Healthy Food & Healthy Living by Dr. Ayala

Walnut yeast “roses” cake: a delicious indulgent dessert

If the photo of this golden, brown delicacy wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, let me describe the smell: It’s the essence of childhood dreams, the aroma of pleasure itself. At least for me.

Clearly I’m digressing this week from veggie and whole grain recipes and the science of healthy living to the aroma of baked cakes. Well, I do make desserts, and am very much into indulgent ones. I don’t serve dessert every day but I’ll conclude every festive weekend meal with one, and I’ll always leave room for dessert when we eat out.

So for those of you who’ve asked what’s in my pantry besides the obvious healthy foods—I always have butter, heavy cream and the best baking chocolate I can find. I don’t replace the classic ingredients with anything else and never have. I believe that a reasonably small portion of a heavenly dessert will satisfy without breaking your calorie budget and is well worth its saturated fat.

Walnut yeast “roses” cake is just that type of creation.

This isn’t a difficult recipe, but I want to start with a note on yeast dough.
Yeast dough actually is easy to work with; the only real challenge is mastering the patience.

In fact, yeast dough teaches an important life lesson: Sometimes, all you need to do is let a little time pass.

You don’t need to wait passively; the dough won’t rise when you’re watching it. The patience of yeast dough is of the “let go, and things will happen” type. Leave your dough alone and go about your day. You’ll later find the yeast were hard at work for you and doubled your dough. Waiting for the yeast has been a good lesson for me—I tend to be a whirlwind of activity, and learning to wait has served me well as a parent, friend and doctor.

Working with yeast has also deepened my understanding that real food is part of the natural world around us. As such, there’s lots of variability, and each kitchen adventure won’t be exactly the same. I always manage to make reasonably good yeast dough, but even with the apparently same ingredients I find there are good dough days, and days when the dough is more of a challenge. Humidity, temperature, the physical action of kneading the dough and the yeast’s liveliness all affect the final outcome.

So here goes.

Ingredients:

For basic sweet yeast dough:

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour (I use King Arthur’s bread flour. All-purpose is fine too. Bread flour is a high-gluten flour called for in many bread and pizza crust recipes where you want the loftiness or chewiness that the extra gluten provides. All-purpose flour is made from a blend of high- and low-gluten wheats, and has a bit less protein than bread flour.)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 2 yolks
• 1 envelope rapid-rise yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the walnut filling:

• 2 cups walnuts, finely chopped (in the food processor or blender)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup milk

preparation:

To make the dough:

If you happen to own a bread machine, put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and use the dough setting.

If kneading by hand: Put all the dough ingredients in a bowl, combine to make dough, and knead for about five minutes, until the dough is soft and elastic and not sticky at all. (Add a bit of extra flour or milk if you haven’t reached a really workable dough within five minutes, but that rarely happens with this recipe.)

Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and let sit for an hour and a half in a warm place, until the dough doubles its volume.

To make the filling:

Combine milk, sugar and butter in a small pot and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.

Add the nuts, and continue stirring on low heat for a minute or two.

Remove from heat and let chill completely. (The filling may seem too watery for handling when warm. Don’t worry. Its consistency will improve as it cools down.)

Putting it all together:

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle, about 25 by 20 inches. Don’t be lazy! If you fail to roll it big enough the cake will have fewer leaves and too much dough between the nut layers. Rolling to a thin sheet is really important!

Spread the walnut filling on the dough and roll the dough.

Cut the roll crosswise into 2 inch pieces and place on a greased 10-inch spring pan, cut side up (will make 12-15 rolls).

Let rise again for about one hour.

Heat the oven to 350 F.

Bake in the heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from oven and let chill on rack.

The cake can be cut to slices (my preference) or separated into its rolls by hand.

Serving suggestions:

This cake pairs very nicely with apple sauce, fresh berries or more simply, a steaming cup of herbal tea.

By the way, the “roses” part of this cake’s name comes from the delicate shapes formed on the individual cakes.

Enjoy,
Dr. Ayala

Other dessert posts:
Healthy summer frozen treats and the dreaded brain freeze
Whole wheat banana bread with mint sauce

Reposted as part of Food Renegate's Fight Back Fridays--go join the food fight!

