Delhi Heights

For some reason, it's hard to get good Indian food in Manhattan, so Chris and I finally got around to heeding the advice of those in the know and headed out to Jackson Heights for lunch today.

We went to Delhi Heights on 74th Street, where we had ourselves a delicious meal of chili paneer, daal tadka, raita, rice, and naan. At the end of the meal, we ordered masala tea, which is brewed right in the milk. We could also have opted for the $9.95 buffet, so perhaps we'll have to go back another time.

Despite eating until we were a little more than satisfied, we still had quite a lot of leftovers to take home. Even better. But man, I'm glad I went to the gym this morning! It's not so much that the food there is "heavy" or the portions are oversized—it's just so good it's hard not to eat more than you need to!

Vitamin B-12 Deficiency

Vitamin deficiencies are something few of us have to deal with. Following a typical western diet allows a healthy person to more than meet their basic nutritional needs, provided they make sure to include enough fruits and vegetables. However, people with certain allergies, intolerances, or other conditions may experience vitamin or mineral deficiencies as a result of their illness.

I spent a little time this evening reading up on vitamin B-12 deficiency after a friend said his doctors suggested it as a potential cause for symptoms that could be related to his recently-diagnosed celiac disease. One of the main deficiencies seen in people with gluten intolerance or sensitivity is B-12, often due to associated malabsorption issues.

B-12 is found mostly in animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, milk, cheese, and eggs. A lot of cereals are fortified with it, and you often see it added to soy milk and "fake meat" products. So while it's slightly more difficult for a vegetarian to meet their B-12 needs, it's by no means impossible.

Symptoms of B-12 deficiency include:

Anemia

Nerve Damage

Paralysis

Supplements may be needed for a period of time to correct the problem. It's just another reminder to bring up concerns with your doctor and not to overlook the diet.

I had a professor who once said that the only disease a vitamin can cure is a deficiency of that vitamin, and while most of us don't have to worry about that, some people do. A lot of people pop multivitamins like candy even when they don't need them, but supplements were created for a reason.

Alex's Chili

It would have been nice if my school had cancelled classes before I woke up for lab, but oh well. At least now I can get some backlogged work done and maybe take a nap later. This week has been a little too busy, and I used up all my cooking-as-procrastination points yesterday, so I have no excuse not to cross a few things off the to-do list. Oh well, at least I have some kick-ass chili and cornbread to look forward to.

After receiving an email from my friend Alex about this amazing-sounding chili the other night, I just had to try making some myself. It sounded much livelier than the sweet potato and black bean chili I'd been planning on making. Unfortunately, my beloved sketchy markets were out of a lot of things, so I had to make a few adjustments.

Alex’s recipe:

First I braised a lb of chicken and set that aside and put in 2 3/4 cups of onions with chili powder, garlic and then added a red and yellow pepper, a full jalapeno, and then tomatoes, blackstrap molasses, tyme, basil, cumin, chicken stock, masa harina, and then garbanzo, adzuki, black and kidney beans… it was good with or without the chicken. Very satisfying. I placed it over brown rice and a small amount of jalapeno cheese.

My make-do interpretation:

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

2 jalepeno peppers

1 red pepper and 1 orange pepper

1 can each black beans, kidney beans, pink beans (low sodium)

1 32-oz can crushed tomatoes

2 tbsp blackstrap molasses

¾ boullion cube dissolved in ¾ cup boiling water

1 cup leftover tomato sauce

a few sprigs of thyme

cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop the onion, garlic and peppers (including jalepeno) either by hand or in a food processor. Sautee for a few minutes.

Add the beans, tomatoes, boullion, crushed tomato, tomato sauce, molasses, and spices. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down and cover.

Simmer for an hour or so.

Chris got in on the act and whipped up some cornbread, which we threw in the bowl and poured the chili over. There was also some cheddar cheese involved. It was the perfect thing on a miserable day...

Meatless Mondays to Come to New York City Schools?

