Quinoa: The “Mother Grain” of the Ancient Incas and a Powerful Grain for Modern Times
Quinoa (pronounced “keen wah”) is a relatively new discovery. Thought of as a grain, it is actually related to the leafy Chenopodium (beets and spinach) family. Grown in this country only since the mid-1980s, it has gained popularity because it ideally fits the needs of so many: for the athlete, endurance; for the scholar, brain food (the brain is the only organ of the body that demands glucose for energy); for nursing mothers, its ability to stimulate breast milk; for allergy-sufferers, a non-gluten grain for rotation; and for those interested in bone health, a high-fat and high-calcium non-dairy food (it leads all grains in both these two categories).
Quinoa has an especially well-suited balance of amino acids to supply our nutritional needs, since it is high in three amino acids that are deficient in grains…cysteine, lysine, and methionine. It is a nearly-complete protein and has an essential amino-acid profile that is at least equal to milk in protein quality. “While no single food can supply all of the essential life-sustaining nutrients, quinoa comes as close as any other in the vegetable or animal kingdom.” Ounce for ounce, quinoa has four times the calcium found in milk. Quinoa is also a rich source of vitamin E, the B complex vitamins, fiber, and the minerals iron, calcium, and phosphorus.
Compared to grains, quinoa has a huge germ, or embryo portion, which explains its sustaining and regenerative qualities. While the germ of most grains like wheat and rice are a tiny dot at the end of the grain, quinoa has a germ that spans its whole circumference, a fact that explains its high protein and fat content, as well as its ability to grow in harsh conditions. It is little wonder that quinoa helps tonify and strengthen the whole body and is particularly beneficial for the kidney (“essence”). It is warming in temperature and sweet and sour in flavor. It is a great choice at any season and for any individual. It is perfect should you want a change of pace or want to rotate grains because of allergies or other health issues.
Quinoa is about the size of sesame seeds and is similar to couscous in texture. Mother Nature coats it with bitter, inedible saponin (this protects the grain from birds feasting upon it). While sometimes removed in processing, it is a good idea to wash quinoa thoroughly and then soak it overnight to remove (as in other grains) its “anti-nutrients.”
Quinoa with Oats or Millet
1 cup quinoa
1 cup rolled oats or millet (soak millet)
3 cups water
Salt to taste
Bring all ingredients to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes covered. Serve with stewed fruits and nuts.
Quinoa Tabouli
Make your favorite tabouli with parsley and other ingredients, but substitute quinoa for couscous. This is especially good dish for stronger bones, because parsley teams up with quinoa as good source of calcium. Parley provides not only calcium, but it also contains ergosterols that make it a good source of vitamin D.
Quinoa Hot Cereal (Gluten-Free Alternative)
1 cup quinoa flakes
1 cups filtered water
1 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit
Bring water to a boil in a heavy pot. Add quinoa and cranberries. Reduce heat and cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Serve, topped with your favorite chopped nuts, seeds, oils, etc.
CRUNCHY QUINOA SALAD
Quinoa (try half regular and half red quinoa)
Carrots, cubed or half-mooned
Scallions, sliced
Celery, sliced
Roasted Almonds (or tamari almonds), cut in half across width
Arame, optional (small quantity, about 1/4 Cup for 1Cup grain type of thing)
Shoyu
Tahini
Mirin
Cook quinoa separately and let cool (1 part quinoa to 2 parts water, pinch of sea salt per cup, boil open lid, cover simmer, about 15 minutes)
Cook arame separately (rinse a few times; pre-soak about 10-15minutes or until soft; cook in a little water, open lid boil; then cover, simmer 10-15 minutes. Add a few drops Shoyu, then cover and simmer for another 5 minutes of so. Drain. Set aside and allow to cool.)
Once quinoa and arame are cooled, mix with carrots, scallions, celery, almonds and toss. (You may want to leave vegetables raw for summer, since they are more cooling this way; and blanch the carrots and celery for cooler times of year.)
For the dressing, mix and whisk together: Equal parts, shoyu, mirin, and tahini.
Add dressing to quinoa salad, toss and enjoy.
Source: Gina@theorganiccoach.com
Quinoa Pudding (Serves 4-6)
Quinoa pudding is smoother and more nutritious than rice pudding. It is delicious as a dessert, snack, or even for breakfast.
1/2 cup coconut sugar or maple sugar
2 T. soft butter or coconut oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk or nut milk
1 T. vanilla
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. ground nutmeg or cardamom, optional
½ t. sea salt
2 cups cooked quinoa
~ ½ cup chopped toasted almonds
1 cup dried berries (blueberries, goji berries, etc.) or raisins
Pre-heat oven to 350 degree F. Cream sugar and butter. Stir in eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until blended well. Add quinoa, nuts, and berries/raisins and mix well. Grease a 1 ½ quart casserole or soufflé dish. Pour mixture into the casserole and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake for 40 minutes or until just set. To serve, loosen the edges with a knife and invert pudding onto a plate.
Source: Adapted from Rebecca Wood
Copyright 2010 Pathways4Health.org
Refined white sugar is a highly concentrated chemical. It is 99 percent pure sucrose, stripped of its natural nutrients. Sugar depletes our body of vital nutrients because just for its metabolism, we must tap into our stores of vitamins and minerals. Because our body is programmed to expect foods in their natural whole form, sugar creates a state of imbalance and a sense of emptiness that can set up cravings for its missing fiber, water, and nutrients. As a depleting food additive, sugar fosters acute disease by depressing the immune system, and it fosters chronic disease by upsetting the delicate interplay and intricate balancing of the endocrine-immune-digestive-assimilation systems of the body.
Indeed, we are supposed to like sweets. Nature planned it this way, giving us a plethora of sweet taste buds to steer us toward sweet foods that are also nutrient-dense, in order to encourage our survival. Nature also created an abundance of sweet, whole foods in the plant world to nourish us and for us to savor and enjoy.
Attracted to sweets, civilizations have for centuries consumed natural sweeteners for pleasure, energy, and health. Early healers understood, for example, that in minute doses honey could even be used medicinally. Because natural sweeteners do come with a host of vital nutrients that aid metabolism, they are a better choice than sugar.
Still, because all natural sweeteners are highly concentrated foods, they need to be used sparingly. Recall that it takes 17 feet of sugar cane to make one cup of sugar and that the 12-15 teaspoons of sugar in a typical bottle of Coke represent the sugar-energy concentrated from over four feet of sugar cane. Like sugar, all natural sweeteners are highly concentrated forms of energy. A tree must surrender 40 gallons of maple sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup. Between eight and 12 gallons of sorghum juice are needed to make one gallon of sorghum syrup. And, close to five pounds of fruit are required to make one pint of concentrated fruit juice. These comparisons make it easy to see why natural sweeteners are concentrated foods that, like sugar, can quickly elevate blood sugar levels.
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A Word About Artificial Sweeteners
Today we must deal with a vast and confusing world of sweeteners and sweetener combinations. Store shelves offer a variety of natural and artificial sweeteners, as well as a wide array of packaged/processed food products that incorporate them. Sometimes these sweeteners also include sugar alcohols, an effort by food companies to take advantage of the way they can be combined for synergistic and offsetting/ complementary effects (since sugar alcohols mute the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners). Each category of sweetener, as well as each specific product, differs in terms of how it is made, how it is metabolized, and how it affects the body. Our focus in this newsletter is limited to natural sweeteners, which are the only sweeteners that qualify as natural products.
Artificial sweeteners such as saccharin (Sweet-n-Low), aspartame (Nutrasweet and Equal), and Acesulfame-K (Sunett and Sweet One) are made by chemical (not food) companies. Like many artificial food colorings and flavorings, they are synthetic products derived chemically from decayed petroleum and natural gas by-products! Constructed from “dead” underground matter, as opposed to living, organic, above-ground foods, these products are not something Nature programmed our bodies to recognize. Monsanto manufactures saccharin and aspartame (Monsanto bought Searle, the company that originally discovered aspartame), while Celanese, maker of synthetic fibers, created Acesulfame-K. Even sucralose (Splenda), which is the only low-calorie sweetener made from sugar, is a chemically-manipulated product created in the lab. Sucralose/Spenda seems no more deserving of the “natural” label than its other no-calorie cousins.
Rather new to the market are the sugar alcohols, like xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, and maltitol. These are created chemically by hydrogenating a type of carbohydrate. Sugar alcohols are becoming very popular because they can be combined with artificial sweeteners to help mask the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners. (We might wonder what our body is trying to tell us by the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners. Perhaps it isour taste buds rebelling to something so foreign. Little wonder when we consider how they are made:saccharin, by combining anthranilic acid, nitrous acid, sulfur dioxide, and chorine with ammonia; and,aspartame by joining the isolated amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine with the alcohol, methanol. In addition, because sugar alcohols do not feed oral bacteria, they can be used in chewing gum and other sweets without fostering tooth decay.
