Keep Your Health Tips

Let’s transform an all-time favorite food, pizza, into a healthy all-time favorite. This pizza is high in fiber, antioxidants and phytonutrients that fight inflammation, heart disease and cancer, and it just tastes good. It’s a great way to introduce dark leafy green vegetables into your diet. I encourage everyone to have at least one serving of these daily. Swiss chard, broccoli, kale, collards and cabbage are examples. These vegetables have two to five times the antioxidant vitamins A and C of other vegetables. They contain unique phytonutrients that causes the liver to do a better job at detoxifying cancer causing substances. They also cause cancer cells to stop multiplying and die. Dark leafy greens are an excellent source of calcium without the fat and inflammation causing casein of cow’s milk. Remember cows don’t get those big bones by drinking milk. They get them by eating grass. We get them by eating dark leafy green vegetables.

This recipe uses Swiss chard. Like all dark leafy greens, they grow in cooler weather. So you will find fresh local Swiss chard at farmers markets right now. It should be brightly colored, crisp and free of tiny holes that may be a sign of insect damage. Wash it just before using. Otherwise, it stores well in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. This recipe also calls for red miso, Japanese fermented soy paste. It lends a dairy like flavor to the pesto sauce. Find it in the dairy case at your local health food store. This pizza is tasty and satisfying without the cheese.

Too Good to be Healthy Pizza

1 Kabuli Whole Wheat Pizza Crust (available at Wild Oats)

1/3 cup non-dairy pesto (recipe below)

Tags: health food, Healthy Cooking, Organic Foodhealth food, Healthy Cooking, Organic Food

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It’s no doubt that a dozen eggs were an unusual gift. But for my friend Carol, “hmmm, eggs,” quickly became “Mmmm, eggs.” Here’s the story.

Maria, a friend and fellow osteopath, lives on a farm where she, her husband and two children raise chickens, and to be complete, ducks and geese. She always comes bearing eggs, which I share with friendsgreen eggs, blue eggs, brown eggs, white eggs and sometimes big fat duck eggs. The color depends on which breed laid the egg. But the real treat comes when you crack it. The white is thick and buoyant; the yolk glowing orange. And the taste? Well as my friend Carol put it, “I’ve never savored an egg before!”

Maria and her family raise their chickens on pasture. That’s a fancy way of saying they roam outside all day long eating all the grass, worms and bugs they please. Maria’s land was ridden with ticks until they got the chickens, Mother Nature’s pest control. Their diet is supplemented with cracked corn and vitamin pellets. The pasture gives the yolk the bright orange color and superior nutrition. The more pasture the hens eat, the brighter orange the yolk. The color changes with the seasons as the availability of fresh grass and bugs changes. Pasture-raised eggs have four times more of the anti-oxidant beta-carotene, thus the bright orange color, four times more omega-3 fatty acids, twice the vitamin E and half the cholesterol.

If you, like Carol, have bought grocery store eggs all of your life, then you never have tasted a fresh egg. The fresher the egg, the more the white stands up. According to Hormel Foods’ website, the sell by date on a carton of eggs can be no more than 30 days after the eggs were packed. Yet an egg can be packed up to 30 days from the time it was laid. Storage conditions make a big difference. If a freshly laid egg is left at room temperature for a full day, it will not be as fresh as a week old egg refrigerated between 33

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I’m often asked how I find time to cook. My answer has two parts. First, healthy delicious food is essential for my well-being, so cooking usually comes first on my to-do list. Also, I find nothing more relaxing, creative or satisfying than trying a new dish or savoring an old favorite. Second, I use a pressure cooker. The usual response I get is, “The ones that explode?” Not exactly.

Pressure cookers have come a long way since the days of noisy valves and an occasional explosion. Thanks to new technology, today’s pressure cookers automatically depressurize when overheated. A pressure cooker is essential for quick preparation of whole grains and beans. For example, brown rice takes one hour to cook conventionally. It also requires the use of a flame tamer or very low heat to avoid scorching. With a pressure cooker, it takes 35 minutes and won’t scorch if an Ohsawa pot is used. Black beans cook in two hours conventionally, but take only 25 minutes in a pressure cooker. Long bean soaking times can also be avoided with a pressure cooker.

There are other advantages to pressure cooking. Foods retain their nutrient value because pressure cooking uses less water and the nearly airtight seal prevents nutrients from escaping. Pressure cooking tenderizes meat quickly so less expensive cuts can be used. Lower cooking times use less energy.

Select a stainless steel pressure cooker. Aluminum ones are available, but will leach harmful aluminum into the food. Look for a removable pressure regulator. A removable one is far easier to clean when it becomes clogged with food. The pressure cooker must generate at least 15 pounds of pressure to save time over conventional methods. A lid locking mechanism and pressure cooker and have a pressure release system will prevent explosions. The 5 liter size usually suits a family of 4. As when selecting any piece of cookware, pick it up by the handles and make sure it feels right in your hands.

My Magefesa pressure cooker is highly rated and has performed beautifully for 17 years (www.magefesausa.com) Kuhn Rikon’s Duromatic pressure cooker is also highly rated (www.kuhnrikon.com)

Perfect brown rice begins with the right rice. I like Ohsawa Rose medium grain or Southern Brown long grain rice. Both are available at Goldmine Natural Food (www.goldminenaturalfood.com) The Ohsawa pot is essential and also available at Goldmine Natural Food. The rice is cooked in this pot inside the pressure cooker. This makes scorching impossible. The recipe also calls for kombu, a seaweed that tenderizes the rice, making it easier to digest. Find it at your local natural foods store.

Perfect Pressure Cooked Brown Rice

1-1/2 cups brown rice

Tags: health food, Healthy Cooking, Organic Foodhealth food, Healthy Cooking, Organic Food

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