First, don’t turn away. You’ll find out why you should take a new look at sardines: very nutritious, very inexpensive, and in the right hands, very delicious!

We all know that seafood is part of a healthy diet. For National Seafood Month, October, think of how you can add more seafood to your diet.

If you don’t already eat seafood at least one day a week, pick a day for “seafood lunch” and “seafood dinner.” Remember that:

 
On average, Americans consumed 16.1 pounds of seafood in 2018, the last year for which numbers are available. That may sound a lot, but it isn’t great.

You’ve heard that switching out animal protein for seafood protein is a much healthier way to eat.

In the western world, Portugal serves up 177 pounds per capita [source]. (It’s true that the coastal country has lots of fish at its disposal.)

U.S. consumers had a wee uptick (.1 pound) in consumption of fresh and frozen seafood in 2018, per the NOAA (
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

A point one pound increase? Come on, folks!
 
 
THE TOP 10 MOST POPULAR SEAFOOD IN THE U.S.

Thanks to the World Atlas for this data on U.S. seafood consumption.

1. Shrimp: 4.0 Pounds Per Capita. Shrimp are high in calcium, protein, omega-3s, and iodine.

2 & 3. Salmon & Tuna: 2.30 Pounds Per Capita. Salmon and tuna are tied as the second most popular seafood. Both contain high levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon is fattier and has higher levels, while tuna contains more protein.

4. Tilapia: 1.4 Pounds Per Capita.

5. Alaska Pollock: 0.98 Pounds Per Capita

6. Pangasius* (Basa or Swai): 0.69 Pounds Per Capita

7. Cod: 0.65 Pounds Per Capita

8. Catfish: 0.52 Pounds Per Capita

9. Crab: 0.51 Pounds Per Capita

10. Clams: 0.34 Pounds Per Capita

Epicurious Magazine recommends these fresh fish as affordable alternatives to the pricey salmon and tuna: catfish, dorade, porgy, mackerel, red mullet, sardines and skate wing.
 

HOW TO SERVE SARDINES

If you’re on a budget—and even if you’re not—point your palate in the direction of sardines.

Don’t turn your nose up if you’ve had a prior disappointing experience with sardines. Give them another chance.

Sardines are a superfoods with lots of nutritional bang for the buck: packed with flavor, protein and omega-3 fatty acids, and a great source of vitamin D.

(FOOD TRIVIA: Sardines are named after the island of Sardinia. The small, oily fish were once in abundance in the seas around the island.)
 
Fresh Vs. Canned Sardines

Since fresh sardines are truly delectable. Even people who don’t like the canned variety can embrace them.

Alas, they are highly perishable, so are mostly found canned (but keep an eye out for fresh sardines during sardine season, May through October).

Different canned sardines are of different quality. You can find wonderful brands that are not “fishy.”

We are huge fans of the Bela brand, and their mackerel, too.

15 Easy Ways To Serve Sardines

If the flavor is too strong for you, add counterpoints such as a squeeze of fresh lemon, capers, a Dijon vinaigrette, fresh herbs, olives, pesto, pickled onions or other pickled vegetables, boiled or baked potatoes (see the last bullet below).

 
Most important, try them!
 
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*Other names for swai and similar species are panga, pangasius, sutchi, cream dory, striped catfish, Vietnamese catfish, tra, basa and — though it’s not a shark — iridescent shark and Siamese shark. It is typically farmed in, and imported from, Vietnam. Here’s more about it.

†Blend some fresh lemon juice and zest into regular mayonnaise.

[1] This is food fun: a can of sardines on a fancy plate with crostini and pickled onions. CAn idea we love from Trattoria Italienne in New York City (photo © trattoria Italienne).

[2] Pasta con sarde, pasta with sardines, is considered by some to be the national dish of Italy. Here’s the recipe (photo © Taste | Australia).

[3] Sardines, chirashi-style, atop rice with a fried egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or shichimi togarashi, a.k.a. Japanese 7-spice blend. You can also make sardine sushi nigiri-style, atop pads of sushi rice Here’s the recipe from Kitchen Gidget (photo © Kitchen Gidget).

[4] Salad on wilted greens with a squeeze of lemon. A light lunch or first course (photo © The Nibble).

[5] Sardines with ramps, at Abboccato Restaurant in New York City (photo © Abboccato [alas, now closed).

[6] Bela sardines, a great brand from Portugal. Here’s our review (photo © The Nibble).

[8] One school a-swimming (photo of sardines © Matthew T, Rader | Unsplash).

[1] (photos #1, #2 and #4 © Melissa’s).

[2] The ingredients for Kung Pao Vegetables. Don’t be deterred by the number.

[3] Chinese eggplant is not bitter like Italian eggplant, and tends to have a mild, sweet flavor (photo © Good Eggs).