According to a 2007 survey by the market-research firm Packaged Facts, almost half of all households in America purchase and consume no-calorie sweeteners. Beyond this direct use, Americans consume more artificial sweeteners, of course, through packaged-processed foods where chemical sweeteners are hidden either singularly or in combination. One has to wonder what these chemically-manipulated sweeteners, some of which are petroleum-based, do to our systems. How does the body recognize them? Or, deal with them?
…And Weight Control Many people use artificial sweeteners to try to control weight. Yet, research suggests this can be a self-defeating strategy: A 2005 study by the University of Texas found that the use of diet drinks correlated with weight gain, as the sweet taste set off a craving for energy-rich foods: “People think they can just fool the body. But maybe the body isn’t fooled. If you are not giving your body that food energy you promised it, maybe your body will retaliate by wanting more energy.”
Animal studies appear to confirm the link between the use of artificial sweeteners and weight gain. The sweet taste triggers a release of insulin, creating a dip in blood sugar, and a subsequent craving for more calories to stabilize blood sugar levels. Prolonged use of artificial sweeteners leads to an increase in daily calories and weight gain, as well as a loss of the natural checking tendency to eat less at the next meal.
Natural Sweeteners, the Alternatives of Choice
What are “natural sweeteners” and why they are preferred over refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup? Meredith McCarty defines natural sweeteners by the four advantages she believes they have over sugar:
1. They are derived from a natural source that may be organically grown.
2. They use relatively simple, chemical-free processing techniques.
3. They may contain maltose and complex carbohydrates that break down more slowly in the body than the simple sugars sucrose, glucose, and fructose.
4. They may contain vitamins and minerals necessary for their metabolism.
Every natural sweetener has its unique character. Sweeteners vary in taste. Some that are bold in flavor can add special interest or flare to your favorite dessert recipe. Or, maybe the unique flavor of certain ones will not suit at all. Some are particularly low in sugar and may be especially helpful for anyone trying to control blood sugar.
Besides nutrition, another reason to substitute natural sweeteners for sugar is to preserve the sense of taste. Sugar, when eaten in large amounts over time, depletes the body’s reserves of zinc, and zinc is necessary for normal taste perception. The more sugar we eat, the more we need: Excessive sugar can dull our taste, creating the cravings for more and more sugar in an effort to satisfy.
* * * *
Alternative Sweeteners and How to Substitute for Sugar in Your Favorite Recipes
Just as every natural sweetener has it own unique character, perhaps each has its own experienced expert-advocate. In my own research, I have turned to some of my favorite authors, including Paul Pitchford, Sally Fallon, Evelyn Roehl, Ann Louise Gittleman, and Meredith McCarty, all of whom have written about natural sweeteners. Each seems to have a unique “flavor” of ideas and recommendations.
Of all the natural sweeteners, both Paul Pitchford and Meredith McCarty prefer malted grain sweeteners (barley malt and brown rice syrup) because they are “the least concentrated, least sweet, and most nearly whole-food sweeteners.” Not highly processed, they are made in a natural and safe way that mimics the conversion of grain into sugar when we chew: Malting grains involves the amylase enzyme, similar to the way saliva in the mouth digests starches into simple sugars when we take the time to chew our food. Malted grains, which are only a third as sweet as refined sugar, also come with the major advantage that they metabolize very slowly and uniformly and do not create the spike in blood sugar that is associated with the simple sugars sucrose, fructose, and glucose. Meredith McCarty believes malted grains are “the most healthful of all” because they are processed naturally and “provide a slow but prolonged source of energy that is calming and soothing in comparison to other sweeteners.”
Malted grains are also available as granules, an advantage in recipe conversions. But their distinctive taste may not always be appropriate for the flavor and texture that you are trying to achieve. This is where experimentation comes in. Play around using your favorite recipes. See what happens. Have fun!
A baked product made by substituting a malted-grain sweetener may even help to calm and soothe young family members. It is all interesting information. Just pay attention to how you feel.
The list below reflects my best effort to meld the information from the sources cited above, but please know that you may find some differences in advice and information depending upon whom you choose to read. Also, to provide you with better tips for baking, I have asked for advice and help from Ellen Arian, a wonderful friend who is a professional whole foods chef, and who bakes often for her clients, workshops and lectures, in addition to her husband and three children (www.ellensfoodandsoul.com). I am indebted to her for many of the baking tips that follow.
Agave: Rather new to the market, agave is already creating controversy. Critics point out that agave “nectar” is not truly derived from cactus, but rather from the starchy agave root bulb, which is converted to “nectar” by a method that is similar to the process used to transform corn to high fructose corn syrup. Because agave has a neutral effect on blood sugar levels and is used in small amounts (it is 50% sweeter than sugar), it may serve a role for some people, particularly diabetics who are trying to control blood sugar levels. It is more neutral (tasteless) than maple syrup or honey, and it works beautifully in homemade sorbet recipes in place of refined sugar. Agave is better as a supplementary sweetener for occasional use rather than as a mainstay.
Amasake: Derived from fermented rice, amasake is less than 40% maltose sugar (compared to white sugar at 99% sucrose). Maltose is a complex form of sugar so it is metabolized more slowly than sugar/sucrose. Amasake is one of the least potent sweeteners because of its low sugar content (it contains the least sugar of popular natural sweeteners) and because, as discussed above, maltose is slowly absorbed by the blood stream.
Barley Malt: The fermented extract of roasted barley sprouts, barley malt is only 50% maltose sugar so it, like amasake, is relatively easy on blood sugar levels. It is very strongly flavored so it is not always suitable. It can work in spice cakes and with root vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots (e.g., sweet potato pie or carrot cake). It also browns beautifully and sweetens home-baked bread. Barley malt is not as sweet as honey and it offers slight amounts of vitamins and minerals. Because it is thick, it should be warmed or brought to room temperature before measuring. Helpful tip: Lightly oil measuring spoons or cups that you plan to use so it slides out easily. When baking, you might develop the habit of measuring fats and oils before sweeteners. This will make it easier to clean measuring utensils.
Brown Rice Syrup: Like barley malt, brown rice syrup is made from fermented brown rice, and is just 50% maltose sugar. It is the mildest flavored of the liquid sweeteners and is less destructive to the body’s mineral balance, providing some of its own trace minerals. Brown rice syrup is about half as strong as honey and can work well when paired with maple syrup in baking. It is best suited to recipes where a crisp topping is desired and less suited to cakes and muffins. This is because it tends to become hard and sticky with baking, an effect that works well in a crisp or crumble.
Date Sugar: Made from finely-ground, dehydrated dates, it tastes similar to brown sugar and is rich in nutrients, with most still intact. Date sugar, which is more than 70% sucrose, is very sweet, and it provides fiber and a host of vitamins and minerals. It is high in tryptophan, so it can help calm hyperactive children. Unfortunately, because it does not readily dissolve, has a tendency to burn, and does not result in a pleasing texture, it may not substitute easily in your favorite baked goods or in hot beverages. For baking, maple crystals are a better choice. Date sugar is better used as part of a sweet crisp topping, or as a solo topping for hot grain cereals. (Date sugar may be hard to find on store shelves.)
Fruit Juices: Fruit juices are about 10% sucrose. Try to make your own since high heat used in commercially processed juices can destroy nutrients. Fruit juice is versatile and can work in all types of desserts, and pairs well with maple syrup in baked goods. Like all ingredients, it should be brought to room temperature before using. Fruit juice requires a lower baking temperature, which means you will also have to experiment with baking times. Try reducing the oven temperature 25 F degrees from what is called for and begin checking about 10 minutes in advance, and in 5 minute intervals, from what is outlined in your recipe directions.
[Fructose]
Honey: Made from flower nectar, it is highly refined and processed, in this case in the stomachs of bees. It is important to buy organic honey whenever possible, since honey is not the pure product we might imagine it to be. Sugar waters, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides are used in the rearing of bees. Also , in fighting mites, many beekeepers use highly toxic coumaphos strips. Traces of all these pesticides can be found in commercial brands of honey. Honey is 85% sugar, three-quarters glucose and one-quarter fructose, and is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream. Honey has a strong taste, which is much sweeter than sugar. In minute doses, honey has some medicinal benefits, both for inflammation and as an anti-microbial.
Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is boiled-down sugar-maple tree sap and provides a host of trace minerals incorporated from the tree roots growing deep in the ground. It deserves a central place in baking since it is local to the Northeast, has a long-standing history, keeps well in the refrigerator, and provides a gentle sweetness that works well in all sorts of baked goods. For people trying to control blood sugar levels it may have to be used conservatively since it is concentrated; it is 85% sucrose. Maple syrup has a strong flavor all its own, which imparts a wonderful taste to many baked goods and especially dairy-based desserts. (Avoid commercially-processed brands that often employ formaldehyde. Buy organic maple syrup and try to purchase it in glass bottles to reduce the risk of lead contamination.) You might want to use Grade B syrup in baking because it often costs less and has a fuller flavor, while Grade A is an option for anyone who wants a lighter flavor and does not mind paying a little extra. Maple syrup can be mixed half and half with brown rice syrup or apple juice, so enjoy experimenting.
Maple Crystals (Maple Sugar): Maple crystals are a wonderful, all-purpose sweetener that substitutes easily for refined sugar in nearly all recipes. It is especially good for children transitioning away from refined sugar. It is very versatile, though it may disappoint when baking cookies since it does not always produce the same crisp product achieved with sugar. Made from what is left after evaporating all the liquid from maple syrup, it is rich in trace minerals with a unique maple flavor that adds depth to foods. It has a tendency to clump, but a quick trip through a spice grinder can quickly rectify this. Since maple crystals can be costly, it is worth buying them in bulk. A good source is www.coombsfamilyfarm.com.
Molasses: The byproduct of the sugar refining process, unsulfured molasses is made from the juice of natural cane and is very sweet. Medium/dark molasses, from the second extraction, is moderately sweet. Blackstrap molasses, which is 65% sucrose, is made from the last extraction, so it is the most concentrated in minerals, especially iron, calcium, zinc, copper, and chromium; but it is also the most concentrated in toxins such as lead and pesticides.
Rapadura: Unrefined evaporated cane juice, it contains minerals, especially silica. It resembles sugar and so is a direct and easy substitute for sugar in baking. Like sugar, it is pure sucrose.
Sorghum Syrup: Sorghum, 65% sucrose, is made by boiling down cane juice. Because sorghum cane attracts few insects, it is rather free of pesticides so it is a good sweetener for those seeking chemical-free sweeteners.
Stevia: A sweetener derived from an herb native to Latin America, it does not affect blood sugar levels and can be used successfully by those unable to use other natural sweeteners. Choose only the green or brown extracts or powders; the white and clear extracts can create imbalance because they are very refined and are devoid of nutrients. A powerful sweetener, stevia must be used sparingly; and because it has no bulk, it is not appropriate for baking. Stevia was only recently approved to be sold as food, rather than as a supplement. Because it is a plant, it cannot be patented, so it does not have a strong marketing force to foster its use.
Sucanat: The abbreviation/trade name for Sugar Cane Natural. It is pure, naturally dried sugar cane juice with its molasses content remaining. The molasses content leaves brown flecks in baked products. It also clumps, so you may need to sift or grind it in a spice grinder before using. It is 88% sucrose, but with most phyto-nutrients of the cane still intact. It has a mild flavor with a molasses accent and can be substituted 1:1 for sugar.
Note concerning turbinado (raw) sugar and brown sugar:
Turbinado, which is often advertised as a nutritious natural sweetener, is best avoided. As the first extraction from molasses, it can contain insects, molds, and bacteria, unless heated and sanitized. It is actually highly processed.
Brown sugar is simply refined white sugar with a bit of molasses added to add color and taste.
The Chart below can be used flexibly. Sweetening foods is a matter of taste and also depends upon where you are on your own personal journey transitioning away from sugar. You can use this guide as a starting point and then adapt it to your own tastes and preferences. Experiment, but you cannot go wrong following these suggestions.
| Sweetener | Amount in Cups | Reduce Liquid/Cup Sugar | Add Baking Soda:
|
| Barley Malt | 1 1/3 | 1/4 cup | 1/4 t. |
Date Sugar
(not for baking) | 1 1/2 | --- | --- |
| Fruit Juice | 2/3 | 1/3 cup | 1/4 t. |
| Honey | 2/3 | 1/4 cup | 1/4 t. |
| Maltose | 1 1/2 | slightly | --- |
| Maple Syrup | 2/3 | 3 T. | 1/4 t. |
| Maple Crystals | 3/4-1 | --- | --- |
| Molasses | 1/2 | --- | --- |
| Brown Rice Syrup | 1 1/3 | 1/4 cup | 1/4 t.
|
| Sorghum Syrup | 2.3 | slightly | --- |
| Sucant | Equal | --- | 1/4 t. |
| | | |
| | | |
June Recipes: Sweet Breakfast Treats for June Celebrations
June is a special month. The longest days of the year bring weddings, graduations, reunions and other special times when friends and family gather. When we look ahead to these occasions, having a few delicious breakfast treats baked ahead of time can be helpful, particularly if we have house guests of various ages and sleeping schedules. The following recipes can be made in advance and are as delicious a day later as they are fresh-baked from the oven. In your times of celebration, we hope they please the guests while they also take pressure off the host and hostess.
Apple Upside-Down Biscuit Cake
For the topping:
3 T. unsalted butter
2 T. maple sugar
1 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin wedges
For the cake:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 T. maple syrup
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
½ t. cinnamon
5 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Preheat oven to 425 F.
For topping: Heat butter in an ovenproof 10-inch heavy skillet (preferably well-seasoned cast-iron) over moderate heat until foam subsides. Stir in maple syrup and remove from heat. Spread mixture evenly in skillet and arrange apples, overlapping in one layer.
For cake: Blend flour, syrup, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a bowl and add buttermilk, stirring just until mixture is moistened. Drop batter on top of apples and gently spread, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the skillet so cake can expand. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20¬-25 minutes. Cool cake in skillet on a rack 3 minutes, then invert onto a platter. Replace on the cake any apples that stick to the skillet. Serve warm with crème fraiche or sour cream.
Source: Ellen Arian
Breakfast/Snack Raisin Squares (18-24 squares)
Filling:
3 cups seedless raisins
1 ½ cups filtered water
1 cinnamon stick
3 T. fresh lemon juice
¼ cup kuzu or arrowroot, dissolved in
2 T. water
Crust:
3 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
¼ t. salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup maple syrup or barley malt
Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
2. Discard the cinnamon stick. In a blender or food processor, puree the raisins and return them to the saucepan. Add the dissolved kuzu and cook over high heat, stirring until thickened and clear; set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Oil a 9-by-14 inch cake pan.
4. Crust: Place the oats, flour, and salt in the container of a food processor. With the machine running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at a time, until well mixed (Or, cut the butter into the flour in a bowl, using 2 knives until the mixture is crumbly.)
5. With the food processor still running, slowly pour in the syrup or barley malt (or stir it into the flour in the bowl) until well mixed and you have a soft dough. Divide the dough in half.
6. Roll out one-half between two pieces of wax paper, to fit the cake pan. Remove the top paper. Invert the dough into the pan and carefully peel off the bottom paper. Gently press the dough into all the corners of the pan, then fold over or press down the edges so that the crust is flat with no border. Spread the filling evenly over the crust, smoothing with a rubber spatula.
7. Break up the remaining dough between your fingers until crumbly. Sprinkle the crumbly dough evenly over the raisin filling, covering it completely. Press down lightly.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Let cool, then cut into squares.
Source: The Natural Gourmet
Banana-Nut Muffins (Makes 12 Muffins)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup butter or ghee, melted and cooled slightly
¾ cup maple syrup
Two large eggs
Two teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Three small or medium bananas, about 2 cups, well mashed
Two cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. fine sea salt.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with parchment paper liners.
Place the nuts on a cookie sheet and toast for 10 minutes (about 4 minutes for pecans). Cool,chop and set aside.In a large bowl, mix together the butter or ghee, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla and bananas.
Over a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, adding the nuts as you stir. Be careful not to overmix.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins feel well set. Turn the muffins out of the tin and cool on a rack. Source: Ellen Arian
Blueberry Muffins (10-12 muffins)
8 tablespoons butter at room temperature
3/4 cup plus
Two tablespoons maple syrup
Two large eggs
Two cups whole wheat pastry flour
Two teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup whole milk (or 1/4 cup buttermilk + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda)
2-1/2 cups organic blueberries, fresh or frozen
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place parchment liners in muffin cups.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the maple syrup and continue creaming until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients. Then add them alternately with the milk to the butter-maple mixture. Mix only until just combined.
In a small bowl, crush a handful of the blueberries with a fork and mix them into the batter byhand, along with the remaining blueberries.
Source: Ellen Arian
Copyright 2009 Pathways4Health
To read this newsletter in its .pdf form, click here to download the file: May 2010 Newsletter. Thank you.
