Hummus 3 Ways

A great way to add beans to your diet and to make fresh vegetables more exciting is to eat hummus.  Hummus is a dip or spread that has Middle Eastern origins and has been around for hundreds of years.  It is on restaurant menus, served in school cafeterias, and available in many flavors on grocery store shelves.   The best tasting hummus is homemade, and gives you the choice of bean variety and flavors. 

Traditional hummus is made with garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas), tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon juice, fresh garlic, olive oil, and salt.  With the right equipment (a small food processor or a reliable blender), it is very easy to make and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.  Hummus is rich in protein, iron, fiber, vitamin C and calcium and provides healthy fat from the sesame seeds.  It makes a perfect, portable snack that will help you maintain your blood sugar throughout the day.

Now for the 3 Ways

There are endless varieties of hummus you can make using different beans and spices, and The Desert Café in Baltimore reportedly has a rotating menu of more than 175 versions!  Thanks to the Food Network Magazine, they have shared three recipes to make at home (each makes about 4 cups):

Sour Cream and Onion Hummus

3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed, ½ cup liquid reserved

2 to 3 gloves garlic

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons dried minced onion

1 ½ teaspoons onion powder

1 ½ teaspoons granulated garlic

Kosher salt

Put the chickpeas, chickpea liquid, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, dried onion, onion powder, granulated garlic and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor.  Puree until smooth and creamy.

Buffalo Wing Hummus

3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed, ½ cup liquid reserved

2 to 3 gloves garlic

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons paprika

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

2 to 3 tablespoons cayenne hot sauce

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Kosher salt

Put the chickpeas, chickpea liquid, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, paprika, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, vinegar and 1 ½ teaspoons salt in a food processor.  Puree until smooth and creamy.

Pizza Hummus

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 to 3 gloves garlic

3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed, ½ cup liquid reserved

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Kosher salt

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the tomato paste, oregano and basil and cook until slightly toasted, about 2 minutes.  Transfer the tomato paste mixture to a food processor.  Add the garlic, chickpeas, chickpea liquid, tahini, lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor.  Puree until smooth and creamy.

Go to the Food Network online to see all 47 recipes for hummus:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipe-collections/hummus/index.html?No=0

The Secret to Great Tasting Vegetables

The new USDA Healthy Plate model recommends that we fill half of our plate with fruits and vegetables.  We all know that vegetables are good for us and that most people do not eat the recommended daily servings of 5 each day.  In fact, many people straight out say that they do not like vegetables.

If all you’ve experienced is overcooked, over-salted vegetables (think canned green beans, frozen dinners, and most restaurant vegetables); it is no wonder that you don’t like them! 

The secret to great tasting vegetables is easy:

1.       Choose fresh and in season.

2.       Prepare with respect.

3.       Add flavor:  sweet, salty and/or sour.

Choose Fresh and In Season

Local, fresh vegetables purchased in season are fresher and less-expensive than those picked unripe and then ripened during transit over thousands of miles.  The most obvious example of this is fresh tomatoes.  An August tomato picked from your garden or purchased from a farmers market has far more flavor than a store-bought tomato in January.  There is no comparison!  If it doesn’t taste good, it won’t make it to your plate.

During winter months, squash and root vegetables are a great choice.  Also, enjoy high quality frozen vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, corn, peas, and green beans. 

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, a great site to find out what is in season each month is the Seasonal Cornucopia website http://www.seasonalcornucopia.com/sc/default.asp .

Prepare with Respect

By this I mean choose the best cooking method to emphasize the flavor and qualities of your vegetables.  This can be a very personal choice; some people prefer broccoli raw, some roasted, and some blanched or lightly steamed.  No matter which method you prefer, avoid over cooking.  I encourage you to experiment to find the method that you like the best.  If you are new to cooking vegetables, try roasting with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Add Flavor:  Sweet/Salty/Sour

The secret to great tasting vegetables (especially leafy greens such as kale, chard, and spinach) that even your kids will eat is using one or all of these three flavors:

1.       Sweet

2.       Salty

3.       Sour

Leafy greens and other vegetables taste bitter to most people – from mildly bitter to pungent – depending on the sensitivity of your palate.  The secret to reducing the bitterness of your greens is to flavor with sweet, sour, or salty flavors – or all three!

Add sweet flavors with sweet sautéed onions, bell peppers (red or orange), fresh fruit or fruit juice, or chutney.  Add sour with vinegar (balsamic, red or white wine, rice, or apple cider) or fresh lemon or lime juice.  Salty is easy – a pinch of sea salt, umeboshi plum paste, miso, sea vegetables, or chopped olives are all a nice complement to bitter greens.

