Vietnamese-Style Turmeric Tofu

Soy Food Myths One of the hottest food trends is “plant-based” eating (1).  A whopping 70% of Americans view plant proteins as more healthful than animal proteins (2).  To be clear, plant-based does not necessarily mean eating strictly plants, being vegan or vegetarian. Some plant-based eaters include seafood, meat and/or dairy in their diets.     […]

How Many Plants Do You Eat in a Week?

Broccoli Ceviche with Avocado & Sweet Onion “I’m sick of kale!” Those were my daughter Allegra’s words. I wondered when she’d need a break from the kale she was eating – sometimes twice daily.    It’s easy to fall into routines of eating the same foods – because we like them, it’s easy, or we’ve […]

Booze or No Booze?

Mojito I put a bottle of champagne on ice to toast the engagement of young friends joining us for dinner a few weeks ago. When I learned that they don’t drink alcohol, I quickly switched gears to this virgin version of my favorite summer refresher, the Mojito. These two aren’t the only ones not drinking. […]

Dessert First on the Fourth – Why Not?

Chocolate Shortcakes Except for apple pie, no dessert is more American and more appropriate for the Fourth of July than shortcake, dressed up with red and blue berries and a billow of cream. No matter that (according to Wikipedia) an early recipe strawberry shortcake was found in an English cookbook dating back to 1588.  Shortcake […]

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month Meets Grilling Season

June is Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, the perfect time to lock in habits that include a rainbow of produce. How much is enough?  You’ve heard “5 servings a day,” but recent evidence shows that doubling it to 10 servings has even greater benefits, well summarized on fruitandveggiesmorematters.org (2). In a nutshell, the largest study […]

April is Stress Awareness Month

Feeling stressed? If you seek solutions for yourself or others you’re not alone. A Google search for “stress busters” turned up 3.5 million results. According to Therese J Borchard (1), “Stress is like dark chocolate. A little of it won’t kill you. In fact, small blocks here and there can be good for you, or […]

What’s In Your Freezer?

    March is National Frozen Food Month, a reminder of the convenience, cost-saving and nutrient content of frozen food. Most of us need to eat more produce and frozen versions can make it happen. It’s a myth that fresh is most nutritious. Research shows that produce that’s picked at the peak of ripeness and […]

The Savory Side of Chocolate

Cacao Nib Tapenade When my husband suggested a lemon dessert for Valentine’s Day to go with some fresh raspberries he brought home my first thought was, what about chocolate? Chocolate had to appear on my menu for this special day so I turned to a box of unsweetened cacao nibs in my pantry. I whirled […]

February is American Heart Month

Parchment-Baked Chicken with Caramelized Onions and California Figs Good nutrition is key to the prevention of heart disease, which remains the top cause of death in the United States (1).  Want to learn more? Check your knowledge of heart disease with the Center for Disease Control Quiz (2). Assess your risk by taking the My […]

Halloween – How Sweet!

We all know Halloween is not just about costumes, haunted forests and bobbing for apples – it’s the candy.  Perfect timing to talk about sugar. In August, the American Heart Association (AHA) came out with new recommendations to limit added sugar for children over the age of 2 to no more than 6 teaspoons (25 […]