Seek and Ye Shall Find...

Here's to just a bit of success I had over the weekend.

Aimee and I have started to make stromboli on Sunday for lunch after church.  It's tasty, easy to make, and there's even some sentimental value in this meal as it was the first thing I ever made for her.  Naturally, (no pun intended) I made it my mission to find the best possible ingredients not only for taste and nutritional value, but also because it better be of good quality if it's something we're going to make a habit of eating. 

When I made this dish in college, I would use a prepared pizza crust from the tube, good ol' shredded mozz, and run-of-the-mill pepperoni.  Over the past few weeks I've experimented with a few different things, but now with fresh, whole wheat pizza dough made with unbleached and unbromated flour, fresh mozz, and the ingredient of the hour: uncured pepperoni.

I have been searching high and low for this last, prized piece to my rolled up puzzle, and I finally found it this weekend.  I know everyone will roll their eyes when I say Whole Foods was the last place I looked, but it was.  Of the local health food stores, my Whole Foods is the most inconvenient to get to, but after I had inquired at my usual places and come up empty-handed, I ended up at Whole Foods to be pleasantly surprised.  

I was looking for uncured pepperoni.  I was willing to settle for anything as long as it didn't have all the sodium preservatives (namely sodium nitrate), MSG, BHA, or BHT.  I came upon a fantastic option, although not ideal only because it's made with beef and pork, as opposed to turkey which typically has 50% less fat.  Despite that fact, I'm very happy and can eat my stromboli with a clear conscience.  The added bonus with this brand is that the beef and pork used to make this pepperoni is raised without hormones or antibiotics!

I'll be honest, when compared by taste in the strombolis, these two versions of pepperoni don't very much differ.  But I'm big on being educated about what I feed my body, and this new option allows me to feel much better. The fresh dough and cheese really make a difference in the taste, so that is highly recommended for those who desire to try it out:

Ingredients:

One ball of whole wheat pizza dough

Freshly Shredded Mozzerella

Uncured Pepperoni

Direx:

Allow the dough to get to room temperature.  Stretch out into a large rectangle on a lightly floured service, about the size of a cookie baking sheet pan.

Once stretched, cover with a layer of the mozz and about a dozen pepperonis evenly dispersed.

Throw a few torn up fresh basil leaves over this as well if desired.

Roll dough starting with one of the short sides of the rectangle.  When picking it up to place it on a lightly oiled or corn meal dusted cookie pan, give it a stretch so it is about as long as the pan. 

Place on the pan and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until dough is cooked through.

Now that I've made these qualitative changes in ingredients, I only wish stromboli was actually a healthy thing to eat so frequently...

Antioxidants vs. Free Radicals - Let the Battle Continue.

Everyone has heard about antioxidants, but what are they?  Most people have heard about free radicals, but what are they?

The truth is, the two terms I just mentioned have been diametrically opposed since the beginning of time.  It's a battle of good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, the empire vs. the republic.  I've known about these two separate things for years, but I just had this epic clash-of-the-titans concept introduced to me.  They are remarkably interrelated and it has opened my eyes to another reason why choosing organic foods is so important.

As Dr. Colbert states in Eat This and Live!, "Antioxidants are to free radicals what water is to a fire."  

Free radicals are introduced into the body every second of every day.  Eating, working, and even breathing bring in and create free radicals.  In a nutshell, free radicals are molecular-level disruptions, mutations, or deficiencies in cells.  Antioxidants are the force that is needed to combat the bad guys and neutralize the negative effects of free radicals.  Guess which foods introduce the most free radicals: hormone-packed red meats, pesticide-laced produce, and "dead" foods.  Guess which foods augment antioxidant power: fresh, organic veggies, raw nuts, and organic chocolate.

Here's where choosing organic proves itself once again as the best option for optimum nutrition and health.  

When choosing antioxidant-rich foods, insisting on the organic version is crucial.  I've heard too many people talk about having a glass of wine or OJ "for the antioxidants."  The trouble with that is the fruits used to make these beverages are covered in pesticides, so anyone who has passed grade school math can understand the problem.  It's not that the antioxidants aren't there, but the positive impact of the antioxidants is negated by the free radicals taken in due to pesticides and chemicals on the foods used to make the product.

That's just a nugget of new info I learned today, and I thought I'd share.  Again I say when possible, choose organic.  When trying to boost antioxidant intake, the best result will only be attained when beginning the battle with the best army of antioxidants possible: one that is not already crippled before it even starts to fight.  

The Dairy Police (ADPD).

Does America have any other edible products that are recognized as a type of food? Ok, that's incredibly vague – let me explain and simultaneously introduce my topic. What’s the deal with American cheese? 

Cheese. I can’t think of another food with which American has staked such a monumental claim. Sure, we have the cross-country icons of burgers, fried chicken, and tacos. We even have the foods that are staples within America’s borders: New England clam chowder, Philly cheesesteaks, San Francisco Sourdough, Louisiana Po-Boys... The thing is, not one of these items can declare “American” as its modifier.

Cheese. America loves it. There are thousands of types of cheese in the world and I know I have only ever tasted maybe a few dozen varieties.  I have had American cheese, and I am not a fan. 