Now that you know the secrets, try them and share your discoveries with your family and friends.  You may end up with so many favorites that you need a bigger plate.

Healthy Eating - One Plate at a Time

The Harvard School of Public Health recently published their version of the USDA’s “MyPlate” model for healthy eating. 

What’s the difference?  "Unfortunately, like the earlier U.S. Department of Agriculture Pyramids, MyPlate mixes science with the influence of powerful agricultural interests, which is not the recipe for healthy eating," said Walter Willett, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of the Department of Nutrition at HSPH.  The Healthy Eating Plate is based on the latest and best scientific evidence which shows that a plant-based diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and healthy proteins lowers the risk of weight gain and chronic disease.

The Harvard version is more specific about important choices to make within each food category.  The healthy plate recommends whole grains (brown rice, oatmeal, 100% whole wheat) over refined grains (white flour and rice products),  healthier high-protein foods such as fish, poultry, beans and nuts, beneficial healthy fats (olive and canola oils, avocado, and flax seeds rich in omega-3 fatty acids), and choosing from a variety of fruits and vegetables (choose from a rainbow of colors; avoid over reliance on potatoes).  The Harvard version also emphasizes the importance of physical activity and reducing high-sugar beverages.

To learn more, visit Harvard’s site:  Harvard Healthy Plate information.

Your best chance of success to follow this advice is to eat most of your meals at home.  Most restaurants, even high-end ones, continue to serve an unbalanced plate with ½ protein, ¼ starch, and ¼ vegetables (at most!).   I recently traveled to Las Vegas and had my choice of famous restaurants to choose from:  Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, Todd English, Mary Sue Milliken, etc.  While the food was wonderful, it was a real challenge to find vegetables or a salad that wasn’t heavily laden with dressing or butter.  Several restaurants offered broccolini as a side, and twice I received it overcooked and swimming in butter.  In the future, I will ask to have the vegetables prepared lightly steamed with no added butter or oil. 

If we don’t ask for healthier versions of restaurant meals, the industry will never change.  Unfortunately the majority of American diners expect to receive a large portion of meat or seafood for their entrée at a restaurant.  The sides such as grains and vegetables are treated as condiments to the main protein component, but a healthy diet includes just the opposite.  A good strategy is to split your meal with someone else or take half of it home for another meal, and order sides of steamed vegetables and whole grains.

In your own kitchen, you can easily make the change to include a large portion of vegetables accompanied by whole grains and a moderate portion of protein foods.  Don’t let the restaurant industry define your version of a healthy plate. 

Tomato Patience

There is nothing better than a vine-ripened summer tomato fresh from the garden.  In the Pacific Northwest, home gardeners are patiently waiting for their plentiful green tomatoes to finally ripen.  September is the critical month – sunshine and warm temperatures make the difference between ending the summer growing season with an abundance of ripe tomatoes or not. 

This year we planted early in hopes of having an earlier crop – beefsteak tomatoes and red and yellow cherry tomatoes.  The cherry tomatoes started to ripen a couple of weeks ago and they draw us to the garden every day to pick them before the birds find them!  The big prize will be the beautiful beef steak tomatoes, which require much more patience and a few wishes for continued sunshine!

Vitamins, Minerals, and Lycopene

Tomatoes are a perfect summer superfood.  They are rich in vitamin C, A, and K, and also in minerals molybdenum, potassium, manganese, and chromium.  They are most well-known for their high content of lycopene, which has been found to protect cells, DNA, and LDL cholesterol from oxidation.  This has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and prostate cancer.  It is best to eat the whole tomato – animal studies where test groups received either lycopene or the whole tomato found that those give the whole food where better protected from disease.

Choose tomatoes that are free of wrinkles, bruises or soft spots.  It is best to store them at room temperature and not in direct sunlight.  They will continue to ripen at room temperature, and if you want to speed up the process put them in a paper bag with an apple or banana.

Tomatoes are delicious either raw or cooked.  Slice them for a quick salad with basil, mozzarella cheese, and balsamic vinegar.  Sauté chopped tomatoes with parsley, kalamata olives, and garlic to top fish, chicken, or tofu.  Cherry tomatoes are great in green salads and mixed in with pasta and whole grain salads. 

What about canned tomatoes?  You can find whole peeled, chopped, and sauces for quick and easy meals.  Many canned tomatoes are high in sodium, so be sure to look for low or no sodium versions and check the label for sodium content or other added ingredients.

Enjoy fresh tomatoes while they last!  Farmers markets have an abundant supply to fill your plate while patiently waiting for Mother Nature to bless your garden.