Category Archives: Sound Nutrition

How ‘Bout Them Bivalves?

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They’re cheap, quick-cooking, sustainable and downright yummy … yet most people I speak with are skittish about cooking bivalves like mussels and clams. Such a pity.

how-bout-them-bivalvesI came to love bivalves while in France. My first time eating mussels was at my maman’s house in Lyon, where she showed me how to cook moules marinere—mussels steamed with onions and tomatoes. This was a working-class household who watered their wine, and mussels fit their frugal budget. Of course, they were scrumptious too.

So if you’re interest is piqued and you’re feeling adventurous, let’s get some bivalves in your kitchen.

How to Buy and Store Bivalves

Mussels and clams are alive when you buy them (and, actually, when you cook them), so be sure to give them air. Your best bet is to lay a moist kitchen towel in a wide bowl and pour in the mussels or clams. Then fold the towel over the top and place in the fridge.

How to Cook Mussels and Clams

The shells should be tightly closed when you take them out of the fridge. If you find one that’s not, give it a little pinch (sometimes they’re just a little jolted from the cold); if it still doesn’t close tightly, pitch it in the trash.

Most mussels come “debearded” when you buy them these days, but check the flat seam of the shell for loose, hairy strands and tug them off if you see any. Soak clams in cold water for 10 minutes or so to loosen any grit, then transfer them to a colander and give them a rinse before cooking.

Mussels are a bit more delicate than clams and are best steamed—although don’t let that hamper your creativity. Try the classic onions, white wine and tomato sauce, or our lip-smacking Curried Mussels (makes my mouth water just thinking of them). Clams take to steaming well too, but they’re also happy being roasted or grilled. In any case, be sure to take bivalves off the heat shortly after they open to avoid drying them out.

How to Eat

My French maman taught me a fun trick to eating mussels. Take the first mussel out of the shell, and then use that shell as a pincher to pull the other mussels out one by one—no fork needed. With any steamed bivalves, too, there will be gorgeous broth to sop up; so plan ahead with some crusty bread or sticky brown rice.

And just in case you’re still feeling squeamish, here’s a little video I shot a while back actually cooking this dish—Clams with Bacon and Garlicky Spinach. Give it a gander and you’ll see how easy it is!

 

 

 

 

10 Ways to Dress Up Your Veggies

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Veggies are awesome. I am forever enamored with how many flavors and textures and colors there are to play with. And the fact that the palette changes each season makes me feel like a wide-eyed kid playing nature’s version of Iron Chef.

10-ways-to-dress-up-veggiesBut I can get in a rut with veggies too. I love the uber-simple Alberto’s Grilled Marinated Asparagus so much, for instance, that I make it over and over and over again. But then, that’s not very fun.

So I developed a little arsenal of ways to dress up any vegetable. Use these like shadows and highlights on your ever-changing palette of seasonal veggies to add a bit … more to something that’s already quite lovely. and by all means, mix and match at will.

  • Toasted nuts – Nuts have a lot of things going for them. Their (healthy) fat adds a touch of richness, they have an incredible range of flavor, and then … there’s that crunch. I like to chop or slice them rather than using whole nuts, both because I like the texture better and because it makes a little go a looong way.
  • Cheeses – Gone (I hope) are the days when vegetables had to be covered in a gooey blanket of cheese to be appealing. Fresh seasonal veggies from a CSA, farmers’ market or garden are way too interesting to be covered up like that. But a tiny bit of flavorful, pungent cheese—shredded, shaved or crumbled—is a wonderful addition to almost any veggie.
  • Brown butter – Try these Sautéed Radishes with Mint to see the effect brown butter has on veggies. Just a tad adds luxurious texture and deep, nutty, lip-smacking flavor.
  • Vinegar – Not all flavor additions have to do with fat. Vinegar—and vinaigrettes—brightens veggies even out of the salad bowl. Try our Roasted Beet Wedges with Champagne Vinegar to see how. I also like tossing our Mustard-Shallot Vinaigrette with grilled or roasted veggies.
  • Spices – Simply adding a new spice to a basic dish elevates it to a whole new level. I make roasted broccoli all the time, for instance. Then I pushed the envelope and came up with Roasted Broccoli with Garlic Chips and Spanish Paprika.
  • Citrus zest – Citrus zest packs a surprisingly bright, tangy wallop. A little run of a lemon, lime or orange over a Microplane zester does wonders, especially on richer items like asparagus and potatoes.
  • Soy sauce and miso paste – Both soy sauce and miso paste are umami enhancers, which means they add that voluptuous mouthfeel to the foods. This is especially helpful for vegetables which, for the most part (the big exception being mushrooms), are low on the umami scale.
  • Grated aromatics – I like grating things like garlic, ginger and shallot onto veggies; I find the effect more pungent than simply sautéing them with minced or chopped aromatics. Do beware though: they can burn super-quickly. It’s best to add them in closer to the end of cooking, as I did with our Swiss Chard with Grated Garlic.
  • Honey – Honey truly gilds the lily when it comes to vegetables that have an inherent sweetness to them—like carrots (try our Honey-Ginger Roasted Carrots and you’ll see what I mean). Use it, too, as a semi-sweet counterpoint to salty and sour components like soy sauce and vinegar.

