The magic technique to get people to eat their greens

 

I used to always cook my dark leafy greens like kale, broccoli rabe and mustard greens to death. I did that because I thought I had to, to get rid of their sharp, cruciferous and often bitter taste. That’s probably why my husband met my “we’re having kale for dinner tonight, honey” announcement with something less than enthusiasm. He always politely choked the stuff down, but I bet he would rather have been eating castor oil.

That’s until I discovered a new technique for “massaging” bitter greens with a tangy dressing using your bare hands. Sound weird? It kind of is, but hear me out: By squeezing (or massaging) raw bitter greens you actually start to break down the cell walls, releasing enzymes that split apart the bitter-tasting compounds. And, you also work in the flavor of the dressing. (We like lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, olive oil and a splash of reduced-sodium soy sauce, but you can experiment with any dressing.) Who knew the solution to overcooking dark leafy greens to make them palatable was actually not cooking them at all? Here’s the basic technique:

1. Start with kale, mustard greens or even broccoli rabe. Remove the tough stems.

2. Wash the leaves (and your hands). Tear the leaves into small pieces and put them in a large bowl.

3. Pour your dressing in (enough to coat the leaves) and squeeze the leaves in the bowl together with the dressing until the leaves darken in color and the volume shrinks to about half, and you’re done!

Massaged Kale Salad
Here a pungent garlicky dressing is infused into kale by massaging the greens and the dressing together with your hands. Any type of kale will work in this kale salad recipe, just remember to remove the tough stems before you start.

What’s your favorite way to cook (or not to cook!) dark leafy greens? Tell us what you think below.

View the original article here

Ler mais »

How to pick the perfect apple

 

There’s something about that moment when you bite into the first, fresh, perfectly tart apple of the autumn season that reminds you: “Yes, this is what fall is supposed to taste like.” But while I love pretty much all in-season apple varieties, they’re not all equally suited for every purpose. I definitely plan to do some baking this fall (Don’t hate: Nothing goes better with Sunday afternoon football—Go Giants!), and when I do I’ll reach for certain types of apples while avoiding others. Ditto making salads, cooking, making applesauce or just eating an apple whole.

So how do you know which kind of apple is best to buy? I’ve created this handy guide for picking the right apple for every occasion.

Before we begin, a quick note: It’s good to keep in mind that, regardless of what kind of apple you prefer, their nutrition is fantastic. A medium apple (3-inch diameter) contains 4 grams of fiber plus a bit of Vitamin C and Potassium.

How to pick the perfect apple:

For Baking and Cooking
When it comes to baking, some people are partial to firmer apples that keep their shape in the oven while others prefer a softer apple that breaks down. In the EatingWell Test Kitchen, we like to combine the two. It’s also important to opt for apples with enough tartness to stand up to the sweetness of your creation. You want an apple pie that tastes like apples, not sugar!
EatingWell Recommends: McIntosh and Granny Smith are great for baking. When the softer McIntosh mixes with the more toothsome Granny Smith, presto! You’ve got yourself the perfect apple pie.

For Salads
There are many apple varieties that could taste great in a salad, but if you’re not planning to serve it immediately, you might want to opt for a variety that takes longer to turn brown.
EatingWell Recommends: If you want to include fresh apples in a dish but don’t have time to assemble it á la minute, Cortlands are the best bet—they don’t turn brown as quickly as other varieties and the bright red skin and snow-white flesh look striking against a contrasting backdrop.

For Eating
Of course, the perfect apple for eating is a matter of personal preference, but I thought it might be interesting to take a look at why certain apples seem to get so much love. For instance, the Honeycrisp tends to be almost universally adored while the Red Delicious is a bit more, well, controversial. Why is that? I spoke with the Honeycrisp’s cultivator, the University of Minnesota’s David Bedford, to find out for the September/October issue of EatingWell Magazine. He explained to me that Honeycrisps have cells twice the size of a normal fruit—so, twice as packed with juice—and strong cell walls that shatter rather than fall apart when bitten into. The result? As Bedford puts it: “They defined a new category of crisp…we had to coin the term ‘explosively crisp’ to describe them.” In contrast, Red Delicious have relatively weak cell walls. As a result, if you don’t get a really fresh one, you’re likely to bite into a mealy mess.
EatingWell Recommends: Fans of the Honeycrisp might want to try the brand new variety Sweetango. Cultivated by David Bedford as well, it has Honeycrisp’s signature crunch, but is a bit tarter.

A bushel basket of new apple varieties have made their way to market over the last few years, including juicy, floral Jazz, firm Ambrosia and the delicate, almost tropical Piñata. We at EatingWell also love a trio of summer varieties that come imported from New Zealand: Eve, Smitten and Tentation. You might not be able to find all of these varieties where you live, but you’ll certainly find some. Whatever you choose, be sure to get them soon. There’s only so long that these apples are at their peak flavor and it would be a shame to miss out.

