The Holistic Kitchen

“Risotto”

If you’ve never eaten risotto (translation “rice dish”), think rich, creamy and savory.  Traditionally, risotto is prepared s l o w l y, lovingly, laboriously, with Arborio rice. 

But I wouldn’t be Chef Nancy if I didn’t put a twist on it.  In this case, a healthy and hurry up twist!  Traditional risotto is made with Arborio rice and almost constant attention for 30 minutes, minimum, while the liquid is added a bit at a time to coax the starch out, creating a creamy sauce.  I wanted to create the same creamy and savory result with a high fiber, quick cooking, whole grain and add other goodies to make this an ultra healthy dish. 

The fun thing about risotto is that you can switch up the additions to your hearts content.  Try some sweet red pepper to add color and flavor.  Use mushroom broth instead of vegetable; Miso instead of Parmesan cheese for safe vegan protein and a similar flavor.  Variations are limited only by your imagination!!

First I tried using brown rice instead of Arborio, to increase the fiber.  It took even longer to cook!  Then I tried buckwheat – not even rice at all – but cooked it using the risotto method, in nearly half the time.  Ta da!!

And I made a video for you, so you could see it done first hand.   I call it Risotto in 11 Minutes and you can view it below.  Find the recipe on page 50 of Chef Nancy’s Recipe for Health !

Pronounced 'keen-wa.

Not to mention their color is exceptionally festive .

• By the spoonful
  
• On a green salad
  
• In a fruit salad
  
• By the spoonful
  
• Blended in a smoothie
  
• In a tart, pie or pastry pocket
  
• Did I mention by the spoonful?
  

 The mighty onion is a kitchen workhorse!   

As a member of the allium family (along with garlic and leeks), onions are a rich source of nutrients that benefit the cardio-vascular system.  Studies have shown their nutrient profile to lower blood cholesterol and triglycerides as well as protect the heart and blood vessels.  Additionally, the allium family has been credited with anti-cancer properties. 

As important as this is (especially considering their wide availability and low cost), I love the noble onion for the flavor profile it brings to the table!  Leave it raw and enjoy a powerful, spicy twist to your dish.  Sauté them in a small amount of olive oil or even broth, and taste the sweetness they bring.  Allow them to slowly caramelize over low heat with frequent movement (so they don't burn) and enhance the sweetness even further (think French Onion Soup).  YUMMMMM!

No matter what you are cooking, it is important that the pieces be very close in size.  Not only does this provide a uniform look , more importantly, it allows the food to cook at a uniform rate, so it's all done together, rather than small pieces burning while larger pieces get underway.  Make sense?  So here are some tips on getting a nice uniform dice to a whole (or half) onion: 

1. Trim off the sprout end (that's the opposite of the root end).  DON'T trim the root end off!  
2. Stand the onion on the newly trimmed end with root end up and slice the whole thing through from root down to cutting board.     
3. Working with one half at a time, peel away the outer layers that are either skin or tougher.
4. Lay one onion half flat on the cut side, root end away from you.
5. Make lengthwise cuts from root to tip – the width varies according to the size of the dice you want.  Do not cut through the root – leave it in tact so that you could pick the whole thing up as one piece by the root.
6. Turn the half 90 degrees and slice across the lengthwise cuts you just made (width of slices according to the size cuts you want).

VOILÀ!  A perfect dice!

Can't stop practicing? (the vision of Meryl Streep as Julia Child comes to mind) – portion them out by the cup or whole/half onion, then package them up in freezer safe containers, ready to grab when your next recipe calls for diced onion.

Lemons

Lemons are a must in the kitchen!    

Use lemon juice to brighten the flavors in nearly any dish.

Use lemon juice to prevent browning of fruits such as apples and avocados.

Use lemon juice on salads and in dressing, instead of vinegar (especially if you have been told to avoid fermented foods for reasons of yeast overgrowth or Candida).

Use lemon juice to deodorize your hands from fish, garlic, etc.

Drink warm lemon water daily, to support your liver. Though lemons provide acidic flavoring, they are actually very alkaline (that’s a good thing)!

Use lemon juice as a solvent for gummy, sticky things.

When lemons are in season, squeeze the juice and freeze it in ice cube trays for a quick "juice of one lemon" fix.