There are my 10 … have any you’d like to share?

Get Your Greens!

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My mother never told me to eat my greens, because she never made them. I’m not sure if she didn’t like greens or just wasn’t sure what to do with them (most likely), but spinach, collards, kale and other hearty cooking greens didn’t join my plate until I grew up and discovered I love them.

eat-your-greens

That’s why I’m always look for ways to add greens to the menu. Of course, they’re good for you–rich in a host of vitamins (especially A and C), minerals (like iron and manganese) and phytonutrients. Even better, hearty greens are at their peak right now, and their earthy flavor is a perfect fit for winter meals … right up to the cusp of spring.

Select greens that have fresh, crisp, unblemished leaves; they’ll keep in the fridge for up to five days. Their leaves tend to trap dirt and grit, so you’ll want to wash them thoroughly. I like to zip the leaves from the stems (check out Lia’s speedy technique to “Zip Some Greens“), toss them in a big salad spinner, which I fill with water and dunk the leaves several times (this allows any grit to settle at the bottom) before spinning them dry. Then I tear or chop the leaves as needed.

Though you can use most greens interchangeably, their  flavor ranges from mild to spicy. For substitution guidelines, visit The Cook’s Thesaurus. Here’s a rundown of a few of our faves:

  • Beet greens: If you buy a bunch of beets with the leaves still attached, don’t throw those delicious, earthy-tasting leaves away. Instead, simply saute them, much as you would spinach. Or try them boiled in Mama Kourtesi’s Beet and Green Salad.
  • Broccoli rabe has a pungent, bitter quality that Italian cooks adore. A bit of olive oil and salt helps tame the bitterness. Try it steamed, broiled or braised. In Lia’s Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage, a pot of boiling water does double-duty to cook the pasta and rabe at the same time.
  • The Italians also love bitter chicory, which they boil and serve with a white sauce or puree with a touch of cream.
  • I’ve come to love the mild flavor of collard greens, which generally benefit from long braising. But if you slice them super-thin, as we do with our Quick Collards below, you can cook them quickly with a combo of sauteing and braising.
  • Kale is a part of the cabbage family, so it (not surprisingly) has a cabbage-y quality. Discard the center stem and treat the curly leaves much the way you would spinach. Frilly-leaf kale is the most common variety, but you’ll find other types (lacinato, for example) at farmers’  markets and gourmet stores. Try it in our Crispy Kale Chips or White Bean and Kale Ragout with Turnips and Sausage.
  • For a spicy, peppery bite, try mustard greens, which do well braised with bacon. For an even more assertive selection, try turnip greens (yep, you can use turnip greens in place of the sausage in the ragout).
  • Spinach may well be the most popular variety. Large, mature leaves should be cooked (steamed, boiled, braised), while baby spinach does fine with a quick saute or even raw in a salad. Make a batch of Cheryl’s Stir-Fried Greens with Cremini Mushrooms and Soba.
  • With bright green leaves and colorful stems in a variety of hues, from magenta to orange-gold, Swiss chard is another favorite in the NOURISH Evolution kitchens. It’s hearty enough to braise, yet tender enough to saute. Try it in our Spicy Sauteed Rainbow Chard with Golden Raisins, which incorporates those pretty stems.

