The Healthy Cooking Coach

How much sugar are you eating?

Nowadays, half of all carbohydrate calories consumed by the average American are coming from simple sugars. Most people are eating their weight in sugar every year. If you’re not…rest assured that someone else is doing it for you.

Sugar consumption then and now
In 1910, average per capita sugar consumption was less than 10 pounds per person, per year. By 1990 that figure rose to 152 pounds of sugar per person, per year, according to T.L Cleave author of the book, The Saccharine Disease. All of that sugar adds up to a lot of excess calories, a lot of excess body fat, and a lot of stress on our physiology. A high sugar diet can contribute to premature aging, emotional imbalances, PMS, frequent colds, viruses, and other infections, diabetes, systemic inflammation, cancer, heart disease, macular degeneration, osteoporosis, and other debilitating conditions.

Where is it all coming from?
The average 12-ounce can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar, usually in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The average 20-ounce bottle of soda contains17 teaspoons of sugar---5 more teaspoons than the USDAs recommended daily upper limit for sugar consumption for a single person. How much soda do you drink per day and week? How much do your family members consume?

Besides the obvious sources-- cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, candies, syrups, jams and jellies, soda, fruit flavored beverages, and mixed drinks---there are many less obvious sources. Many if not most canned, bottled, boxed, frozen, packaged, and processed foods contain sugar as the third most plentiful ingredient. Look at the labels of salad dressings, sauces, marinades, cold cereals, breads, meal replacement bars, flavored teas and smoothie mixes, frozen entrees, breads, and desserts. A single product often contains two, three, four different kinds of sugar. This can add up quickly.

Don’t we need sugar?
We don’t have any physiological requirement for sugar.  All our nutritional needs can be met in full without having to take a single spoon of white, brown, raw, or powdered sugar or corn syrup on its own or in any food or drink. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy the sweet taste. We can eat and enjoy sweet vegetables and fresh and dried fruits and other wholesome foods that meet our nutritional needs. And yet, most of us have become accustomed to eating extremely sweet food breakfast, lunch, dinner, and at snack time.

It’s possible to tone down your sweet tooth. I discuss strategies for that in my books, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook and The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten-Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces.

You can also find a free article on my Garden of Eating web site, "Beat Your Sugar Cravings: 9 Practical Tips to Help You Defeat the Sweet Tooth Monster.” Beyond that, you can learn to sweeten the desserts you do make with less refined sweeteners and using smaller amounts of the sweeteners you do add. I'll can show you how to do it and do it skillfully.

Stevia to the rescue
If you’re looking for a way to reduce your reliance on sugar, one way to achieve this is to use stevia. You can use it to sweeten coffee, a coffee alternativs, tea, lemonade, and smoothies.

In desserts (cookies, cakes, pies, puddings, sauces, and frozen desserts) it works best to use a combination of honey and stevia or honey, stevia and dried fruit to create a better texture, flavor, and mouth-feel. By doing this, you can cut the sugar calories in recipes by one-third to one-half while still enjoying a sweet taste.

I tried stevia and didn't like it. What went wrong?
If you’ve tried stevia and didn’t care for it, chances are you used too much of it. Stevia is 100 to 300 times sweeter than sugar but it’s not an artificial sweetener. It has no calories and no carbohydrates. It doesn’t promote tooth decay either. Stevia can be used in beverages, smoothies, and other dishes. You can use it in cooking and baking provided you know how and how much to use. Many people use too much of it in a recipe and then don’t like the final product.

To sweeten a cup of coffee or tea, many people find 2 to 4 drops of clear stevia liquid or the amount of pure stevia extract that fits on the end of a toothpick sufficient. To sweeten a quart of lemonade, you may only need 1/4 teaspoon of pure stevia extract powder or liquid. That's not much but you don't need much either.

The kind of stevia you use can also make a difference. Some brands and forms of stevia powder are plumped up with maltodextrin or other starches so that they resemble sugar or artificial sweetener packets. Other brands and forms are free of fillers, so you need to use much less of them. Then there are liquid forms, which allow you to add steiva a drop at a time until you achieve the taste you want.