Best way to extract the juice?  If you have a quantity, I recommend an electric citrus juicer.  Just one or two lemons?  Forget about fancy gadgets – cut the lemon in half, grab a fork, stick it n one half and squeeze!  Repeat until it's given all it will.  If you do this over a strainer, you won't have to go picking out seeds.

And don't forget that fabulous zest for a delightful lemony edge in a recipe – you'll notice the difference when you use the zest a recipe calls for, instead of substituting juice.   

Remember:  Harvest the zest before squeezing the juice!! 

Are lemons out of season, crazy expensive or just a nuisance for you? Look for Organic lemon juice, NOT from concentrate in the natural section of your grocery store. It’s a staple in my refrigerator!

The health benefits of garlic are well documented, from natural pest repellent, to natural anti-biotic.

Raw garlic is high in compounds that are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and also fight free radical damage and inflammation with powerful antioxidant properties.

Though garlic is reputed to be beneficial in lowering LDL’s (“bad” cholesterol), studies have not proven this.  I don’t mind that – there are a lot of foods with a healthy track record of benefits that “studies” have not been able to prove.  When you consider that garlic is widely used in the Mediterranean and heart disease is much lower there than in the U.S., I’m willing to make the leap that it plays a healthy role!

The rich, sweet flavor of roasted garlic can be mashed into a paste and used in a multitude of ways, such as whisking with oil and vinegar for a dressing, adding to mashed potatoes or spreading on rustic bread instead of butter, just to name a few!

Method 1 (whole bulbs):

Place whole bulbs on a bed of coarse salt in a small baking dish.  Roast in a hot oven (temp is not actually critical – anywhere from 325F to 475F will do) until the skin has turned brown and juices are beginning to escape.

Allow the bulbs to cool.  Slice off the bottom and squeeze out the flesh.

Method 2 (individual cloves):

Leave the skin ON.  "Crack" individual cloves with the flat side of your chef's knife and a bit of pressure from the palm of your hand.  Toss the cracked cloves with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or in a baking dish, for approximately 20 minutes at 425F.  Cool slightly (just enough so you can handle them).  Discard skins and proceed with use of the flesh!

Mmmmm.  I can smell it from here!!

 As stated previously, I’m an advocate of eating less animal protein (see my Free Report to learn why), but of the animal protein I do eat, I choose that which is the least evolved, such as naturally raised, local eggs and wild caught fish.

Wild caught is important; it’s not just about sustainability, but even more so about health.  Farm raised fish are treated similarly to factory raised cattle and chickens – conditions are crowded, disease is likely and their feed is contaminated with high levels of PCB’s, dioxin and mercury.  Additionally, they are intentionally fattened to increase weight and therefore market price.  When you consider that contaminants accumulate in fat, farm raised fish offer double jeopardy.

Statistics indicate that farmed fish contain as much as 40 time more PCB’s than any other protein source, including dairy, beef, pork or poultry and 5-10 times more PCB’s as wild caught fish.

This because wild caught fish have less fat to store contaminants in and because their food is less contaminated than that utilized in farms.

Additionally, the beneficial omega 3 fatty acids for which fish are appreciated are better quality and more plentiful in wild caught fish.

So when you go to the market to buy fish, you could be doing yourself more harm than good to buy the more affordable farm raised options.  Yes, the wild caught is generally quite pricy, but considering it too has some natural contamination, the price helps to space consumption!

The next dilemma is determining whether or not it has been labeled “wild caught” with integrity.  Unfortunately, there is a reasonable amount of misrepresentation going on, according to the Environmental Working Group.  In my humble opinion, the EWG is a trustworthy source of information regarding levels of toxins in differing types of fish and articles on where to find the safest source.

If you are eating fish even once per week, it is advisable to investigate methods for removing the toxins from yourself, before they accumulate in your fatty tissue. There are many natural ways to remove toxins, some more laborious than others.  I like this one.

Love sushi?  ME TOO!!!  So I limit my indulgence to once or twice a month.  You can bet that the majority of sushi grade fish, is going to be farmed because “fat is where the flavor’s at”!

If you think “Organic” farmed fish is the answer, this article may change your mind.

Perhaps it’s time to turn the family vacation into a deep sea or Copper River fishing expedition and savor the souvenirs all year long from your freezer…..