In this newsletter…
As a sequel to last month’s newsletter on inflammation, let’s look now at one of the key factors that creates inflammation—the recent shift in the quality and quantity of fats and oils we consume. Our per capital consumption of commercial, denatured pro-inflammatory salad and cooking oils has soared, from 2 pounds in 1909 to some 54 pounds today. These manipulated vegetable oils alone explain virtually all (98 percent) of the century-long, three-fold increase in our per capital consumption of total fats and oils from all sources. This is all the more remarkable in a culture leery of fats.
Our relatively recent shift from traditional to denatured fats is just one factor that our body must contend with. The change in our modern diet toward more and more processed, convenience foods creates a tremendous genetic “load” to the human system, as we consume more refined sugar and white flour, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), genetically-modified foods (GMOs), artificial sweeteners and other artificial foods and ingredients.
You may recall the chart below illustrating sugar consumption from April 2009. A graph of the consumption of inflammatory vegetable oils, if drawn on a similar time scale would look remarkably similar. Within the long evolution of man as we know him—some 42,000 years walking the earth—our shift in just the last century to refined sugar, HFCS, GMOs, and denatured oils is without precedent. We have to wonder what these dramatic changes do to our genetic makeup.
Modern commercial “light” vegetables oils are stripped of their antioxidants so they fuel free-radical damage and inflammation, while also disrupting metabolism. They are hard to avoid if we eat prepared foods since food manufacturers rely on these due to their lower cost and long shelf life. The time we spend in shopping for whole foods and preparing them at home just may save us—through better health and more productive years—in the end.
Continue reading »
A rainbow’s magic defies the scrutiny of the microscope. Recognizing that particles behave in new and astonishing ways when not under the close lens of the observer, we have to suspect that there is a whole lot going on in the world that will always and invariably defy the microscope. Since “truth” is defined by both the lens of the observer and what is observed, perhaps foods impart nutrition and energy either as particles or waves depending on the lens and expectations of the observer.
There is much that physics, through systems, chaos, and complexity theory, can contribute to the field of food and the theory of nutrition. While bio-chemistry analyzes and fractures in search for the “truth,” physics helps us see the world through the broader lens of the “interconnectedness and continuity” in all things.
Physics helps us appreciate that the whole functions in a greater way than the sum of the parts. A whole food is not unlike a “whole” computer…specific parts are assembled in specific ways to perform a specific function. Regarding foods, fractured foods may provide calories, but the vital force of the plant and its interconnected energy and synergy is missing.
If we take a moment to push back from the microscope and look at the bigger picture, it is not hard to connect with this life force…it leaves its footprint everywhere. Fruits and vegetables share their magic, leaving hints of their greater powers in the intricate fractal patterns of a head of broccoli or cauliflower: the simple patterns of the entire head are carefully repeated in microcosm in each tiny floweret. Or slice crosswise a beet, a carrot, a banana, or an orange and marvel at the kaleidoscope array of pattern and color. Fractals patterns exist not only in trees and plants (e.g., ferns and parsley) and plant foods (e.g., pineapples and artichokes), but also in the human body (e.g., the brain, the lungs, and the circulatory system).
Fractals are incredibly complex patterns, yet their complexity originates in simplicity.
A fractal can be replicated by computer iteration, as results from each successive round of computation are continuously fed back into a set of a few simple nonlinear equations. Through fractals, we begin to comprehend the deep relationship of chaos and order….that through chaos, systems are able to re-organize in completely new, adaptive ordered ways.
A fractal, then, is a “pattern within pattern within pattern.” “Shapes are not discerned from close range. They require distance and time to show themselves. Pattern recognition requires that we sit reflectively and patiently…because we are trying to see the world differently.”
“In a fractal world, if we ignore qualitative factors and focus on quantitative measures, we accumulate more and more but understand less and less. When we study the individual parts or try to understand the system through discrete quantities, we get lost. Deep inside the details, we cannot see the whole.”
Fractals can teach us how foods as systems relate to the body as a system. It seems logical, since many foods are fractals, that: Food = Simplicity = Complexity. In addition, it appears that foods have their own unique life force energy packaged by nature that our bodies are uniquely programmed to accept: Thus, it seems logical, too, that “Food as a system influences the human system.” This is a sound model for nutritional theory.
The Power of Traditional, Whole Foods:
Through physics, we can recognize that plants, animals, and people are all living systems…systems of systems… really, parts and components that are unified by an energy force field that governs and organizes the whole living system. Ironically, physics may bring us to the “cutting-edge of dietary and nutritional thinking as we are led back to healthy food choices that took root long ago in the traditions and wisdom of our ancestors. As we realize more and more that the popular emphasis on reductionism-type scientific research misses the complex interaction of the human system with whole foods, they take on new and greater meaning. Just as a rainbow defies microscopic examination, we realize that we may never fully understand and appreciate the true power of whole foods.
Copyright 2008 Pathways4Health
“Eat Food; Not Too Much; Mostly Plants”
• What is “Food”?
• Not Too Much?
• Mostly Plants?
When it was released in early 2008, Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food immediately climbed to the top of the New York Times’ Book Best Seller List. Amazing—a book about foods as “systems” reaching such heights. Michael Pollan is funny and certainly his humor is a draw. But, I suspect his success goes beyond this.
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Sometimes simple words work best to convey the most profound and most complex of ideas. Timing is everything, they say, and today these words seem to touch a common chord.
Some 30 years ago, Annemarie Colbin,PhD described foods as systems and our body as a system uniquely designed to assimilate foods in their whole, not- fractured, form. This is the holistic lens: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts; the whole, as a system, works in mysterious and powerful ways, never to be fully understood by science through the “reductionist” lens of the microscope. How can we appreciate the flavor, aroma, and life-force energy and essence of a plump, juicy vine-ripen tomato by the listing of its vitamins, minerals, and calories? And, a tomato is not like a television…we cannot strip it down to all its minute parts and then reassemble it in all its complexity. Nature hides this magic and gives us no instruction book.
Annemarie Colbin’s Food and Healing (1986) long ago carried this holistic message. It was a message before its time. After all, back then the food and advertising industries were just clicking into high gear to spread before us a myriad of freshly-invented products, drawing us in with convenience, novelty, price, and long shelf-lives. With each year, cheap, fractured convenience foods allowed us to spend less and less of our income at the supermarket and less and less of our time in the kitchen.
In recent decades, we have grown to expect “new” products to be interesting, fun, and innovative. Today, food advertising budgets of $32 billion annually help support the introduction of some 17,000 new fractured, processed, fortified “foods.” In reality, these are just “retreads” made to look new. They are largely blends reconfigured from our three main agricultural surplus crops…wheat, corn, and soy. Hidden in a variety of forms in these packaged, convenience foods, corn, wheat, and soy contribute 1580 calories per person to our daily food supply. There is little room for much else.
But the pendulum can swing only so far before it reverses direction. How exciting this year to see Michael Pollan bring the concept of foods as systems to mainstream thinking. Perhaps we are using a new lens to cut through the hype surrounding fast foods and convenience products to recognize that something is missing at the supermarket in terms of quality and lifestyle. As we see our nation, and increasingly the world, suffering more and more from allergies, obesity, diabetes, and a variety of other chronic diseases, we consumers seem more and more ready and open to start to look for causes. They are not hard to find.
To name just two: Wheat, corn, and soy, of course, are major allergens. Corn and soy are also two of the key crops that are genetically manipulated: 60% of all corn and 85% of all soybeans grown today in the United States are genetically engineered.
In Defense of Food is a fun read. I would like to add a bit of commentary to Michael Pollan’s wit:
“Eat Food:” Which implies:
• Whole… A food with all its edible part—A food that is just itself, nothing more or less. And, in its whole form as a system, with all its life energy and with its millions of phytochemicals…vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, antioxidants, polyphenols… synergistically packaged for our assimilation, as nature provides.
• Real…not artificial…not synthetic, hydrogenated, or genetically engineered. Synthetic products like artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, oils, and drugs have no life force. They are from the underground world of coal tars and decayed matter. They are manipulated by science and reconfigured, but do not support the inherent life force energy of the body.
They also fool the body. An artificial sweetener, for example, meeting sweet taste buds in mouth will signal the body to release insulin, but when insulin meets zero calories, blood sugar plummets. Feeling confused and betrayed, the body sends us in search of a cookie or other sweet treats to restore blood sugar levels. So artificial sweeteners actually make us hungrier and can contribute to weight gain. It is easy to see why their popularity and obesity rise in tandem.
Michael Pollan’s plea “Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does,” is meant to dissuade us from purchasing gas station snack foods. It also fits quite aptly this broader interpretation of avoiding petroleum-based, synthetic products.