How to Pick the Best Apples

There are so many kinds of apples that it’s impossible to follow one general rule when looking for the right attributes, but there are a few key points to seek out. Choose unbruised apples that feel firm and heavy in your hand. Be sure to look for richly colored fruits with smooth skin. Also, watch out for signs of russeting—that’s those tan or brown streaky, corky marks that sometimes show up on the stem or base end of the apple, caused by excessive wetness or fungus.

What’s your favorite kind of apple? Tell us what you think below.

Ler mais »

Healthy Mexican recipes that won't make you gordo

 Remember when chipotle was an exotic ingredient? Now we have Chipotle (the restaurant) on every other corner. Americans love Mexican food when we eat out. Mexican chain restaurants grew twice as fast as other chains in 2009, according to a recent report. I love nachos dripping with melted cheese as much as you do, but fat and calorie levels are sky-high on many of those oversized restaurant platters of enchiladas or chimichangas slathered in cheese and sauces. It’s enough to make you cry into your margarita. Instead, let’s focus on the bright, fresh tastes of authentic Mexican food, delivered by these recipes for quick, healthier Mexican dinners you can make at home.

Stovetop Fideos: We have quick, healthy Mexican recipes for all tastes. For a meatless meal, try Stovetop Fideos, a version of a traditional dish that starts with toasted pasta (the fideos), throws in a market-basketful of vegetables and cooks it all together in one pot with a garlicky broth.

Coctel de Camarones: Looking for something healthy to fill those big, beautiful margarita glasses? Make a lively and lovely Coctel de Camarones (that’s a Mexican take on shrimp cocktail). It has that “easy yet elegant” thing going on, so it’s great for entertaining too.

Homemade Chorizo Tortas: I like to mix things up and have a hot sandwich for dinner sometimes. A torta is the Mexican version of a panini—a pressed sandwich made with crusty bread that can have an endless array of fillings. For our Homemade Chorizo Tortas, we make our own chorizo-inspired filling by spicing up ground pork or turkey.

Chicken with Quick Mole Sauce: Another traditional Mexican dish is chicken with mole (rhymes with “Olé!”) sauce. Some moles have lengthy ingredient lists and can take hours to make. Chicken with Quick Mole Sauce is ready in 35 minutes and still full of rich, fascinating flavor.

Steak Burritos: Here’s a steak burrito (pictured above) you’ll be making more than once—it’s everything you want in a burrito and just about everything you need for dinner tonight. We’ve kept this home-style version a bit simpler to make and a whole lot healthier with brown rice, whole-wheat tortillas and a more reasonable serving size. We recommend wrapping it in foil—the traditional way to serve it—so you can pick the burrito up and eat it without it falling apart, peeling back the foil as you go. Serve with a cold beer and vinegar-dressed slaw.

What’s a Mexican-restaurant favorite you’d like to be able to make a healthier version of at home? Tell us what you think below.

Ler mais »

Fast, healthy 4-ingredient dinners

 With two little boys at home, I’m on a mission to streamline my dinner routine. My focus? Simplify. One of the awesome parts of working as the digital editor at EatingWell Magazine is that I’m surrounded by amazing healthy food every day. The problem is, I think I can go home and cook all of these awesome recipes on a weeknight, when what I really need to do is just get a healthy, simple meal on the table so my family can still have some time to enjoy our night.

Recipes to Try: 20-Minute 5-Ingredient Dinner Recipes

I combed EatingWell’s recipe database and found these healthy, super-simple 4-ingredient dinners to help me eat well but cook simply. (I didn’t count kitchen staples like salt, pepper, oil, flour, sugar against my 4-ingredient limit.) And they’re all ready in 30 minutes or less of cooking time, most in 20 minutes—plenty of time to steam a vegetable on the side and make instant brown rice or quinoa.

The other bonus of these 4-ingredient dinner recipes? They’ll minimize my grocery shopping too!

Pork Chops au Poivre

Turn your dining room into a French bistro when you dress up pepper-crusted pork chops with a rich, creamy brandy sauce. Serve with roasted sweet potato slices and green beans.

Apple, Sauerkraut & Cheddar Quesadillas

This combination may seem unusual—until you try it. The sweet-tartness of the apple, creaminess of the cheese and bite of the sauerkraut work together beautifully in this easy hot sandwich. Serve with oven-roasted potatoes or a green salad.