[4] Chinese long beans. You can substitute regular green beans (photo © Burpee).

[5] Hawaiian Style Tofu Squares, tofu that is pre-fried to use right out of the package.

[5] Spaghettini is thinner than spaghetti but thicker than angel hair (photo © CC Produce).

[6] Actual Kung Pao Chicken (photo © B. Hhofack | Panther Media).

[7] General Tso’s Chicken, another Westernized Chinese favorite. Here’s the recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen (photo © Spicy Southern Kitchen).

For World Vegetarian Day, October 1st, it’s easy to convert some of some favorite dishes from meat to meatless.

Melissa’s Produce took on a Chinese-American favorite, Kung Pao Chicken (photo #6).

Goodbye chicken, hello veggies:

Using spaghettini (thin spaghetti) as a base, with a colorful Chinese vegetables and Kung Pao spices, they created Kung Pao Vegetables (photo #1).

The recipe contains Chinese eggplant, green long beans and baby bok choy, with cubed tofu replacing the chicken.

There are roasted peanuts for crunch and extra protein and flavor.

A word about the tofu: In this recipe, Melissa’s used its Hawaiian Style Tofu Squares, tofu that is pre-fried to use right out of the package.

It’s great stuff, but you will want to pan-fry your tofu in advance. Or, you may prefer to stir in regular tofu, as is.

Thanks to Melissa’s for this delicious recipe. It’s actually vegan (here’s the difference between vegan and vegetarian).
 
 
RECIPE: KUNG PAO VEGETABLES

Because there are no noodles in this dish, no side dish of rice is specified.

Ingredients For 4 Servings

For The Sauce

 
For the Main Dish

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the sauce. Combine the sauce ingredients, whisk together and set aside

2. HEAT the eggplant and long beans in a steamer about 5 minutes until tender. Remove and set aside.

3. COOK the spaghettini according to package instructions. While the spaghetti is cooking, prepare the vegetables as follows:

4. HEAT the oil in a wok or large sauté pan on medium heat. When the oil sizzles, add the dried red chiles and white part of the green onions. Stir-fry for 2 minutes.

5. ADD the ginger, red bell pepper and carrots and sauté 2-3 minutes.

6. ADD the garlic and bok choy and sauté 2 minutes.

7. ADD the steamed eggplant and long beans, along with the tofu and sauté 1-2 minutes.

8. ADD in the sauce mixture and stir to combine. Continue cooking until sauce thickens.

9. ADD in the peanuts and green onions and cook another minute. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

10. DRAIN the spaghettini and then transfer to a large serving bowl. Pour the vegetables and sauce over the spaghettini. Toss to combine, and serve.
 

THE HISTORY OF KUNG PAO CHICKEN

The legend is that that Kung Pao chicken (photo #7) was created by Ding Baozhen (1820–1886), a governor of the Sichuan province of southwestern China, during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).

He was very interested in cooking, and chicken, peanuts and spicy flavors.

He combined diced chicken, red chiles and peanuts into a popular family recipe.

Another version of the story is that he first had the dish at someone else’s home, and liked it so much that he asked for the recipe (which had spicy Sichuan peppercorns instead of chiles). He began serving it to his own family and guests.
 
Others must have asked for the recipe*, too, because as time passed, it transcended the Ding family dining room an reached an enthusiastic regional (Sichuan), the national, and then world—audience.

While it traveled around the other provinces of China, each with their own regional spin.

Kung Pao chicken became a staple of Westernized Chinese cuisine.

Thille here is an authentic Sichuan version of the recipe.

As for the name, Kung Pao is actually the honorable official title. Ding was a good governor, so the Qing government bestowed upon him the title “Kung Pao,” which translates to “an officer who tutors the crown prince” [source].
 
 
Did Ding Baozhen (1820–1886) know Zuo Zongtang, General Tso (1812-1885)?

It’s a fanciful “who knows?” They both lived at the same time during the Qing Dynasty.

But General Tso did not create the dish named after him.

A chef named Peng Chang-kuei created General Tso’s Chicken (photo #8), in the 1950s.

Peng was a banquet chef for Chinese Nationalists. He fled to Taiwan with them after their 1949 defeat by Mao Zedong’s Communists.

It was there that he came up with the idea for General Tso’s Chicken, and when he immigrated to New York in 1973 he brought the dish with him.

It’s a pretty simple dish: boneless pieces of chicken, breaded and deep-fried, with a sweet-and-hot sauce.

The sauce is made from soy sauce, rice wine, rice-wine vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, whole dried red chili peppers and garlic.

It is often served with broccoli florets.

Why is the dish named for General Zongtang?

Chef Peng came from the same town as Zuo Zongtang, and named the dish after the hometown hero.