• Grass-fed, pastured animal meat, butter, and eggs…When you think about it, meat from grass-fed animals really represents “pre-digested” grass, with many of the omega-3 fats and other rich nutrients incorporated in the flesh in a form that is easy for us to assimilate. Animals can more easily and efficiently transform the beta-carotene in grass, for example. Cattle can do this without needing, as we do, bile salts, vitamin E and fats in just the right portions. Grass-fed animal products are a wonderful source of vitamin A, vitamin E, and omega 3 fats, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) for cancer prevention, and lipoic acid for metabolism and insulin regulation.
Eggs laid by grass-fed pastured hens provide 10 times more omega-3 fats than eggs in commercial hen houses. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in the yolks of grass-fed hens is at the recommended 1:1 ratio, compared to an unbalanced, pro-inflammatory ratio of 19:1 for commercial eggs.
Pasture grazing is in keeping with tradition and the nutrient requirements of healthy farm animals. But, by feeding an unnatural grain-based diet to animals, commercial farmers actually alter the fatty acid structure of meat. We might even think of this as a temporary form of “genetic engineering”…temporary because it only lasts one generation if cattle are then returned to a natural diet.
(Interestingly, this same principle of genetic renewal applies to people, as well: Efforts to expand on Weston Price’s original research in the 1930’s regarding the diets and health of traditional cultures indicates that a return to traditional foods can quickly restore in the next generation “robust good health, the absence of disease, and the production of perfect babies [with broad facial construction and beautifully formed teeth] generation after generation”.)
Grain, which raises acidity in the digestive system and encourages disease, requires that antibiotics be given to sustain cattle through this accelerated, denatured fattening process. Antibiotics not only hold disease at bay, but also are used to encourage weight gain. It is easy to see why the use of antibiotics is so popular, with their use expanding between 10 and 20-fold since 1950.) Antibiotics consumed through meat, poultry, dairy, butter, and eggs are a contributing factor to our population growing more and more antibiotic-resistant.
Animal products from commercial farming also raise other health risks. To promote growth, commercial cattle are treated with steroids, a factor that can disturb our own hormone balance and is suspected in the soaring rates of breast, testicular, and prostate cancers. Might we wonder also about the stress hormones we ingest when we eat meat from animals that spend their life crammed into feeding pens and cages during the fattening process and are shipped to slaughter in the same inhumane conditions?
In contrast, organic animals are fed only certified organic feed, must have access to outdoor pasture with sunlight and the opportunity to exercise and to walk around, and must be cared for in ways that reduce stress. They cannot be fed by-products of other animals, be chronically confined, or treated with antibiotics or hormones of any kind.
“Not Too Much” For a good barometer of what is “too much,” we can:
• Chew… every bite 25-30 times, at every meal. Chewing helps us register the full experience of eating, through tasting and crunching, so that we are satisfied on many levels, and sooner. This is easier said than done. To attempt change requires intention, attention, practice…and more intention, attention, and practice.
I have tried it sporadically and quickly slipped back to my old ways of maybe 5-7 chews, a swallow, and then on to the next bite. To succeed in acquiring the habit, I am told it takes a whole week of concerted chewing just to get used to the way that thoroughly-chewed food feels in the mouth. But, I bet it’s worth it. For, when we truly experience and appreciate food, we eat less and allow ourselves more time to register satiety.
Chewing is especially important for the digestion of carbohydrates. It is easy to forget that the body is set up for a huge piece of normal carbohydrate digestion to take place in the mouth. When we chew, carbohydrates are supposed to be totally broken down and pulverized and mixed with salivary amylase to begin the digestion process. This is the only chance for salivary amylase to do its intended work. This important stage of digestion cannot be recaptured later: It is gone once you swallow.
Carbohydrate digestion is then put “on hold.” until later. (Pepsin and hydrochloric acid in the stomach digest proteins, but not carbohydrates.) Finally, when starches reach the upper part of the small intestine, the whole burden of completing digestion falls to pancreatic amylase, a digestive enzyme not really designed to perform the entire task. When we forget to chew and leave too much to this latter phase of carbohydrate digestion, we often feel bloated and uncomfortable. Chewing improves not only digestion, but also the absorption of nutrients. In addition, it helps stimulate the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain.
• Buy organic crops for the satisfaction provided by the complex matrix of nutrients. Each plant food has its own unique mix of phytochemistry, so eating across a broad spectrum of foods provides a myriad of tonic qualities and protections.
Organic crops provide far more nutrients than foods raised on industrial farms where crops are tweaked to grow with the magic three growth fertilizers, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK). Depleted soil spells fewer nutrients in harvested foods, and so does the refining process. Processed foods from commercial farming means, therefore, that we loose nutrients twice, in both, cultivation and refining.
Denatured, depleted foods raised on industrial farms, can make us feel depleted and unsatisfied. It is easy to crave more volume in search of missing nutrients. Little wonder how this can lead to being overweight and undernourished.
Organic foods cost more, but they are more nutrient-dense and satisfying. They allow us to eat less, move to and then sustain an ideal weight, while also supporting our health.
• Express gratitude for our food and life blessings. Slowing down, giving thanks, eating with others, and staying connected are satisfying. Gratitude can change for the better the neurotransmitter communication and chemistry in our digestive system.
“Mostly Plants”…For the complexity found nowhere else in nature.
• Plants…From the beginning of time, all higher forms of life have depended on plants. Only plants, as complex systems with the unique, magical power to unite the yang, heat energy of the sun and the yin, kinetic energy of earth, can convert these two forces into phytonutrients, calories, and life-force energy for animals and man.
Plants are also powerful adaptogens. They accommodate quickly to changing environmental conditions. In so doing, they have always been our reliable mainstay, helping us to adapt to new environments and climatic conditions. Plants in any given environment support life in that setting. Nature provides for life, and this is a good reason to eat local and to eat seasonal. As Marion Nestle says, “The problem with nutrient-by-nutrient [reductionist] nutrition science is that it takes the nutrient out of the context of the food, the food out of the context of the diet, and the diet out of the context of the lifestyle.”
Reductionist science, examining specific plant compounds, will never be able to fully capture the true essence of plant chemistry and synergy:
“…even the simplest food is a hopelessly complicated thing to analyze, a virtual wilderness of chemical compounds, many of which exist in intricate and dynamic relation to one another, and all of which together are in the process of changing from one state to another. So if you’re a nutrition scientist you do the only thing you can do…Break the thing down into its component parts and study those one by one, even if that means ignoring subtle interactions and contexts and the fact that the whole may well be more than, or maybe just different from, the sum of its parts.”
Joan Gussow agrees. She argues against scientific conclusions about such things as vitamin C or beta-carotene: “…how do you know it’s not one of the other things in the carrots or the broccoli?” There are hundreds of carotenes…maybe we are looking at the wrong thing. Also, scientists like to think they understand a carrot by analyzing it in terms of carotenoids and polyphenols, “but who knows what is really going on deep in the soul of a carrot.” Of course, the great thing for us is that we do not have to understand a carrot, tomato, and broccoli to reap their total benefits.
Organic…Plants that are grown organically provide a rich array of phytochemicals, substances that they produce to ward off pests and predators. Plants also produce antioxidants to protect themselves against reactive oxygen byproducts from photosynthesis. These act to provide us with powerful antioxidant protection against free radicals. Eating a variety of plant foods, each with its own personal set, provides us with a broad array of antioxidants to deal with a myriad of environmental toxins. Commercially-grown plants that are sprayed with pesticides do not manufacture this same bounty of protective phytochemicals.
At the same time, pesticides sprayed on commercially-grown produce can, with prolonged or excessive exposure, create for us a variety of health issues, from headache and fatigue to even convulsions, coma, and death. Ingesting pesticide-laden produce over time can promote cancer and disrupt proper hormone function, affecting fertility.
Meat from plants…One way to acquire nutrients from plants is to eat meat from grass-fed animals. Grass-fed meat is a rich source of nutrients (see above) and a concentrated form of sustained energy. If something like 20 pounds of grain are required to create one pound of meat, then when we eat a pound of meat, we ingest the energy equivalent of 20 pounds of grain. To be able to move energy “far and wide” to touch many people, we may need the energy that meat can provide.
So, eating grass-fed animals can boost our vitality and efficiency: Omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients from grass, as discussed above, are easy to assimilate and the calories in the meat can help sustain us over long periods: Meat provides the endurance for prolonged mental concentration and “cushioning” for the central nervous system to endure the stress of modern life, including urban noise and over-stimulation from the bombardment of technology.
By eating meat, poultry, butter, and eggs from grass-fed animals, we also avoid the risks of heavy toxin residues that normally accumulate over time in the fatty tissue of large animals. So, when buying products from bigger animals high up the food chain, it is wise to spend the extra money and choose organic. The same reasoning applies to fish: Eating sardines and anchovies is a far better idea than tuna and swordfish, where mercury and other toxins have much longer to accumulate in animal flesh.