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

Watermelons: A Healthy Taste of Summer

I am taking a summer break for a few weeks to spend time with my family and travel. Meantime, I'm reposting some of the more popular posts I’ve written over the past almost two years (wow, how time flies!) so that new readers have a chance to catch up. Enjoy this post! - Ayala

One of the best things to enjoy on a warm summer day is a cold watermelon. What could be better? Sweet, crisp, refreshing, red and nutritiously healthy.

My husband sees it as a personal failure when we open a watermelon and find a pinkish disappointment that tastes like a cucumber. He feels there must be a fool-proof way to pick the perfect fruit.

Alas, there’s no secret method, but I can offer a few tips for choosing a good watermelon:

Tapping: Tap the watermelon with the pads of your fingers. A winning watermelon will typically have a slight hollow sound, more like the sound you get when tapping your head rather than tapping your chest.

The yellow spot: At the bottom of the watermelon -- where it rested on the ground -- you want to find a yellow or cream-colored spot. If the spot is still white, the watermelon isn’t ripe.

Hardness: Press your fingers and thumbs into the watermelon’s skin. A good one should be hard all around with no soft spots.

Heaviness: A good watermelon feels heavy for its size.

I’ve been using these methods for years. Still, I have to admit I’m not convinced that digging through the watermelon bin using these tricks gets you a better success rate than randomly picking the first watermelon your hand touches with your eyes closed. I occasionally end up with disappointing watermelons no matter how hard I try. It just happens!

The good news though if you get a bad one: a not-so-sweet watermelon makes a wonderful and easy-to-prepare cold soup. (The cucumber in the recipe masks the cucumberness of the not-so-great watermelon.) It looks like a gazpacho, but is even more refreshing.

Watermelon and mint cold soup

Ingredients

6 cups seedless watermelon, diced
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1 cup cucumber, peeled and finely diced
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, minced
1 red onion, diced
1/2 cup young celery stalks, diced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preparation

Puree the watermelon in a food processor, using the “pulse” setting; pulse several times until the watermelon is still chunky and not too smooth.

Transfer the puree to large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until cold (at least an hour).

Garnish with a few leaves of fresh mint and serve.

What’s so good about watermelons?

First and most important – it’s a fruit and it tastes good. And of course its color brightens up the table.

Watermelon is a low calorie nutritious treat: a one-cup serving of watermelon has only about 50 calories.

It’s an excellent source of vitamins C and A. It’s also a good source of vitamins B6 and B1, and minerals such as potassium and magnesium. Red watermelon (yes, there’s a yellow-orange type too!) is also a good source of lycopene (a carotenoid antioxidant). In fact, watermelons are a richer source of this beneficial antioxidant than tomatoes.

Watermelon is 92 percent water so it’s very good for hydration.

While we mostly eat the flesh of the watermelon, all parts are actually edible. The rinds can be stir-fried, stewed or pickled. Watermelon seeds are rich in fat and protein, and can be eaten as a snack (roasted), or made into an oilseed.

How big can they get?

Very, very big!

Hope, Arkansas, the birthplace of President Bill Clinton, is known for producing the world's largest watermelons.
The last world record was set at 268.8 pounds as far as I could find. I wonder what a watermelon this big tastes like.

Is watermelon a favorite fruit in your home?

Dr. Ayala

Enjoy healthy whole grains in my Wheat Berry Salad

I often write about the importance of eating whole grains, but since actions can speak louder than words, try making this healthy summer recipe with the most whole and least processed a wheat grain as could be—wheat berries.

A wheat berry is the entire wheat kernel—including the bran, germ and endosperm (for comparison, white flour is comprised only of ground endosperm). Look for them in the health food store or in the natural foods section of the supermarket (Whole Foods usually sells them in bulk, which is great!). I like the hard red wheat berries, which are very high in protein, very nutritious, and have a sweet nutty flavor and a lovely chewy texture.