This is by no means a complete list. If you visit an ethnic market or farmers’ market, you’ll find many other varieties. Just ask the merchant for tips to cook them. The broader your repertoire of greens, the more often you’re likely to eat them!

Natural Products Expo 2011, Part 2: Ancient Grains, Vegan Fare and More

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Last week, I reported on the overall vibe at the Natural Products Expo West, which included plenty of buzz about GMOs. This week, I want to share some of the cool stuff I spotted on the expo floor that (hopefully) will come to a store near you soon. These are just the highlights!
Ancient Grains for Modern Diets

Whole-grain goodness is a linchpin of healthy eating. But as I strolled the expo floor, it was clear that ancient grains where it’s at. The South American grain quinoa has come of age, and protein- and nutrient-packed ancient forms of wheat are the next big thing.

Quinoa was in everything, from cereal to quick-cooking whole-grain blends (from Village Harvest and truRoots, to name just two). I even found qunioa-enhanced chocolate (Alter Eco’s Dark Chocolate Quinoa Midnight Madness bar).

Jovial offers pastas and cookies made with einkorn, an ancient form of wheat that’s high in protein and B vitamins. We’re big fans of Jovial’s einkorn pasta, which is full-flavored and hearty. Their new Italian-made einkorn cookies are surprisingly delicate and will change the way you think about whole wheat baked goods.

I also had a chance to sit down with Bob Quinn, founder of Kamut Khorosan, an ancient form of wheat originally from Egypt. Quinn grows the wheat in Montana, and most of it is exported to Italy, where it’s used to make pasta. But Kamut, which Quinn touts as “King Tut’s wheat,” is catching on in the States in everything from flour to pasta to whole wheat berries.

Vegan for All

I’m not vegan myself, but I can get behind the idea of a plant-centered diet, so I was eager to check out some of the vegan fare at the expo. This year, I found vegan food that appeals to all palates.

My big gripe with vegan “cheese” has been with the flavor (often not even close to the real thing) and texture (many vegan cheeses have a disconcerting tendency to coat the mouth). A vegan friend has been encouraging me to try out Daiya vegan cheese. Last week, I did, and found it a big improvement over vegan cheese I’ve had in the past. Daiya’s cheddar- and mozzarella-style shreds are made from tapioca and have a nice mouthfeel and good melting quality. No, they won’t replace a Neal’s Yard Cheddar or buffalo mozzarella, but you could use them to bust out a decent mac ‘n’ cheese.

I also swung by the Earth Balance booth to check out their forthcoming (this summer) line of vegan MindfulMayo line. Now, I love a homemade mayo, but I’d also happily use their Olive Oil Mayonnaise in a tuna salad or on a sandwich.

Goin’ Coconuts

Walking the expo aisles, one would be forgiven for thinking the world has gone coconuts. There were booths with coconut water, coconut oil, coconut spreads, coconut butter, coconut ice cream, coconut milk, coconut syrup and coconut sugar.

Why? Although coconut’s fat is saturated, it’s a beneficial kind that has an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial effect. And because it’s a plant-based fat, its saturated fat is supposed to be better absorbed by the body than animal fat.

Coconut can be a pricey ingredient, so I was curious to sample Earth Balance’s Organic Coconut Spread (also due out this summer), which will have a lower price point but also can be used for baking and other dishes.

But the coconut item that most intrigued me was Coconut World’s Coconut Sugar. Imagine brown sugar with the lighter texture of granulated sugar, but with a lower glycemic index (so it’s absorbed more slowly into the blood) and much higher in potassium.

Better Packaging

Reducing our packaging footprint was a big theme, and manufacturers were looking for ways to go beyond recyclable. Just one example: Boulder Canyon Natural Foods kettle chips in a compostable bag (yes, the chips are good, too).

There also were lots of reusable water bottles, containers and napkins. Eco Lunchbox showed off sleek and chic stainless-steel containers paired with gorgeous handmade, fair-trade fabric lunch bags and napkins. Still trying to break the plastic baggie habit? Try LunchSkins‘ reusable BPA- and phthalate-free baggies with Velcro closures, which you can toss into the dishwasher.

