Hunger in America

As a dietitian, I usually help people figure out how to less.  Today, I am asking you to help people to eat more.  Hunger and food insecurity remain persistent yet largely invisible in this country.  One way that millions of low-income people are a little bit less hungry is through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which most people know by the old term "Food Stamps."  Another valuable hunger-alleviating program is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which is also better known as "WIC."  These two valuable programs are funded through the Farm Bill, which is currently being debated in Congress.  Both programs are being targeted for drastic cuts, which will lead to far more hunger among children, seniors, disabled, and other low-income people.  You may be one of the millions of Americans who relies on these benefits to keep food on your table.  Your neighbors or co-workers might be beneficiaries, too.  Maybe you received food stamps or WIC when you hit a rough patch financially.  Or, maybe you were too proud to apply for these benefits but suffered mightily without them. 

The causes of poverty and the intricacies of agricultural policies in this country are too complex to debate here, but what is clear is that shrinking food assistance programs will not improve the nutritional status of our country.  There will always be people who collect such benefits when they don't really need them, but I believe that it's more important to help the vast majority of people who do need help than to restrict the program for everyone.  Paul Krugman, a Nobel laureate, makes the case for maintaining -- or even increasing -- nutrition assistance more eloquently than I do. 

Please take a few minutes to contact your elected representatives and ask them not to decrease funding for food stamps and WIC.  You can find how to contact your representatives and senators through this link.

Meatless Mondays: Ramps

I would totally walk by these if I saw them under a tree.

Ramps have been the hot Spring food for the last few years, here in New York.  Come April, it seems as though every food writer in the tristate area can do nothing but extol the virtues of ramps, also known as wild leeks.  Being a contrary sort of person, I was convinced that ramps could not be worth the hype.  They seemed to be part of the trend for extremely local, seasonal food that is sometimes worth the extra time and money but is mostly just about establishing credibility.  And then I saw Smitten Kitchen's recipe -- and photos -- for ramp pizza.  Maybe it was just her luscious photography.  Maybe it was the way she described the ramp leaves as being like the best kind of kale chips.  Regardless, I realized it was time to embrace the trend.

My pizza wasn't quite as pretty as Smitten Kitchen's but the sauteed bulbs and roasted leaves were delicious.  The bulbs were sweet, almost like braised leeks, and the leaves were green and mellow.  Since I didn't use all of the ramps, I ate the leftover cooked ramps in a delicious omelet with a bit of pecorino.

The second batch of ramps got turned into ramp pesto, from the Food52 Cookbook, a Mother's Day present.  I followed the recipe exactly, toasting walnuts and using raw ramp bulbs and leaves.  It's got an almost garlicky bite, which has been delicious with pork tenderloin, toast, scrambled eggs, roasted fingerling potatoes, and even baked tilapia.  If I were to do it again, I would blanch the bulbs briefly just to tame the flavor a bit.  I might try it with different nuts, too, maybe blanched almonds for some sweetness to balance the raw ramp flavor more. 

Washed, dried, sliced ramps

The finished pesto:  so many uses!

 









 

There isn't a whole lot of information about the health benefits of ramps, but they are, like most vegetables, low in calories and high in fiber.  Ramps are also a good source of iron and vitamins A and C.  As a member of the allium family, which includes onions and garlic, ramps are also rich in sulfuric compounds, which are good for the heart and cardiovascular system. 

Ramps used to be foraged in the Spring from fertile soil under deciduous trees, but now you can easily find cultivated ramps.  Having never tried the foraged kind, I can't speak to any taste differences.  I've found various sources for the name ramp.  It could be Old English or Old German, maybe even ancient Greek.  If you're really curious, go to this Bon Appetit site to get your etymology geek on.  According to this site, the name of the city Chicago comes from a Native American word for the plant, shika'ko, which used to grow ramp-ant in that area.

Ramps' short growing season usually lasts through May.  Since we've had a cool Spring, I'm hoping the season will last longer, giving me a chance to finally explore all the possibilities and join the ramp fan club.  I'm looking forward to trying grilled ramps, sauteed ramps with pasta, fresh ramps wilted into risotto, and.....  What's your favorite ramp recipe?  Are there other spring vegetables I should feature?
 

Summer Food Safety

Image from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth+barbecue

I'm writing this on a cold, rainy, gray day with an equally dismal forecast for the Memorial Day weekend.  This weekend is usually the start of outdoor eating season.  If you're lucky, it already is where you are.  Maybe you're planning a picnic or you're taking some food to a barbecue. Perhaps you're packing snacks for a long road trip.  In anticipation of some not-too-distant future picnic and barbecue season, here are some pointers for preventing bad food from ruining your weekend or your summer.  

1.  Keep hot food hot and cold food cold as much as possible.  Most food-poisoning bugs like the same temperatures we do:  40-140° degrees F.  Well, I don't like anything over 80°, but you get the idea.  Food safety experts call this the Danger Zone.