Grilled Steaks Balsamico

A simple marinade of pureed dried figs and store-bought balsamic vinaigrette adds intense flavor to steak. This recipe is adapted from Lori Welander’s grand prize-winning recipe from the 2003 National Beef Cook-Off.

Mustard-Crusted Salmon

This updated French bistro dish makes a simple dinner any night of the week. You might want to consider doubling the batch and using the remaining salmon in a tossed salad the next day, or even as the salmon topper in the Warm Salmon Salad with Crispy Potatoes.

New England Fried Shrimp

Who doesn’t love a crunchy fried shrimp? This version takes virtually fat-free shrimp out of the deep fryer and pan-fries them in a little bit of oil instead. With 9 grams of total fat and 213 calories per serving, you can feel good about enjoying them.

Stir-Fried Spicy Chicken Tenders
A bag of frozen peppers and onions can be a quick start to a stir-fry; here, it’s combined with almost fat-free chicken tenders for a speedy dinner. Serve this dish with warm polenta rounds or brown rice.

What are your best 4-ingredient dinner recipes? Tell us what you think below.

Ler mais »

7 easy ways to make your kitchen healthier

 

Forget spring-cleaning: fall is the perfect time to spruce up your kitchen. Now that you’ve recovered from the laziness of summer (maybe I’m projecting a bit here) but before the craziness of the holiday season, there’s a perfect window for tossing those mystery items in the back of your fridge, replacing that gray-looking sponge sitting by your sink and cleaning those drips from the ceiling of your microwave. And while you’re scrubbing your cooking area to make it look nicer, you may as well do a few things to make it healthier too. Here, I’ve compiled some of the best, simple tricks that we’ve published in EatingWell over the years that will help make your kitchen a healthier place for you and your family.

1. Print out a list of the Dirty Dozen. Pesticide exposure is linked with diseases of the nervous system and problems with cell growth, including reproductive problems and some cancers. By keeping a list on hand of “the Dirty Dozen”—the 12 fruits and vegetables the Environmental Working Group has identified as having the most pesticide residues—you can curb your pesticide exposure. (Find out which fruits and vegetables you should buy organic here.) Keep in mind, though, even conventionally grown fruits and vegetables deliver important vitamins and other nutrients. So, if buying organic is not an option for you, don't sweat it—it's more important to eat fruits and vegetables than to shun them because they're conventionally grown.

2. Turn down the heat on nonstick pans. High temperatures can cause the nonstick lining on your skillet or saucepan to release fumes that contain PFCs (perfluorocarbons). PFCs are linked to liver damage and developmental problems. Remember to use wooden utensils in your nonstick pans too. They’re less likely to scratch than metal utensils, which could lead you to ingest the PFCs in the nonstick lining. As an alternative to nonstick, try using cast iron. Find out how to season your cast-iron skillet here.

3. Choose skim or low-fat dairy and lean meat. At EatingWell, we consider meats and dairy to be great options for getting protein and essential nutrients. But animal fat can contain dioxins—chemicals that are stored in animal fat and have cancer-causing properties. More than 90% of your exposure to dioxins is through food, mostly meat, dairy, fish and shellfish. To make sure that your next meal is safe and healthy, opt for lean meat and low-fat dairy products and take the time to skin your chicken or trim the fat from meat before cooking it. (Check out the best and worst protein sources for your health and the planet here.)

4. Tackle your plastic container collection. Many plastic containers contain BPA (bisphenol A), a chemical that’s a known endocrine disruptor, which could be linked to prostate and breast cancer, infertility, heart disease and diabetes. Set aside containers marked with recycling code “7” and not labeled BPA-free and retire them from food-storage duty. And when it’s time to clean them, take the time to hand-wash any plastic food-storage containers. A 2003 study found that plastic bottles released more BPA after they were cleaned in the dishwasher. (Find out 9 green must-have items for your kitchen.)

5. Find a new fish that’s low in mercury. Fish can be a fantastic source of omega-3s and a delicious protein to serve for dinner. But watch out for mercury! In high doses, mercury can harm the nervous system, heart, lungs, kidneys and immune system (and even low levels can affect the brains of young children). Print out a pocket guide of low-mercury seafood choices in your region from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Find a new fish that’s low in mercury to try for dinner this week.

6. Filter your tap water. You might not think of water as a source of toxins, but tap water can in fact contain up to 315 pollutants, including arsenic (a heavy metal) and pesticides, according to a 2009 analysis by the Environmental Working Group. And bottled water can contain the same contaminants as tap. Fortunately, there's an easy fix: filter your tap water. Look for a filter for your sink, a pitcher filter or even one in a water bottle. Just make sure it’s certified by the Water Quality Association (wqa.org) or NSF International (nsf.org) to screen out pesticides from farms and golf courses that can leach into well water. In most cases, a $15-20 PUR or Brita pitcher filter will do the trick.