Proteins from plants….But, how can this work? Where’s the protein? Where’s the beef? Some people are able to thrive on a vegetarian diet that incorporates beans, grains, nuts and seeds. Often these are people from cultures who are used to low-protein diets, have type-A blood, or a lifestyle that can accommodate this style of eating. Traditional cultures naturally gravitated toward diets of complementary proteins: cornbread and black-eyed peas in America; aduki and soy beans with brown rice and millet in China and Japan; kidney beans and split peas and lentils with wheat, barley, and rye in Europe; and garbanzos and fava beans with millet and couscous in Africa and the Middle East.
Vegetarian eating is also easier when we are young and can coast for a few early years on “strong kidney essence,” than in later years as we move toward middle-age and beyond. But no matter the age, life style, blood type or ethnic origin, vegetarian eating requires for anyone in our modern world of abundant animal protein, both knowledge and a good deal of paying attention when it comes to meal planning. This is true because people who have been raised on complete animal proteins are not as efficient at extracting protein from plants as people in traditional-type cultures conditioned to low-protein diets. So, for the seasoned meat eater, balancing amino acids from plant-based diet takes some getting used to.
Complete proteins are made up of 20 main amino acids, eight of which are called “essential” because the body is not capable of making them. The body is able to make proteins only when it has access to all necessary amino acids that it has obtained from recent meals. (Because the body is able to store amino acids for a short period, it is not essential to combine vegetable proteins correctly at every meal.)
A plant-based diet can quickly become deficient in certain types of proteins needed for cell maintenance and repair if care is not taken to combine grains, beans, nuts, and seeds to adequately provide these needs. To attain an amino acid complex closely resembling meat, grains and beans are best eaten in a 2:1 ratio. Protein deficiency is a problem in some cultures, for example, that rely heavily on one mainstay such as corn or rice, without adequate complements from beans and seeds. If amino acids are deficient and prevent protein production, the body may be forced to catabolize existing muscle in order to meet protein needs.
Beans have a different amino acid structure that complements that of grains: Beans are high in some amino acids, while grains are high in others, so in an ideal setting they are able to work in tandem to build complete proteins. But balance may be needed: The theory of limiting amino acids (LLA) suggests that the level of protein derived from plant foods is limited to the contribution of the lowest essential amino acid in the mix. For example, “if methionine-cystine in a certain food measures up to only 30% of the standard amino-acid profile, then just 30% of the profile amounts of the other amino acids in that food are considered usable by the body.”
Interestingly, the theory of LLA and complementary proteins is supported by the eating habits of traditional cultures. Eating a proper ratio of beans and grains and adding in some nuts and seeds, we can obtain a full spectrum of amino acids. In contrast, a mismatch of amino acids can force the body to waste abundantly-supplied amino acids that are not matched by a complement. It can also set up cravings for sweets and fats like nut butters when a person does not have an adequate supply of complete proteins.
A mismatch implies something else as well: Veering from the 2:1 ratio of grains to beans over a prolonged time period can tax the body because excess amino acids beyond LLA levels that are not “matched” by a complement need to be sloughed off and discharged. This can lead to mucus conditions, stagnation, and chronic disease. In a somewhat parallel way the over-consumption of meat can become a “toxic mucoid substance” leading to “obesity, heart disease, bone loss, and many degenerative diseases.”
* * *
Weston Price, a Canadian dentist who traveled in the 1930s to examine the links between traditional cultures and their diet and health, realized early the link between the quality of the soil, the quality of foods, and the health of local peoples. He saw that eating connected us to the nutrients of the soil and the energy of the sun. As he stated at an evening event in 1928, “The dinner we have eaten tonight was part of the sun but a few months ago” Price came to realize that the problem of diet and health as represented by industrial and commercial farming was one of “ecological dysfunction”…of breaking the connections between local soils, local foods, and local people, thereby upsetting the traditional links and cyclical movement of nutrients through the food chain.
But, the pendulum can swing just so far before it reverses direction. The recent groundswell of support for the Weston Price Foundation, for the local and organic farming movements, and for Michael Pollen’s best-selling book match the hopeful signs of blossoming trees and fresh shoots breaking through the April ground. As the Sun fulfills its annual promise, rising in the sky to higher and higher arcs as it spreads a larger and larger footprint of warm energy across Earth to awaken the ground, may we join in this spirit of hope, renewal, and connection, for all the health-giving qualities it can provide.
Eat food; Not too much; Mostly Plants…
Cook, Garden; Dine; Chew; Enjoy…
Happy Spring!
Copyright 2008, Pathways4Health
Spring is Nature’s birth cycle…of fresh greens, shoots, sprouts, and blossoms. Spring greens are full of chlorophyll, which acts as a natural detoxifier to the rich, heavy foods of winter. Greens reach upward to the sun. Their lighter, uplifting energy helps us transition from the slower, more contracted lifestyle of winter.
Spring is a wonderful season to incorporate more cleansing greens into meals and to rotate with warmer and longer days into lighter meals and greater physical activity. It is a wonderful season for fresh starts and new resolutions….perhaps to cook early in the day and to move more, walk more in the early evening to take advantage of the longer days, extended now by daylight-saving time.
Watercress Bisque
1 onion, chopped fine
1 parsnip, chopped fine
8 cups filtered water or rich vegetable or chicken stock
2 bunches watercress with stems, washed and chopped
2 tablespoons light miso or umeboshi vinegar, to taste
Simmer onion and parsnip in stock 20-30 minutes, covered, until very tender. Add watercress and simmer 3-5 minutes, uncovered. Add miso and puree with a immersion wand or in a blender. Serve with favorite garnishes…delicious topped with a broiled or poached fillet of fish.
(For a thicker soup, add some cooked grain with the miso and puree. Or, add 4 T. agar flakes when cooking, for increased mineral nutrition.)
Source: Pathways4Health, derived from Elson Haas.
Creamy Parsley Dressing
2 ounces soft tofu Place all ingredients in blender.
2 tablespoons tahini Puree until creamy.
½ cup water
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar (or lemon juice)
½ t. sea salt, or to tast
1 handful washed parsley
Source: Book of Whole Meals, Annemarie Colbin.
Avocado-Olive Spread
1 ripe avocado
2 T. lemon juice
6 black Greek olives
Sea salt to taste
Sliced radishes
Scoop the avocado pulp into a bowl; add the lemon juice and mash with a fork. Pit and finely chop the the olives; stir into the avocado. Add salt to taste. Garnish with sliced radishes and serve with whole grain toast or crackers.
Source: Book of Whole Meals, Annemarie Colbin
Hearty, Comforting Pea Soup—Laurel’s Kitchen, adapted by Ellen Arian
1 onion, diced Makes 8-9 cups.
2 tbsp. olive oil or butter
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. celery seed
1 cup green split peas
1/4 cup barley (I like pearled for this)
1/2 cup lima beans (I have used both big and baby. Both are good)
2 quarts water
2 tsp sea salt
Dash pepper
1 carrot, sliced into half moons
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 potato, diced
1/2 tsp each, dried basil and thyme
Soak overnight or for 6-8 hours: peas, barley and lima beans.
Saute onion in oil until very soft, along with bay leaf and celery seed. Stir in peas, barley and lima beans. Add 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer, partly covered, for about an hour.
Add remaining ingredients. Turn heat very low and simmer for another hour or so. Taste to see if it’s done and thin with water or stock if needed. Correct seasonings.
Cream of Asparagus SoupWith Dill
2 T. butter or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 t. cumin
1 T. fresh or 1 t. dried dill
1 bunch asparagus, washed and cut into 2” pieces
2 cups vegetable of chicken stock
2-3 cups water
1 bay leaf
½ cup rolled oats
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup sour cream for garnish
Heat oil in a pot and sauté onion, celery, cumin, dill until vegetables are soft.
Add asparagus and sauté a few more minutes.
Add stock, water, bay leaf, oats, and salt.
Bring to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes.
Let cool. Puree in a blender or with an immersion wand.
Add fresh lemon juice to taste.
Garnish with sour cream with desired
Any seasonal vegetable can be used in place of or in addition to asparagus.
Can be served cold in hot weather.
Source: Feeding the Whole Family, Cynthia Lair.
Green Jade Soup
3 dried Chinese mushrooms
4 cups vegetable stock
1/3 cup carrots, peeled and cut in 1” matchsticks
¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
½ cup thinly sliced mushrooms
10-12 spinach leaves
3 T. soy sauce
(serves: 4, source: Sally Pasley, The Tao of Cooking)
Soak dried mushrooms in 1 cup hot water for 20-30 minutes, until soft. Drain and reserve stock. Slice in thin strips.
