Celebrating Spring Veggies
April 2nd, 2011 by chefkevinContinuing an Ancient Ritual …
While March 21st is the official start of spring, here in Nova Scotia our own fresh local produce is still a long ways off. That’s really hard on our psychological make up since we are genetically hard-wired to want fresh, energy-filled veggies with the coming of the spring equinox. That probably explains our hunger for spring to begin.
Since the days of our pagan ancestors, spring has been celebrated with pomp and ceremony as a rebirth of the Earth. The ancient ones knew of the magic in the cycle of life and the seasons. While not historically proven, it’s likely that the mystery of fresh green plants pushing up through warm, moist earth fed the search for meaning in all growing things. Folklore and myth date back to a similar time as the early herbs and vegetables themselves, so it’s not a stretch to assume that some of that primal knowledge has survived in our collective consciousness to this day. These ancient folk would go out and gather the fresh young plants and create a feast of these, since they felt that by eating these growing, bright green veggies it would bring the same energy to their own bodies.
While we’ve evolved in many ways, there is much we can learn from this ancient practice. Spring is a time to move away from the stored hard winter vegetables and start using the freshest ingredients we can find. This first spring produce is usually green, since most are the first shoots and buds of young growing plants.
Even after all this time, the most common greens found today originated as plants found in our ancestral homelands of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Following are some present day representatives of these ancient plants…
Artichokes- The unopened flower buds of a variety of the thistle plant. They are a good source of iron, magnesium, potassium and vitamin C.
Asparagus- A tall perennial plant that sends up stalks from the thick roots. As the stalk meets sunlight, the colour turns from white to purple-green as the chlorophyll is activated. Asparagus is an excellent source of the B vitamin folate, a good source of dietary fibre, vitamin A and vitamin C.
Snow Peas- The French name for snow peas is “mange-tout”, which literally means “eat it all”. Since they truly are, this rings true. These are available year-round but peak in the spring and fall. Snow peas are a rich source of vitamins C, A, B1 and B2, and are a good source of dietary fibre and protein.
Dandelion Greens- The best time to collect wild dandelion greens is before the flowers arrive and they become very bitter. You can harvest again in the fall when fresh greens appears, but their high levels of vitamin A and vitamin C, along with vitamins B and E, potassium, magnesium, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, proteins, resin, iron, sulphur and zinc are at their peak in spring. Dandelion leaves stimulate the body to eliminate waste and toxins.
Rhubarb- A vegetable (yes, vegetable) that’s usually cooked like a fruit, and combines exquisitely with strawberries. On its own it has a bold taste, however the sharp flavour compliments pork, game, and properly seasoned, also fish. It is high in fibre and contains generous amounts of vitamin A and potassium. FYI… One cup of cooked rhubarb provides as much calcium as a glass of milk!
Fiddleheads- The unfurled fronds of the Ostrich fern, found growing on river banks along the north-eastern U.S. as far as Newfoundland, and west into Michigan. The season varies from region to region and year to year depending on spring water levels, but generally they begin to appear in markets around the beginning of May. Fiddleheads freeze well and it is an excellent way to preserve them. Dr. Richard Beliveau, author of the bestselling book “Foods That Fight Cancer”, says: “Studies done in our lab indicate that (their) nutrients make fiddleheads one of the most antioxidant vegetables out there and they can play a significant role in hindering the growth of cells that lead to several types of cancer.”
Sorrel- If you have a local gardener growing greens; chances are they also have sorrel since it is a perennial. Sorrel can be used wherever spinach is called for in recipes, and provides potassium, vitamin A, iron, vitamin C and plenty of chlorophyll to the body.
Swiss Chard- Rainbow colored, Swiss chard leaves show as red, white, pale green, gold or pink ribs. The ribs are can be tougher so are often cooked separately from the leaves. Regardless of the variety, chard is a good source of beta carotene, vitamin C, and some B vitamins along with iron, potassium, sodium, and magnesium.
Green Spring Peas- Originally very starchy; gardeners cultivated the sweet green garden pea during the Renaissance period. While our colder climate delays these until early summer, we still look forward to the first sweet peas. Green peas are rich in dietary fibre, iron, vitamin C, folic acid and vitamin B6.
Yes, living here in a colder region is a challenge because it means that our own local fresh spring produce is going to be a while coming. However, many of these can be found imported from the southern regions of the U.S. and then a bit later from warmer areas of Canada.