Food Labels: What’s in the Box?

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With our daughter now an active participant at the supermarket, I’ve become more attuned to how companies entice kids to pick up their products (“look, Mommy . . . it’s ELMO!”). But it’s not just kids who are taken in by food labels. I walked up and down the supermarket aisles last week with a keen eye towards the promises beckoning me and I found that, for the most part, the bolder the proclaimed virtues, the less likely the product was to be good for me.

food labels

Take Reduced Fat Ritz Crackers, for instance. The green stripe at the bottom of the box draws my eye toward a sunny icon proclaiming these Reduced Fat Ritz to be a “sensible solution.” They have half the fat of original Ritz, no cholesterol and little saturated fat–more than enough to convince a busy shopper to lob that box into their cart and feel good about it. But let’s take a closer look at those claims—and the ingredients and Nutrition Facts—shall we?

nutrition facts label

No Cholesterol and Low in Saturated Fat– These claims typically appeal to those looking out for their cardiovascular health (and bravo to you for doing so!). Where it gets misleading is that dietary cholesterol has turned out to have much less effect on our bodies than previously thought; it’s the types of fat we consume, and their respective impact on LDL and HDL cholesterol, that matter. Saturated fat raises harmful LDL cholesterol, but it also raises helpful HDL, so the net effect isn’t too terribly awful. Trans-fats—identified either by grams in the Nutrition Facts panel or by the term “partially hydrogenated” in the ingredients list—are by far the worst type of fat because they raise LDL and lower HDL. So let’s flip the box over and see what’s there. The nutritional panel lists trans-fats at 0 grams, but a product can contain up to .5 grams of trans fats and still list the amount at 0, so I like to double-check the ingredients lists for partially hydrogenated oils. And there, right in the middle of the list, is partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Uh oh. So much for heart-healthy.

Half the Fat – True, at 2 grams per serving these Ritzes are half the fat of normal Ritzes, which weigh in at 4 grams. But what does that really tell us? If we’re concerned about the fat itself, we already know that these are made with a less-than-ideal type. And if we’re equating fat grams with whether or not they’ll make us fat, we’re looking in the wrong place. Calories (or more specifically, an excess of calories) cause weight gain, not total fat grams, and these Reduced Fat Ritz have 70 calories per serving—not bad, until you consider that a serving is only 5 crackers. Up that to a more realistic 10 and you’re looking at 140 calories, roughly 7% of an average “calorie budget” of 2,000 a day.

So here you have a snack with virtually no value for your body that gobbles up close to a tenth of your calorie budget for the day and includes a downright dangerous type of fat.

This is a sensible solution? For whom . . . us or Nabisco?

So what to do? First off, stop and ask yourself what you want to achieve. Are you trying to manage your weight? Are you trying to protect your heart? Are you trying to find healthy foods to feed your kids? Whatever it is you want to accomplish, take a moment to learn which factors really make an impact. Once you’re in the supermarket perusing the aisles, ask yourself why you’re drawn to a box. If you already know what you want from a food, you can evaluate how well a package’s claims stack up to your needs by examining the ingredients, Nutrition Facts panel and serving size. Best yet, if there’s an option to go whole—like this Make-at-Home Socca—choose that over any package.

In any case, when you’re cruising the aisles, it’s best not to judge a box by its cover.

Get a New Grain: Amaranth

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The more I’ve learned about amaranth, the more I’ve come to think of it as quinoa’s little cousin. The two certainly have a lot in common. Like quinoa, amaranth has a long New World history. It was revered among the native peoples of Mexico and Central America, and it was so crucial to the Aztecs’ diet, culture and even religion that the Spanish conquistadors outlawed its cultivation.
get-a-new-grain-amaranth

Also, like quinoa, amaranth is considered a “pseudo-grain” because it isn’t a true cereal grain, though it shares many of the same nutritional and culinary qualities. Amaranth “grains” are actually the seeds of the plant, which also yields very tasty, tender green leaves that you might have seen labeled as “Chinese spinach” at farmers’ markets or Asian groceries.