7. Clean out your cleaning products. Take 5 minutes to look under your kitchen sink and read the labels on your cleaning products. Toss ones that contain synthetic fragrances, which contain phthalates. Phthalates act as endocrine disruptors, interfering with the body’s hormone systems and potentially leading to reproductive abnormalities, problems with fertility and increased risk for diabetes.

What are your best tips for making your kitchen healthier? Tell us what you think below.

Ler mais »

What Is the CarbLovers Diet?

The editors of Health magazine have big news for you. Our beloved carb-filled foods will not make us fat. Instead, they will actually make us thin. "Carbophobia," or the fear of carbs, is rampant. Almost every woman has skipped the bread basket or a pasta dish at some point in her life. We’ve learned to fear carbs because we’ve been told for more than 25 years that foods filled with carbohydrates make us gain weight.

Well, we, the editors of Health magazine, have big news for you. There is new research—reliable, solid, groundbreaking research by the smartest minds in nutritional science right now—that reveals our old, beloved carb-filled foods will not make us fat. Instead, they will actually make us thin. We put all the research into our new CarbLovers Diet book.

Order the CarbLovers Diet book!

Scientists at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for Human Nutrition, in Denver, along with a team of international researchers uncovered new evidence that revealed that eating the right carbs is the best way to get and stay slim. Other exciting new studies showed that certain carb-rich foods:

Shrink fat cells, especially in your belly
Boost fat burning
Increase muscle mass
Curb cravings
Keep you feeling full longer than other foods
Control blood sugar
Lower cholesterol and triglycerides

Perhaps the most surprising piece of research was a large-scale look into the eating patterns that determine whether people will be fat or skinny over the course of a lifetime. This multicenter study of 4,451 people found out something stunning: It concluded that the slimmest people ate the most carbs (in the form of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables), and the chubbiest people ate the fewest carbs.

Getting ready to lose weight on carbs
If you’ve been convinced for years that eating carbs will make you fat, it’s going to take time for you to adjust to the new reality that they are the best things that ever happened to your waistline.

However, being a CarbLover does not mean you get to stuff yourself with bagels and cookies all day. What you’ll be doing on this plan is increasing your total intake of carbs, and upping the percentage of a type of carb called Resistant Starch in your diet. Resistant Starch is a kind of carbohydrate getting lots of attention in scientific circles these days.

Studies show that adding a little Resistant Starch to your morning meal will shift your body into fat-melting mode, so that you burn nearly 25% more calories a day. Meanwhile, you’ll eat about 10% fewer calories—simply because you’re not as hungry (foods containing Resistant Starch are quite filling)—so you end up eating less overall.

Resistant Starch–filled foods aren’t those magic, super-expensive ingredients; they’re right there, at your local supermarket. They are bread, cereals, potatoes (even potato chips!), and bananas.

Ler mais »

Weigh in With Jen: Part 6 – First Week on the Plan

I was excited about starting my first week on my new portion-controlled eating plan.  I was excited about starting my first week on my new portion-controlled eating plan. I downloaded a little computer program that sat on my desktop and counted my POINTS, and I was enjoying my menu of Lean Cuisine steak-and-mushroom paninis (6 POINTS) and sugar-free, double-chocolate Jell-O pudding (1 POINT!). I was also pleased that my Weight Watchers plan had a minimum intake attached, so I wasn’t tempted to undereat and break my goal of incorporating small changes, not to mention just asking for a reactive binge.

I called mom around dinnertime on the first day.

“How’s the diet going?” I asked.

“Great—I’ve only had FOUR POINTS all day!” she crowed.

That was about 20 percent of her recommended minimum intake. To think I wondered where I picked up my lack of moderation.

“Mom, you know this isn’t a competition to see who can eat the least amount of points, right?” I asked.

“Oh,” she said.

That settled, I stuck to my plan as closely as possible. I was a little hungry for most of the week, but not starved. If necessary, I could’ve chosen some no-POINTS foods to stave off the munchies, but I didn’t find it necessary. In other words, I was hungry, but I wasn’t celery hungry.

I couldn’t wait for my first weigh-in. I think you always lose the most the first week, which gives you a boost of motivation for the slower weeks ahead. I was still committed to losing it slowly—maybe even over an entire year—but I wanted the results from those first seven days to show me I was on the right track.

I wasn’t disappointed; I lost 3.8 lbs. the first week. Maybe not enough to change a size or anything, but certainly enough to prove I could still eat what I loved and lose weight. I couldn’t wait for next week.

Current weight: 183.2
Weight Lost: 3.8 lb.

Next Time: Eating out and other obstacles

Ler mais »