Healthy Food & Healthy Living by Dr. Ayala

My Mom’s Super Comforting Vegetable Soup

This is the vegetarian version of the all-healing chicken soup.  Works just as well, I think, if not better.

Made of simple, inexpensive ingredients, and requiring very little chopping (thanks to my loyal helper, the food processor) this vegetable soup is one of the best ways to get a lot of the veggies you need all in one dish, and the whole grains in the soup add substance, richness and protein to the mix.  Nothing like a big pot of soup for the cold days ahead!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2-3 celery stalks, stringy tough outer parts peeled, diced
• 2-3 zucchini, peeled
• 4 potatoes, peeled
• 3 carrots, peeled
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled
• 1 parsnip, peeled (optional)
• 1/3 cup pearled barley, rinsed
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 8 cups good-tasting vegetable broth
• Finely chopped parsley or chives, to serve

Preparation:

In a large soup pot heat the canola oil over medium-high heat, add the onions and leeks and the seasoning: paprika, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, 5 to 8 minutes.

While the onions and leeks are sweating in the pot, using a food processor, grate all the other vegetables -- zucchini, potatoes, sweet potato, carrots and parsnip – using the course grating plate.

Add the diced celery and the all the grated vegetables. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are a bit tender and start to brown.  You may need to add a touch of water if your pot looks too dry.

Add the pearled barley and the oatmeal and stir.

Add the broth and bring the pot to a simmer.

Cook until the barley is soft, about 20 minutes.

Taste, and add more salt and pepper if needed. Finish with chopped herbs and serve

Serves many, and is even better the next day.  Keeps well for 5 days in the fridge.

 

Enjoy in good health,

Dr. Ayala

Reposted in Fight Back Friday

Herbed Brown Rice

My mother-in-law is the queen of rice.  She has at least a dozen fabulous rice dishes, which she’ll often cook on a bed of crispy potatoes her many grandkids fight over.  Her dill-rice dish inspired this recipe.  I use an assortment of herbs that complement each other, and have replaced white rice with an aromatic and delicious – I kid you not – short grain brown rice.

How to fall in love with brown rice

I wanted to prefer brown rice -- brown rice has the bran and germ of the grain, and contains more vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals than the white, refined version -- but feeling the love was a challenge at first.

I was facing two obstacles: Long cooking time and the rice's taste.

Brown rice takes two to three times longer to cook, but once I became familiar with the grain's behavior, the long cooking time became an advantage, and I now enjoy the slow rhythm it enables.  Provided you’re around, you can leave your pot of cooking rice on a slow simmer, and forget about it while you’re doing something else.  Another upside: Brown rice is more forgiving to overcooking and will retain its shape and texture. 

Do you like the taste of white rice, and find the brown varieties coarse and unappealing?  So did I. I liked aromatic long grain rice and the basmati and jasmine whites were a staple in my home.  When I tried the long grain brown rice I was very disappointed.  But then I saw that there were so many other varieties to try, and hope resurged. 

My current favorite is the short grain brown rice; it is one of the most full-flavored rices out there, it has a beautiful nutty aroma, it is plump and pretty and oh so tasty.  Try it!  Here’s my advice: If you haven’t found your darling brown rice yet stop by a store that sells brown rice varieties in bulk – most Whole Foods Markets do – buy just a cup of each and give them a try. 

A Short note about cooking rice in measured water:  I use much less than what most recipes call for.  The onion adds a lot of fluids to the pot (and I use a lot of onion), and I find that when the rice absorbs less water it is tastier.  For 1-½ cups of short grain brown rice I use 2 cups of fluids.  For 2 cups I’d use 2 ¼ cups of fluids.

Herbed brown rice recipe 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup parsley
• 1 cup cilantro
• ¼ cup mint leaves
• 1 ½ cup brown rice
• 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
• 2 large onions, diced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper to taste

Preparation: 

• Bring the vegetable stock to a boil
• Wash the herbs, remove the large stems leaving mostly leaves (you can cheat a little, since it’s all going into the food processor)
• Place herbs and ½ a cup of the warm vegetable stock in a blender or food processor and process until you have a smooth chunk-less puree.  Add the puree to the rest of the stock
• Wash the rice in a sieve under cold water
• In a medium pot heat the oil on medium high, and sauté the onions and the paprika and salt for a few minutes until translucent
• Add the rice, and toss around until the rice is aromatic and coated with oil
• Add the herbed broth, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a low simmer
• Cook rice according to directions – mine cooks for about 1½ hours
• Fluff the rice, check seasoning, and serve with a few leftover sprigs of herbs for garnish.

Enjoy,

Dr. Ayala

Related posts: Delicious, nutritious Halloween rice  

Whole wheat banana bread with mint sauce

I’ve always wondered why banana bread is called banana bread and not banana cake.

Is it because it’s baked in a bread pan, and not in a round pan? Is the name designed to make us feel better about eating it—bread’s a necessity and cake’s an indulgence?

To be honest, this recipe, although a more nutritious version than your ordinary banana bread, still should be filed in the dessert section due to the sugar and fat content. (To me, bread is flour, yeast, salt and water, with maybe trace amounts of added fat and sugar.)

Having said that, I do love banana bread. Like most banana-loving families, I find over-ripe bananas in my fruit bowl quite often. Bananas are a tricky fruit: They’re at their best when just ripe, and if you happen to look away for a few hours and neglect to consume them in time, you’re in banana bread territory with over-ripe bananas—still delicious, but not lunchbox material.

I write and speak often about the poor eating habits most of us have, especially related to fruit and vegetable consumption. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week that fewer than ten percent of U.S. high-school students eat the combined minimum five-a-day daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, with some states such as Arkansas and North Carolina faring significantly below those averages and some New England states, particularly Vermont, doing notably better.

Combining bananas and mint into a bread or cake isn’t the answer to our kids’ low intake of fruits and veggies—not at all. But it is another fine use for these plant-based foods we should have in plenty at home and in our kids’ lunchboxes, available for snacking and ready to eat. And, just to be clear, I recommend eating most fruit raw.

However, this bread/cake is a delightful exception-—moist, scented, full of fruit and really delicious! Try it.

INGREDIENTS 

For the mint sauce:

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup almonds 
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract  

For the banana bread:

3 or 4 very ripe mashed bananas 
1½ cups of whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup sugar 
½ cup dark raisins
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt

PREPARATION 

• Make the mint sauce: puree all ingredients to a thick paste using a food processor (or blender) fitted with the steel blade.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.

• In a large bowl, combine all of the banana bread ingredients. You don’t need a mixer, but feel free to use one.

• Pour the banana bread mixture into the buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan.

• Swirl the mint sauce into the banana bread (Transfer the mint sauce into a small plastic bag with a corner snipped off. Drizzle it on in parallel lines and then run a knife through the lines from the other direction to swirl.)

• Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean and the bread is golden brown.

• Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Tip: The mint pesto will keep in a tight container for a week or so, and will pair up nicely with any chocolate dessert. Double the quantity and you’ll look like a pro when you serve chocolate ice cream or cake with a few dollops of this home-made mint sauce on the side.

For more of my whole wheat recipes go here and here.
Enjoy, 
Dr. Ayala

*I'll be taking a few weeks off to spend time with my family and travel and will be writing infrequenly during August. Meantime, I'll be reposting some of the most popular posts I’ve written over the past years so that new readers have a chance to catch up.  Happy summer!

2011’s hottest snack trend (and how to make it yourself in minutes)

 
I’m here to report that the hottest snack trend for 2011 is…flavored popcorn!  Walking the busy and delicious isles of the Fancy Food Show in Washington DC last week, I encountered popped corn in every imaginable combination, from bourbon to smoked almond, from chocolate caramel to bacon.

Popcorn is a great snack! It’s (potentially) nutritious, it’s inexpensive, and its neutral taste opens it to interpretation, so if you’re tired of eating popcorn the old-fashioned (butter and salt) way and feel like trying something new, popcorn innovation is here!

Popcorn nutrition tips

Popcorn is not only tasty and fun, but can also be healthful. Popcorn is a whole grain, high in fiber, relatively low in calories and fat, and it does fill you up.

But just like a banana -- a perfectly good snack -- can become calorie-laden when transformed to a banana split or banana chips, so it is with popcorn, so look out for what’s added to your popcorn.

Many microwavable popcorn brands contain either partially hydrogenated oil or have replaced those with palm oil, which is a highly saturated oil and not much better.

Many popcorn brands use butter flavor.  A few years ago we learned that microwavable popcorn contains diacetyl, a natural flavor that imparts butter aroma.  Heated diacetyl becomes a vapor and when inhaled over a long period of time inflames the small airways in the lungs and scars them. The severe form of the disease is called bronchiolitis obliterans or “popcorn workers’ lung”, which is untreatable and can be fatal.  Since the news of popcorn lung spread, many popcorn makers, lead by Orville, announced they’ve replaced diacetyl with new, safer, butter substitutes.  Recent studies have shown that these substitutes are similar to diacetyl and have produced similar health effects and are therefore just as toxic as what they've replaced.

So read the ingredient list and select a popcorn brand without unwanted additives, or better yet, make your own popcorn at home -- it’s really easy, I’m sure you don’t have diacetyl in your pantry, and since your popcorn will be devoured immediately you can use any healthy oil you’d like, and not worry about “shelf life”.

Spice up your popcorn: DIY popcorn ideas and tips

Feel like making gourmet popcorn at home? Here’s one of my favorites:

Sage popcorn

What you need:

• A large, preferably heavy pot with lid
• 1-2 tablespoons flavorless, high-temperature oil (I use canola)
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
• ½ cup popcorn kernels
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Add the oil to the pot over medium heat.
• Throw a couple kernels of corn in the pot and cover it. When those kernels of corn have popped, your oil is hot enough to start.
• Add the rest of your popcorn, fine salt and the sage. Cover the pot and shake it to coat the popcorn with oil.
• Continue to cook, covered, and shake the pot occasionally (every 20-30 seconds is probably sufficient). Keep this up until the popping almost stops.
• Adjust salt to taste.

Substitutions and additions:

• Rosemary, oregano or thyme- replace the sage. 
• Truffle oil- add 1-2 tablespoons of good truffle oil to the popped corn.

For crispier popcorn: If the pot is very tightly covered, the steam released by the kernels can make the popcorn less crisp. If this happens, set the lid very slightly ajar, or lift the lid a few times to let the steam out.

Homemade microwave popcorn

Don’t feel like washing a pot? You can make your own popcorn in the microwave; all you need is a paper bag: 

• Put 1/4 cup popcorn kernels in a medium size paper lunch bag.
• Fold over the top 3-4 times.
• Put the bag in the microwave for a few minutes. It will pop fantastically and the bag will not burn. Turn microwave off when popping slows down significantly.
• Add butter and salt, or try one of the flavors below: 
  • Lime zest, olive oil and chili powder or go up in spiciness and add anything from cayenne to chipotle to habanero powder – see if you dare! Mix together, then add to popcorn.
  • Finely grated parmesan, paprika and olive oil -- mix together, then add to popcorn.
  • Cinnamon powder, orange zest and olive oil -- mix together, then add to popcorn.

Popcorn popping tip

Rejuvenating reluctant popcorn: If your popcorn doesn’t pop into fluffy, crunchy kernels, it may have lost some of its moisture.  Those unpoppable kernels are called "old maids”, a most politically incorrect term. Popability depends on water; as the kernel heats up, water inside it releases steam, putting more and more pressure on the kernel until it explodes. Revive “dry” popcorn by putting it in a closed jar and adding a little water. Cover and shake occasionally until all the water is absorbed. In two to four days popcorn should be perfect for popping.

Enjoy! And please do add your popcorn innovations below.

Dr. Ayala

Reposted as part of Food Renegate's Fight Back Fridays