And, along with quinoa, amaranth is a nutritional dynamo. A quarter-cup uncooked amaranth (about 3/4 cup cooked) has 179 calories, 3 grams of fiber and a whopping 7 grams of protein. Even better, amaranth is one of the few plant sources of complete protein (like quinoa, surprise, surprise). If you’re a vegan or simply trying to enjoy more meatless meals, amaranth should have a place on your plate. Oh, yeah, and it’s gluten free, too.

So what’s the difference? For all its similarities to quinoa, amaranth has some unique characteristics:

What It Looks Like: Amaranth’s teeny-tiny pale-golden beads look like a much dinkier version of quinoa. (Tip: The tiny grains tend to scatter everywhere, so if you buy amaranth from the bulk bins, use a funnel to decant it into another container. I learned this the hard way.)

What It Tastes Like: Texture is the first thing you notice about amaranth. Whereas quinoa cooks up with fluffy individual grains, amaranth releases lots of starch during cooking. That lends it a gelatinous consistency with each grain creating a subtle, caviar-like “pop” when you chew it. Amaranth has a mildly nutty quality and readily absorbs the flavors of other ingredients.

How to Cook It: Use 1 part amaranth to 3 parts liquid, which can be anything from plain water to stock to milk. Bring the amaranth and liquid to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 25 minutes or until tender. Stir it occasionally. To enhance amaranth’s nutty flavor, saute the grains in a little bit of fat before adding your liquid. One cup of uncooked amaranth yields about 3 cups cooked.

How to Use It: Choose dishes that make the most of amaranth’s rich, pudding-like texture. Indeed, we’ve found it makes an excellent dessert in our Chai-Spiced Amaranth Pudding or Chocolate Amaranth Pudding (yes, we love pudding around here!). I’d also try it for breakfast in place of millet in our Creamy Millet with Blueberry Compote. Or use it instead of corn in grits or polenta.

Additional Notes: You’ll also find amaranth flour, which you can use to in baked goods or to make atole, the warm, thick traditional Mexican drink. Look for puffed amaranth at health-food stores (or pop it yourself at home), which you can use as a cold breakfast cereal or to make like alegria–a lovely Mexican snack that has been described as Mexico’s answer to the Rice Krispie treat.

The NEW My Nourish Mentor is LIVE!

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Oh my goodness. I am so excited to post this I can’t even stand it. Y’all probably know that I launched the pilot of a small group coaching program called My Nourish Mentor about a year ago. And it’s been incredible. Nearly everyone who has gone through it has achieved their goals, 90% lost weight, and most improved their overall “relationship” with food by roughly 20% (yep, we track that).

But as gratifying as it’s been to walk with peeps on this journey, it’s been disheartening to have so many others say no to such a life-changing opportunity. So I decided that, gosh darn it, I’d ask and ask and ask every time I got a “no” so I could reshape My Nourish Mentor into a program that didn’t just get a yes … but a YES. And, I’m getting a little verklempt, I think we’ve got it.

My Nourish Mentor is now:

  • 12 weeks long (start with Level I, move on to Level II if you’re inclined)
  • entirely online (be as involved or as quiet as you want to be on the member forum area)
  • $49/month!

Approachable, affordable, doable. It’s 12 weeks that will transform the way you look at food, the way you eat, the way you feel, and the way you feed your family and connect with your community. Yes, you’ll likely end up losing weight. Yes, you’ll end up healthier. But My Nourish Mentor goes far beyond a traditional weight loss program or nutrition class.

So if you find yourself having conversations like these:

  • “I am so OVER not being able to eat what I want! I can’t do diets any more!”
  • “Do I really need to buy these (organic) carrots?”
  • “When I lose these last 20 pounds, life will be …”
  • “What kind of fish was on the green list?”
  • “My kids absolutely will not eat vegetables.”
  • “I don’t know what to believe about ‘nutrition’ … what’s good for me one day is doom the next.”
  • “Great that my doctor just told me I need to eat a healthier diet or go on medication forever … now how the heck do I do that?”

Know that, 12 weeks from now, you’ll be enjoying peace of mind as much as you will what’s on your plate.

