. Reheat and serve immediately or portion soup into storage containers. To maintain tenderness of meat, avoid bring soup to a boil after meat has been added.

I make one batch, and do not add the garnish. I divide the base into 8 servings (7 containers and 1 small pot), and then mike the turkey and cilantro together, and divide that equally between the 8 containers. I have one bowl for dinner and other 7 go in the freezer for later.

Calories 219.8

fat 9.8 grams

carbs 14.3 grams

sugar 2.6 grams

protein 18.8 grams

Fruits and Vegetables

Everyone should make vegetables and fruits a mainstay of their diet. Not only do they provide nutrients, vitamins and minerals, they provide bulk and fiber which help you to feel full and keep your body functioning properly.

Variety is they key, and eating seasonal produce will ensure that you get many different fruits and vegetables all year long.

I have written many times about the CSA that I belong to, a CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, where the farmer delivers directly to a central drop off for subscribers or to your home. I work at San Jose State University and they have a CSA program there, I pick up my produce every Tuesday.

I don't have a choice as to what I am receiving, I get what is seasonal and ready that day. I love it! I eat everything and have learned to love so many different vegetables that I wouldn't normally buy at the grocery store. This is a picture of one of my deliveries.

I read a short article in the paper recently and fruit and vegetable consumption in the United States is down, and it is no wonder we are a nation of overweight people with heart disease, here is an excerpt of that article:

Most Americans still don't eat vegetables often enough, and fruit consumption is actually dropping a little, according to a new government report released Thursday.


The federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention found that last year about one-third of U.S. adults consumed fruit or fruit juice at least twice a day. That's down slightly from more than 34 percent in 2000.

Only about 26 percent ate vegetables three or more times a day, the same as in 2000. The statistics come from a national telephone survey of hundreds of thousands of Americans.


No state met federal goals of three-quarters of Americans eating enough fruit, and half enough vegetables.

California ate the most fruit and Tennessee was best with vegetables.

Good Carbs Bad Carbs

What exactly are carbohydrates? There are many kinds, but when I say "carbs" I am referring to starchy carbs, things such as:

Beans, oats, brown rice, barley, black eyed peas, corn, corn tortillas, cream of wheat/rye/rice, kashi, lentils, peas, potatoes, yams, quinoa, rice cakes.

These are all good for you and they are the "carbs" that need to be weighed or measured. You should have one serving of these at every meal (except your last meal if you eat just before bed). Although when I am intentionally eating to gain weight, I will eat carbs at my last meal. In fact, I will increase all of my starchy carbs at each meal by 2 ounces and that does the trick! So you can see why you do not want to over eat carbs if you are trying to loose weight.

Vegetables and fruits are also "carbs" but they are not starchy carbs, they are packed with nutrients and fiber and have very little calories. You can eat these with abandon, eat as much as you like. So nutritionists do not generally refer to fruits and vegetables as "carbs", they will refer to them as "fruits" and "vegetables".

Two caveats:

Fruit is high in sugar, so if you are attempting to really lower body fat, these should be limited to a couple servings a day, and pre-competition, eliminated all together.

Some vegetables are classified as "starchy" carbs, you may have noticed them in the list above. Peas and corn. If you are eating these two, they count as your starch, not your vegetable so weigh or measure them.

All of the above complex carbohydrates (good carbs) are high fiber foods, which improve your digestion, they help stabilize the blood sugar, keep your energy at an even level, and help you feel satisfied longer after your meal.

A mistake I see occur quite frequently is someone thinks they are eating healthy, so they load up their plate with a big plain baked potato and an ear of corn...no, no, no! You can only choose one of those as they are both "carbs", you need a vegetable in place of one.

Now we have the simple (bad) carbohydrates, the ones that you need to limit or avoid all together. Which you chose depends on your goals. If you are competing, you won't eat anything on the list below for a few months before your competition. If you are not, then some of this is OK, in moderation.

Pasta, refined breads , crackers, cereals, chips, candy, anything made with flour, flour tortillas, fruit juice, sugar, corn syrup, any packaged food. Sugar and other simple carbohydrates can alter your mood, lead to cravings and compulsive eating, cause wide swings in your blood-sugar levels, and cause weight gain in most people. These foods also tend to be very high in calories.

