You too can love Quinoa :)

We have just minutes left for the month of March and I wanted to get in one more post. Last night I made Quinoa as a side dish to a chicken and veggie dish and I am in love! So I am in need of information. I found this great article about the benefits of Quinoa from http://www.livestrong.com/ and just had to share it with you.



 www.websters-online-dictionary.org/.../QUINOA



5 Things You Need to Know About the Health Benefits of Quinoa



1. The Gold of the Incas

Over 5,000 years ago, high in the Andes mountains, the Incas began to cultivate quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) as one of their staple crops, believing that it gave power and stamina to their warriors. Quinoa was also used in their ceremonial rituals. When Spanish conquistadors arrived in South America in the sixteenth century, they burned and destroyed the quinoa fields as part of the effort to annihilate Inca culture. But quinoa survived by growing wild in the mountains or by being cultivated in secret in small quantities. In the 1980s, two North Americans stumbled upon this ancient, super-nutritious food and began cultivating it near Boulder, Colorado. Since then, quinoa's popularity has exploded worldwide.

2. Getting to Know Quinoa

Although it is cooked and eaten like a grain, quinoa is technically a seed, and is related to spinach, chard and beets. It grows best in mountainous regions, 10 thousand feet or more above sea level, and thrives in poor soil, thin air and extreme weather. Quinoa stalks are 3 to 6 feet tall, and each plant can produce up to a cup of seeds! The seeds are round, about the same size of millet or sesame seeds, and come in a rainbow of colors, from red to purple to green to yellow, but the quinoa that is most commonly found in stores is an off-white color. Look for quinoa in the bulk section of natural food stores, or in the organic section of conventional supermarkets.

3. A Complete Protein and so Much More

Quinoa is a complete protein, which means that it contains all the amino acids necessary for our nutritional needs. Complete proteins are rare in the plant world, making quinoa an excellent food for vegetarians and vegans, or for anyone looking for healthy protein source. It's also high in iron and calcium, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium and copper, as well as fiber.

4. Cooking With Quinoa

Most commercially available quinoa has already been cleaned, but you should still give it a thorough rinsing before cooking to be sure to remove any remaining saponins, a soapy resin that protects the seeds while they are growing, but can impart a bitter taste if not removed. Combine one cup rinsed quinoa to two cups water or broth, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the seeds become translucent and the germ of the seed uncoils to form a little "tail." Quinoa has a light, slightly nutty taste and a fluffy texture. It makes a tasty porridge or casserole and can be added to soups and stews.

5. The Gluten-free Grain of Choice

Quinoa is naturally gluten-free, making it an excellent food for celiac patients or other people following a gluten-free diet. Quinoa flour is great for baking cookies, breads and muffins, and quinoa flakes are a perfect substitute for oatmeal.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/4695-need-health-benefits-quinoa/#ixzz1IFWjfr3H

I am addicted to Quinoa. Let me know if you try it and what you thought about it.

Thanks for a good March and my first month of blogging. Hope April is a great month for you all!

That's my take :)

Yummy Strawberry Oat Muffins

Today's post is a yummy recipe for Strawberry Oat Muffin that I found this recipe posted on www.fitsugar.com/Recipe-Strawberry-Oat-Muffins-15132147

Strawberry Oat Muffins

1 cup rolled oats  
1 cup water/milk/buttermilk (water has the lowest calories)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 c sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped fresh/frozen strawberries (or blueberries, if you use blueberries, omit cinnamon and add 1 tsp lemon zest instead)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Grease and flour a muffin pan, or use paper liners.
In a small bowl, combine oats and water/milk, and let stand 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the egg, applesauce, sugar and vanilla.
Blend in the oat mixture,  let stand a couple minutes to absorb moisture. Stir in the flour mixture, just until moistened.
Fold in berries. Fill muffin cups - I use about 1/4 c batter for each.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Serves 12

It looks and tastes yummy! Give it a try and know that if you use water instead of milk or buttermilk you are  still getting a great tasting muffin and lowering the calories too!

I am off to eat my batch...
That's my take :)

In celebration of the Persian New Year!

Happy Spring!

So far I have been posting my favorite family dishes that can be enjoyed any time of year.

In honor of the Persian New Year "Nowruz" which celebrates the first day of Spring I am sharing this great main dish with you!