What is stevia
It’s an herbal sweetener extracted from the leaf of a plant native to Paraguay. It’s non-toxic and has a track record of safe use for hundreds of years. The only downside is a bitter after taste if you use too much of it. If you have only recently learned about stevia that may be because until large multi-national companies developed a method for modifying the stevia molecule to create something new that they could patent, stevia threatened the artificial sweetener industry, so it wasn’t found in supermarkets and wasn’t as widely available as it is now.

In my most recent book, The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten-Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces, I present sample recipes that show you how to skillfully combine stevia and honey to create satisfyingly sweet treats with fewer sugar calories.

On page 65, I walk you through two charts that show you how I substitute for sugar, including steps for converting from sugar to honey in recipes and from sugar to stevia, and then how to use a combination of the two sweeteners in recipes. Knowing how to replace sugar with stevia can save you time and frustration modifying recipes.

Does it work?
I’ve had people who previously didn’t like stevia who tried my recipes that included stevia and changed their minds. They were amazed at how good my desserts tasted. The key is in choosing the right form of stevia (pure stevia extract powder or clear stevia extract liquid), in carefully measuring the stevia, and in following a recipe.

I’ve pasted links to some of the stevia sweetened dessert recipes you can find on my blog; three of them are from my dessert book, The Ice Dream Cookbook. Let me kwow what you try and what you think. I’d love to hear from you.

Note: Next week I’ll be announcing a stevia-giveaway for the month of July.

A sampling of stevia sweetened desserts from this blog

Chocolate Silk Pie

Eggless Coconut Macaroons

Dairy-Free Coffee Ice Cream

Ice Cream Minus the Moo

The Great Pumpkin

Cranberry Apricot Chuntney

Dandy Blend Giveaway Winner

Last month I did a givewaway of a 7.05 ounce package of my favorite instant herbal coffee alternative made from roasted chicory and danelion roots. It's 100% caffeine-free, has not acidity, no added sugar or preservatives, and it's certified gluten-free. On May 13th I drew a winner who's name was selected. That person didn't get back to me, so I drew another name and the end of May, then I got busy and forgot to post it on my blog.

The winner is Dr. Mary Rondeau of Fort Collins, Colorado. I know Mary's already a fan of Dandy Blend so I'm sure she will be thrilled to find out her name was drawn a few weeks ago. If you live in or near Fort Collins, Colorado, and you're looking for a Naturopathic physician for holistic health care, I recommend Dr. Mary Rondeau and her husband, Steve Rondeau. You can learn more about their services by visiting the site for the Wholeness Center.

I will let you know what I will be giving away in July. I appreciate you following my blog. Please feel free to post questions about my recipes, books, cooking DVDs, and posts. I look forward to inspring you to make healthy and delicious choices.

Got Cabbage? Got Coleslaw?

Cabbage is a hardy vegetable that’s easy to grow in most climates  and regions around the world. It’s widely available in supermarkets and at farmers markets everywhere. It’s inexpensive, versatile, super nutritious, and low in calories. It's been used as food and medicine for centuries. If you're not eating it on a regular basis, consider adding it to your diet.

Cabbage belongs to the cruciferous or brassica family of vegetables along with broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, mustard greens, turnips greens, and many other vegetables. It’s is a great source of vitamins C and K, fiber, carotenes, antioxidants, glucosinolates and isothiocyanates, and other compounds that help with detoxification and protection against inflammation, cancer, heart disease, and many other diseases. According to the authors of The World’s Healthiest Foods “Mmore than 475 studies have examined the role of this cruciferous vegetable in cancer prevention (and in some cases, cancer treatment).”

Here's the wilted cabbage before they added the dressing.  

Photo credit: Rachel Albert, Copyright 2011©

There are so many ways to prepare cabbage. Coleslaw is one of my favorites. This particular recipe has wowed my cooking students for more than 20 years. In fact, people who don’t normally like or eat coleslaw have tried it and changed their minds. Just this week my cooking students made this salad in two hands-on classes at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe. I had at least 6 people in the classes say they really like this salad and want to make it at home even though they don’t normally like coleslaw.