I eat 6 times a day. My first meal is a shake (with 20 grams of carbs) and my last meal is egg whites and spinach, so "technically" it has no carbs.

The other 4 meals all contain one of the above starchy carbs. I eat a great deal of brown rice, quinoa, yams and beans at lunches and dinner. Breakfast usually contains oats or cream of rice.

I eat bread on occasion, but it is usually one of those dense, really dark, heavy rye or spelt breads and I toast it and put low sugar jam and/or peanut butter on it.

Remember the good carbs are the "fuel" that keeps you going, keeps your brain functioning, your muscles round and full looking. These are also the really tasty ones, like the big baked potato, so it is easy to over eat- hence the need to weigh them.

Remember, packaged food is the enemy! The more that a food has been altered from its natural state, the less nutrients it has and just becomes a lot of useless calories.

Developing A Diet You Can Live With

I use the term "diet" to mean what you eat, we all adhere to a "diet" of some sort, it may not be a restricted calorie diet, but whatever you eat can be referred to as your "diet".

Here are a couple definitions of diet:

1. the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group: The native diet consists of fish and fruit.

2. food or feed habitually eaten or provided: The rabbits were fed a diet of carrots and lettuce.

So, if you want to maintain a healthy weight and heart and also look damn good, you really should be aware of your diet and make sure that you are choosing the right foods and the correct portions. This all starts with either hiring a nutritionist or dietitian; or doing a good deal of research on your own. I have done both.

I first worked with Kim Porterfield from The Institute of Eating Management and Relapse Prevention Center, in Houston,  Texas about a year and a half ago. Kim reviewed my goals, my current diet, my lifestyle, and more importantly, my commitment level to help me to come up with a diet I could live with and enjoy. I went from 13% bodyfat to 8% in three weeks. And I was never hungry.
 
I still work with Kim every couple of months when I need some advise or tweaking, she always sets me on the correct course. Everything is over the phone, we have yet to meet each other (although we chat on face book occasionally).

I have also developed some "diets" for others who want to lose weight and they have been very successful and happy with the plan. You can do that too.

First, I have found that it is best to start in the exact opposite starting point than most books will tell you. I do not believe that you should sit down and all of a sudden start eating certain foods, foods that you would never think of eating, to lose weight. You certainly could do this, but how long do you think you would stick to this? How long do you think you would be happy?

Instead, start looking at what you enjoy doing right now, and then evaluating how you can make small changes to create a diet you still enjoy, that is healthier for you.

Take one week out of your life and record everything you eat or drink and the times. Be honest, this is for you only. You will need to record the food, and the amount. It's OK to estimate. Food is a very emotional issue so it is helpful if you can remember to write down moods too, and when you feel hungry or particularly "starving"

Now, ideally you would create a spreadsheet and record the macro nutrients, but I won't go into that here, it is a bit complicated for one post.

Look at the daily foods and determine if you are getting a lean protein, a complex carbohydrate and healthy fats at each meal. If it seems out of balance, adjust it.

Now I am not saying it is easy, it takes a lot of work in the beginning, but eventually it becomes habit (hopefully).

For instance, if you enjoy pasta, there is no reason you need to eliminate it (unless you are pre-competition); however, most people eat a far larger portion than they should. Go pick up a box of dried pasta from your cupboard and check out the nutritional facts. A 1 pound box of penne says it serves 8 people. Now, honestly, when was the last time you cooked 1 pound of pasta for 8 people? Never!

But that small suggested serving size gives you 41 grams of carbohydrates, far more than I ever eat in any one meal. It also has 200 calories, and that is just plain pasta.

So, you can certainly enjoy some pasta, but stick to the serving size. This means you cannot fill up on a bowl of pasta, you need to have other things with it. You will need a lean source of protein (fish, chicken or turkey breast) and a vegetable.

A good rule of thumb is your protein source should be about the size of your open palm (that's the palm only, no fingers). Your carbohydrate source should be about the size of your closed  fist and you can have as many vegetables as your healthy heart desires! Skip the butter and oil though.

You can enjoy a glass of wine occasionally, but not everyday, and certainly not a bottle every Friday night.

