What Exactly Are Phytonutrients, and How Can They Contribute to My Optimum Health? Phytonutrients are components of foods, such as fruits, vegetables and grains, in their…
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Tag: plant based diet
Food Trends 2019
Posted in Food, Health & Wellness, and Michele Jacobson Nutrition
Food trends are a fickle lot. No sooner do we warm up to kale, than cauliflower appears in every dish. As a decade of caramel and…
The newest healthy eating trend cannot have escaped you! The great news is that making a grain bowl is easy. You can combine whatever strikes your fancy: leftovers will do just fine, you can even pick up take-out rice in a pinch. Once you get your favorite combo down pat you can stick with it, or shake it up when you get bored. Here’s a pictorial to get you started. But, really, it’s all about creativity. Welcome to the new healthy!
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CHOOSE YOUR WHOLE GRAIN: brown rice, quinoa, wheat berries, couscous, barley, freekah or farro (Get exotic!) |
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ADD YOUR VEGGIES: |
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PICK A PROTEIN: tofu or tempe, beans and legumes, soft-boiled or fried egg, cheese, sliced chicken fish or meat (Spice it up!) |
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SPRINKLE ON TOPPINGS: avocado chunks, chopped nuts or seeds, dried or fresh fruit, sliced scallions and ginger (What tempts you?) |
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DRIZZLE YOUR DRESSING: a combo of spicy, sour, sweet and salty. (Get creative and whisk it up!) |
Asian Dressing: tamari, sesame oil, rice vinegar, minced garlic and ginger, sliced scallions, salt and pepper |
Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette: wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, oregano, crushed garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil, fresh lemon juice |
Creamy Yogurt Dressing: yogurt, sweetener (agave or honey), vinegar, lemon, minced garlic, dill, salt and pepper |
Citrus-Herb Vinaigrette: Maple- Champagne mustard, orange juice, olive oil, tarragon, salt and pepper |
Easy Baked Polenta
Posted in Food, Health & Wellness
Cornmeal is a wonderful, healthy grain! High in fiber, low in fat, and gluten-free; it is also abundant with B-vitamins and minerals to ground you! When you are looking to make an easy side dish, 
don’t discount polenta. Long regarded as difficult, because it required endless stirring, this recipe couldn’t be easier to make. And it beats the packaged tubes of supermarket polenta HANDS DOWN.
Polenta is a staple of Northern Italian cuisine, but you will find it an excellent side dish for any meal. It’s also wonderful for babies and children.
Make sure to always buy organic Polenta corn grits. Corn is a genetically engineered crop (GMOs). Cornmeal comes in a variety of grades, fine (corn flour for baking), medium and coarse, so be sure to buy the medium grade appropriate for Polenta!
While traveling through Puglia, Italy, this summer, researching and writing about their delicious and healthy cuisine, I was especially taken with these vegeta
rian poplette. Crusty on the outside and creamy on the inside, they are delectable little bites of flavor: garlic, mint and basil, cheese and eggplant. In no more time than it takes to make traditional MEATballs, you can assemble these. The recipe comes to me compliments of Anna Maria Chirone Arno, but I have been able to adapt it for a two person serving by using one large eggplant and one egg, 3/4 cup of cheese. Go hefty on the dried spices. Serve with a plate of orecchiette and you will swear you were in Puglia. Well, wishful thinking anyway. Buon appetito!
Quinoa Veggie Burgers
Posted in Food, Health & Wellness
Making Veggie Burgers at Home is Easy!
I love veggie burgers. They are a quick meatless dinner and good source of protein, grains and vegetables. But for quite a while now I’ve been eschewing store-bought veggie burgers, even if the label says they’re organic and GMO-free, because I’m uncomfortable with the ingredient list. Soy fillers, even non-GMO soy, are not a good food choice, nor are the high levels of sodium these burgers can contain.
Still, making my own seemed daunting. A lot of steps at the busy dinner hour. I’ve long been collecting recipes in the hope that one day, with a bit of time and the appropriate ingredients, I would concoct my own. Not only was the result delicious, the process was a cinch! Better yet, I was able to use a bunch of leftovers I had in the fridge – which I love to do, because I hate to waste food (I buy organic, and it’s expensive!). You can devise the recipe to make it your own, too, based on what you have on hand.
Second only to maize in worldwide production (and this mainly for the purpose of animal feed), rice is the most widely eaten grain in the world. Indeed, it…