Regardless of where you get them from, your body will thank you for the gift of spring veggies. They’re quick to cook, deliciously fresh to taste, and nutritionally powerful for your health. Also, they reassure your inner Pagan that spring has arrived and the world has begun to grow again. Be sure to start eating them as soon as you possibly can…
Yours in Food & Friendship,
Chef Kevin
Posted in Food Facts, Foodie Ramblings..., Foods That Heal, Recipes & Repairs || 110 Comments
Healthy Bread in Five Minutes
January 14th, 2010 by chefkevin
Hi There!
Recently, I’ve been looking over my copy of a new bread book, “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes”. It’s a great book written by Dr. Jeff Hertzberg and Chef Zoë François. I’ve got some bread raising as we speak and can’t wait until supper to tear into it with my pea soup 
I thought I’d share this article with you. In it the authors talk about differences white and whole grain breads, and outline nutritional differences as well…
Eating Well Should Be Healthy Too!
by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François,
Authors of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients
After the release of our first book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, in 2007, we started hearing from our readers. Many of them wanted to share their experiences with our innovative, time-saving, based on long-term dough storage. Many others had questions, so we set up a website and blog that were designed for questions and discussion. Most of the questions directed at me sounded something like this: “You’re the doctor, what’s with all this white flour in the bread?”
Good question! The recipes in our first book were based on the traditional European repertoire, which meant lots of white flour. When people challenged me, I had to admit that I love a well-made white baguette, though I eat more whole grains than ever before. Variety is the spice of life, and I’m not ready to completely give up white flour. Every slice of bread doesn’t have to represent a completely balanced meal. But, people asked for recipes with more whole grains, and they were backed up by some heavy hitters in the nutrition world. The American Diabetes Association now endorses whole grains as a preventive for the development of diabetes. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture is similarly pushing for more whole grain intake. We decided to write a second book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, to give people more nutritious alternatives to white flour.
Whole grain nutrition: So how does whole grain flour stack up against white flour? White flour is milled strictly from wheat’s endosperm, the white part of the wheat kernel containing almost exclusively starch and protein (mostly gluten). There’s nothing wrong with starch and protein, but you’re missing all the benefits you get from whole grain’s “germ,” and all the fiber from the bran (the dark outer coating of the wheat kernel). Whole wheat includes the germ, which is packed with vitamins, anti-oxidants, and healthy oils. It’s a particularly rich source of Vitamin E, which, when combined with Vitamin C-containing foods, make one of the most powerful anti-oxidant combinations known. Please pass the homemade orange marmalade on whole wheat bread!
Whole wheat also includes bran, which doesn’t have vitamins and anti-oxidants — that’s wheat germ’s chance to shine. But bran has its own very special role to play, and I’d love to tell you all about it. Unfortunately, it seems that food professionals have some sort of gentle-person’s agreement about talking about the digestive tract, so if you’re interested in learning more about bran’s role in digestion, here’s a great website for you: Fiber: How to Increase the Amount in Your Diet, from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The family doctors seem pretty clear that fiber from whole grains prevents a wide range of health problems.
The other frequent question from readers was whether our books are a good fit for vegans (those who don’t eat meat or any other animal products, including eggs, and dairy). Most of our non-enriched recipes (that’s the majority of both books) are vegan in the first place. While many other whole grain authors use skim milk powder in whole wheat bread to tenderize it, we decided against that, mainly to keep things simple (fewer ingredients = simple). For vegans, the second book includes alternatives to butter in the enriched recipes. In our first book, butter was the animal-based ingredient that appeared most often. In Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, we give alternatives to butter, including canola oil and zero-trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil-based margarines. We also talk about the new products being sold as “butter substitutes,” usually made with vegetable oils, but also flavor-enriched with whey and other non-fat products of butter. Technically speaking, most of these are not vegan because of the whey, but check the ingredients as there are exceptions.
Fruits and vegetables in the bread: OK, who told the USDA to increase the recommended fruit/vegetable servings to nine (for a person whose ideal weight is 150 pounds)? I have a friend who says he can’t even name nine fruits and vegetables! Those are half-cup servings — is anybody really getting this much in their diet? I can tell you that I am not. There are some good rules of thumb, such as “two-thirds of the plate should be vegetable or fruit.” That helps, but even so, I don’t think I’m making my quota. That’s why we included a chapter in Healthy Bread about breads that are fortified with fruits and vegetables, sometimes ground finely, and sometimes chunky. We were amazed at how well this works, despite our fears that this stuff would weigh down the bread. Every little bit helps.