Here’s the meal my students made in both classes this week*:
Herbed Meatballs with Better Barbecue Sauce
Smoky Simmered Salmon with Chipotle
Herb Roasted Potatoes (we used Herbs de Provence)
Oven Roasted Parsnip Fries (we used Rosemary)
The Basic Coleslaw (we used the mayo dressing below)
Baby Greens with Pears, Toasted Pecans & Poppy Seed Pineapple Drizzle

Here's what I had for dinner one night (the meal above minus the meatballs and potatoes).

Photo credit: Rachel Albert, Copyright 2011©

The recipes can be found in my book, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook by Rachel Albert & Don Matesz (Planetary Press 2004). If you order directly from my web site your order will be processed promptly and we will send you a free shopping list to go with the sample month of menus in the book.

Note: If you order from Amazon it can take up to 3 month to receive the book, you won’t get the shopping list, and you may have to pay as much as $150 for the book.

To watch me make the recipe, here’s a clip from my cooking DVD, Cooking with Whole Foods. The video walks you step-by-step through 4 complete menus, 19 recipes, and 8 cooking techniques featuring gluten-free, dairy-free, low-sugar, naturally sweetened, produce- and protein-rich meals. Click here for more information and to order the video.

The Basic Coleslaw       

Prep: 30 minutes/ Marinating: 1-6 hours/ Yield: 10 to 12 cups; 10 to 12 servings
                     
Salting and crushing vegetables may sound like a strange and unnecessary step, but people in Asia and Europe have been doing it for centuries. This process breaks down the tough fibers, releases water, and concentrates the nutrients into a smaller portion. It also produces a more tender, flavorful, and digestible slaw that will keep for a week in your refrigerator or a cooler if you add fresh ice daily.

With practice you can memorize this recipe’s proportions, ingredients, and the variations. To save time, invest in a mandoline or food processor to shred the vegetables. You can make this on the weekend so you have a salad for one meal a day for five days or a week, depending upon how many people you cook for. You can vary the salad dressings and side dishes you serve it with. This salad pairs well with  fish, poultry, meat, or beans, and sweet potato, potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, or whole grain bread.

Ingredients:
1 (2 to 2 1/2 pound) green cabbage, quartered, cored, finely shredded, 12 to 14 cups
1 medium onion (preferably a sweet white variety), finely sliced or minced, 1 1/2 cups scallions (green onions), white part 2-inches of the green part), cut into 1/2 -inch lengths
4 to 6 celery stalks, peeled and thinly sliced (1 to 1 1/2 cups) 
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated (about 2 cups)
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons unrefined sea salt (e.g., Celtic, Lima,Eden, or Redmond RealSalt)

Dressing:
3/4 to 1 cup Vegenaise (a dairy-free, egg-free mayo) or omega-3 mayonnaise
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill weed (fresh dill tastes best!)
1 tablespoon prepared mustard (creamy white, honey-, dijon, or other]
1/2 teaspoon celery seed or 1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground black or red pepper, or to taste
             

1. Combine the vegetables and sea salt in an oversized (6 to 8-quart) mixing bowl. Knead the salt into the vegetables with your hands until cabbage starts to shrink and release water, about 5 minutes, until tender. (Wear disposable gloves if you don’t like vegetables bits getting stuck under your fingernails.)
2. If possible, allow the salad to rest in the mixing bowl for 1 to 2 hours, until soft, then mix and knead for another minute or two. Alternatively, after kneading, pack the salad and its juices into a 3-1/2 to 4-quart Asian pickle press; mound the vegetables in the center of the container and run your hands over the sides to remove any stray vegetables. Tighten the top to press all of the vegetables under the lid. Let stand at room temperature for 2 to 6 hours to soften. 
3. If you don’t plan to serve all of the salad over the next 3 to 4 days, tightly pack what you don’t plan to use into wide-mouth quart jars, adding the salty brine from the bottom of the bowl or the top of the pickle press. This liquid will prolong the shelf life of your salad. Cover and refrigerate. If you plan to serve all of the salad within 4 days, drain, rinse, and dress the entire batch.
4. To serve the salad, place a colander or strainer over a medium bowl and drain the amount of salad you plan to dress and serve. Rinse briefly vegetbles with cool or cold water to remove excess salt. Pick up and queeze a handful at a time to remove excess water. Mix the dressing and toss with the cabbage to coat.
5. Refrigerate dressed coleslaw in a covered jar or bowl and use within 4 days. Undressed coleslaw will keep for 10 days covered with brine. Rinse, drain, and dress more salad as needed.