We actually had the dish, made by Peng’s own hand‡, in his New York City restaurant, Uncle Peng’s Hunan Yuan. It introduced New York, to Hunanese food.

Peng died in 2016, leaving a culinary legacy.
 
 
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*Truth to tell, it’s an easy enough recipe to figure out.

†A substitute for sriracha is sambal oelek, an an Indonesian chile sauce or paste (sriracha is from Thailand); or another hot chile paste.

Crushed red chile flakes or even cayenne pepper can be used in a pinch, although they are not as hot; and dried spices do they have the same thick consistency as sriracha.

Here’s more about sambal olek.

‡More accurately, our General Tso’s chicken was cooked by whomever was at the wok at Uncle Peng’s Hunan Yuan that night.

October is National American Cheese Month. How about some vegan cheese?

It’s amazing how vegan cheeses have improved from the original soy-based products, thanks to more people demanding non-dairy foods.

Vegan products are not just for vegans, but people who are:

 
We’d previously written about Miyoko’s Creamery, which makes simply brilliant vegan cheeses and butter that taste as satisfying as the animal-milk versions.

But they’re labor-intensive to make and thus pricey. Other companies have been making their own versions, and we recently had the opportunity to try some Violife products, part of the large line of Violife vegan cheeses.
 
 
THE VIOLIFE LINE

We tried the Mozzarella Shreds and Colby Jack Shreds on pizza, casseroles and burgers.

We were very pleased about how great they tasted—and they melt just like dairy cheese!

We haven’t yet tasted the rest of the line, but Violife has the whole category covered with:
 
Violife Blocks

 
Violife Shreds

 
Violife Slices

 
Violife Spreads

 
 
LINE ATTRIBUTES

 
 
HOW VIOLIFE DIFFERS FROM OTHER VEGAN CHEESES

Violife is both nut free (some vegan cheeses are made from cashews) and soy-free, which accommodates people with allergies to those ingredients.

Its main ingredient, after filtered water, is coconut oil (24%), followed by modified food starch, corn starch, sea salt, cellulose as a thickener, non-dairy lactic acid as an acidity regulator, flavorings from vegan sources, olive extract, B-carotene for color and vitamin B12, with powdered cellulose added to prevent caking.
 
 
ABOUT VIOLIFE VEGAN CHEESES

Violife is a brand owned by Upfield Group B.V., a vegan products manufacturer that is owned by KKR & Co., a global investment company.

The brand was founded in the 1990s in Greece, as a plant-based cheese substitute that could be eaten during Greek Orthodox fasting days, when consumption of animal proteins is forbidden.

Upfield was created last year when Unilever sold its spreads business to KKR. Those include Country Crock, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Flora, Stork and numerous other spreads. It is now one of the biggest worldwide players in the plant-based food industry.

Beyond the U.S. Violife sells vegan cheese products across the world, in Africa, Asia, Europe, The Middle East, South America—even Saudi Arabia!
 
 
WHERE TO FIND VIOLIFE VEGAN CHEESES

Violife products are available at select retailers across the country and at Violife.com.

Here’s a store locator.

> For More Information Visit Violife.com.

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*Violife products contain coconut oil. The coconut is classified by the FDA as a tree nut.

[1] Creamy With Garlic & Herbs, one of three Violife vegan cream cheeses (all photos © Violife).

[2] Grated Mozzarella Flavor, a vegan necessity!

[3] A Prosociano wedge: grate it like dairy parmesan.

[4] Violife’s Just Like Cream Cheese on a bagel.

[5] Violife’s Just Like Mature Cheddar on a veggie cheeseburger.

[6] Two-cheese pizza, with mozzarella and colby jack.

[7] Grilled cheese with Smoked Mature Cheddar.

[1] Yes, please: a hearty dish of creamy mushroom fettuccine (photos #1 and #2 © Delallo).

[2] Egg fettuccine has not just a golden color, but a deeper flavor than conventional fettuccine. You can get these online from Delallo.

[3] Cremini mushrooms (also spelled crimini), are a mature version of button mushrooms. Read more about them below (photo © Christine Siracusa | Unsplash).

[4] Shiitake mushrooms are meatier and have a deeper flavor than creminis. Remove the tough stems and use them for stock (photo CCO Public Domain | PX Here).

[4] Most people are used to brown morels, so we thought we’d treat you to a photo of “blonde” morels (photo © Kindred Restaurant | Davidson, North Carolina).

We’re celebrating the last day of National Mushroom Month with this creamy mushroom fettuccine dish (National Pasta Month begins tomorrow).

Warm and creamy comfort food, this dish can be a quick and easy weeknight meal or a course for a more special occasion.