2.  Don't leave food sitting out for more than 2 hours.  The longer food sits at room or air temperature, the closer the food's temperature gets to the bacteria's preferred temperature.  One way to more safely put hot food away is to divide it into smaller containers, which will cool more quickly due to greater surface area.

3.   Cook your meat thoroughly.  Invest in a meat thermometer and learn what safe temperatures are. Refer to this handy chart to find the different safe cooking temperatures for different meats.  Generally, 165° for chicken, 140° for pork, 145° for steaks, and 160° for ground meat.  Fish should flake easily when fully cooked.   

4.  Don't defrost foods on the counter.  Maybe you stocked up on ground turkey or steaks when they were on sale, waiting for the first opportunity to grill.  Ideally, you will take your frozen packs of protein out of the freezer a day or two before you need them and defrost them in the refrigerator.  If you didn't leave enough time, you can defrost them under cool running water or in the microwave.  Once you've defrosted meat, cook it right away and don't put it back in the freezer.

5.  Don't marinate foods on the counter, either.  See point 1 about the Danger Zone.

6.  Keep clean.  Use separate cutting boards for raw meat and vegetables.  Wash hands and surfaces frequently.  Clean up as you go along.  When it's time to eat, encourage everyone to wash hands or at a minimum offer sanitizing wipes or gels.

7.  If you're traveling with foods, pack cold foods directly from your fridge to your cooler.  Use plenty of ice packs or bagged ice.  If your cooler isn't full, add more ice.  Consider using a separate cooler for drinks.  Every time you open a cooler, cold air escapes, warming up the temperature inside the cooler.  You can use a cooler to keep hot dishes hot, too.  Wrap hot dishes up in dish towels or blankets for insulation. 

End of lecture.  Enjoy your summer eating!  Share your favorite picnic and grilling ideas!
 

Eat and Run

When I was trying to decide on a name for this blog, I almost called it "Eat and Run," since this seems to be all I do.  Eat, run, work, sleep, nag kids and husband, repeat. 

This past weekend, I ran my fifth half marathon, and for the first time, I didn't get debilitating cramps.  The past four long races have been fine for the first 9 miles or so, but then my quads or calves or both tighten up.  For this race, I'm still trying to figure out what I did differently so I can do it again.  My breakfast was the same.  I increased my refined carb intake (think pancakes, sandwiches, oatmeal) in the few days before the race  as usual.  I stopped at most but not all of the fluid stations and had my new favorite energy treat, Clif Margarita blocks at mile 7.  It was nearly perfect running weather:  60 degrees, low wind, and overcast.  I've gotten cramps in perfect weather, near-freezing winter mornings, as well as cool-ish summer nights.  I've built up mileage slowly, carried water and sports gels, and still cramped.

Cramps are still a mystery to dietitians and sports medicine specialists.  One study of 210 Ironman triathletes found that neither dehydration nor electrolyte changes predicted incidence of cramping.  Rather, past history of cramps and faster race times were associated with cramping.  I'm certainly not guilty of faster speeds.  The alternative is pretty depressing:  people who get cramps are more likely to get cramps again. 

I know there are a bunch of athletes out there.  What do you do to prevent cramps?  Scientists haven't figured it out, but that doesn't mean there's now fix out there.   More training?  More bananas?  Lots of gatorade or just plain water?  Flat Coke?  This dietitian is a new athlete whose science resources have failed her.  I need folk wisdom and anecdotes, please!

Meatless Mondays: Fava Beans

The first time I tried to cook fava beans, something that is practically fetishized in the foodie world, I thought they were so not worth the hype.  They were chewy and not at all the harbinger of spring they were reputed to be.  (Plus I kept thinking about Hannibal Lector.)

What you buy in the store or market

After the first peel:  notice the white, leathery skin

Then I did some research and discovered where I went wrong.  It turns out that you need to peel fava beans twice in order to make them the delicious tender morsels they are meant to be.  This means that fava beans are a lot of work, but they are so very worth it!

Twice-peeled and blanched favas beans

Once you have your arduously prepared fava beans, there are so many yummy ways to use them.  The first night, I used about 2 cups to make a puree:  blanched fava beans, some water (chicken stock would be even yummier, but I didn't have any), a few grinds of pepper, a few tablespoons of grated pecorino, and half of a clove of garlic went into the vitamix.  The resulting puree was a gorgeous, vibrant green.  The bit of garlic added some warmth, the pecorino added some roundness and gentle salinity, yet the delicate flavor of the favas themselves were the star.  My middle daughter declared it a success.  The oldest refuses to try anything mushy, and the youngest refuses to try anything green.  I presented it as a side dish or as a topping for ciabatta.  There was none left over.