If you eat cereal, look at the serving size and stick to that. Most granola's suggest 1/4 cup! That's not much is it? So you will need something else to fill you up won't you? Egg whites can be purchased in cartons and used in place of whole eggs, or you can mix one whole egg with egg whites to measure a cup, and then scramble that or make an omelet. Use low fat cheese.

We all know that candy  bars, chips, any fried foods, butter, oil and fatty meats, none of it is good for you. Avoid those and save them for a special occasion.

Your main drink should be plain water. No soda and not coffee all day long. Get to love water.

Avoid packaged prepared foods, they tend to be loaded with fats and excessive carbohydrates.

Learn to cook, eat what is in season.

Experiment with cooking, it is an art not a science, there are no hard fast rules (except in baking, that IS a science).

Read labels. If you cannot pronounce it, why would you eat it?

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Purslane

Another great gift from my friend, a huge bag of fresh purslane. Most people have never heard of purslane, but they have probably seen it, it grows like a weed.

Once I was training on the football field with SC and I said "hey! look, you have purslane here!" I grabbed it popped it in my mouth and chewed, he was stunned.

He was more astonished not because I ate the weed from the ground, but because of what he has seen all the football players do out on that field ....he didn't think it was a very smart thing to do.

Condemned by some as an “unsightly, pervasive weed,” purslane is also a free backyard source of protein, vitamin E, vitamin C, and the best source of Omega 3 fatty acids of any leafy plant. There’s no reason to spend money on fish oil supplements if you have this tasty food source growing in your backyard or vegetable garden.

Whether you eat it raw in salads, stir-fried, or added to soups and sauces, purslane is a delicious addition to many recipes. It’s easy to grow, tastes great, and – best of all to anyone struggling with rising food prices – it’s free.

Also called Summer Purslane - purslane usually grows spread out flat on the ground. It can be found growing in almost any unshaded area, including flower beds, corn fields, and waste places. Purslane can be found growing in cold climate areas (e.g., Canada) as well as warm areas (e.g., the Caribbean).

It has been used in salads and as a medicinal plant (for people) for hundreds of years. Called Verdolaga in spanish, it is a vegetable green used in many Latin American countries. It is also popular as a salad green in France and other European countries. It is similar in taste and consistency to watercress. It can be eaten fresh or cooked and has no bitter taste at all. Since it has a mucilaginous quality it is great for soups and stews.

It has rosettes of fleshy, paddle-shaped leaves, each with a small (1/4” wide) yellow flower. It is grows low to the ground in large circular mats up to 1.2m across and it is succulent with short leaves less than an inch long scattered along its brownish stems. The flowers only open for a few hours in the morning sun and there are usually five petals but sometimes four or six. Its seeds are ovate to triangular, reddish brown to black and shiny. Each plant is capable of producing 240,000 seeds which are viable for up to 40 years. It is found in gardens and bare ground from June to October.

I made this soup the other night, delicious on a hot summer day. It is creamy, yet has no cream. The ingredients are ones people give you - zucchini and the purslane, which you can go find in your backyard! It is from the Food and Wine 2010 Annual Cookbook.

This soup does not have any characteristics of split pea soup, which I don't particularly care for. It is fresh and light. My 16 year son did not care for it, he would rather have a slab of meat, any meat. My husband loved it, in fact had some for lunch the following day.

6 servings 45 minutes plus 3 hours chilling time

1 Tbsp olive oil plus extra for drizzling (if desired)
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 pounds small zucchini, thinly sliced (save aside a few shavings for garnish)
salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp finely shredded basil leaves
1 cup ice
pepper
1 cup purslane leaves

In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat until translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in the thyme and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the sliced zucchini, season with salt and cook, stirring occassionally, until tender, 10 minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, discard the bay leaf and stir in the shredded basil.

Working in small batches, puree the soup in a blender until very smooth (do NOT try to blend any hot soup all at once, it will explode out of the blender, don't ask how I know this, just trust me!)

Transfer the zucchini puree to a glass bowl, add the ice and refrigerate the soup for at least 3 hours, until thoroughly chilled.

Season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle into shallow bowls and top with a small handful of purslane leaves and zucchii shavings. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with a salad and crusty french bread.

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