This recipe from Delallo uses egg fettuccine, a richer version of fettuccine noodles that contains 28% egg, for a golden color and richer flavor.

You can substitute standard fettuccine, of course.

Fettuccine means “little ribbons” in Italian. These wide, flat noodle pair beautifully with any thick sauce.

Linguine are flat ribbons that are thinner than fettuccine. Pappardelle are wider ribbons.

> Check Out The Different Types Of Pasta
 
 
RECIPE: FETTUCCINE IN CREAMY MUSHROOM SAUCE

This recipe uses three different types of mushrooms: cremini (photo #3), shiitake (photo #4) and morels (photo #5). Why three?

Combining different varieties builds interesting flavors—like different lettuces in a salad.

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. HEAT a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the mushrooms; season with salt and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.

2. STIR the garlic into the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the white wine and cook until the wine is nearly evaporated.

3. MIX the chicken stock into mushroom mixture; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

4. POUR the heavy cream into the mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes until the mixture starts to foam. While the mushrooms finish cooking…

5. FILL a large pot with water and bring to a rolling boil. Stir in the fettuccine and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain—but do not rinse—the pasta. Transfer to a large serving bowl and keep warm.

6. STIR the thyme and chives into the mushroom sauce and turn off the heat. Mix 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into the sauce, and stir until the cheese has melted.

7. POUR all the mushroom sauce and half the mushrooms over the pasta, reserving the other half of the mushrooms in the skillet. Toss the pasta in the sauce until coated.

8. PLATE and garnish with the remaining mushrooms and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
 

CREMINI VS. SHIITAKE VS. MOREL MUSHROOMS

Here’s a fun food fact: White button mushrooms, creminis and portabellas/portobellos are all the same mushroom: Agaricus bisporus.

The difference is how long they are allowed to grow before harvesting.

Cremini Mushrooms

The cremini mushroom, also spelled crimini, is a more mature version of the white button mushroom.

Creminis have a browner color, and so much more flavor than the buttons.

If left in the earth longer, a cremini becomes a portabella. It’s sometimes sold as a “baby bella” or a “baby portabella” mushroom.

Creminis are delicious whether raw or cooked.

Shiitake Mushrooms

Shiitake mushrooms are more intensely flavored. Although they’re cultivated now, they retain much of the meaty, woodsy qualities of their wild siblings.

Shiitakes, like all mushrooms, pair well with everything from poultry to lamb to pork to pasta.

But eat only the caps. The stems are too tough to eat, but you can reserve them for stock.

Morel Mushrooms

Morel mushrooms have an intense, explosive flavor. They are a favorite of top chefs, and by anyone with a fine palate.

They are earthy, meaty, nutty and woodsy: a standout in flavor.

They are a different genus from cremini, shiitake and portabellas: Morchella esculenta.

You can’t eat morels raw. They contain a mildly toxic substance (hydrazine), which is destroyed in cooking.

With all three mushrooms, you roast them, stuff them, grill them and add them to skewers. You can add them to grains, pasta and stuffing.

For adding to salads or other raw uses, creminis are the best.
 
 
> The History Of Pasta

*Shiitake stems, like portabella stems, must be removed before cooking. They’re too tough to eat. However, save them to make stock.

†Morel mushrooms are typically a spring mushroom. If you can’t find any, you can rehydrate dry morels, or add more shiitakes.

September 29th is National Coffee Day.

To some coffee drinkers, fall means pumpkin spice lattes.

We’re not keen on the sugar syrup, so for us, fall means fall coffee flavors.

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice products are back on grocery store shelves, along with new fall specialties.

Joining Pumpkin Spice are:

 
All three are delicious, hot or iced.

We are fans of Pumpkin Spice, but Maple Pecan adds something new to our repertoire.

It has toasty pecan notes but also a bit of winey flavor that inspired us to make a cold cocktail: brewed Maple Pecan coffee, vodka and cream.

Yes, it’s a fall-flavor version of a White Russian. And it’s delicious hot, too.

 
So even while the weather is still on the mild side, embrace the fall season and National Coffee Day.

https://www.starbucks.com/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Head to Starbucks At Home for more seasonal products and recipe ideas.
 
 
> The History Of Coffee
 
> The Different Types Of Coffee

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*In 1913 Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson, prohibited alcohol aboard naval vessels as one of his ways to impose stricter moral standards on naval life. As a result, sailors drank more coffee. The phrase “Cup of Joe” became slang for a cup of coffee—meant as an insult, of course. Over time, Josephus Daniels was forgotten and cup of joe joining the other two slang terms for coffee: java and jamoke [source].

[1] Starbucks fall flavors (not pictured, Fall Blend; photo © Starbucks).

[2] From the coffee brewer to the computer (photo courtesy Stock Xchange | Free Images).