The trick with the hard wheat berries is to plan ahead and soak them overnight. These grains are very hard indeed, and will require a very long cooking time if they’re not well soaked. Cooked berries keep nicely in the fridge, so I sometimes cook a few cups of wheat berries, and add them to bread, soup and other recipes over the week. My daughter loves them plain, and will fill a cereal bowl with them and eat it as a snack.

This is a very simple recipe, and a dish everyone seems to love. I’ve been asked for this recipe many times, so it’s time to post it once and for all.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup wheat berries, soaked overnight
1 large ripe mango (can be replaced with oranges or persimmon), cut into cubes
3-4 celery stalks, with the fibery outer parts peeled and diced
10 dates, pitted and finely chopped (can be replaced by another dried fruit)
A handful of nuts, such as roasted almonds, candied pecans or walnuts

Dressing:

1 tablespoon of a fine sweet and interesting marmalade—I use organic Adriatic fig spread (sold at Whole Foods)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 sprig of thyme, finely chopped

Preparation:

• Cook the wheat berries by covering them with two inches of water, then bring them to a boil, lower the temperature to simmer, and cook until chewy—about 20-30 minutes. Drain and let cool
• Add all other salad ingredients besides nuts
• Combine dressing ingredients
• Add the nuts and dressing right before serving

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Enjoy!
Dr. Ayala

Healthy summer frozen treats and the dreaded brain freeze

My dear kids bought me an ice cream maker for Mother's Day—they know my favorite gifts are connected to the kitchen and food. To their delight, I’ve been experimenting with frozen healthy treats for the past few weeks, and they get to sit on the sunny steps outside our kitchen where they taste, comment and compare.

These recipes call for an ice cream maker. Not every kitchen has or needs one—I give instructions for making these fruit treats without one—but if you have the space in your kitchen these small appliances aren’t expensive (under $50), and will probably earn their keep.

When making frozen desserts at home you’ll be using pure fresh ingredients, and none of the stabilizers, gums, colors and preservatives that are often found in the in prepared versions from the frozen food section of your supermarket.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Lemon, Verbena and Geranium Sorbet

Ingredients:

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5-8 leaves of rose geranium* (can be replaced by French tarragon or 1 teaspoon lavender flowers)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh Lemon Verbena
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon peel (yellow part only)

*Another option is to replace rose geranium with 1 bottle of Ayala’s Herbal Water Lemon Verbena Geranium. If you do this, use just ½ cup of boiling water to melt the sugar.

To prepare:

Stir the sugar and rose geranium leaves in the boiling water until sugar is dissolved. Chill completely. Remove leaves just before making the sorbet.

Add the lemon juice, lemon Verbena and lemon peel.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions 25-30 minutes.

If you do not have an ice cream maker

 Place mixture in freezer-proof container
 Freeze for one hour
 Remove from the freezer and beat the mixture using an electric mixer
 Repeat this entire process two more times (it’s worth it)

In case you’re wondering how I make the lemon zest spirals--it’s really easy, use a lemon zester in a circular motion around a washed lemon (see picture).

Very Berry Sherbet

Ingredients:

• 1 pound mixed berries. I like using a combination of sweet and tart berries: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Frozen berries also work; let them thaw just a little before preparation
• 2-4 tablespoons sugar or agave (depending on berry sweetness)
• 1 cup milk (I use 2%)

To prepare:
Process all the ingredients coarsely in a food processor or blender.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions, 20-25 minutes.

If you do not have an ice cream maker:

 Place mixture in freezer-proof container
 Freeze for one hour
 Remove from the freezer and beat the mixture using an electric mixer
 Repeat this entire process two more times

Watermelon Mint Slurpee

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sweet ripe watermelon
• 10 mint leaves, finely chopped
• Lime juice from half a lime
• a pinch of salt

To prepare:
Process all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions for about 10-15 minutes. The consistency needs to be slurpable through a straw, so this one’s not supposed to completely freeze.

If you do not have an ice cream maker:

 Place mixture in freezer-proof container
 Freeze for one hour
 Remove from the freezer and beat the mixture using an electric mixer
 Repeat this entire process one more time

Serve in tall glass, with a wide straw.

Serving suggestions

These recipes serve 4-6 people

Sorbets may be served as a dessert or between courses to refresh the palate.