Gluten-free breads: I once interviewed a prominent gastrointestinal specialist from one of the country’s finest University hospitals, where his practice includes the treatment of celiac disease (intestinal allergy to wheat gluten). We talked about celiac disease, but I also asked him about people who aren’t celiac, but simply don’t feel well when they eat wheat. According to the Mayo Clinic, about 1 out of every 113 Americans have celiac disease. They become unpleasantly ill when they eat even small amounts of wheat gluten. The science is pretty clear on how to treat celiac patients: eliminate all gluten from their diet. Chapter 9 in Healthy Bread was written with them in mind. But the science is unclear on what to tell people who say they don’t feel well when they eat gluten, but don’t have celiac disease. My gastroenterologist friend has a very clear answer for those people. He tells them “don’t argue with success.” If you feel better when you avoid gluten, then decrease or eliminate it. So Healthy Bread is a book for those people well.
All this health talk makes me a bit wary. When I used to see patients, I turned over every rock to figure out how to reduce their risk of chronic disease — quit smoking, get more exercise, do your routine screening exams, and eat a healthier diet. But I’d hate to see people become obsessed with their diet, and specifically, about the bread. If you can pack some extra nutrition into the bread, and you like the flavor, by all means, go for it. But don’t let it destroy your appreciation for great bread and other foods. As we said in our first book, if you worry about the bread, it won’t taste good.
© 2009, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, used with permission of the Authors
Author Bios
Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., coauthor of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients, is a physician with twenty years of experience in health care as a practitioner, consultant, and faculty member at the University of Minnesota Medical School. His interest in baking and preventive health sparked a quest to adapt the techniques of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for healthier ingredients.
Zoë François, coauthor of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients, is passionate about food that is real, healthy, and always delicious. She is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America. In addition to teaching baking and pastry courses nationally, she consults to the food industry and is the creator of the recipe blog www.zoebakes.com. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons.
The authors answer bread questions at their Web site: www.healthybreadinfive.com.
Posted in Foodie Ramblings..., Foods That Heal || 125 Comments
Miso | Benefits of Miso
February 19th, 2009 by chefkevin
Yup, it’s me again
I got a quick question after my Garlic-Miso Chicken recipe post the other day about what to use miso for. So here we go with the answer…
“Hi Kevin! Thank you for the recipe! I enjoyed it very much. I had to modify the recipe slightly…could not find rice flour. I did eventually find the Miso Paste in the organic section.
Now, what else can I use this Miso Paste in and how long will it keep in the fridge????”
My answer…
I use miso in everything from soups to gravies, even put a spoonful in hot water and drink as tea. Since it is high in sodium (1 oz contains 52% recommended daily value), I use it instead of salt in a lot of dishes. The health benefits far outweigh the sodium issues. It is so good and so good for you.
Miso contains zinc, manganese, and copper among others… minerals your body needs daily and doesn’t usually get enough, if any. In addition, a single tablespoon of miso contains 2 grams of protein for just 25 calories… very impressive.
Miso is “usually” made from soybeans, but it is also commonly made from rice or barley, and sometime wheat, but not as common. Bean or rice miso are by far the most common. It is made by treating trays of beans or rice with B12 fungus, then allowing a slow fermentation process to occur over weeks, and sometimes years. Some of the best foods in the world for your body are fermented, as is the case with miso, sauerkraut, yogurt, etc…
So what do you use it for? Like I said, I use a bit of it in a lot of dishes as salt, and get all the health and flavor benefits that go with it. That sweet, nutty, salty taste works so well in a lot of things, so play around a bit and see what you come up with
To get all the health benefits of miso fermentation, you really shouldn’t boil it after adding to a dish. Yes, the chicken I did the other night was roasted and had all the flavor, but lacked some of the nutrients. I usually adjust with a bit more miso at the end of cooking the gravy/sauce, but this time I used a bit of organic tamari sauce. You could just as easily add a bit more dark miso instead of light. I keep both in my fridge for a variety of dishes…
As far as it keeping… covered tightly in the fridge it will last “forever”. Seriously, forever! It is a fermented product and non-dairy based. I’ve found miso in my fridge after a couple years and although a bit hard it was fine, so that’s close enough to forever for me
Thanks for dropping in… and stay tuned…
Yours in Food & Friendship,
Chef Kevin
Posted in Foods That Heal || 58 Comments