We have eaten more than we should during the holidays.
We have eaten more than we should during the holidays.
We continued that trend into the new year, indulging in Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras and, most recently, Valentine’s Day. All those celebrations involve wonderful food, and now you might be thinking it’s time to eat more sensibly.
Mayo Clinic’s tips for losing weight include skipping one high-calorie item a day and watching your portions. Stop eating before you get full, and unlike what your mother told you, always leave some food, even if it is a couple of bites, on your plate.
These small changes add up to big results. Remember: 3,500 calories equal 1 pound of fat. That means you need to burn off 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound.
Nutritionists Marrisa Lippert says instead of going on a diet, drink lots of water, avoid alcohol, eat more produce, don’t eat refined flours, choose healthy fats, cut back on dairy and limit sugar.
In our lecture while distributing “Hawaii Healthy Me” books, we tell fourth-graders to eat a rainbow — fill half their plate with fruits and vegetables and eat five fruits and vegetables a day. If we as adults can live by these rules, we would never have to worry about our jeans being too tight.
When choosing vegetables for sensible eating, don’t waste your money on baby carrots. Most of the nutritious parts of the carrots were whittled away. The best carrots are the ones with their tops still attached. Also, carrots are more nutritious when cooked, with three times more beta-carotenes.
Like carrots, look for fresh beets with tops attached, which are more nutritious. Just sautée them in some olive oil and garlic. But don’t throw the beets away — they contain a cancer-fighting compound known as betatains.
When selecting tomatoes, the smaller, darker varieties generally have more cancer-fighting lycopene. Ounce for ounce, the small varieties such as grape and cherry tomatoes have 18 times more lycopene than a large beefsteak tomato.
Dark red, purple and brown lettuces are more nutritious than the green ones and contain more of the antioxidant anthocyanins. Also, loose lettuce is more nutritious than a head of lettuce, and spicy greens such as arugula, radicchio, endive and mature spinach have high nutritional content.
One serving of kale has more calcium than 6 ounces of milk and more fiber than three slices of whole wheat bread.
When we choose fresh fruits and vegetables, we are eating whole foods, not processed foods. Here is a sauce and dip recipe to eat with crudites or on a salad as a dressing.
This tahini makes a great fish marinade, a dip for vegetables and — when thinned out — a salad dressing.
Tahini Sauce
From: Bon Appetit
Makes: 1 3/4 cups
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 bunch watercress, thick stems trimmed
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Cook garlic in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until slightly softened, about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer garlic to a bowl of ice water; let cool.
Return water in sauce to a boil. Cook watercress, mint and parsley just until wilted, about 15 seconds; drain. Transfer watercress and herbs to ice water; let cool. Drain watercress, herbs and garlic of as much moisture as possible; coarsely chop.
Purée watercress, herbs, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 cup water in a blender until smooth, thinning with more water as needed to reach desired consistency; season with salt and more lemon juice, if desired.
• • •
Miso is rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients. Momofuku’s miso and tofu ranch dip is a healthy dip for crudites.
Miso-Tofu Ranch Dip
Makes: 2 cups
4 ounces drained soft (silken) tofu
3 tablespoons white miso (fermented soybean paste)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Place tofu, miso, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper in a blender and purée till smooth.
In a medium bowl, mix together sour cream, chives and parsley. Add the puréed tofu mixture and mix well to combine.
Foodie bites
Hawaii Community College’s second-year culinary students will feature the foods of Peru as well as the Americas Standard Menu this week. The Americas Standard Menu is:
• First course: Hearts of palm salad or seafood “causa,” or pork chalupas.
• Second course: Summer squash soup or black bean soup.
• Third course: Grilled lime and cumin marinated pork loin, shrimp and andouille gumbo or grilled brazilian chicken.
March 1-4 is the Americas and Mexican menus. March 8-11 is the Americas and New Orleans menus, and March 15-18 the standard menu changes to Asia and the country is India.
Mark your calendar
May 14 is the fifth annual Big Island Chocolate Festival at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. To honor the centennial anniversary of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the festival’s theme is “Lavalicious — A Chocolate Salute to the 100.”
There is a call for chefs, chocolatiers and confectioners to enter the free culinary competition. Categories include bonbon, savory, bean-to-bean, plated dessert, Hawaiian cacao, sweet people’s choice, savory people’s choice and best decorated booth. Get participation forms by visiting www.higislandchocolatefestival.com/chef-guidelines or calling 808-324-6100.
Email me at audreywilson 808@gmail.com.