Most of the recipes I create are completely dairy-free.  Why?  A couple reasons.  1.  In general, I try to eat more vegetable protein than animal protein.  2.  A member of my family has an undiagnosed allergy to dairy.  Something about it causes production of excess mucus.  Charming, right? 

It turns out an awful lot of other people have issues with dairy.  Studies show that dairy mal-digestion increases with age and even the number of youngsters with dairy mal-digestion is on the rise (significantly).

Could this be due to the hormones, antibiotics and genetically modified feed the cows receive?  Perhaps.  But for those with intolerance, even consuming organic dairy products does not resolve the issue.

Here’s a nifty notation:  Many people who suffer lactose intolerance are able to consume RAW milk products, without issue!  Pasteurization kills the enzymes that digest the lactose, as well as other, helpful bacteria.  If you are lucky enough to live in one of the few states that permit the sale of raw milk, give it a try!  Don’t forget to inquire about the use of hormones, antibiotics and genetically modified feed in the herd, though.  You still want an organic product!

Similarly, raw cheeses also have the digestive enzymes intact.  Check the label to see if the cheese is made with raw or pasteurized milk.  Raw milk cheeses are permissible on the market if they have been aged a minimum of 60 days.

Now for the best part of all:  ORGANIC, RAW MILK PRODUCTS, LOADED WITH HEALING PROBIOTICS, such as raw milk yogurt, kefir and kefir cheeses (kefir being my personal favorite).  These are the “crème del la crème”:  NO LACTOSE PLUS PROBIOTICS – the “friendly” bacteria.  Intestinal health is paramount to overall health.  Probiotics introduce healthy bacteria into the intestine for optimal conditions.  In fermented yogurt and kefir, lactose feeds the fermentation. What you are left with is a tart, lactose free dairy product that is chalk full of gut-friendly bacteria!  YUMMM.

Learn more about the benefits of raw milk (cow or goat) products here.  To learn more about raw milk, probiotic cheeses, (aka the healthiest cheese in the USA) visit KefirCheese.com and tell Rose and Marmy that Chef Nancy sent you!

From Michael Pollan’s Food Rules An Eater’s Manual ¹

1. Eat food.
2. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
4. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.
5. Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) in the top three ingredients.

Sticking to these rules (and they are only the first five, from Pollan’s Food Rules¹)  will go a looong way toward maintaining a healthy (and healing) diet for you and your loved ones!

¹Pollan, Michael.  Food Rules, An Eater’s Manual.  Penguin Books, 2009.  5-13.

I believe that the state of health in this great country boils down to one word and one word only:

CONVENIENCE.

We are a nation that has embraced convenience in our food supply at an ever increasing rate since WWII. In every way, this has had a negative impact on our health. From the way food is grown and packaged to the way we are treated when we’re sick, it’s all for the sake of speed – growing faster, spending less time in the kitchen and getting over the symptoms of illness as quickly as possible.

As a result, our convenient food is loaded with chemicals to preserve it, speed growth, inhibit natural selection, and make sure it looks healthy on the shelf. Then, as if that isn’t bad enough, much of it comes packaged in plastic that has been in the freezer and is tossed in the microwave. Frequently, the types of plastic used in convenience food packaging is not a high grade plastic and in great likelihood may be leaching Bisphenol A (BPA) into our foods both during freezing and heating. The effects of this compound in our food and bodies has been linked to hormonal cancers and insulin resistance, just for starters.

So what’s the answer?

Get back to basics. Slow down. Make time to prepare foods from scratch, using fresh, whole foods. Make it a family activity – quality time together creating foods to enjoy over the next week, stored in glass containers. Make the shopping trip an event too – teaching your kids what to look for in the store and on food labels is an irreplaceable life lesson. The time you spend will pay off in lower healthcare costs!

Don’t know your way around the kitchen? There are plenty of options available today to learn. Get your girlfriends together for a day, batch cook together under the instruction of the one who knows how to cook, divvy it all up and viola! A fun day and meals for the week!

OR you could hire a Personal Chef to do it all for you, for the same cost as dining out in a quality restaurant, without ever leaving home.

The bottom line is that we can help ourselves avoid disease by avoiding convenience! Yes, of course there are tradeoffs. But if you are already ill, your remaining quality of life and chances of survival will be much greater if you go back to an unprocessed, whole foods diet.

Stay tuned – The Holistic Kitchen website is designed to help you learn how.

With healthy regards,

Chef Nancy