Fesenjoon is a stew that can be prepared in advance and refrigerated then heated before dinner. It requires time and much patience as you personalize it to your taste. It is one of my favorite main dishes (I know- I have many favorites!) and can taste great sweet or sour so you can decide how you like it :)

If you love pomegranate and walnuts this is the dish for you. You can substitute the meat choice. I use chicken breast instead of chicken legs and some people use meatballs instead of chicken.

I found this recipe to be easier to follow and more realistic for me to cook. I found it on http://www.sadaf.com/recipes/Recipe14.html.

thelemursarehungry.wordpress.com

Pomegranate stew with chicken 

(Makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 lbs. Chicken legs w/o skin, cut up
• Dash of salt
• 3 TBSP. olive oil 
• 1/2 cup pomegranate paste , dissolved in 1 1/2 cups of water or 2 1/2 cups of pomegranate juice 
• 2 cups shelled walnuts, finely ground
• Sugar as needed to sweeten dish to your liking

Calories:
About 535 mostly coming from walnuts and sugar. Depending on how sweet you like it you can cut down the calories based on sugar inclusion or amount of walnuts used. Walnuts are key to the recipe so watch how much you cut the amount. 

Directions:

In a large pot, brown onions and chicken in the oil. Add salt and diluted pomegranate paste.

Add the ground walnuts to the pot, stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent the nuts from burning.

If the stew is too thick, add warm water to thin it. Taste the sauce and adjust for seasoning and thickness. The stew should be sweet and sour according to your taste. Add pomegranate paste to sour the taste or sugar to sweeten it. Serve with steamed white rice or brown rice.

Alright, there is it... my favorite Persian main dish. :) It is an acquired taste so if you want to try it first before investing time making it at home, you can find it on most Persian restaurant menus.  I would love to know your thoughts. How did you change it to fit your desires? 

Happy Spring! Happy Nowruz!

That's my take :) 

My favorite Persian Salad Recipe

As the seasons change and the weather improves, a healthy tasty low calorie dish is in order!


Shirazi Salad - Persian Tomato and Cucumber Salad (serves 4)
It is light, refreshing and only 68 calories. :)

Ingredients:

1 large tomato

1 large cucumber

1 large onion

parsley
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (or to taste)
salt, to taste

Preparation:
Finely chop the tomato, cucumber and onion. Toss the chopped vegetables in with the parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Finally add salt to taste and serve (or let the salad sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to get an even better taste).

Substitutions/Additions:
Lime juice instead of or in combination with lemon juice, English Cucumbers are ideal but any style you like can be used, and Mint is a great accent to the salad as well.

You can have it as a complete meal if you are looking for something light for lunch or late night snack. It can also be a great side dish to a heavier meal with proteins and starch.

Hopefully you too will like this dish. You can ask my mom - I am addicted! Let me know if you try it. Maybe you played around with it and modified it? I would love to know what you did :)

That's my take :) Have a good night.

(I found this photo online through Google- I am unable to find the link so I apologize for not properly giving credit- should I find it I will update the post with credit for the photo)

Healthy Restaurant Eating Presentation tomorrow from 7-830pm in Palo Alto!

I know I just posted yesterday but I came across a flyer while in Palo Alto this afternoon that I thought you might find useful.

Palo Alto Medical Foundation's Community Health Resource Center is having an interactive presentation about healthy restaurant eating tomorrow March 8th, 2011 at 795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto 3rd floor from 7-830pm. This is free of charge but a reservation would be most helpful. You can call (650) 853-4873.

"Restaurant eating is a fact of life for many in these hectic and busy times. Fortunately, eating out doesn't have to mean compromising good nutrition. In this presentation, registered dietian Valerie Spier, MPH, R.D., CDE from the PAMF Nutrition Department will present practical and useful information including: choosing restaurants with healthy options, healthy ordering strategies, trouble shooting problems, and dealing with cafeteria/buffet choices."

Let me know if you attend as I am interested in what information you learn.

That's my take :) Happy Monday Night!

Pie vs. Cupcake: Which Trendy Dessert Is Healthier?

Oh the plight for a healthy dessert!
How can I pass on such tasty treats? Do you have difficulty passing on dessert?
Maybe you too can use it as a guide to a more trendy yet healthy choice. This article comes from a great site I recently found called FitSugar written by Leta Shy.