Why does the American version of a worldwide dietary giant have to be so… gross?  Unfortunately, it is just another manifestation of all American food products.  The type of cheese that we have named our own is a fake, processed, “cheese” product that is a few molecules away from the plastic in which it is wrapped.  Look at the label, because it truly says something similar.  Scary.

Cheese.  Other countries brag about the raw, natural state of their home-grown dairy pride that is better with age and prepared following traditional recipes and practices.  American cheese is made in factories, overly processed, full of empty calories and concocted in such a way to be highly modifiable and versatile. 

Cheese.  It’s great because there are so many versions.  There is a type of cheese for any cuisine, any meal, sweet or savory.  Sadly, America made a generic blend of cheesiness that has no individuality, no personality and is just plain bland.  It’s just not for me, even though it’s my homeland’s dairy mascot.

So what else can I say?  I think I’ve successfully portrayed my feelings toward American cheese.  This week, as long as a Wegman’s, Trader Joe’s, or Whole Foods is nearby, take three minutes, comb through the cheese section and try something new!  There are too many varieties out there to stick with the multi-purpose cheese “cure-all” that is American.  Don’t worry, it’s not a crime, it's not "unpatriotic."  Grab a chunk of nutty parmigiano-reggiano, a wheel of gooey brie, or a tub of mild, smooth chevre.  There’s no budget for an American Dairy Police Department (ADPD) anyway.   

Vegan Police on the other hand…

Vital Vittles: Part 3.

Even during the winter months, my daily dinner menu occasionally benefits from some out-of-season, local produce.  I was able to snag a few things toward the end of summer to last me through the cold.  Canned, local organic tomatoes and frozen organic spinach.  Sure, it’s not as good as fresh, but it works. 

Here’s what I made with some of my preserved produce – it has become one of my favorite chicken dishes.  Ellie Krieger’s Garlic-sautéed chicken topped with a honey-balsamic tomato chutney and sautéed spinach.  Savory.

I have to face the fact that my palette isn’t as excited in winter, so this is a great way to carry some summer veggie love into the chilly months.  Check with the vendors at local markets to see if they offer any of there produce canned – it’s a great way to savor the summer when it’s cold outside.

Legible Foodie Review: Part 1.

Food is alive. 

Well, not all food.  In fact most of what many of us eat is very dead... (insert Dickens' simile).  Therefore, I propose an amendment to my initial phrase:

Food should be alive. 

I recently went to the Barnes in search of a book that would assist me in choosing foods that will improve my health instead of maim it.  I found what I was looking for in Dr. Don Colbert’s Eat This and Live!

Here’s the deal – I eat a lot of food in one week, and I want that food to mean something.  I want it to aide my body and provide it with needed nutrients instead of pummeling it with wasted, harmful calories.  What I eat matters to me, and my body will react when it doesn’t get what it needs.  Most of the time when I’m hungry at 8 or 9 at night, looking for pretzels, crackers or my ultimate downfall – ice cream; it’s because I had a lousy dinner of “dead” food, as Colbert would say.  My body is not hungry just for food, it’s hungry for the certain nutrients and vitamins it never got at 6 o’clock. 

That’s the big difference between food that is dead and alive.  Food that is alive is raw, whole, fresh, and in or close to its natural state.  Dead food is processed, preserved, and void of nutritional value.  Before I began to read, I thought I was already doing pretty well at eating food that is alive, because I strive to be a locavore as much as possible and eat a very well-balanced diet.  Surprisingly, I found I didn’t fully understand the concept of living food, and I still have much room to improve.

Here’s what Colbert has to say on the subject:

“Living foods – fruits, vegetables, grains seeds and nuts – exist in a raw or close-to-raw state and are beautifully packaged in divinely created wrappers called skins and peels.  Living foods look robust, healthy, and alive.  They have not been bleached, refined, or chemically enhanced and preserved.  Living foods are plucked, harvested, and squeezed – not processed, packaged, and put on a shelf.  Living foods are recognizable as food. 

Dead foods are the opposite.  They have been altered in every imaginable way to make them last as long as possible and be as addictive as possible.  That usually means the manufacturer adds considerable amounts of sugar and manmade fats that involve taking various oils and heating them to dangerously high temperatures so that the nutrients die and become reborn as something completely different – a deadly, sludgy substance that is toxic to our bodies.”

Most of the above makes sense and is not ground breaking to me.  It’s just a necessary reminder and kick in the pants to start or continue to eat better, living food.  The part that was very interesting to me deals with the excessive heating of oils and the toxic products that result in these all-too-common practices – and that topic deserves its own post at a later date.

In order to make my favorite high school English teacher wince as I write my last paragraph:

In summation, make your food count.  This is one of the reasons for the recent shift toward whole grain everything, and “natural” this or that.  Eat a colorful salad, forego the drive-thru and bypass that morning doughnut.  Incorporate a high-fiber breakfast into your routine, switch to whole grain, unbleached, unbromated flour for baking, and for cryin’ out loud, eat an apple!  Foods should be alive, and they are the foods that should dominate our food lives, fridge, cupboards, and stomachs.  Eat them, and live!