Bring reserved mushroom stock and vegetable stock to a boil in a saucepan. Add carrots, green onion, and both kinds of mushrooms and simmer for 3 minutes. Add spinach leaves and soy sauce for a few more minutes, until spinach is just wilted. Adjust seasoning.
Serve this simple clear soup with nori rolls or tempura. Thin Japanese noodles can be added for a more filling soup.
Watercress Bisque (serves: 6; source: Haas, Cookbook for All Seasons)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine (optional)
8 cups water
2 bunches watercress (about 8 cups), coarsely chopped, including stems
2 T. light miso
Lemon wedges to garnish
Simmer onion and carrot in wine (or ½ cup water) until onion is limp and transparent. Add water and chopped watercress; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree in blender or food processor with miso. Serve garnished with a lemon wedge.
Pesto Sauce
1 bunch fresh basil, washed with stems removed
1 T. light miso
1 clove garlic
¼ cup pine nuts and/or walnuts
3 T. olive oil
Parsley
(Makes about 1 cup; source: Elson Haas, Cookbook for All Seasons)
Puree all ingredients well in a blender or food processor. If too thick, dilute with a little water. This is a nondairy pesto that can be used for pastas, grain and vegetable dishes where grated Romano cheese and more olive oil can be added if desired.
Avocado Dressing
2 medium avocados
1 lemon, juiced
1 t. salt, to taste
½ cup water
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic
(makes 1 ½ cups; source: Haas, Cookbook for All Seasons)
Blend all ingredients well and toss with salad.
Green Pea Soup
2 cups whole or split peas, presoaked Layer vegetables in a pot in order given.
¼ onion, diced (optional) Add peas, water, and bay leaf
1 cup celery, diced Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1+
1 cup carrots, diced hours until peas are soft and mushy.
1 bay leaf Add dulse, mustard, and salt and simmer 10
5-6 cups water minutes more.
½ cup dulse Add vinegar before serving.
¼ t. dry mustard
1 t. sea salt
1 T. vinegar (optional)
(serves: 6; source: Paul Pitchford, Healing With Whole Foods)
Marinated Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus spears Steam asparagus for 10 minutes
1-1 ½ cups vinaigrette dressing* Toss with dressing;* marinate 2-3 hours
.
*(3 parts olive oil to 1 part umeboshi vinegar
+ herbs of your choice)
(serves 4-6; source: Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods)
Simple Sprout Salad
2 cups alfalfa sprouts Arrange an outside ring of sprouts on a plate
2 cups mung sprouts Add a ring of mung sprouts
1 cup sunflower sprouts Place sunflower sprouts in the center
Serve with your favorite dressing.
(source: Paul Pitchford, Healing With Whole Foods)
Green Spring Soup
6 cups water or broth Bring liquid to boil
4 medium potatoes, chopped Add potatoes, onion, and salt. Cover
¼ medium onion or leek Reduce heat and simmer until tender
2-3 cups kale (or spring greens) Add kale and garlic…simmer until kale is
2 cloves garlic bright green.
1 t. sea salt Puree all ingredients.
1 t. olive oil Add olive oil before serving
(serves: 6; source: Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods)
Winter Recipes: Foods to Beat the Bitter Chill
Foods can be our best (and safest) medicine. Foods have an inherent temperature, taste, and direction. Many ancient cultures long ago discovered this and used it to their advantage when drugs, technology, and modern conveniences were not available. As we move into the coldest month of the year, it is good to review foods that are warming in nature. Eating warming foods at this time of year can make the winter chill an exhilarating welcome experience. Among warming/hot foods to include in your cooking, consider:
Warming foods:
Grains: oats, quinoa, spelt, sweet rice
Vegetables: caper, kale, leek, onion, parsnip, winter squash, sweet potato, watercress
Fruit: blackberry, cherry, date, peach
Beans: black beans
Nuts: chestnuts, pine kernels, walnuts
Fish: anchovy, eel, lobster, mussels, shrimp
Meat: chicken, ham, kidney, liver, pheasant
Dairy: butter
Herbs: aniseed, basil, bay, caraway, cardamom, carob, clove, cumin, dill, fennel, fresh ginger, juniper, nutmeg, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme, turmeric
Hot foods:
Fish: trout
Meat: lamb
Herbs: cayenne, chili, cinnamon bark, garlic, dry ginger, horseradish, mustard, pepper
Source: Helping Ourselves, Guide to Traditional Chinese Food Energetics
By Daverick Leggett
With this as a guide, you can mix and match ingredients to create your own warming treats…like cinnamon oatmeal with dried cherries or tabouli with parsley, garlic, and quinoa. It is interesting to note that lamb is the only animal meat that is “hot” in temperature and that beef, with a neutral temperature is not on the list of warming foods.
Winter Soups: Chestnut Soup with parsnips and sherry
Warming Red Lentil Stew with parsnips, onion, cumin, parsley
Winter Side Dishes: Wild Rice with leeks, shitakes, dried cherries, & nuts
Kale with Shitake Mushrooms with ginger or garlic
Winter main course: Lamb Shanks with garlic and rosemary
Chestnut Soup
2 onions, chopped
2 parsnips, chopped
3 T. butter or e.v. olive oil
6 cups filtered water or chicken stock
½ cup sherry
Pinch cayenne pepper and nutmeg
1 T. dried thyme
4 cups fresh peeled chestnuts
Melt butter in a stock pot and sauté onions and parsnips until soft. Add water or stock, chestnuts, and sherry. Bring to boil and skim off foam. Add seasonings and simmer, covered for 15+ minutes. Puree and serve.
Source: Adapted from Sally Fallon
Warming Red Lentil Stew
1 c. red lentils
1 medium onion
1 parsnips or carrots
1 T. umeboshi vinegar or 2 T. lemon
1 T. cumin
1 t. sea salt
1 T. sesame or olive oil
Chopped parsley or scallion for garnish
5 cups water
Cut all veggies in small pieces and sauté them 10 minutes.
Add washed lentils and water. Bring to boil. Skim foam. Lower heat, add cumin and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add umeboshi or lemon and salt and simmer another 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle with parsley or scallion and serve.
Source: Institute for Integrative Nutrition
Festive Wild Rice
8 oz. wild rice
2 1/3 c. liquid or broth
2 T. butter, melted
2 leeks, sliced, white & pale green parts
4 oz. shitake mushrooms, fresh, sliced
¼ c. almonds, chopped
¼ c. dried cherries or cranberries
Salt and Pepper
Cook rice: Bring broth to a boil. Stir in rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 45-50 minutes. Remove from stove and let rest 10 minutes. Fluff with fork. Or: prepare in rice cooker with same proportions.
In a separate pan, sauté leeks in butter for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté 2 more minutes. Stir in nuts, cranberries, and beans. Gently add to cooked rice. Serves 4-5.
Adapted from Lunderg Farms
Stir-Fry Kale with Shitake Mushrooms
1 bunch kale, washed and chopped
½ pound shitake mushrooms, stems removed, washed and chopped
2 cloves garlic or ½” piece fresh ginger, minced
1 T. olive oil or unrefined coconut oil
Warm oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic or ginger and cook, stirring 2-3 minutes.
Add shitakes and stir fry for 5 minutes.
Add chopped kale, and stir fry for a few minutes.
Add splash of water to the pan, cover and let steam for 5 minutes.
So Simple Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks
Place 4-6 lamb shanks in a 6-8 quart slow cooker. Cover with filtered water. Add garlic cloves and fresh rosemary to suit your taste. Cook on medium to high about 4-6 hours.
Note: You may want to brown lamb shanks first, but I find this is not essential if you are in a hurry.
Copyright 2008 Pathways4Health.org
Fall Harvest Recipes: Sweet Root Ground Vegetables…Food for the Brain
The brain, made largely of fat and cholesterol, runs on glucose. Only 3 pounds and 2%-3% of body weight, it burns 20% of our calories, even when we are at rest. The brain “consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue.” How easy it is to crave sugar when we are hard at work and need to concentrate, memorize, and stay focused. It is our body telling us that our brain needs energy to keep processing.
Stress — mental stress — is contractive. Sugar (and alcohol, etc.) are expansive and help offset the contractive nature of stress. Little wonder after a stressful week of intense concentration that we enjoy going to the kitchen to bake delectable sweet treats like a batch of cookies, a cake, or a pie. If we shun baking, perhaps we run to the store for something sweet and expansive. Or, we crave a lively Friday night, partying at the local pub or sharing with friends a good bottle of wine and yummy treats around the fire. These are all natural reactions to stress and an overworked brain.