It might look like baby food, but it was much, much too complexly flavored for just a baby

The remaining half cup got folded into a salad with whole wheat fettucine (soba noodles would have worked well, too), scallions, grated carrots, leftover steamed broccoli, leftover roasted asparagus, leftover roasted chicken breast, and a sesame oil-soysauce-rice wine vinegar dressing.  For additional crunch, I tossed in some toasted sesame seeds.  This salad is a complete meal in a bowl (protein, starch, and veg), which just got better each day.
 

The beauty of this salad was that it could have been made with any leftover vegetables, and the fava beans still would have stood out.

Nutritionally, fava beans deserve their place on the spring table.  They are packed with protein and fiber.  They are low in fat and sodium but high in iron, calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, copper, and B vitamins, especially folate (essential for cell division), thiamine, niacin, and pyridixone (coenzymes for metabolism).  People with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), a rare genetic condition, should avoid eating fava beans as should people prone to developing oxalate kidney stones. Fava beans also are rich in levo-dopa (L-dopa), a precursor of some neurotransmitters.

If you've never tried fava beans, go try them now before the season is over!  If you love fava beans, how do you eat them?  I've seen recipes for grilling them, pod and all, but I haven't tried it yet.  The New York spring has not been cooperative enough for us to use our grill. How do you eat favas?

Meatless Mondays: Rhubarb

My mom had a big patch of rhubarb growing in our back yard when I was growing up, and one of my favorite things to do each spring was to pretend the stalks with the giant, heart-shaped leaves were my parasol and I was a fancy princess/movie star/fairy.  After my brother and I had tired of playing with the rhubarb, my mom would throw away the leaves (they're toxic), thoroughly clean and chop the stalks, then simmer them with a bit of sugar to make a yummy mushy sauce.  We ate the sauce with pancakes, spread on bread, or as a topping for  yogurt.  Today, I have to pay $4 a pound or more for rhubarb that we used to beg our neighbors to take. 

What used to be free now costs me $5!!!

Rhubarb's gorgeous color belies its tangy bite

Rhubarb is a vegetable that most cooks treat like a fruit.  It is low in protein, fat, and calories while relatively high in vitamin A (key role in growth and development), vitamin C (collagen builder), and potassium (crucial for heart health and muscle contraction).  One-half cup of cooked rhubarb has a bit of calcium, but our bodies are unable to absorb it because it is bound to oxalic acid.  Oxalic acid is one of the compounds that gives the plant its distinctive mouth-puckering effect.  Some of the other compounds that give rhubarb its astringent flavor also make it nutritious.  Rhubarb is high in tannins (also found in tea and red wine) and phenols.  Tannins and phenols are being studied for potential anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and vasodilatory effects.  The red hue in the stalk comes from anthocyanins, the same compound that colors purple cabbage.  This compound also has anti-inflammatory properties and might protect blood vessel linings.  The rhubarb will turn redder when cooked with acid (like lemon juice) and bluish or brownish if you cook them with alkaline foods like sugar.  Avoid cooking rhubarb in iron or aluminum pots; some metal ions in the pots can interact with the acids in rhubarb and can darken the pot and the rhubarb.

Today, I make rhubarb compote for my kids, although they don't get to play parasol the way I did.  Chop rhubarb into 1-inch pieces.  2 pounds will yield 6-7 cups.  Put into a non-iron, non-aluminum saucepan.  Toss with 3/4-1 cup sugar.  Let stand until the rhubarb releases some liquid.  Thinly slice about an inch of ginger (to taste).  Bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft but not completely mushy.  Remove from heat, let cool, and fish out the ginger slices.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice if it's too sweet.  This time, I also added a vanilla bean just to see.  It doesn't overwhelm the rhubarb or ginger flavor but rather gives mellows it out.  Serve as a sauce for sweet and savory foods.  It plays nicely with pork chops, yogurt, french toast, or just by itself. 

Strain the rhubarb to drain out the syrup

The resulting syrup and compote

You can also find lots of recipes for rhubarb pies (usually with strawberry), cakes, crumbles, and other sweet treats.  I tried rhubarb scones from a well-reviewed recipe.  Unfortunately, my food processor chopped the rhubarb so finely, you can't even see it, and my oven is on the fritz, which resulted in burned scones.  They look good from the top, but the bottom just makes me sad.

My other favorite thing to do with rhubarb is to make rhubarb syrup, which makes a yummy cosmo or soda when added to seltzer.  Chop 2 pounds of rhubarb into 1 inch pieces.  Put into a non-iron, non-aluminum saucepan with 1 cup sugar plus 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the rhubarb is soft.  Let cool then strain the liquid into a jar.  Reserve the solids, which will be sweeter than the compote recipe above.  Again, customize with your favorite add-ins.  Ginger, star anise, and citrus would all be delicious additions.  To make a cosmo, combine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker 2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce Cointreau, 1/2 - 1 ounce rhubarb syrup, and the juice of half of a lime.  Shake, strain, and enjoy!