Feel free to click on the link below for great informative articles. They even have an iPhone application to keep you up to date on all things sweet.

That's my take :) Have a great week!

Pie vs. Cupcake: Which Trendy Dessert Is Healthier?
by Leta Shy 
http://fitsu.gr/14593209

Email Love This

The cupcake craze seems to be reaching its peak, but there's a new trendy dessert poised to take its place — pie. The most traditional of baked goods has been enjoying a resurgence lately, with 12 million more slices sold last year than the year before.

With pie's popularity on the rise, chances are you'll be seeing the new bakeries pop up with over-the-top latticed creations ready to compete with those ubiquitous cupcakes. If you need a sugar fix, which baked good is better for you — a slice of pie (typically 1/8 of a nine-inch pie, or about three ounces) or a cupcake with frosting?

Dessert	Calories	Fat (g)	Sat Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Sodium (mg)
Classic
Apple Pie	411	19	4.7	58	327
Vanilla Cupcake With Chocolate Frosting	485	24	15	63	95
Chocolate
Chocolate Mousse Pie	247	15	8	28	437
Chocolate Cupcake With Frosting	131	2	0	29	178
Citrus
Key Lime Pie	450	13	5	52	240
Lemon Cupcake With Frosting	483	24	15	65	109
Banana
Banana Creme Pie	190	10	8	27	170
Banana Cupcake With Cream Cheese Frosting	232	7	4	40	148
Indulgent
Crack Pie	432	27	16	45	125
Red Velvet Cupcake With Cream Cheese Frosting	497	27	16	62	412

Do you know your fats?

Knowing which fats raise LDL cholesterol and which ones don't is the first step in lowering your risk of heart disease. In addition to the LDL produced naturally by your body, saturated fat, trans-fatty acids and dietary cholesterol can also raise blood cholesterol. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats appear to not raise LDL cholesterol; some studies suggest they might even help lower LDL cholesterol slightly when eaten as part of a low-saturated and trans-fat diet.

The American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee strongly advises these fat guidelines for healthy Americans over age 2:

• Limit total fat intake to less than 25–35 percent of your total calories each day;
• Limit saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of total daily calories;
• Limit trans fat intake to less than 1 percent of total daily calories; 
• The remaining fat should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oils; and
• Limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day, for most people.  If you have coronary heart disease or your LDL cholesterol level is 100 mg/dL or greater, limit your cholesterol intake to less than 200 milligrams a day.

For example, a sedentary female who is 31–50 years old needs about 2,000 calories each day. Therefore, she should consume less than 16 g saturated fat, less than 2 g trans fat and between 50 and 70 grams of total fat each day (with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, such as fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils).


To learn more about your heart health, go to americanheart.org. They have quite a bit of information on their website to get you started on the right road to a healthy heart.


That's my take :)

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=532#

The Plight of a Picky Eater

People have been telling me for years that since I have an obsession (or a pickiness) for food I should start my own blog where I share yummy recipes, report on local great finds, and provide general food information.

That day has finally come!

To start things off I want to share a great recipe for my favorite Persian side dish: Maast-o Khiar (Persian Cucumber Yogurt). This dish is great for parties as a dip with pita chips, or with vegetables. It is also a great side dish to add to a heavy meal of meats and starches. Skip the chips and use this dish as a side to your sandwich or salad.

Ingredients

• 1 (32 ounce) container plain yogurt  (I use low fat Greek yogurt)
• 3 English cucumbers, peeled and cubed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 5 tablespoons dill weed (dried is easier to find but fresh dill is a nice touch)
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon pepper

You can add nuts, raisins, fresh mint, oregano, and change the amounts of cucumbers, garlic, dill weed or shallots based on your desire. 

Substitutions:

Lemon juice instead of salt

Nonfat yogurt instead of Regular yogurt

Once all the ingredients are mixed together in a bowl, let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour before serving if you can wait. I usually can't wait and it is just as yummy freshly made. 

Prep time: only 15-20 minutes depending on fast you can peel, cube, and chop. 

Enjoy and let me know how you like it, and the changes you might have made. I would love to try new ways of enjoying this tasty dish.

That's my take :)