Here’s what you’ll learn in My Nourish Mentor:

Week 1: One key practice that will change everything … the way you think about food, the way you buy food, the way you eat food and more

Week 2: Get the tools in your kitchen to where they’re working for you–without spending as much as you think

Week 3: How to stack the odds towards eating healthy by stocking a healthy pantry

Week 4: How to get more pleasure … while eating less

Week 5: How to prioritize what matters most to you

Week 6: Techniques to make veggies so irresistible your kids will snap them off the plate

Week 7: How to shrink your “foodshed” and find foods grown, raised and produced near you

Week 8: All about the great big world of whole grains (there’s so much more than brown rice!)

Week 9: Which fats our bodies need; what kinds of oils to buy and how to use them in the kitchen

Week 10: How to balance the budget when you’re spending more on healthy, sustainable food

Week 11: How to foolproof your week against take-out and microwave meals

Week 12: How to make the big leap into enjoying what you eat

Each week, the carefully-crafted curriculum solidifies learnings through experience, so you internalize it as part of you. My Nourish Mentor gradually shifts your paradigms and empowers you to make smart choices–and enjoy making them–rather than dictating what to do. The result? Profound. You’ll feel better about your body–and the food you eat–than you’ve ever felt before … and the transformation will last a lifetime.

Are you ready?

I hope to see you in My Nourish Mentor!

PS — If you’re not ready, shoot me an e-mail and let me know why. Lia (at) nourishnetwork (dot) com. I’d love to hear!

Know Your White from Your Wheat

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I can’t tell you how many times someone has produced a package of beige bread from their fridge for me while proudly announcing, “See, I switched to wheat . . . I’m really trying to eat healthier,” only to have me scan the ingredients and see that, nutrient-wise, the loaf ain’t much better than Wonder. Which is just a bummer for everyone. Here’s how to understand the labels on the loaves so that, when you want a whole grain wheat bread, you really get one.

wheat-bread-medley-post

Overview

At its most basic, bread is really no more than three or four ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt (if you’re in my kitchen). Along with the alchemy of time, artisanal bread makers transform those ingredients into a food that is one of the timeless staples of life. Sliced bread, although “great” on the convenience front, made things a bit more complicated. Nowadays, ingredient lists on a loaf of bread can be up to 40 items long, many of them with unpronounceable names.

Complicating the matter further are the labels on the front of the package. I’ve seen many breads dusted with seeds and nuts touting “whole grains” and “naturally sweetened” that are primarily refined flour and high-fructose corn syrup. The reality is, the only real way to know what you’re getting is to look at the ingredients yourself. Here’s a guide.

What’s Actually in the Bread?

Western Hearth 7-Grain Bread
bread-ingredients-1

Pick up a loaf of bread like the one above and the ingredient list can be daunting. Here’s a breakdown of the four major categories.

Whole grains (listed in brown)
These are grains—either in whole form; cracked or crushed; or ground into a flour—that have all three parts of the kernel intact. (For more on what these parts do for us, read Gotta Get Your Grains).

Refined flours and enrichment additives (listed in red)
These are flours that have been stripped of all but the starchy endosperm. Refined flour has, by law, five vitamins and minerals—niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, folic acid and iron—added back to it. Don’t let this fool you into thinking it’s virtuous, however. There are still ample nutrients, healthy fats, fiber and other goodies that are gone for good in refined flours. Some breads say “wheat flour,” but unless it says “whole wheat flour” it is still a refined grain.

Sweeteners (listed in pink)
These are added to make the bread sweeter and mask the taste of chemical additives and preservatives.

Softeners and stabilizers (listed in purple)
These ingredients, mostly chemicals, give the bread a soft, spongy texture and help it last longer on the shelves.

What Should You Look For?

The truth is, you don’t need to memorize what each ingredient is. To know if you’re buying a real, whole grain bread—and to gauge how healthy it is—you just have to look for the answers to these questions:

How Whole? The first thing you want to do is look at the very first word, which, if you’re looking for a whole grain bread, should be “whole.” Because ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, you’re not going to get much whole grain benefit from a loaf with enriched flour as its first ingredient (for more on why, read Gotta Get Your Grains) and a whole grain flour as its last. And don’t be fooled: breads labeled “7-grain” or “whole-grain” or “multigrain” often have enriched or wheat flour listed as a first ingredient with small amounts of other whole grains mixed in. Take a look at the bread above, for instance, and you’ll see that it’s mostly refined flour. Only after the high-fructose corn syrup do we find the whole grains it touts (the label, by the way, reads “7 Grain Bread, Naturally Sweetened”), meaning that there are less of each of the grains than there is high-fructose corn syrup (ingredients are listed in descending order by weight). For a bread to truly count as a whole grain, it must have “whole wheat flour” or some other type of whole grain flour (“whole” being the operative word) high up on the list.