1 serving w/out dressing: 59 calories, 2 g protein, 13 g carbohydrate (4 g fiber), 80 mg calcium, sodium unknown

Variations:

• Replace the carrots or celery with 1 halved, seeded, and diced or thinly sliced sweet red, orange, or yellow bell pepper or 1 bunch (about 6 to 8) small red radishes, thinly sliced into thin rounds or half moons.

•  Replace carrots or celery with 1 large English cucumber, 2 medium cucumbers, or 6 pickling cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and halved or quartered and thinly sliced (about 2 cups total)

• Replace the creamy dressing with 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive or avocado oil mixed with 3 tablespoons of brown rice vinegar or red wine vinegar, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, 1/4 teaspoon celery seed, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground white, black, or red pepper.

• To extend the salad or add more color to any of the variations, surround the bowl of coleslaw with blanched broccoli or broccoli and cauliflower florets before serving.

This and other delicious recipes can be found in my book, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook by Rachel Albert & Don Matesz (Planetary Press 2004). f you order directly from my web site your order will be processed promptly and we will send you a free shopping list to go with the sample month of menus in the book.

Note: If you order from Amazon, it can take up to three month to receive the book, you won’t get the shopping list, and you may have to pay as much as $150 for the book.

How to Cook an Ostrich Egg

 

I love eggs, have since I was a child. Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs, hard boiled eggs, deviled (I call them Angeled) eggs, omelets. Besides chicken eggs, I’ve tried duck, quail, goose, and emu eggs, even Chinese 1000 year eggs, which incidentally aren’t 1000 years old. What I hadn’t tried were ostrich eggs. 

 My visit to the ostrich ranch

If you’ve been reading my blog regularly, you probably saw my post about my visit to Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch in Piacho, AZ, on the fourth of July of 2009. For some reason this post didn't go live back then. I found it and posted it now in June of 2011. Anyway, when I took the tour of the ostrich ranch, I took home an edible souvenir, my favorite kind. It was the most expensive egg I’ve ever purchased: $15. I knew I was making an investment. 

This one egg would provide the equivalent of 20 to 24 chicken eggs, so I wasn’t planning to eat it all in one meal. Hard boiling was out of the question. It would need to cook for a good hour and even then I wasn’t sure if it would be cooked through, so I opted for scrambling. Before I could get that far I had to crack the egg open.

 Ever score an ostrich egg? 

I wanted to break it open without destroying the shell. I thought it would make a nice table decoration, even if I didn’t paint it or carve it as some artisans are inclined to do. Thank heavens the people at Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch had scored the top of the egg and given me an instruction sheet. All I had to do was place the egg on a folded towel, place a butter knife in one of the notches and hit it several times with a meat mallet (a hammer would also work!), then repeat this several in several places around the top of the egg.

The one inch round piece of shell came out easily. I removed the membrane, inserted a fork and whisked the egg so it would easily come out the hole. There was not way that yolk was going to pass through this air canal any other way, unless I C-sectioned and destroyed the entire egg. 

The next step 

I placed a funnel over a quart jar, turned the egg upside down watched the contents slowly migrate into the jar. I poured the overflow into a small bowl. I ended up with 4 and 3/4 cups of raw egg. Next, I washed the egg shell out with warm soapy water and allowed it to air dry. I labeled and dated the jar of raw ostrich egg, making it ready for a series of scrambles and omelets over the course of the next week. I stored the jar in the refrigerator. 

How does it taste? 

Like a chicken egg, but richer, more buttery. It has a more viscous, even slipper texture when raw that remains after cooking. It didn’t bother me and I’d probably eat more ostrich eggs if it wasn’t for the price. 

Scrambled Ostrich Egg 

Prep:  3 to 5 minutes                        Cooking: 3 to 4 minutes             Serves: 1 

I usually add fresh or dried herb and spices to my eggs before cooking, usually ground turmeric, plus 2 or 3 additional herbs and/or spices, such as basil, oregano, thyme, sage, chives, tarragon, cumin, mustard, curry powder, parsley, and red or black pepper.