This week, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a report titled "A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System," in which he proposed several health-promoting measures for New York City schools. As ways of addressing the fact that one in five NYC kindergarten children is obese, Stringer suggested the following measures:

• Require Food Curriculum in Public Schools
• Expose City Students to Farms and Gardens
• Institute Meatless Mondays in City Schools

For more info, check out NYU's Wagner Food Policy Alliance blog.

There have been both positive and negative responses to the "Meatless Mondays" proposal, in particular. I, for one, am in favor of it—as long as the food being served includes real vegetables and whole grains rather than just pizza, french fries, and ketchup. For example, vegan chili is incredibly easy to make in large quantities for cheap and is packed with nutrients.

One of the main concerns of people unfamiliar with vegetarian eating is protein. Nine times out of ten, the first question is, "WHAT ABOUT PROTEIN?" Contrary to popular belief, once you know what to do (key word: nutrition education), it's incredibly easy. And anyway, as a country, Americans get much more protein than we technically need. One meal without animal protein is not going to cause your kids to shrivel up and die.

Wal-Mart holding its own against Whole Foods?

While it's hardly news that Wal-Mart has become a huge purchaser of organic milk and dairy products, few people think of the superstore giant as a place to buy organic and local produce. In this Atlantic Monthly article, Corby Kummer takes a look and conducts a few blind taste tests.

His overall takeaway?

IN AN IDEAL WORLD, people would buy their food directly from the people who grew or caught it, or grow and catch it themselves. But most people can’t do that. If there were a Walmart closer to where I live, I would probably shop there.

Most important, the vast majority of Walmarts carry a large range of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. And Walmarts serve many “food deserts,” in large cities and rural areas—ironically including farm areas. I’m not sure I’m convinced that the world’s largest retailer is set on rebuilding local economies it had a hand in destroying, if not literally, then in effect. But I’m convinced that if it wants to, a ruthlessly well-run mechanism can bring fruits and vegetables back to land where they once flourished, and deliver them to the people who need them most.

Aspartame, by any other name...

While I am by no means a fan of artificial sweeteners in theory, in practice, I am a compulsive gum-chewer and definitely reach for a can of diet soda a few times a week. The dangers of aspartame are not an alien topic to me. Some people smoke; I gnaw on carcinogens. We can't all be perfect.

I am pretty ticked off, though, about aspartame's new name change. Now called Amino Sweet (because it's sweet and made from two amino acids), it is being marketed as a natural sweetener. Seriously? A substance (created in a lab) initially intended to be a drug that happened to be sweet enough to be a food additive does not sound natural to me. Also, it makes it harder for people with allergies to avoid unless they know about the switch.

This article, the tone of which I find a bit alarmist and grating though informative, offers a history of aspartame and details about its PR makeover. After reading it on my mom's blog, I had to repost.

And take a look at the Ajinomoto press release.

Healthy Cocktails?

It's finally Friday, and if my body could talk (vocal chords aside), it would say, "Get this girl a drink!" Preferably, a sparkling red wine—my new favorite.

While a little bit of any kind of alcohol can be good for you, "health" isn't exactly one of the words most of us think of when we hear "cocktail." However, in recent years, health-conscious concoctions have become pretty trendy.

Personally, I'm more of a wine drinker and think the idea of trying to make cocktails into health drinks is pretty silly, but I did go to bartending school, so I can see the fun in coming up with new recipes. Maybe if I ever get around to having that dinner party I've been wanting to have, I'll whip something up. Here are a couple ideas from Women's Health.

Cheers!

In Honor of Fashion Week

Earlier this week, the New York Times ran a piece about (surprise, surprise) the casting of young, super-thin models in favor of older girls with healthier BMIs.

You can read it here.

There was something about it that rubbed me the wrong way. At first I thought it was the model they profiled, then I thought maybe it was just the choppy flow of the article. I realize, though, that it's more likely that I'm just sick of hearing the same thing.

Part me of me wonders, "Why print the same old thing year after year after year?" Has it really gotten any better or worse? If you're going to tell me about the size of fashion models, rather than print one woman's complaints, why not write about a few models who died of anorexia this year or devote an article to shows whose designers insisted on having girls who've gone through puberty on their runway?

New Blog

Good morning! Just wanted to let you know that I recently became the Daily Plate Food Blogger for All Access Internships, a site that was created as a resource for dietetics students.

I'll still be posting here regularly, but you can read even more (and see more pictures) on All Access. You can view the blogs here.

And please follow if you're interested! There are lots of really great bloggers writing on all different hot topics in the field of nutrition. For a change, I'm just the recipe gal who posts about eating and cooking well, which I'm finding to be really fun. It's making think I'd like to write a whole cookbook or some kind of cooking/nutrition hybrid.

Anyway, that's still a long time away. Got to get my degree first!

Weight Loss Surgery for Teens

In the Science section of today's New York Times, there was an article about getting weight loss surgeries such as lap-band and gastric bypass procedures. The piece told the story of one girl who, now 20, had a gastric bypass when she was 14, going from 404 pounds to 175. She was the first

A 2007 study, which used data from 2000 to 2003, showed that, although rare, bariatric surgery in children and teens was on the rise. It is estimated that it will continue to rise, becoming almost as common in children as in adults.

While I think options are an important thing and that as time goes on, and that it may become easier to address and avoid some of the complications that result from weight loss surgery, I worry that people would come to see it as a quick fix rather than as a major life-changing procedure.

You don't just get up off the operating table and go eat a burger. It takes a long, long time to adjust to being able to eat a much smaller volume of food, and there are also many nutritional anemias and deficiencies that can develop post-op, depending on the type of surgery you've had and how it affects the digestion and absorption process. In children who aren't done growing, there is some concern about longterm effects.

Read the full article here.

Happy Love!

Every February, we get to read new versions of the same old article about aphrodisiac foods. This year’s Love Drugs parade did not disappoint. I think that by far, my favorite article was Vegetarian Times’ “Feast of Love,” which pictured a group of four enjoying a romantic dinner of Roasted Vegetable Linguine with Fresh Torn Basil, Feta-Stuffed Peppadews, Pineapple-Fennel Salad with Ginger-Sesame Dressing, Crispy Kale Leaves, and Chocolate-Nutmeg Pots de Crème.

The pictures are the best part. Models trying to look dewy-eyed and, yes, love-drugged, as they gesture to the serving platters and lift forks to each other’s mouths. They appear to be in a house with glass walls, as well. It’s nearing sunset. Of course.

Quite appropriately, the following article is about five different ways to prepare oats, encouraging the reader to “Rekindle your relationship with a heart-healthful favorite.” Yeah, I know they mean one’s relationship with oats, but come on—I can’t be the only one imagining the Feast of Love folks waking up on the living room floor, covered in baby oil or something and saying, “Hey, guys, let’s go make some oats! Happy love!”

While I believe that if you eat well and take care of yourself, you’re bound to have better stamina and enjoy overall, um, benefits, I don’t think there are any magic foods that can suddenly turn your average Joe into a sex machine (check out this NYTimes article on the subject). The only genuine aphrodisiac I’d associate with a meal is one’s mate offering to run you a bath so you can relax while they do the dishes.

I considered writing a parody article, complete with recipes like baked asparagus (thought to “stir up lust”) with almonds (which can evoke arousal in women) and ginger (stimulates the circulatory system so the blood flows efficiently to you know where!), and figs (a powerful female sex symbol) stuffed with tapenade, but I just couldn’t get my act together.

However, if you want to make the soft pink dessert tacos that just weren’t subtle enough, it’s very easy:

*In a bowl or food processor, blend together 1/3 cup low-fat ricotta, a handful of raspberries, a teaspoon of vanilla, and sugar to taste.
*Heat two small soft tortillas in a skillet in a little butter or put in the oven to warm up. Sprinkle brown sugar on the inside.
*Spread the ricotta-raspberry mixture down the center of each tortilla and fold over as you would a taco.
*Broil for one minute
*Garnish with dark chocolate shavings (optional)

Last year, Chris and I stayed home and cooked, and we talked about doing that again this year, but we decided to make reservations at Pure Food and Wine instead.

This morning I fueled up with what I’ll call the “Brangelina Special”: Oats with bananas cooked in, along with a little cocoa powder and then topped with cinnamon and a spoonful of almond butter. I got my B-vitamins, potassium (both good for sex hormone production), phallic symbolism, passion-inducing-nut flavor, and feel-good chemicals all in one shot.

New Obsession

Sweet potatoes with goat cheese—who knew? I was starving the other night after yoga, so in addition to my veggie burger with avocado and tomato and leftover brussel sprouts, I microwaved a sweet potato and tucked a generous amount of goat cheese in. It was absolutely delicious—makes me wonder why people bother with sour cream and butter and all that other usual stuff.

"Let's Move" Gets Moving

Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative, geared at raising "a healthier generation of kids" and fighting childhood obesity. This week, she announced the campaign to much enthusiasm. While "Let's Move" doesn't cover food marketing to kids, it does offer a comprehensive plan to address factors that contribute to childhood obesity. One of the main things is to get kids to eat less and move more as well as to ensure that healthier food is served in schools.

On the Whitehouse.gov site, a release was posted detailing the plan:

Let’s Move is comprehensive, collaborative, and community-oriented and will include strategies to address the various factors that lead to childhood obesity. It will foster collaboration among the leaders in government, medicine and science, business, education, athletics, community organizations and more. And it will take into account how life is really lived in communities across the country – encouraging, supporting and pursuing solutions that are tailored to children and families facing a wide range of challenges and life circumstances.

You can read more about it here.

Garlic Soup Part 2

Here I go again with the garlic soup. Maybe it's the snow day and the illusion of more time to get my work done, but I've been cooking all kinds of things today: roasted peppers, marinara sauce, and now I've got some garlic soup simmering on the stove. Chris is on hummus duty later on, he says.

This time, I'm attempting to make a more brothy garlic soup than last time, so I omitted the cubed potato I added last time as a thickener. I'm also taking pictures this time!

Here's the revised recipe:

Ingredients:

* 1- 2 tbsp of olive oil
* 2 heads garlic
* 1 small shallot
* 1 small sweet onion
* 1 can white cannelinni beans
* salt and white pepper to taste
* fresh thyme and/or a sprinkle of dried rosemary
* 3 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

* Peel the garlic and place the cloves in a roasting pan or dish. Coat with a tsp or so of olive oil and cover. Roast for about 40 minutes at 350.
* Add remaining olive oil to soup pan and heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the onion and shallot. Cook for about a minute.
* Add the beans and then the vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook about 20-30 minutes.
* When the garlic cloves are done, add them to the soup. Stir.
* Blend thoroughly with a hand mixer or blender. I used an immersion blender.
* Return to stove. Season with salt if desired, and pepper. Throw in some fresh thyme.
* Cover and cook over low for another 20 minutes or so.

Serves 2-3

How Far Should You Go To Avoid Processed Foods?

A few years ago, everyone was carb-phobic. Before that Americans went to great lengths to avoid fat. Could processed goods be the next "fear food?"

I found this post on a nutrition blog I follow particularly disconcerting because the person writing in with a question was wondering whether they were better off getting their vitamin D and calcium from supplements after finding out that soy milk is a processed food.

Fortunately, the RD who runs this blog advised that a completely "unprocessed" diet isn't exactly practical and that where the line is drawn between processed and unprocessed is somewhat arbitrary. She points to these points from Michael Pollan's Food Rules as a way of offering guidance:


1. Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize.

