Wednesday Food Blogging

Eight Easy Portions

Borough Market in London, with more than eight varieties of veg

Remember when health experts told us to eat five-a-day? Five fruits or vegetables a day, to improve health, prevent heart disease and cancer, and bring peace and prosperity to the land (or something like that). 

Now they say we should really be eating eight—and that every serving of fruit or veg we add to our diet, even if it's not eight, will reduce our risk for heart disease by 4 percent. 

Most people don't even get five portions of fruit or veg a day. (A portion counts as 80 grams, about one apple, one small banana, or one small carrot.) In fact, only 32 percent of American adults eat fruit two or more times a day (2009 figures) and a mere 26 percent eat vegetables three or more times a day. I eat nothing but plant foods, yet I don't always eat five or more fruits and vegetables a day (unless popcorn counts as a veg). 

So I've been thinking a lot lately about how to add more vegetables to my diet. This time of year I almost always have a root vegetable or two (or ten) in my vegetable bin. Roasting is still my favorite way to eat them, but there's only so many times I can set a platter of roasted parsnips in front of my husband before he'll sneak off to the frozen french fry aisle at Tesco. 

The other night I had a Savoy cabbage in the fridge, half a swede (rutabaga) and my favorite British potatoes in the bin. Mashed potatoes, with skins removed, aren't very nutritious, but they're one of my favorite things to eat. But they can be a lot more nutritious when cooked with a root vegetable, which adds phytonutrients as well as fiber. 

Here's what I did: I cut up some potatoes and the swede, boiled them together, and steamed the cabbage separately. Then I mashed the potato and swede in the same bowl with a potato masher, added some plain soy yogurt, some margarine, and stirred in the cabbage. I placed this mixture in a baking dish, baked it for 20 minutes at around 375F, and ended up with several of my eight servings right in the same dish. I served some sliced carrots on the side, too, but I noticed I was the only one eating them. (My husband has an aversion to orange food. I made him eat double portions of the potato/cabbage mixture.) If this reminds you of the famous British dish Bubble and Squeak, well, guilty as charged. 

Despite the name, the dish was delicious, but I didn't take a photo. (It looked nice, really, especially served in a pretty Portmerion baking dish.) But then, this post is really only about giving you ideas for incorporating eight vegetables into your daily diet. 

Don't have a swede? Use turnips, carrots, celeraic, or any root vegetable you have. Don't have Savoy cabbage? Use any green, including spinach. If you've got picky eaters in the family, chances are they won't notice anything other than the mashed potato—you can start small, if need be, only adding one turnip, or one small carrot to the mash.

For more information, check out the National Fruit and Vegetable Program's website. This chart of what constitutes a serving is really handy. And oh, look: an ear of corn is one serving...that's like a bowl of popcorn, isn't it?

Summer's bounty, gone bad

Could this be your rubbish?

Was your mother fond of reminding you, as she frowned at your non-empty plate, about the starving children in Bangladesh? Or was it Africa/India/some third world country you wished you had the address of so you could mail the remains of your dinner...? Today's mom doesn't do that, not because there aren't still children starving in Bangledish, but because she tosses so much food into the rubbish bin herself. She knows hypocrisy doesn't look good on her. (This goes for today's Dads, too, who share the buying/cooking/disposing chores in twenty-first century kitchens.)

Today food costs are a smaller percentage of our overall expenses than they were three decades ago. Consequently, we think nothing of throwing aging produce into our rubbish, as this photo illustrates. That bag of sweetcorn I noticed on my walk today would have cost around £2, or around $3.30. That's a lot of money to throw away.

What's more, those ears of corn will end up in the landfill (sadly, a fox or other probably won't get to it before the rubbish collectors come by). Every year, Britons throw away 25% of the produce they buy. I'm just as guilty. I empty my vegetable bins every Thursday morning in time to get my trash to the street, and almost always, this includes the sad remains of the produce that looked so appetizing at Waitrose the week before.

Last Monday, I determined to do something about it. But I had mixed success. I still ended up tossing mushrooms, peas, a bag of rocket and spinach, and an ear of corn. I could have done better, but with 2/3 of my family gone, I alone couldn't make up for the excess. I did, however, notice that when I put out the trash today, I only needed one bag rather than the two I normally use.

What's needed is a strategy, for dealing with and avoiding food wastage. Here are five tips:

1. Practice resistance in the produce section. This one's hard for me. I love the appealing shape of a lush aubergine, the sturdy plumpness of a butternut squash. I can't resist a new variety of potato, and bags of spinach, rocket, and watercress seem to jump into my shopping trolley. It's a question of just saying no, unless you know exactly where that aubergine or stalk of cucumber will go.

2. Make a plan. Another tactic that's difficult. I like to cook on the spur of the moment, and having an overflowing produce bin gives me more possibilities. But if you have lots of resources—cookbooks, Google, cooking magazines—you can usually find meal ideas and recipes using ingredients you already have. For those you don't have, make a list before heading to the supermarket or grocers, and stick with it when you shop. (See step number 1.)

3. Ratatouille. Seriously, there's a reason why they named a movie after it. You can put just about anything in a stew pot (or better, on a roasting pan) and mix it together with some tomato products, some smoked paprika, and call it ratatouille: Mushrooms, butternut squash, aubergine, peppers, courgette (zucchini), onions, green beans. Serve over pasta, and freeze leftovers for later.

4. Timing is key. Use up vegetables that are more likely to go bad early: spinach, courgette (zucchini), mushrooms, aubergine, while saving carrots and broccoli for later in the week.

5. If all else fails, freeze it. Did you know you can freeze aubergine (eggplant)? I didn't, but apparently you can. And a full freezer is more energy efficient, so if you've got space in your freezer, try freezing what you can't use. Here's a guide for freezing vegetables.

My bins are almost empty. I'm going to try again, armed with a plan with I shop tomorrow. Hopefully, my trash bags won't look like those I saw on my walk today, overflowing with the bounty of summer gone bad.

Advice needed: Vegan in Japan?

Usually I try to offer advice on this blog, but now I'm calling in favors. My daughter is traveling to Japan soon for a 4-week student conference—JASC. She's vegan, and we've heard that Japan is a difficult country for vegans. Apparently fish is the downfall. Many dishes contain fish broth or other fishy bits. And I suspect "California rolls" are not as widely available in Tokyo as they are in Los Angeles.

Does anyone have recommendations for a student traveling in Japan? Many of her meals will be provided, which means she will need to politely turn down non-vegan food. This too could present difficulties, both with recognizing non-vegan food and making her preferences known. Fortunately she's studied Japanese for the last year, and has the basics of the language down. And the conference will be conducted in English, so everyone connected with it will speak English.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Prepared for disaster

I hoard food the way some people hoard cats. I often joke that I could survive 6 months of nuclear winter based on the contents of my pantry. Except it's not just my pantry, it's my cabinets, my lazy susan, my laundry room, even my living room has food stashed here and there. (We keep the heat off in there, so it's the perfect place to store some semi-perishables.)

Finally, thanks to Cottontimer, I can calculate how long I can actually last should I ever become trapped in my own home. I estimated I have around 500 pounds of food. Fortunately, it was time to overhaul my kitchen anyway, so I actually counted the contents of my various cupboards.

Some statistics: 20 cans of black beans. 21 tins of tomatoes. 25 boxes of pasta. And I think 17 containers of soup gives new meaning to the phrase "soup for days."

The way food prices are rising, maybe it's not such a psychological failing to hoard food in such quantities. Those baked beans could be like gold in a year's time.

Try it yourself. How long could you last, if say, a bird flu pandemic hit and you couldn't leave your house?

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Giving up meat for Lent?

Giving up meat for Lent? Here are ten tips for keeping your resolution, all year long:

•Fake it. It's very easy to replace meat with fake meat products, now readily available in any supermarket. Soy-based crumbles can be used virtually identically to their beef-based counterparts. Make tacos with soy crumbles, using a little oil to saute the crumbles. Add a packet of taco seasoning (use less water than the package calls for) and you'll hardly notice the difference in taste. (I also like to add a quarter cup of minced onion.) You can also use soy crumbles in spaghetti, lasagna, or other recipes calling for ground beef.

•Geometry 101. Think of your plate as a circle, not a Chinet-style divided plate with spots for meat and two veg. Layer your plate, starting with a grain, such as rice, pasta, polenta, or quinoa, topping that with veggies and beans, or veggies and tofu, chili, or a rich etouffee. Add a nice sauce, and you won't miss the meat.

•Go global. Instead of asking which type of animal you'll eat tonight—chicken, cow or fish—instead ask which continent you'll eat from. Asian stir-fry? European pasta? American Southwestern? Indian curry? Moroccan tagine? Ethiopian stew?

•Cool beans! Beans are the beginning of many an exciting vegetarian meal. First, decide on a color: Black, white, red, pink (pinto), or polka dot (cranberry). Choose something in your size: tiny lentils (green, black, brown, or red) or gigante beans? Then, check your watch: do you have time to soak dried beans (either overnight or 6-8 hours may be enough)? If you want dinner in 30 minutes, it's best to use canned. Plus: beans, whether canned or dried, are one of the most economical foods available, and offer plenty of protein for growing bodies as well.

•The grainy picture. Stumped for what to eat for dinner? Go with the grain: rice, barley, quinoa, millet, risotto, bulgur, or the old standby, pasta. Whole grains are high in protein, especially quinoa, so there's no need for a protein side kick.

•The star of the show! Don't forget veggies! What's in your bin? Broccoli, a winter veg that's available year round, keeps a while in the fridge, as do many cruciferous vegetables. It's good to keep a head or two hiding in the fridge. Other vegetables are more seasonal. If your veggie bins are empty, don't despair! Canned tomatoes are perfect substitutes for fresh, and frozen spinach works as well (and is cheaper!) than its fresh counterpart, in many dishes. Frozen peas, jarred artichokes, dried corn—all these are pantry stable and provide a beginning for a quick veggie meal.

•Don't have a cow! Don't be tempted to substitute cheese, dairy and eggs for the meat you've given up. You're doing yourself no favors when it comes to cholesterol and fat, and if it's ethics that drives you, those dairy cows and layer hens are treated horribly much longer, and meet their end in the same way as animals raised for their meat. The environmental cost of dairy and eggs is also tremendous. Best to use dairy and eggs very sparingly, if at all. Check out Vegcooking.com for hundreds of dairy and egg free recipes.

•Buy the book. A vegan cookbook or two will add wonders to your kitchen. If vegetarian cooking is new to you, there's nothing like the reliable and knowledgeable experts available at your nearest bookshop. Many contain complete menus, which are helpful to new vegetarians in planning out a complete meal.

•Don't follow the book! Vegetarians, especially, make use of a little creativity when adapting recipes, either the tried and true recipes of our youth, or today's hottest new cuisine. Don't be afraid to improvise! Would tofu cacciatore work? Smoked tempeh instead of sausage? Seitan on skewers instead of shrimp? Pizza with spinach and potato instead of pepperoni?

•Ten recipes. That's right, most families have a total of ten standby recipes they make on a daily basis. Tacos one night, spaghetti the next, lentil roast on Sunday. Find ten vegetarian recipes you and your family like and commit them, more or less, to memory. Keep the ingredients on hand in your pantry or fridge, and you'll always have something to make for dinner.