How Long? The second thing you should look for is how long the list is. Keep in mind that all it takes to make bread is four ingredients. Anything else, unless they’re grains, seeds, nuts or other ingredients added for texture and flavor, is there to make it sweeter, softer or more shelf-stable.

How Real? Even the more natural bread below uses sweeteners, only they’re dates and raisins, with not a high-fructose corn syrup in sight. Ingredients that sound unnatural, for the most part, are.

Alvarado Bakery Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread
bread-ingredients-2

By no means is this to say you should never indulge in a nice loaf of non-whole grain bread. But if you’re making the effort to buy a whole grain bread then, dang it, I believe you should get it. The next time you buy a loaf of whole grain bread, flip it over, look at the ingredients and make sure it’s the real deal.

The (Fairly) Simple Message in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines

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Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? Favor whole grains? Cook most of your meals at home? You’ve already hit most of the high points in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services.

In our previous stories about the advisory committee’s suggestions for the guidelines, we made some predictions based on recommendations that lined up with NOURISH Evolution’s core principles of sound nutrition, eco-clean eating, mindful meals and kitchen tips. Let’s see how we fared:

Prediction: Shift to a Plant-Based Diet

Outcome: One of the main goals of the 2010 guidelines is to encourage Americans to choose nutrient-dense foods, including fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, and whole grains. In one of the most tangible takeaway messages, the guidelines instruct us to “make half your plate fruits and vegetables.” That’s pretty straightforward.

The guidelines also cover the benefits of plant-centered eating patterns, including DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), the Mediterranean diet and even vegetarian and vegan diets.

Diary has a prominent place in the guidelines (no surprise there, given the dairy industry’s influence on the USDA), though with the recommendation to choose low-fat (1%) or fat-free variations. This is to help ensure we all get adequate calcium, vitamin D and potassium. The guidelines cite moderate evidence linking milk with bone and heart health. However, some experts question the benefit of dairy and other animal-based proteins for bone health.

The new guidelines give ample play to alternative protein sources, encouraging everyone to eat more seafood, soy products, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds. They even recommend replacing some lean meat and poultry with seafood.

Our take: We like the emphasis on plant foods, plus the tangible advice for how that plays out on your plate. It’s nice to see plant-based and seafood proteins given prominent play alongside meat and poultry in the variety of suggested options.

Prediction: Increase Environmentally Sustainable Food

Outcome: The advisory committee called for increasing environmentally sustainable agriculture and aquaculture but stopped short of recommending organics specifically. Indeed, the final guidelines include this statement: “Develop and expand safe, effective, and sustainable agriculture and aquaculture practices to ensure availability of recommended amounts of healthy foods to all segments of the population.”

Our take: We would have liked more specifics on what they mean by “safe, effective and sustainable.” Moreover, the new guidelines have a specific recommendation to eat 8 ounces of seafood per week, which will serve to increase demand for fish. It would have been helpful to include the advice to choose sustainable seafood.

Prediction: Eat Attentively

Outcome: The advisory committee called for Americans to be mindful eaters, but we didn’t think this advice would make it into the final guidelines because it would prove too hard to put into specific terms. We were wrong! The final guidelines’ address many aspects of food behavior, including tips ranging from tracking calories to paying close attention to feelings of hunger, noting when you tend to overeat, and not eating while doing other activities like watching TV. Other strategies that fall under the mindful-eating category include planning meals, using smaller plates to minimize portions and reading food labels.

Our take: We’re pleasantly surprised to see the guidelines address this issue in such specific terms.

Prediction: Learn to Cook, America

Outcome: Previous incarnations of the Dietary Guidelines have struck me as scolding. The advisory committee’s recommendations were no different, taking Americans to task for eating too many meals out. But they also favored including recommendations to improve cooking literacy, including safe food handling and teaching kitchen skills in schools. That’s advice the final guidelines has taken.

