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TIP OF THE DAY: Rainbow Vegetables

February 26, 2014 at 8:43 am · Filed under Entertaining, Food Fun, Tip Of The Day, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs

rainbow-baby-carrots-www.sprinkledsideup-230
Baby carrots move beyond the familiar
orange to purple, red and yellow. Photo
courtesy Sprinkle Side Up. See her recipe for
glazed rainbow carrots.

  

In picking up supplies for our “diet Oscars menu,” we came across rainbow baby carrots—our first sighting—and rainbow cherry tomatoes, which have been available in our market for a few years.

Although we’re months from peak produce season, it got us thinking of how delightful it is to come across a familiar food with a fun twist. Most of the veggies below are natural mutations (as was red grapefruit and many other foods); some are cross-bred; none are GMO.

It’s not just about fun; there are nutritional benefits as well. Colored foods tend to be more antioxidant rich than pale and white foods. For example, orange cauliflower contains high levels of beta-carotene; purple cauliflower contains anthocyanin, an antioxidant that gives purple color to a variety of foods, including red cabbage and red onions. Green cauliflower just happens to have more protein than the other colors.

So today’s tip is: Keep an eye out and treat yourself to whatever is new and different. Grocers know that customers want new options, so even if there’s no farmers market near you, keep looking.

Then tell us what you found, and how you served it.

 

  • Bell peppers: Beyond the familiar green and red are black (purplish), orange, yellow and white bell peppers (photo). They all start out green, and ripen into the rainbow colors.
  • Colored cauliflower: Green, orange and purple cauliflowers are natural mutants of white cauliflower (which itself was bred to be whiter). Green cauliflower, also called broccoflower, has a lighter green cousin.
  • Romanesco: Also called Romanesque cauliflower, Romanesco broccoli and Romanesque cabbage, there’s a reason for the different names. Professional plant taxonomists can’t decide precisely where this exotic beauty belongs. A natural vegetable first discovered in Italy, it is one of the most beautiful vegetables imaginable (here’s a photo).
  • Eggplant: Beyond the familiar dark purple, also grows green (Thai eggplant), lavender, orange (Ethiopian, scarlet or Turkish eggplant), pink, and striped purple and white (graffiti eggplant) and white eggplant. The lighter colored eggplants tend to be less bitterness than the dark purple.
    		•

     

  • Purple green beans: These are a mutation where the skin of a regular green been grows violet. Alas, they are only purple when raw; cooking engenders the familiar green skin. But they sure are impressive crudités! (Photo and more information.) And don’t forget the yellow wax beans. A mix of green and yellow is interesting, and much more available.
  • Rainbow baby carrots: Shown in the photo above; the original carrot was white, like a turnip. The other colors—orange, purple, red, yellow—were mutants. Here’s the story.
  • Red leaf lettuce: There are quite a few varieties of red lettuce. Two of our favorites for “prettiest” are red fire lettuce (scroll past the green lettuce) and the beautifully spotted freckles lettuce.
  • Sweet red corn: Look for it during the summer corn season. (Photo.)
  • Swiss chard: Long familiar in green with red accents, check farmers markets to find it in vivid orange, pink, purple, yellow and white. (Photo.)
  • Tomatoes: Anyone who has visited a farmers market has seen the lush colors beyond red: brown, green, orange, purple, striped, yellow, white.
    		•   multicolored-cherry-tomatoes-diannefritzpinterest-230s
    Cherry tomatoes photo courtesy Dianne Fritz.
     
    Isn’t nature grand?

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: The “Diet” Oscar Party

    February 25, 2014 at 8:30 am · Filed under Academy Awards, Entertaining

    everything-crudites-kalviste-230
    We especially like Tribe hummus with
    toppings—although you can always add your
    own toppings     to plain hummus. Photo by Elvira
    Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.    		   “What are you serving for the Oscars?” ask our friends.

    Last year it was a high-calorie gourmet feast, including rich appetizers, duck lasagna with a flight of wines, a cheese plate and a choice of four desserts (cream cheese-frosted cupcakes, Grand Marnier brownies, hazelnut shortbread and tropical fruit salad), followed by several liqueurs sent to THE NIBBLE for tasting.

    The only healthful, moderate-calorie dish of the evening was the fruit salad.

    This year, as we thought about sitting down and eating over four hours, our New Year’s resolution angel popped up and said: “Do you think all those trim stars eat lasagna and cupcakes? Make this year the “healthy Oscars!”

    Point taken! We planned to buy some of the ingredients already prepared, as we won’t have the time to do everything from scratch as we did last year.

    Here’s our lower calorie, better-for-you menu for this year’s Academy Awards:
     
    BEVERAGES

  • Diet sangria: a blend of red wine, diet orange soda, fresh fruit and a touch of Grand Marnier.
  • Flavored and plain club sodas: individually customized with lemon and lime wedges and an assortment of flavored bitters.
  • Wine spriters: diluting both the calories and the alcohol impact.
  • After-dinner coffee or espresso: from our Keurig and Nespresso machines, which make it easy to provide different strengths, flavors and decaf.

    •  
    MUNCHIES

  • Crudités: a colorful, flavorful, tempting selection. The best thing to fill up on is raw veggies!
  • Dips: nonfat Greek yogurt with herbs and garlic and three different flavors of hummus with toppings (we especially like Tribe Natural’s Mediterranean Style, Spicy Red Pepper and Zesty Spice & Garlic). Here’s how to add your own toppings to plain hummus.
  • Seafood: One of our friends, whose family owns restaurants, is bringing a large plat de mer—what a luxury! Otherwise, we’d have gotten a sushi platter.
    		•

     

    MAIN MEAL

  • Salad bar: a build-your-own dinner salad with two lettuce options, salad vegetables, beans, lentils, olives, capers, gherkins, grilled chicken (Perdue Short Cuts) and chipotle-flavored tuna (Bumble Bee).
  • “Salad pizza”: Our local gourmet pizzeria makes a “salad pizza”—10 vegetables on whole wheat dough. If anyone is still hungry, we’ll order one.

    •  
    DESSERT

  • Fruit salad: five or six different fruits, depending on what looks good in the market on Saturday.
  • Micro cupcakes: one guest is bringing an assortment from Baked By Melissa, a New York City chain that makes many flavors of bite-sized cupcakes. Tthe size of a quarter, they’re about 50 calories each. The goal is to eat just one.

    •  
    Even if everyone leaves stuffed, they’ll be stuffed with good-for-you foods.

    		  plateau-de-fruits-de-mer-artisanal-230
    A wonderful contribution to our “Diet Oscars” party. This plat de mer is courtesy Artisanal Restaurant | NYC.
     

      

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    FOOD FUN: You Can’t Have Your Cake And Eat It, Too

    February 24, 2014 at 11:04 am · Filed under Cookies-Cake-Pastry, Food Fun

    devils-food-layer-mackenzieltd-230a
    We’d have to eat this devil’s food cake: The
    temptation is too great! Photo courtesy
    MackenzieLtd.com.    		   You can’t have your cake and eat it too, is a popular English proverb. Some of us wonder why it isn’t reversed, to the more logical “You can’t eat your cake and have it too.”

    The earliest known variation is clear. A letter dated March 14, 1538 from Thomas, Duke of Norfolk to Thomas Cromwell, expresses that “a man can not have his cake and eate his cake.”

    But in either form, people understand that it means that you can’t have it both ways (another proverb). It’s a trade-off.

    This proverb appears in other forms, in other languages. Here’s a partial list from one we found in Wikipedia:
    HAVING IT & KEEPING IT TOO, IN 25 OTHER
    LANGUAGES

    Wolf & Sheep Theme

  • Bosnian: You can’t have both a lamb and money.
  • Bulgarian and Polish: Both the wolf is full, and the lamb is whole.
    		•
  • Czech: The wolf is full and the goat stayed whole.
  • Estonian: The wolves have eaten, [and] the lambs are whole.
  • Lithuanian: To have the wolf fed and the lamb safe.
  • Macedonian: Both the wolf is full, and the sheep are intact.
  • Russian: The wolves are full, and the lambs are whole.
  • Slovenian: The wolf [is] full, and the lamb [is] whole.

    •  

    Goat Theme

  • Hungarian: It is impossible that the goat has enough to eat and the cabbage remains as well.
  • Romanian: You can’t reconcile the goat and the cabbage.
  • Serbian: You can’t have both the goatling and money.

    •  
    Butt Theme

  • Hungarian and Russian: It is impossible to ride two horses with one butt.
  • Serbian: You can’t sit on two chairs with one butt.
    		•

     

    Assorted Themes

  • Chinese: To want a horse that both runs fast and consumes no feed.
  • Danish: You cannot both blow and have flour in your mouth.
  • French: To want the butter and the money from (selling) the butter.
  • German: You can’t dance at two weddings (at the same time).
  • Greek: You want the entire pie and the dog full.
  • Italian: To have the barrel full and the wife drunk.
  • Persian: Wanting both the donkey and the sugar dates.
  • Portuguese: Wanting the sunshine on the threshing floor, while it rains on the turnip field.
  • Spanish: Wishing to be both at Mass and in the procession (or, wishing to be both at Mass and in the belfry, bell-ringing).
  • Spanish (Argentine): You can’t have the pig and the twenties (a reference to old piggy banks that held 20-cent coins; the only way to get the coins was to break the piggy bank open).
  • Swiss (French): You can’t have the five cent coin and a Swiss bread roll.
    		•    sushi-takibun-OOB-230
    Our contribution: You can’t both fry the fish and have a sushi dinner. Photo courtesy Sushi Takibun.
  • Tamil: Desire to have both the moustache and to drink the porridge.

    •  
    How about making up your own versions as a dinner table activity? Ours is: You can’t both fry the fish and have a sushi dinner.
      

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    PRODUCT: Vitamins Like Candy

    February 24, 2014 at 9:42 am · Filed under NutriNibbles-Organic-Health

    nature-made-gummies-230
    Gummie vitamins are as good as gummie
    candies. Photo courtesy NatureMade.