Sometimes I add leftover grilled, roasted, or sautéed onions, mushrooms or bell peppers, or finely chopped cooked chicken, turkey, salmon, bacon, or sausage whether I’m making a scramble, an omelet, or a hybrid of the two. Note: When measuring out the desired amount of ostrich egg, whisk and or shake the jar well to evenly mix the contents before measuring. 

If you’re cooking for more people, you can mix up a similar amount of ingredients for each person and cook the eggs in batches, or make a double or triple batch, then use a 10, 12, or 14 inch skillet.

Ingredients:

¾ to 1 cup raw ostrich egg, whisked well

2 tablespoons regular or lite coconut milk, nut milk, goat or cow’s milk, or heavy cream

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or ground chipotle

dash finely ground unrefined sea salt, optional

1 to 2 teaspoons bacon fat, ghee, clarified butter, palm oil or palm shortening

 

1. Shake or mix the jar of raw ostrich egg, then pour out what you need for your meal figuring 1/4 cup of ostrich egg = roughly 1 chicken egg. Add the milk or cream, spices, herbs, and optional sea salt. Whisk or blend  briefly to combine.  
 

 

 

2. Heat the fat or oil in an 8- or 9-inch slope-sided skillet over medium heat (#5 on my electric range, which goes from 1 to 10) until hot but not smoking. Use a larger pan for a double or triple batch. Tilt the skillet to completely coat the bottom and sides or spread the fat with a heat-proof spatula. 

3. For a scramble: Add the whisked egg to the hot skillet. As the eggs begin to set up, push the cooked portion aside with a wooden spoon or metal spatula and tilt  pan to allow uncooked eggs run underneath. Break up curds as they form, until eggs are cooked through but still glossy and moist, about 4 minutes for aquarter to a third of an Emu eggg; allow slighlty more time for a full batch. 
   

For an omelet: Pour egg mixture into skillet. As the eggs begin to set up, almost immediately, push cooked portion toward center with a metal spatula and tilt pan to allow uncooked portion run underneath. Repeat until eggs no longer run. Remove from heat when eggs are firm but still appear glossy and moist, about 3 to 4 minutes. Allow a little more time for a double or triple batch. Add fillings to one side of the omelet if desired. Gently lift and fold 1 side of the omelet over the other.

 4.  Remove from heat and transfer scrambled egg or omelet to serving plates.  

Variations: 

*  Smoky Scrambled Ostrich Egg with Chipotlé: Replace the white or black pepper with ground chipotlé, then add 3/4 to 1 teaspoon Wright’s Liquid Hickory Smoke Seasoning. Note: This brand is free of sugars, colorings, MSG, and chemical names and numbers. Look for it in supermarkets and natural foods stores on the aisle with barbecue sauce. 

*  Smoky Scrambled Ostrich Egg with Tarragon & Chives: Omit mustard; replace the parsley with fresh or dried chives 1/2 teaspoon each of dried chives and tarragon or 1 1/2 teaspoons each of finely chopped fresh chives and tarragon leaves.   

*  Smoky Scrambled Ostrich Egg with Curry: Omit mustard and parsley, adding 1 teaspoon mild or spicy curry powder or to taste. 

Source: Modified from The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook by Rachel Albert-Matesz & Don Matesz (Planetary Press, 2004) 

 

The Burger’s New Friend: Parsnip Fries!

Root vegetables rarely get the attention they deserve and parsnips are no exception. They make a great alternative to French fries, seasoned with herbs or spices and roasted in the oven. I was reminded of this last night when a friend roasted a pan full of parsnip sticks, carrot sticks, potato wedges, and onions with rosemary, sea salt and pepper. I’ve made roasted carrot fries, roasted parsnips fries, and a combination of the two many times. I’ve also roasted potatoes or potatoes with onions on numerous occasions. What I hadn’t done was combine them all in one dish. It came out great and paired well with spice-rubbed grilled chicken breast with a squeeze of lime and steamed asparagus.

Got parsnips?
Although parsnips and other root vegetables are used widely in many cuisines around the world, many Americans are unfamiliar with them. I certainly didn’t grow up eating them. Very few of my students can properly identify them in a line up of root vegetables. Even fewer checkers in supermarkets can accomplish this simple task.