A substantial section addresses the need to overhaul the cultural environment to support healthier individual food choices. These measures include improving access to healthy food, working with food producers to develop better options and supporting healthy-eating legislative measures. Then there’s little nugget:

“Empower individuals and families with improved nutrition literacy, gardening, and cooking skills to heighten enjoyment of preparing and consuming healthy foods.”

Our take: We heartily support any measure that encourages people to enjoy cooking–and eating. The more comfortable you are in the kitchen, the more control you have over what you eat and the easier it is to make healthy, seasonal and sustainable food part of your diet.

Nourishing Hero: Kelly Anderson

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This is the latest installment in our Nourishing Heroes series, in which we feature the individuals and organizations who inspire us with food that nourishes body, soul and planet. Do you know a Nourishing Hero we should feature on NOURISH Evolution? Let us know who inspires you!

If you’ve been following the saga of British chef Jamie Oliver’s latest installment of ABC series “Food Revolution,” which is filming now in Los Angeles, you know the city’s school district has banned him from the schools. Whether the L.A. Unified School District has something to hide or simply isn’t interested in Oliver’s TV-ready antics is hard to say (it’s probably both). But let’s just say Oliver’s relationship with the City of Angels is off to a rocky start.

But Kelly Anderson, a mom in Glendale, Calif., shows that you don’t need a camera crew and celebrity status to make a profound difference in school food.

After working in PR and marketing for 10 years, Anderson decided to follow her passion for food and went through the culinary program at a local community college in 2008. Her daughter inspired her to focus her talents on developing young palates through her consulting business, The Lunch Bunch.

“She had just started preschool,” says Anderson. “They had an amazing commercial kitchen that had never been used to cook meals for the kids. I started testing recipes at the school for the kids, and they really liked it.”

Soon, other parents asked her to develop a healthy menu for the preschool. Anderson created healthy, kid-friendly dishes like veggie-topped pizzas, turkey tacos and baked chicken tenders breaded in crushed whole-grain Goldfish crackers. Many parents were pleasantly surprised to see their kids happily eating vegetables.

Anderson has several ways to encourage the kids to eat their veggies. Serving a variety of foods at schools uses “positive peer pressure from the other kids,” she says. “If they see a friend eating broccoli, they’ll try it, too.”

She’s also a fan of sneaking vegetables into kids’ favorite foods. “I hide a lot of my vegetables,” she admits. Anderson’s zippy marinara sauce, below, is thickened with a generous amount of carrots, celery and onion. She’ll add shredded veggies to beef sliders and mushrooms to Bolognese sauce.

She also teaches basic cooking classes to spark kids’ interest in new foods. “Once they’re familiar with what I’m making, they’ll be more likely to try it because they were a part of making it.” It’s a tactic she recommends parents try at home.

Anderson has launched The Lunch Bunch to consult on healthy menus for schools, restaurants, families and individuals. And she continues to cater lunch for her daughter’s preschool. Parents pay her $4 per day, per child. Though that’s more generous than the current USDA school lunch reimbursement rate–26 cents per full-priced meal to $2.72 per free meal–it’s still a tight budget that requires Anderson to shop strategically.

“All our eggs and milk are organic. I try to buy organic chicken whenever I can,” she says. “I also belong to a couple of different co-ops and shop the farmers’ market. The problem is, it’s still really expensive to buy organic.”

So she makes smart compromises, like using the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists to choose what to buy organic or picking up organic frozen berries, which typically are cheaper than fresh.

Anderson is a fan of Oliver’s efforts and sympathizes with his difficulties working with the L.A. school district. “The fact that they’re not even allowing Oliver to come in, tells me they’re not giving much thought to what they’re feeding the children,” she says. “Right now, we treat our school lunch program workers as if they are day laborers. They open up a can, they put it in a pot and they turn on the stove.”

Parents whose children are in private schools or smaller public school districts might have an easier time getting involved in their kids’ lunch programs, she says. And as long as her own daughter is in preschool, Anderson knows that she’s eating well. But when she moves up to kindergarten, Anderson may need to take her nutrition activism to the big-kids’ school.

Meet our other Nourishing Heroes: