You can add walnuts to almost any recipe:
here, in a chicken salad sandwich. Photo
courtesy McCormick.

Walnuts are heart healthy.* They’re one of the most nutrient-dense food sources of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential omega-3 fatty acid that fights bone breakdown in aging adults—and also decreases insulin resistance, assists with weight management and may be beneficial in brain function.

The journal Nutrition and Cancer has just published a new study indicating that walnuts may reduce breast cancer as well (October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month).

A study of cancer in mice, funded by the American Institute of Cancer Research and the California Walnut Commission (neither of which had any input on the study design or findings), showed that the risk of breast cancer dropped up to 50% when the mice’s daily diet included a modest amount of walnuts.

In the 50% reduction group, walnuts were added to the diets of the mothers, from conception through weaning, and into the diet of their offspring from birth.

While an animal study is a precursor toward testing in humans, the new study is an indication of how walnuts might play a role in preventing cancer.

EASY WAYS TO ADD WALNUTS TO YOUR DIET

The amount of walnuts in the test diet equates to 2 ounces a day for humans. It’s easy to include halved, chopped or ground walnuts to every meal. In addition to long-term health benefits, they add flavor, crunch and nutritional punch.

Walnuts At Breakfast

 
Walnuts At Lunch

 
Walnuts At Dinner

 
Walnuts As A Snack Or Dessert

 
What are your favorite ways to add walnuts to your diet?
 
*The USDA-approved heart-healthy nuts are almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts. These nuts contain less than 4g of saturated fats per 50g. Seeds such as flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds may offer the same heart health benefits. Note that walnuts and flax seeds have a significantly higher amount of the heart-healthy alpha linolenic acid compared to other nuts and seeds. This plant-derived omega 3 fatty acid is similar to that found in salmon, which many studies show lowers total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) levels.
  

But it was bison, not buffalo, that roamed the Bialowieza Forest of eastern Poland—cousins of the bison that once populated the Great Plains of America. (See the difference between bison and buffalo. And yes, the U.S. government got it wrong when they minted the “buffalo” nickel.)

Bialowieza Forest, the last primeval† forest in Europe, is no longer home to thundering herds of bison. Today it houses a protected herd of some 450 of the magnificent beasts. Zubr is the Polish word for the European bison/European wood bison (Bison bonasus), locally known as wisent (VY-zent).

Zubr are particularly fond of munching on what became known as bison grass.

Bison aren’t the only ones fond of the grass. It was used as an herb to flavor vodka, which was enjoyed by Polish society after hunting expeditions—hopefully with some nice bison steaks. An egalitarian drink, zubrówka, manufactured since the 14th century, was enjoyed by the peasantry as well.

The blade of bison grass in the bottle is for decorative purposes. The bison grass is infused into the vodka during production, adding lovely flavor and a pale yellow color. (Mass producers use a tincture of bison grass instead of infusing.)

Keep it in mind for holiday gifting to friends with sophisticated palates. For more information visit ZuVodka.com.

Find more of our favorite spirits, plus lots of cocktail recipes, in our Cocktails & Spirits Section.
 
*Polish speakers: Sorry but WordPress is not allowing us to publish the accented consonants.

†A virgin, or old-growth forest.

Make your own potato chips: fat-free and
delicious. Photo courtesy Mastrad.

Mastrad, the leading French manufacturer of kitchen utensils, has created an innovative silicone tray that turns out crisp, super-thin potato chips and sweet potato chips. You can also make other veggie chips such as beet, carrot and parsnip chips.

These healthier alternatives are also grease-free—a boon for the fingertips and elegant with cocktails. We leave the skins on the chips, too, for extra nutrition.

Fruit Chips, Too
You can also make fruit chips: apples, mangoes and pears, for example (but not bananas—a hard texture is required for slicing paper thin). We love to garnish desserts with fruit chips. And now that fall is upon us, they’re a yummy side to a cup of hot chocolate.

Family and guests will really enjoy these crisp homemade chips. Pick up a microwave potato chip maker today:

 
If you find that microwaved chips are your new favorite snack, you can buy a third stacking tray to speed up production.

Cooking Tips

 
The ultra-thin chips remind us of Saratoga Chips, the original potato chips. They were invented by accident in the kitchen of a resort, when a finicky guest complained that his fried potatoes were not crisp enough. Here’s the history of potato chips. You can buy these original chips, or send them as a gift, from The Nibble Gourmet Market.
  

Bowl-shaped containers have been the signature of Greek-style yogurt. Why is Emmi following suit?

The company sees the shorter height and wider mouth of the container as superior from both a consumer and a retailer perspective.

Consumers like it because it is easier to use as a bowl and to spoon the last drops from the bottom. There’s also more surface area to sprinkle fruit and granola.

And it’s easier to stack* in the fridge—a fact that retailers like as well, says a company representative. The shape has been successful in European markets for some time, and was tested in American focus groups.

*Our own stacking attempts were not particularly successful. The foil top is not as stable as a solid plastic top. We had as much tipping over as with any other foil-topped yogurt container.

The Real Need: Recyclable Yogurt Containers

Our issue with yogurt containers is not related to shape, but to the #5 polypropylene plastic that the industry uses. Few municipalities are set up to recycle it.

Technically, almost everything manufactured could be recyclable. However, a reliable end-buyer for the recycled material is required before a municipality will recycle it. Currently, there is no reliable market for #5 polypropylene.

Eat a yogurt or two a day, and you contribute a substantial amount of plastic to the landfill.

It’s not just yogurt, of course: Cottage cheese, hummus, margarine, whipped butter, sour cream, take-out containers and other popular foods are all typically packed into #5 polypropylene. No matter how committed you are to sustainability, it’s hard to avoid products that are basic to your diet.

A number of Whole Foods Markets, food cooperatives and other locations will accept #5 plastics for recycling. They’ve teamed up with Preserve Products, which makes household products from recycled plastic, to create a recycling program called Preserve Gimme 5. Stonyfield Farms and Organic Valley are also part of the project. Check for recycling locations in your area.

Committed as we are to recycling just about everything that crosses our path, the combination of distance to Whole Foods Market and no place to store the stack of #5 containers in our small New York City apartment (no car to store them in, either) makes this a challenge. If you can recycle conveniently, though, go for it!

Plastic Recycling: What The Numbers Mean

Just because a plastic container features the three-arrow triangle recycling symbol doesn’t mean it can be recycled. The recycling symbol is unregulated: No authority controls who places the symbol on what product.

The number inside the symbol only identifies the type of plastic resin. It doesn’t mean the container is recyclable. It is not the number that determines if the plastic is recyclable, but manufacturing processes (the same types of plastics can have different melting points) and community guidelines.

The plastics industry uses the numbers as a coding system to identify resin types. The system wasn’t designed to indicate recyclability.

What to do about all this unrecyclable plastic? Ay, there’s the rub.

You can find other purposes for it, but if you eat any quantity of yogurt, the packages will pile up far faster than the ideas for reusing the empty cartons.

It’s in the hands of the food manufacturers to move to greener packaging. When they do, we’ll commit to buying it.
  

Here’s looking at you: creepy eyeball snacks
or garnishes for Halloween. Photo courtesy
Shop Anatomical.

Who doesn’t love eyeball food? We’ve just ordered this eyeball mold, which uses a base of JELL-O or custom-flavored gelatin, should you want a savory flavor.

The irises and pupils are made with colored plain gelatin. The veins are dabbed on with food coloring. Here’s a recipe.

Instead of sweet eyeballs, you can make savory ones (to garnish a Bloody Mary, for example). Substitute the sugar and lemon extract in the recipe with garlic salt and a dash of hot sauce. (We haven’t made them this way before, so you should try a test batch to finalize the proportions.)

Serve your eyeball food on a platter or atop lollipop sticks, which can also be inserted into cocktails.

CupcakeTower.com sells cake pop stands to hold the eyeball pops upright. You can create a tiered eyeball pop tower or buy a single tier to pass around as a tray.

Ice Cream Eyeball Food

You can make ice cream eyeballs by scooping vanilla ice cream with a cookie dough scoop.

1. Wear plastic gloves to better shape the ice cream balls. Use a spatula to smooth out a flat bottom so the eyeballs will stand without rolling around.
2. Create a crater for the iris with a chopstick, espresso spoon or other utensil.
3. Place the balls on a tray, cover with plastic wrap and put into the freezer to harden.
4. Remove them one at a time to decorate. Head to this recipe for instructions on how to create the iris, pupil and bloodshot effect.

Call it “eyes cream.”

Dig Into Some Brains
If eyeball food takes more effort than you want to expend, go for a nice, juicy brain.

Get a brain mold and use it to mold JELL-O, or pack it with vanilla ice cream.

Return the ice cream brain to the freezer for an hour or two. Unmold and create red “blood” streaks with a Q-tip and food color. Return to freezer until ready to serve.

Brains and eyeballs: great Halloween fare!