The texture of the sorbets varies by ingredients, preparation and temperature. These recipes are designed to be served immediately. If you do store the sorbet in the freezer, make sure you allow a short time to thaw before serving.

The dreaded brain freeze

Ice cream can teach us a very important healthy eating lesson—eat slowly. Although it’s always good advice to pace our meals, allow satiety to sink in and give ourselves time to really enjoy our food, ice cream, sorbets and other very cold foods often provide a very clear reminder to slow down: The dreaded ice-cream headache. This “brain freeze” not only causes us to momentarily stop our own eating, but if anyone else happens to cry out as they suffer this stinging pain, we all almost instinctively slow down in order to avoid it ourselves.

According to an editorial by neurologist Joseph Hulihan in the British Medical Journal, the ice cream headache is the most common cause of head pain, and affects a third of the population. It has no connection to other forms of headache. The pain begins a few seconds after gulping down cold foods or beverages--when really cold food touches the roof of the mouth--and peaks in 30-60 seconds. The good news is that it doesn’t last long.

Scientists aren’t sure about what causes this pain. One leading theory suggests that the cold food or drink may temporarily constrict blood vessels and cause pain in much the same way a migraine does. In any case, no need to worry. Hulihan concludes with:

“No treatment is usually required, and sufferers rarely seek medical attention. Since the posterior aspect of the palate is most likely to produce the referred pain of ice cream headache, avoiding contact of the cold food with this area can effectively eliminate the symptoms. Most people arrive at such preventive measures without the advice of doctors. Ice cream abstinence is not indicated.”

And you can always call on the classic trick to speed up recovery from brain freeze: press your tongue to the roof of your mouth until the pain subsides.

Your comments on summer treats or brain freezes are as always welcome.

Enjoy the warm weather in good health.

Dr. Ayala

How to make healthy whole-wheat pita bread and the mystery of the pita pocket

Making pita bread at home is really easy and fun. It’s really a beginner baker’s project, and a wonderful first bread recipe to make with kids. The entire process of making pitas takes only about two hours (most of it rising time) and pita bread bakes in minutes. Kids are fascinated when they see the pita balloon in the oven and form its pocket.

Freshness makes all the difference, therefore your own pitas are going to be better than anything you ever bought in a supermarket.

Once you’ve mastered the dough preparation you’ll be able to experiment with baking pitas over any very hot surface. While I usually use an oven with a baking stone, pitas can be made in any oven, on a grill, on a stovetop in a pan and even on hot pebbles!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour. (Use 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour and 1 ½ cups all purpose flour or bread flour for starters. You can then experiment with increasing the proportion of whole to regular flour)

1 package active dry yeast

Scant 1 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

If you have a bread machine put all the ingredients in the pan, set the machine to the dough setting and skip to step 6.

If making this dough by hand, you’ll get the benefit of exercising your arms a bit—all the more fun:

1. Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

2. Make a small depression in the middle of the flour and pour yeast, water, sugar and oil in the depression.

3. Stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.

4. Place dough on floured surface or in a large bowl and knead for 3-5 minutes. Rest for about 15 minutes (time for a coffee break?) and go back to kneading for another 5-10 minutes. When the dough is smooth, elastic and not sticky your kneading is done.

5. Put your dough into a floured bowl and cover. Set in a warm place to rise, until about double (about an hour).

6. Divide dough into 10-12 equal balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball with a rolling pin into a 5-6-inch circle.

7. Cover rolled dough loosely with a towel. Let rise for about 15-30 minutes, until slightly puffy (you can skip this step if in a hurry).

8. Preheat oven to 450 degrees with the baking sheet or stone in it. Bake for 2-4 minutes, turning over halfway.

9. Pitas are ready when puffy and just slightly browned. A short bake results in softer pitas. If you like your pita crispy, bake a few minutes longer.

I bet someone (usually it’s the kids) will ask why to the pitas puff.

Whenever I have a “why” question in the kitchen I turn to Harold McGee's “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen”, the Bible of cooking science. Mine is as stained with batter and spills as my cookbooks.