Parsnips are related to carrots. They’re similar in shape but paler in color. They taste best cooked, at which point they soften and usually become sweet (unless you inadvertently select large, mealy, overgrown specimens). They’re usually best after a frost in the fall or spring. Some people describe their flavor as buttery, slightly spicy, and sweet. Sometimes they taste reminiscent of cardamom, honey, or butterscotch.

These are my parsnip fries before cooking.   Photo credit: Rachel Albert Copyright 2008©

I’ve enjoyed them roasted in wedges or french-fry like pieces singly or in combination with other root vegetables or tubers, added to vegetable soups, beef, lamb or chicken-based stews, and casseroles, or boiled or simmered and mashed or pureed to replace mashed potatoes. Roasted Parsnips or parsnip fries pair well with roast chicken, turkey, or duck, with steak and roast beef, bison, or goat, with salmon, and with burgers.

What about the glycemic index?
Many people have misunderstood the importance of the glycemin index in weight control and black-listed parsnips and other nutritious, delicious, versatile, and traditional vegetables and fruits. Do you know anyone who has become significantly overweight or obese from eating too many carrots, beets, yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, or parsnips? I do not!

Here they are after cooking.                       Photo credit: Rachel Albert Copyright 2008©

Here’s an except about glycemic index vs. glycemic load from chapter three, “Friendly Foods” of my book, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook.

Can Fruits and Vegetables Make You Fat?     
“Fruits top the list of plant foods eaten by hunter-gatherers (41 percent of their total intake), followed by underground storage structures such as tubers, roots, and bulbs (24 percent). Some foods from these groups, such as bananas, winter squash (a fruit), beets, carrots, parsnips, and sweet potatoes have been attacked by some nutritionists who say these foods should be avoided because they score high on the glycemic index. Supposedly these foods will promote elevated insulin levels and consequently make people fat.

“This is a mistake. To promote elevated insulin and fat-formation, a food must have a high glycemic load, which is calculated by multiplying it’s glycemic index score by the amount of carbohydrate in a 10-gram portion. Although some fruits, roots, and tubers score relatively high on the glycemic index, all have relatively low glycemic loads compared to modern refined foods (See Table 3.2)."

Fruits & Vegetables        Glycemic Index    Glycemic Load
Parsnips                            97                             19.5
Potato                               85                            19.4
Sweet Potato                     54                            13.1
Banana                              53                            12.1
Carrots                              71                              7.2
Beets, boiled                     64                              6.3
Rice Krispies                      88                             77.3
Cornflakes                         84                             72.7
Shredded Wheat Cereal      69                             57.0
Bagel                                 72                             38.4
White bread                       70                             34.7

Source: Foster-Powell K & Brand Miller, J, “International tables of glyecmic index,” Am J Clin Nutr (1995): 62:871S-893S. Adapted from Cordain L, Eades MR, Eades MD, “Hyperinsulinemic diseases of civilization: more than just Syndrome X,” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A, 136 (2003): 95-112, p. 97       

“Although parsnips and white potatoes both score high on the glycemic index, they deliver a glycemic load about half that of a bagel or slice of white bread, and about one-fourth that of a bowl of Rice Krispies or Cornflakes cereals. Carrots and beets deliver glycemic loads one-tenth of those of processed cereals. It’s clear that processed grain foods are the likely culprits for blood sugar disorders and obesity, not fruits, roots, and tubers.
   
“People rarely eat roots or tubers alone as is done in tests to determine the glycemic index. When carbohydrate-rich foods are eaten in a meal with protein- or fat-rich foods, the glycemic response is reduced. The glycemic index of any food in a meal may be less important than the impact of the entire meal.
   
“It would be a major challenge to overeat vegetables and fruits. The average woman who needs at least 1500 calories per day would likely find it very difficult to eat 15 large potatoes or bananas. In general, vegetables and fruits fill you up long before you can eat enough to fill you out. Based on caloric density, an overuse of fat-rich food is far more likely to cause gain of body fat, since fats are up to 45 times more calorie dense than vegetables and fruits (Table 3.3).”

So here’s the recipe. If you’re weary of making it right now when the temperature is rising, here’s what I suggest. Make a half or three-quarter size batch in a toaster oven. My Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven holds a 10x12 baking tray with sides. I can roast 1 1/2 pounds of vegetables in it with ease. It heats up quickly and won’t overheat the kitchen. Cook the dish first thing in the morning, then reheat portions in the toaster oven later in the day or roast the roots any time of day along with one or two pans of other vegetables or a pan or two of chicken or meat. That way you’ll have convenient leftovers for other meals over the next couple of days and you can freeze some of the leftover meat for future meals. I find it only takes about 10 minutes to reheat meal-size portions of meat or roots in the toaster oven.

Roasted Parsnip Fries   

Prep: 20 minutes/ Cooking: 35 to 40 minutes/ Yield: 8 servings

Consider serving these roasted roots for breakfast, lunch, or dinner with eggs, fish, poultry, or meat, and cooked leafy greens, coleslaw, or a tossed green salad.

I like to make enough to serve 2 to 3 days in row. Leftovers taste delicious warmed in an oven or toaster oven or close to room temperature in a pack lunch, when an oven is not available. Alternatively, you could add leftover parsnip fries to a tossed green salad or a main-course salad with meat. Don’t be shy give the variations a try.

Photo credit: Rachel Albert Copyright 2008© 

Note: Parsnips taste best after a frost, when their natural sugars develop. Select the smallest roots you can find, no larger than a typical carrot; large, overgrown specimens typically taste tough, dry, and bitter, so I don’t buy them.

Ingredients:
2 to 2 1/2 pounds small or thin parsnips, scrubbed, rinsed, peeled and trimmed
2 to 3 tablespoons clarified butter, ghee, avocado oil, extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil
2 teaspoons pie spice or dried, powdered rosemary or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon ground black pepper, optional (omit if using pie spice)
1/2 teaspoon finely ground, unrefined sea salt
 

1. Preheat oven to 400˚ F. Lightly grease a 14x9x2-inch or 18x9x2-inch roasting pan. 
2. Cut parsnips into 3- to 4-inch lengths, then in half lengthwise, and in half lengthwise again to make french-fry like sticks. Add to a large bowl and toss with ghee or oil to coat. Add the herbs or spices and sea salt and toss again to distribute the seasonings. 
3. Transfer the vegetables to the baking pan. Roast, uncovered, for about 40 minutes, or until tender and slightly golden, turning them with a metal spatula after 20 to 25 minutes.  Serve warm (or cool in a pack lunch).
4. Cover and refrigerate leftovers and use within 3 days.

1 serving (about 3/4 cup) parsnips: 118 calories, 3 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 41 mg calcium,11 mg sodium

1 serving ( about 3/4 cup) carrots: 119 calories, 2 g protein, 14 g carbohydrate (6 g fiber), 5 g fat, 53 mg calcium, 61 mg sodium

Variations:

*  Roasted Carrot & Parsnip “Fries”: Use half carrots and half parsnips above.

*  Roasted Carrot “Fries”: Use only carrots in the master recipe above.

Source: The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook by Rachel Albert & Don Matesz (Planetary Press, 2004).

Gluten Free Pasta with Dairy-Free Pesto

If you follow a wheat-free or gluten-free diet, or you aspire to, you may be pining for pasta. I realize you don’t just want pasta, you want great tasting pasta to enjoy in your favorite recipes. Five to 10 years ago that might have been an iffy proposition. All that has changed. Here in 2011, it’s definitely a reality. I’ve tried several brands of gluten-free pasta and listened to colleagues, friends, and bloggers who cook and eat a lot of pasta.

If you tried some of the earlier gluten-free pasta options and found them soggy and unpalatable, don’t rule out the newer versions. I found two brands I really like and highly recommend.

The brand that receives the most raves is Tinkyata Pasta. This stone ground whole grain brown rice pasta has a firm texture and great taste. It’s free of wheat, gluten, corn, eggs, dairy, casein, nuts, and peanuts. So if you or your family members have multiple food allergies, this is probably the best brand for you. It's also certified organic and kosher certified. It has a great mouthfeel and holds up well to sauces.

Tinyata makes 18 wheat-free, gluten-free pastas, including spaghetti, spinach spaghetti, spirals, vegetable spirals, shells, grand shells, fusilli, elbows, fettucini, lasagna, penne, and little dreams (a kid kind of shape). Ingredients: organic brown rice, rice brand, and water. Spinach and vegetable pastas contain added vegetables. 

I tried their brown rice spaghetti a few months ago when one of my cooking students used it to make her final recipe for Whole Foods Cuisine I. She topped it with the Practically Paleo Pesto recipe from my book, The Garden of Eating. (The recipe can be made with basil and parsley, mint and parsley, or cilantro and parsley.) My students were impressed with the pasta and the pesto. I would definitely buy that pasta. I want to try some of the other shapes made by Tinkyata. I have a dairy-free mac & cheese recipe from The Spunky Coconut Blog flagged in my inbox. I'll let you know when I try it.

The other gluten-free pasta I really like is Andean Dream Gluten-Free Spaghetti. It’s gluten-free, corn-free, organic, and Kosher. Ingredients: organic Royal Quinoa and rice flour.

I prepared it according to the package directions for the final class and potluck for my recent 5-week Whole FoodsI Cuisine course at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) in Tempe, AZ. I topped it with Practically Paleo Pesto pulled from my freezer (recipe from The Garden of Eating). I set out parmesan cheese, dulse flakes with toasted sesame seeds, and sea salt as optional additions; people seemed to enjoy it as is.

The plate on the right, my lunch on Saturday, contains Caveman Chili, Better Brussels Sprouts, Roasted Mushrooms, and Herb Scrambled Eggs from The Garden of Eating, the Quiona-Rice pasta with Practically Paleo Pesto, a mini grassfed beef kafta kabob, and Glutino rice crackers. One of my students also made a chicken recipe from my book that was also a hit (not pictured) that I'm eating for lunch today. For dessert, we had three flavors of Ice Dream, dairy-free, coconut milk "ice cream", (from my Ice Dream Cookbook) with Mango and Blueberry Sauces, Karly's Cocoa Sauce, and cakey-textured Chocolate Chip Ice Dream Sandwich Cookies from the same book. The verdict: An enthusiastic row of forks up! You can find some of those recipes on my blog.

Even the skeptics were impressed with the pasta. One had never eaten gluten-free pasta and doubtedthat it would taste good; the other had tried gluten-free pasta years ago and had been so underwhelemed that he gave up on buying it again. The skeptics and the rest of loved the flavor, texture, and mouthfeel. I now have a eight new converts to gluten-free pasta.

By the way, if you like Quinoa check out my Cooking with Quinoa Class at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ, on Sunday, June 26th, 2011. The same class will also run on Sunday, July 17th, 2011. You can read more on the Cooking Class page of this blog. I will show you more great ways to add quinoa to your recipe repertoire.

If you want to make my Practically Paleo Pesto, a dairy-free twist on the classic, click here. Adjust the garlic, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper to your liking. I frequently make it to use up leftovers parsley, basil, cilantro, mint, or some combination of these. It freezes fairly well. I pour it into varying sized small jars (label the contents and date it), cover it with a layer of olive or avocado oil, and freeze. When I want it, I transfer it from the freezer to the fridge a day or so in advance, making it ready to add to Angeled Eggs (Deviled eggs minus the evil sounding name), blanched vegetables, a tossed green salad, an omelet, or mayo. It’s also great spooned over cooked chicken breast, pork loin, sliced tomatoes, or over baked potato, polenta, or gluten-free pasta.

Note: To punch up the flavor after defrosting, you may need to adjust the seasonings. Also, remember, every time you remove some of the pesto from the jar you need to add a layer of olive or avocado oil to the jar to completely cover the pesto to keep it from oxidizing.

If you don't already own a copy of my Garden of Eating Cookbook, click here for ordering information. If you buy it directly from my secured web site you'll receive it within one to two weeks if you order it by insured media mail (faster if you pay for expedited delivery). You'll receive a sample shopping list that goes with the sample month of menus in chapter 13. You'll also get it for a much better price ($34.95 +  sales tax if you live in Arizona) than anywhere else online. Expect to pay $130 or more for a copy on Amazon.

Do you have a favorite brand of gluten-free pasta? Do you have a favorite use for pesto? An unusual ingredient you add to it? I'd love to hear from you. Please let me know by posting a comment below. Click comments and follow the prompts. Come back as often as you like to share more info with my readers. You can do this with any of my blog posts.