Just recognizing that the brain runs on glucose can be helpful. It means that when we crave sweets, we do not have to feel “guilty.” We do not have to feel ashamed… “if only I had more willpower.” It has nothing to do with willpower. It simply means that we are listening to our body telling us to supply it with the right type of fuel. (Recall that hypoglycemia can itself do harm to the brain, so it is good to listen to these messages.) The trick is to learn to reach for sweet fruits and vegetables in place of sugar or alcohol. These can lead to depression and adrenal exhaustion (in Chinese theory, sugar is part of the Earth phase, the controlling element of the kidney, Kidney essence, and the adrenals). So excessive sugar, which we crave to overcome exhaustion can, in fact, exacerbate it.
Harvest vegetables for stress and the brain. October is the time when chilly, shorter days signal the true time to get back to work. In a rhythm now after the warm, freer days of summer, we begin in earnest to settle into study and mental tasks. Nature serves up in this season just the antidote to cooler days and the need for sweet, wholesome foods to fuel the brain. She gives us a rich harvest of deliciously-sweet root and ground vegetables…squashes such as acorn and butternut, and root vegetables, round ones like onions, turnips, beets, and rutabagas, and long roots like parsnips, carrots, and burdock. What a wonderful rainbow of complex carbohydrates and antioxidants to fuel and protect our brains as we settle into serious mental tasks.
Each vegetable group has its own special type of energy. Round and root vegetables aid the digestive tract in absorption and assimilation of nutrients. They also convey stability and stamina. And, they are grounding. By selecting specific ones, or combinations, as well as by varying cooking techniques, we can adjust the way energy flows in our body and even tweak our mood. Let’s see how this works:
• Tubers like yams and sweet potatoes create dampness and warmth in the lower body, to aid digestion and counter contraction.
• Round roots generally mature earlier than long roots and contain more water. They bring a calming nature and dampness to the lower digestive tract.
• Long roots, when cooked, bring warmth to the lower digestive tract and help strengthen these digestive organs, as well as the bladder and reproductive organs (the “doctrine of signatures” at work!). All are good antidotes to stress and concentrated mental work.
Cooking also affects the energy of foods. On a scale of the most expansive to the most contractive of the preparation ideas below are: boiling, steaming, and, baking. Boiling, the most expansive, adds water and leaches out minerals, making foods heavier and denser. Stewing (when a variety of ingredients are simmered gently together with a bit of water) helps meld the flavors of foods and is appropriate for dry days and dry conditions in the body. Stewed vegetables hold their heat much longer than when steamed.
Steaming adds less water and preserves nutrients (except for heat-sensitive vitamin C…steaming is hotter than boiling), and makes foods lighter and less-dense. While steaming is a very popular preparation today since it preserves nutrients, in excess, it can sap energy and stamina and cause poor circulation to the extremities, resulting in cold hands and feet.(( Gagne, 147.)) Baking, which is the easiest way to do root and ground vegetables, is drying and helps concentrate the energy of foods.
The following “recipes” are really just the simplest of preparations to emphasize the natural goodness of harvest vegetables. The first three, which involve cooking vegetables in their skins, require almost no preparation. They are so easy, you can prepare them in the morning while you eat breakfast and are getting ready for work or school. Then, you are ready for quick snacking throughout the day, when your brain “runs dry” and needs a quick infusion of sweet, wholesome energy. Add your favorite healthy oils, nuts, seeds, and seasonings for variety and interest.
Simple Baked Butternut or Acorn Squash
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Wash squash and cut length-wise. Invert on a baking sheet pan. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Scrape out seeds as you go. Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds, for extra nutrition and to balance the carbohydrates with good fats.
Simple Baked Sweet Potatoes
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash potatoes and place on an oven rack, with a drip tray on the shelf below (some caramelized juice may drip out). Bake about one hour. The skins hold in the moisture and the flesh bakes to a custardy, sweet-smoothness. Delicious sprinkled with fresh lime juice!
Boiled Onions
Bring a stock pot of water to a boil. Add onions, with all the outer skins in tact. Boil for about 30-45 minutes, until tender. Remove onions from liquid and allow to cool on a plate. At the table, allow your guests to squeeze the sweet flesh (it will pop out of the skin) onto meat, grains, other vegetables, etc. This is fun and delicious!
Steamed Round and Root Vegetables
Place an inch or so of water in a stock pot, then a vegetable steamer basket, making sure the water level is lower than the basket. Wash and slice a variety of vegetables. Place the harder ones like beets and carrots in to cook first, adding the softer ones later. Or, slice the harder ones into thinner slices than the softer vegetables. Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot to steam until vegetables reach the desired degree of softness.
Stewed Round and Root Vegetables
Wash and slice a variety of sweet vegetables, place in a stock pot. Add water just to cover. Bring to a boil, then turn the flame down to simmer. When vegetables are tender, puree with an immersion wand. [Season with your favorite herbs/spices].
A Pumpkin “Stew” (This requires a bit more effort, but well worth it):
(Serves 6)
In a stock pot:
1 cup solid packed pumpkin, fresh or canned 1. Saute vegetables in butter til soft.
3 cups organic chicken or vegetable broth 2. Sprinkle flour over veggies and blend
2 leeks or 1 large onion, chopped 3. Add pumpkin and broth
1 carrot, diced 4. Simmer, covered for 30 minutes.
1 celery stalk, diced 5. Allow to cool
2 Tbs. butter 6. Blend in food processor or with “wand”
2 Tbs. flour, preferably whole wheat 7. Add salt and pepper to taste
Fresh nutmeg Grate nutmeg on top each serving, to taste.
Copyright 2008 Pathways4Health
To read this newsletter in its .pdf form, click here to download the file: April 2010 Newsletter. Thank you.
…Simple “How’s” and Scientific “Why’s”
In this newsletter:
Read Carol’s introduction below:
I am not a scientist, of course, but I do like research and sharing information related to nutrition and health. In my work I see inflammation and chronic pain to be issues that disrupt the daily lives and enjoyment of many—and often rather needlessly, it seems. So, in this newsletter I would like to share with you what I have learned over the years from a variety of experts, both in the field of inflammatory disease and in the field of general nutrition and health.
This newsletter aims to outline specific strategies to address pain, inflammation, and chronic disease. But the greater question remains: why is inflammation so pervasive today? Why, in a time of great affluence and food abundance should inflammation and chronic disease be so widespread? The answer lies largely in our modern lifestyle and diet, particularly in the postwar shift away from healthy fats to denatured vegetable oils that foster inflammation while they disrupt the body’s natural metabolism. I will leave this for next month’s newsletter—for now my focus will be limited to natural ways to control inflammation.
If you are concerned about inflammation, the overarching idea is to try to eliminate inflammatory foods—refined vegetable oils, trans fats, refined flour, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup. These are not whole foods and they are not in keeping with tradition. They are fractured, empty-calorie foods that fuel the fires of inflammation and chronic disease.
If you take time to read this newsletter, please keep several things in mind. First, that we do need omega-6 oils, but the goal should be to bring these back in better alignment respect to omega-3s, in a ratio of about 3:1 compared to the 20:1 ratio of today:
“…ourbalance of omega-6 to omega-3 affects our health as much as any other aspect of dietary fat…Because the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s helps determine the flexibility of cell membranes, nearly all chemical communication throughout the body depends at least in part on the correct balance between omega-6s and omega-3s. Within this context, it is difficult to imagine any health problem that isn’t partly related to the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3.”
A second idea to remember is that we need both stable saturated fats like butter and coconut oil for the structural integrity of cell walls, as well as omega-3s and omega-6 fats for the flexibility of cell membranes. Unsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fats are needed for cells to carry out highly sophisticated neurological and electrical communication functions.
Finally, I mention in this newsletter fish oils and the role that they can play to help cool inflammation, but a supplement like this works best against a supportive diet. The most important step we can take is to shift away from inflammatory foods. By doing so, we remove logs from inflammation’s burning fire. A fish oil supplement is like placing our trust upon a candle snuffer to put out the flames. Far more important is to stop feeding the fire with inflammatory foods.
Realistically, to eliminate inflammatory foods means that we need to know where our food comes from. This is the very best way to eliminate pro-inflammatory vegetable oils and trans fats that are hidden in prepared foods—as well as inflammatory refined sugars and white flour products.
When we shop for and cook with whole foods that are in keeping with tradition, we naturally incorporate plant foods’ vital force energy, as well as their antioxidants, phytonutrients, and fiber (July08 newsletter). Plant foods help prevent oxidation and inflammation as they regulate the immune system and assist its proper functioning. Whole foods, sunshine, fresh air, moderate exercise, meaningful life work, and a sense of gratitude are all natural nutrients to build a fertile terrain for our proper genetic expression.
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