2. Don't eat cereal that changes the color of your milk.

3. Eat more food that comes without packaging.

4. Look for foods with fewer than 5 ingredients in the ingredient list.

5. Avoid things made with ingredients that you don't recognize as food.

6. Eat more whole intact grains and less flour.

7. Eat most of your fruit whole and unprocessed.

8. Eat at least some of your vegetables raw every day.

PS—speaking of Michael Pollan, he was on Democracy Now today—definitely worth a listen!

Fake Meat Article

Some of you guys who've been to my apartment or out to eat with Chris and I are familiar with the whole "fake meat" thing. Check out this article I wrote for RestaurantGirl.com!

Here's a teaser:

If you’re a vegetarian, chances are dining-out is a challenge. You scan the menu for something that doesn’t involve animals or fish and those dishes tend to be few and far between. Oftentimes you’re left to decide between several side dishes and something well-intentioned like a seasonal vegetable plate or pasta that totally misses the mark. It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality. Unless of course, you head to a strictly vegetarian or raw restaurant, but those tend to be a snooze.. Which is why we eat in a lot of the time. It’s so much easier to heat up some soy chicken nuggets, cut them up to toss with a salad or even make a barbecue “riblet” sandwich (yes, you can even find vegetarian ribs), but eating out can be a different story.

To read the full article, click here.

And stay tuned for more writing-related announcements!

Probiotics—Too much of a good thing?

As of late, I find myself hooked on ginger kombucha. If you haven't tried it, you really should. It's delicious. A raw, probiotic beverage, it is thought to support (according to the label):

Digestion
Metabolism
Immune System
Appetite Control
Weight Control
Liver Function
Body Alkalinity
Anti-Aging
Cell Integrity
Healthy Skin & Hair

The main attraction to me is that it tastes really good. Oh my goodness, it's addictive. It also doesn't suck that it's packed with B-vitamins (hard to get if you don't eat meat) as well as folic acid. It also contains organic acids and antioxidants along with 1 billion Lactobacillus Bacterium and another 1 billion S. Boulardii. That's per serving, which means that each 16-ounce bottle houses 4 billion bacterium.

These little organisms are a few types of the "good" bacteria that we need in our system, and among the casualties that result from antibiotic use.

I have a friend who swears that kombucha is her hangover cure, and I can see why. B-vitamins aid in the carbohydrate metabolizing process and dilates blood vessels. A lot of people find they restore energy and stamina, as increased blood flow allows the energy to flow through the body.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, this kombucha stuff is expensive! It's easy to spend three to four bucks on a 16-ounce bottle, though Chris brought one home for me last night when he went to Whole Foods, where they were on sale for $2.50.

Anyway, I just have to wonder if you can get too many probiotic bacteria from food. Supplements are a different story—I think when you're taking supplements, it easier to take too much. However, to be on the safe side, I try not to drink kombucha on a day when I drink kefir (a probiotic fermented milk drink) or eat a lot of yogurt. I've read that it's very hard to overdo it because we need billions of these bacteria, but I'm a classic hypochondriac.

Do You Need More Vitamin D?

Every few years, one vitamin or other will shove the reigning champion out of its throne and become the new Big Deal Vitamin. For a while, it was Vitamin E, but more recently, Vitamin D has been in the limelight.

Vitamin D is made in the body from sunlight (supposedly dietary cholesterol plays a role as well), and it also exists in fish and fortified milk. Among its "healing" properties, vitamin D is thought to help build strong bones, strengthen the immune system, and reduce the risks for conditions like diabetes and cancer.

According to a 2008 report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, about half of adults and kids in our country are deficient.

A lot more doctors have begun to test patients' levels, and in the past year-and-a-half, and people are spending over five times on vitamin D supplements than they were several years ago. Should you join in?

It's still a little early to tell, and many doctors worry that taking too much could do more harm than good. In this New York Times article, Tara Parker-Pope details a few recent studies that show some possible benefit to making sure people get adequate levels of vitamin D. However, it's possible to do things that help you get more vitamin D, such as exercising outdoors or even just taking a walk around the block during the day. You can also drink milk. Remember when people used to drink that instead of soda?