Here’s the venerable McGee’s explanation:

“Puffing occurs when the two bread surfaces have set in the heat and become tougher than the inner layer, where steam accumulates and eventually tears the tender interior, forcing the two surfaces apart.”

The way I explain it to young kids is that the dough has lots of tiny air bubbles. In the heat of the oven the air bubbles expand (as any gas would in heat), and since the pita forms a hard crust on both upper and lower sides, the air finds it easier to accumulate in the middle to form a balloon. I hope that’s close enough.

As an experiment, you can prick holes with a fork in one of your pitas and observe that this pita won’t puff.

Serving ideas:

You can eat almost anything in a pita as people in the Middle East do. Hummus, tahini, thinly sliced vegetables and other salads are great.

You can use pita bread to scoop sauces.

We usually eat the pitas as soon as they come out of the oven and have none left, but if you do, they freeze well. When heating a pita bread it’s a good idea is to sprinkle water on either side.

A few more words about bread and nutrition:

In case you didn’t notice, my recipe has very few ingredients. In fact, bread is made out of four main ingredients—flour, water, salt and a yeast. Bread is an ancient food, and the mastery of great bread making is usually not in ingenious new ingredients; it’s in the technique and patience of the baker.

Next time you’re in the supermarket visit the bread isle, which is usually vast, and look at the ingredient lists. Most supermarket bread is made with white flour. If it’s made with white flour it will contain vitamins and iron—law requires refined flour to be enriched, as the refining process robs the wheat grain its germ and bran, and therefore much of its micronutrient and fiber. Many breads also contain a long list of softeners, additives, conditioners, preservatives and many other hard to read and impossible to understand chemicals.

The result is bread that can be made quickly in a factory, has a long shelf life and includes a taste that, I guess, most people like.

Many types of bread also have lots of health claims: Adding a small amount of whole wheat or bran to industrial bread is cause for celebration on the package. Whole grains are good for you.

I have no idea why consumers would want to eat breads with so many additives. If you’re seeking bread with a “shelf life,” a healthier option is to buy real bread with a short ingredient list containing items you can identify and pronounce, then slice it and put it in the freezer. It will keep well.

Enjoy, and please tell me about your bread-making and bread-eating experiences.

Dr. Ayala

Fall healthy eating

A good belly laugh relieves stress, propels creativity and is so good for your health, and I’m grateful to Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, for providing my daily dose of humor and laughter (I have no connection with the Daily Show; wish I had).

I think we can all use a break from the gloomy news and daily worries and I’d like to share this clip about fall eating with you:

On a slightly more serious note, fall seasonal fruits and vegetables are a great inspiration for healthy recipes—from sweet apples and pears to hearty root vegetables, pumpkins and squashes, chestnuts and mushrooms.

The New York Times Well blog asked nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden to create a list of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t, and at the top of the list were beets.

So I’d like to share a beet dish I make often.

Roasted red and golden beets, with reduced balsamic vinegar

Beets are easy to find, especially between spring and fall, and make for a very simple, delicious, healthy dish, that epitomizes fall color to me.

If you can find golden beets they make for a delightful color contrast with the red beets. They also taste really great.

Ingredients:

3 medium red beets, rinsed, not peeled

3 medium golden beets, rinsed, not peeled

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar for reduced balsamic glaze

Fresh herbs to garnish (chives, parsley or tarragon)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Optional- fresh goat cheese (chèvre)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and place in pan in the oven.

Roast until tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

When beets are cool enough to handle, peel and slice beets. (Red beets can be peeled and sliced in advance. Golden beets change color when exposed to air, so slice just before serving.)

To make reduced balsamic glaze: In a small pan, over high heat, bring vinegar to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and evaporate balsamic until quantity halves and turns to a light syrup.

Drizzle reduced balsamic over the beets.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Garnish with fresh herbs, and add goat cheese if desired.

Enjoy,
Ayala

Watermelons: A Healthy Taste of Summer

One of the best things to enjoy on a warm summer day is a cold watermelon. What could be better? Sweet, crisp, refreshing, red and nutritiously healthy.

My husband sees it as a personal failure when we open a watermelon and find a pinkish disappointment that tastes like a cucumber. He feels there must be a fool-proof way to pick the perfect fruit.

Alas, there’s no secret method, but I can offer a few tips for choosing a good watermelon:

Tapping: Tap the watermelon with the pads of your fingers. A winning watermelon will typically have a slight hollow sound, more like the sound you get when tapping your head rather than tapping your chest.

The yellow spot: At the bottom of the watermelon -- where it rested on the ground -- you want to find a yellow or cream-colored spot. If the spot is still white, the watermelon isn’t ripe.

Hardness: Press your fingers and thumbs into the watermelon’s skin. A good one should be hard all around with no soft spots.

Heaviness: A good watermelon feels heavy for its size.

I’ve been using these methods for years. Still, I have to admit I’m not convinced that digging through the watermelon bin using these tricks gets you a better success rate than randomly picking the first watermelon your hand touches with your eyes closed. I occasionally end up with disappointing watermelons no matter how hard I try. It just happens!

The good news though if you get a bad one: a not-so-sweet watermelon makes a wonderful and easy-to-prepare cold soup. (The cucumber in the recipe masks the cucumberness of the not-so-great watermelon.) It looks like a gazpacho, but is even more refreshing.

Watermelon and mint cold soup

Ingredients

6 cups seedless watermelon, diced
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1 cup cucumber, peeled and finely diced
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, minced
1 red onion, diced
1/2 cup young celery stalks, diced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preparation

Puree the watermelon in a food processor, using the “pulse” setting; pulse several times until the watermelon is still chunky and not too smooth.

Transfer the puree to large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until cold (at least an hour).

Garnish with a few leaves of fresh mint and serve.

What’s so good about watermelons?

First and most important – it’s a fruit and it tastes good. And of course its color brightens up the table.

Watermelon is a low calorie nutritious treat: a one-cup serving of watermelon has only about 50 calories.

It’s an excellent source of vitamins C and A. It’s also a good source of vitamins B6 and B1, and minerals such as potassium and magnesium. Red watermelon (yes, there’s a yellow-orange type too!) is also a good source of lycopene (a carotenoid antioxidant). In fact, watermelons are a richer source of this beneficial antioxidant than tomatoes.

Watermelon is 92 percent water so it’s very good for hydration.

While we mostly eat the flesh of the watermelon, all parts are actually edible. The rinds can be stir-fried, stewed or pickled. Watermelon seeds are rich in fat and protein, and can be eaten as a snack (roasted), or made into an oilseed.

How big can they get?

Very, very big!

Hope, Arkansas, the birthplace of President Bill Clinton, is known for producing the world's largest watermelons.
The last world record was set at 268.8 pounds as far as I could find. I wonder what a watermelon this big tastes like.

Is watermelon a favorite fruit in your home?

Ayala

Enriching the vegetarian soup

I’ll admit that making a delicious vegetarian soup is somewhat more challenging than making a soup containing animal protein.

Many soup recipes call for a chicken or beef stock or broth. The broth gives the soup its “hearty” flavor, so you’re starting with an advantage.

I have not yet found an all natural/organic vegetable broth to my liking.

There are vegetarian soup mixes and bouillons out there that do the trick, but I don’t like the ingredient list. They are too processed. I have a feeling that what makes them work is the monosodium glutamate.

Is monosodium glutamate as evil as people think? Is there another way to get its flavor enhancing merits without using a highly processed soup mix? I promise to get to that.

I have two tricks I use in soup, and I’m going to share them.

The first one, you might have guessed, is herbs.

The bouquet garni is the French term for a bundle of herbs, tied with a string, or filed in a sachet, tea ball or coffee filter. The herb bundle is cooked in the soup, and removed before serving.
The most commonly used herbs are parsley, thyme and bay leaf. I also really like chervil, tarragon, marjoram, basil and savory. I find that sage and rosemary generally don’t work for me, and overpower the other delicate flavors. It’s worth trying different combinations, and if using fresh herbs, there’s little risk of over-flavoring.

Besides the flavor and aroma you’ll be adding to the nutritional value of the soup. Herbs are the pleasurable way to add antioxidants to the dish.

The second trick is the parmesan rind. It is useful for hearty soups, such as minestrone, lentil or bean.

What you need is the trimmings or ends of a quality Italian parmesan. These are the rock hard pieces that don’t grate. If you don’t have them as leftover, they are sold at a low price at Whole Foods and cheese shops.
I love making something good from what would otherwise be thrown away.
If there is wax on the rind peel it. Add the rind to the bouquet garni, or just let it float and simmer with the soup. It should also be removed before serving.

Parmesan adds a definite natural rich umami taste to the soup.

Until recently textbook wisdom was that humans could detect four primary tastes: sweet, bitter, salty and sour. Yet as early as 1908, Kikunae Ikeda at the Tokyo Imperial University found that there is another taste. He was studying the nature of the ‘deliciousness’ of konbu (kelp) stock, an important part of Japanese cuisine, and found that the taste is typical of foods that have a high level of glutamate (an amino acid and building block of protein), and identified l-glutamate as the principal source of a fifth taste. Ikeda named this taste umami, Japanese for savory or delicious. Ikeda developed and patented a method of making monosodium glutamate, (MSG), a processed additive that adds umami taste to food, just like sugar makes things taste sweet.

It took almost a century for scientists to prove him right. We now know there are receptors on the tongue with no other purpose than to recognize the presence of glutamate.

Glutamate is a common amino acid, comprising most proteins, and it is presumably for this reason that some animals have evolved the ability to taste it. Glutamate in meat and milk is normally bound up in proteins. Bound glutamate doesn’t enhance the flavor of foods, as only the free glutamate binds to the receptors and gives off the umami perception. That is part of the secret of slow cooked meat stocks and broths typical of French cuisine. The cooking breaks down the protein, and releases free glutamate. Only a fraction of the glutamate in foods is in its "free" form. Free glutamate is particularly concentrated in aged cheese. It is also part of the flavor profile of tomato products, mushrooms, seaweed, yeast extract (is that why British and Australians kids like Marmite?) and soy sauce.

MSG though is almost 100% free glutamate. It has developed a bad reputation as a suspicious additive that many consumers believe causes symptoms including allergies, headaches, shortness of breath, dry mouth and flushing. Since the first report of the Chinese restaurant syndrome in 1968 caused a global health scare, clinical trials have failed to identify a consistent relationship between the consumption of MSG and the constellation of symptoms that comprise the syndrome. Although there have been reports of an MSG-sensitive subset of the population, this has not been demonstrated in placebo-controlled trials.
In a consensus meeting on monosodium glutamate (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 61(3):304-13, 2007 Mar), experts from around the world concluded that: “The general use of glutamate salts (monosodium-L-glutamate and others) as food additive can, thus, be regarded as harmless for the whole population.”

For me though, MSG is the hallmark of highly processed food. MSG isn’t the only umami additive available today. Many Packaged-food companies now use different flavorings that are lab-created umami. They create the illusion of a protein rich nutritious food, while using an additive on cheap ingredients. Just like sweetness will increase the acceptance of a product, added free glutamate will give the perception of savoriness, and increase its likeability.

Cooks knew that certain ingredients and cooking methods enhance flavor well before the science came in. Their old fashioned ways appeal to me much more, as they are achieving the goal with real nutritious food and not with flavorings and additives.

Ayala

homemade pesto- a great way to incorporate herbs in your meal

Homemade pesto is a delicious, healthy sauce that can be used in countless ways. The fragrance of pesto just lifts my spirit. I make it once a week, and use most of it to make my gnocchi with pesto dish. The rest I store in the fridge in an airtight container, and use in sandwiches (fresh mozzarella and tomatoes go really well with pesto), on bruschetta, as a dip, on pizza, or as the green dollops of garnish needed to complete a more elaborate plate presentation.

Notice that I add no salt to the pesto. None is needed. The flavor of the basil, pine nuts, olive oil and parmesan are complete without.

Pesto has its origins in Liguria, Italy, where people have been making it for hundreds of years with wild basil. I grow plenty of basil in my garden during the summer, but in the winter months my indoor pots do not produce nearly enough for my pesto sauce, which is especially rich in basil. Luckily, basil in now available in any good supermarket or farmers market. Choose young, bright green leaves. Make sure to get rid of the stems (they don’t taste too good).

Homemade pesto is infinitely superior to anything you can buy in a jar. The ingredients in some shop bought pesto often include very little nuts, with cashew nuts replacing the pine nuts, very little basil, a random cheese or low grade oil. There’s usually also a long list of ingredients which have no place in pesto, like flavors, preservatives and colors.

Ingredients:

2-3 cups of loosely packed fresh basil leaves (2 bunches),
1/2-2/3 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons of fresh grated Parmesan
2-4 large cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

The practical way:
Food processor- using the “pulse” setting, pulse several times, until you reach the consistency you prefer. I like my pesto course, with no visible oiliness. Add more oil if the sauce is too dry to your taste.

The romantic way:
Mortar and pestle: probably the best tasting pesto you’ve ever had. Children have a great time using the mortar and pestle. The fragrance of the basil fills the kitchen with happiness, and gives everyone a real connection with the food. It does take plenty of time, but worth doing at least once, maybe on a snowy day.
Grind the dry ingredients in the mortar, by pressing and pounding with a pestle, and then add the oil gradually.

A few words about basil:
There are dozens of varieties of basil, some with more flowery notes, some dominated with spicier and clove like notes.
The flavor of basil depends not just on the variety, but also on the soil condition, the sun exposure and the stage at which the basil is harvested. I find that the younger leaves are much more aromatic.
Basil is rich in phenolic antioxidants, anthocyanins (plant pigments, very potent antioxidants) and aroma compounds, and is being studied for its many medicinal effects.

Enjoy,
Ayala

Sage Popcorn: A nutritious snack, rich in fiber, protein and antioxidants

Popcorn is not only popular and fun, but can also be healthful. When made the right way, from scratch, it is whole grain, high in fiber, relatively low in calories and fat, and it does fill you up.

Why make it yourself?  Several reasons:

I recently visited a fair, where an older couple made popcorn the old fashioned way, in a big pot, over direct heat.  People just stopped to watch, it was such a novelty.  The children were quite amazed at this backyard science experiment.

The aroma was that of real food, made fresh, and the taste was so much better than any popcorn I had in a long time.

The microwavable popcorns usually have an artificial buttery flavor.  They contain either hydrogenated oil and trans fat, or have replaced those with palm oil, which is a highly saturated oil and not much better. We have recently learned that microwavable popcorn contains diacetyl, a natural flavor that gives it the 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.  Until now considered a risk only to popcorn factory workers, it is now suggested that a patient, who is a very heavy user of microwavable popcorn, may be suffering from the same disease.

In this recipe I add fresh sage to the popcorn.  It gives the popcorn sophistication and spark, but also adds a lot of health benefits.

The amount of antioxidants added to this dish by the 2 tablespoons of sage, is equivalent to 1 cup strawberries, or ½ cup of blueberries, or 5 oranges, or 8 tomatoes.  We added all that, without adding any significant amounts of calories.  You can double and triple the amount of sage in this recipe, and still not overdo it.

What you need:

A large, preferably heavy, pot with lid
2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
2 tablespoons flavorless, high-temperature oil (canola or corn are good choices)
½ cup organic popcorn kernels
salt

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 heated 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 basically stops.

Adjust salt to taste.

At this point you can add some of the additions below.

Additions:
Truffle oil- add 1-2 tablespoons of good truffle oil to the popped corn
Butter- sure, you can add melted butter to the popped corn.

Substitutions:
Rosemary- replaces the sage.  Very good.

Tips:

• 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 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. Rejuvenate “dry” popcorn by putting it in a closed jar adding a little water. Cover and shake occasionally until all the water is absorbed. In two to four days it should be perfect for popping.
• If the pot is very tightly covered, the steam released by the kernels can make the popcorn less crisp. If that happens, set the lid very slightly ajar, or lift the lid a few times to let the steam out.
• If you really want to use the microwave, but make your own: Take regular kernels and throw them 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.  Add butter and salt.

Ayala