    		  

    We never looked forward to taking our vitamins, but we did so, dutifully, every day.

    We knew that there were gummie vitamins for kids, but never took much notice of the category.

    Recently, we were given a bottle of Nature Made’s Adult Gummies, Multi + Omega-3. Wow! We have now given up our gummie habit in favor of a daily vitamin fix.

    The only problem: One serving is just two gummies (we could eat a lot more than that). Unlike conventional vitamins, which are calorie-free, our Adult Gummies are 20 calories and 3g of sugar a day.

    And are well worth it!

    We may be late to the table, but we’re not the only adult who is made for gummie vitamins. Nature Made Adult Gummies are available in:

     

  • B-Complex Adult Gummies
  • Multi-Vitamin Adult Gummies
  • Calcium With D3 Adult Gummies
  • Multi-Vitamin Adult Gummies
  • Fish Oil Adult Gummies
  • Vitamin C Adult Gummies
  • Vitamin CoQ10 Adult Gummies
  • Vitamin D Adult Gummies
  • Vitamin D3 Adult Gummies

    •  
    There are dollar coupons for most of the varieties on the Nature Made website.

    Checking out the options, we also discovered the Vitafusion line of gummies. We’re not inspired to do a taste test, however, because the Nature Made taste just fine.

    If only all the medications we take could be in gummie form. We can dream, can’t we?

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Have An Apéritif

    February 24, 2014 at 8:33 am · Filed under The Nibble

    What’s an apéritif? How does it differ from a digestif?

    An apéritif is an alcoholic drink taken before a meal to stimulate the appetite. It is usually dry and low in alcohol. Some people have a cocktail (a mixed drink), but many modern cocktails are considered by gastronomes to be too heavy or too sweet for pre-dinner. (A gin or vodka Martini, however, is just right.)

    If you enjoy a before-dinner drink, consider reviving the elegant custom of apéritif wines. There’s quite a selection, and you can turn it into a monthly or quarterly gathering. Instead of a cocktail party, have an apéritif party, with two or three choices each time.

    APÉRITIF WINES

  • Campari, a ruby red Italian fortified wine, is often mixed with soda to dilute the bitterness.
  • Dubonnet, from France, is available in Blanc and Rouge varieties, made from red or white wine fortified with brandy.
  • Lillet, another French wine, is blended from red or white Bordeaux wines and liqueurs made mostly from the peels of sweet and bitter green oranges. (Lillet Blanc is one of our favorite aperitifs.)
  • Pernod and Ricard are two of the better-known anise-based aperitifs. Licorice lovers: Try them!
  • Pineau des Charentes, a fortified wine from the Charente region of France. It is made from lightly fermented grape must blended with Cognac eau-de-vie. Fans call it “Pineau” for short.
    		•   

    amontillado-glass-olives-MattSaundersWiki-230

    A classic apéritif for centuries: a glass of sherry. Here, amontillado with a side of olives. Photo by Matt Saunders | Wikimedia.

     

    red-vermouth-cocktail-buzzle-230
    Red vermouth with a twist. Red vermouth is
    sweeter than white vermouth, but still a
    good apéritif wine. Photo courtesy
    Buzzle.com.    		  
  • Sherry is a fortified wine made from Spanish white grapes, which are fermented and fortified with grape spirit to increase their alcohol content. There are eight different varieties, from dry to sweet. The dry varieties (amontillado, fino, oloroso, manzanillo, palo cortado) are used as apéritifs.
  • Vermouth is an aromatized, fortified wine flavored with various botanicals—a proprietary blend of barks, flowers, herbs, roots, seeds, spices. They can include, among others, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, ginger, lemon balm, nutmeg, orange peel, sage, star anise, vanilla…and wormwood, the base ingredient of absinthe.

    •  
    WHAT ABOUT DIGESTIFS?
     
    A digestif is the opposite of an apéritif: an alcoholic beverage served after a meal to stimulate digestion (that’s the theory*). Examples include:

  • Amari (Averna Cynar, Fernet) and bitters (Becherovka, Underberg)
  • Brandy (including Alambric, Armagnac, Calvados, Cognac)
  • Cream sherry
  • Dessert cocktails (Black Russian, Brandy Alexander, Irish Coffee, Mudslide)
  • Eaux de vie (fruit brandies) and grappa (pomace brandy)
  • Port
  • Sweet liqueurs (Drambuie, cream liqueurs, Grand Marnier, Kahlua, Limoncello the many, many others)
  • Whiskey and other distilled liquors (akavit, ouzo, tequila, etc.)

    •  
    Much as we love all of these, we’re usually far to full after dinner to consider a digestif. If we could only give up dessert….

     
    *Digestifs have not been found scientifically to help with digestion. People feel that they do because the alcohol in the stomach initially widens the blood vessels, generating a positive feeling. But then, the alcohol starts competing with the food to be digested. So in reality, it hinders digestion instead of facilitating it. Instead of a digestif, take a slow stroll around the block—avoid anything too active like jogging or a treadmill. This motion of the body is the best way to stimulate digestion. Another suggestion: a few drops of bitters in a short glass of water may help to alleviate that stuffed feeling.
      

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