Eat in Color

Eat in Color
The more color the healthier & delish the dish!

Friday, March 12, 2010

I wanted to share this from http://www.hungry-girl.com (Fry-day's newsletter)

A friend posted this today on Facebook and I wanted to make sure you get a chance to try this! Hungry-girl is a FUN site to visit and you can sign up for her newsletter to be delivered to your email.  

Sweet-Garlic Butternut Fries

PER SERVING (1/2 of recipe): 189 calories, 1.5g fat, 453mg sodium, 45g carbs, 6g fiber, 13g sugars, 3.5g protein -- POINTS® value 3*

These fries are so good and sweet and garlicky, you'll FREAK when you taste 'em.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds -- large enough to yield 20 oz. once peeled & sliced)
1/4 tsp. coarse salt, divided
1/2 a head of garlic
1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. sweet Asian chili sauce
Optional: additional coarse salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice ends off squash, and then cut it in half widthwise. Peel squash carefully with a vegetable peeler or knife. Cut the round bottom piece in half lengthwise and remove seeds.

Using a crinkle cutter or knife, carefully cut squash into spears/French-fry shapes. (For exact nutritionals, weigh spears and use 20 oz.) Pat firmly with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Sprinkle evenly with 1/8 tsp. salt.

Lay spears on a layer of paper towels, and let stand for at least 5 minutes, to allow salt to draw out excess moisture. Pat with paper towels. If you like, sprinkle with more salt.

Remove the outer layer of garlic, leaving the skins around the cloves intact. Slice 1/4 inch off the top of the garlic, exposing the tops of the cloves. Place garlic on a piece of foil, drizzle with oil, and use your fingers to make sure it's coated. Wrap foil tightly around the garlic, enclosing it completely.

Spray a broiler pan, a baking rack placed over a baking sheet, or a baking sheet with nonstick spray, and lay spears flat on it. (Use two pieces of bakeware, if needed.) Place foil-wrapped garlic on it as well (or directly on oven rack).

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully flip fries, and then bake fries and garlic for 10 minutes longer.

Carefully remove foil-wrapped garlic and set aside. Bake fries for 10 more minutes, or until tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Once cool enough to handle, unwrap garlic, remove cloves (discard skin), and place in a small microwave-safe bowl. Add remaining 1/8 tsp. salt and mash with a fork until mostly smooth. Add chili sauce and mix well. Nuke for about 10 seconds, until softened.

Plate fries and top or serve with garlic sauce. Consume immediately!
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Thursday, March 11, 2010

A New Idea For You To Try

Anybody who knows me well, know that I am a huge advocate for antioxidants! Coffee, red wine, dark chocolate, pomegranates, berries, grapes, nuts, olives, tea, popcorn AND OATS contain large amounts of healthful antioxidant substances called polyphenols.
*Polyphenols play important role in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

I often research new foods that I haven't tried before for health reasons and curiosity sake. I have come upon a new favorite food! STEEL CUT OATS! You may have heard of them before but thought it takes too long to prepare. You are right, traditionally it can. But don't let that make you miss out on the nutty flavor and unique texture of the oatmeal made with steel-cut oats. But if you soak the oats overnight, they cook in just 10 minutes! Try this....


1-1/2 cup steel cut oats
6 cups water
1/4 chopped salted almonds
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or any berry for that matter)
Brown sugar, pure maple syrup, or agave nectar for topping

In a large saucepan, boil oats in water for 1 min. Cover and let stand overnight at room temp.
The next day, uncover the oats and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer stirring frequently, until the oatmeal is cooked and creamy but still a little bit chewy. (about 10 mins, I have found) Spoon oatmeal into bowls and then top with the almonds, dried cranberries, and sweetner of you choice. I also like to add a splash of vanilla almond milk to make this a very low cal nutritious HEALTHY breakfast for the whole family!

Here is a chart that I found online which I think will be very helpful when deciding which foods to either add to your diet or eat more of.

List of 20 Best Foods High in Antioxidants

In the table below, the foods antioxidant power is given as per their serving sizes.


Rank Type Food item Serving size Total antioxidant capacity per serving size
1Beans/LegumesRed Beans (dried)Half cup13727
2Fruit, BerryWild blueberry1 cup13427
3Beans/LegumesRed kidney beans (dried)Half cup13259
4Beans/LegumesPinto beansHalf cup11864
5Fruit, BerryBlueberry 1 cup9019
6Fruit, BerryCranberry1 cup (whole)8983
7VegetableArtichoke (cooked)1 cup (hearts)7904
8Fruit, BerryBlackberry1 cup7701
9FruitPruneHalf cup7291
10Fruit, BerryRaspberry1 cup6058
11Fruit, BeryStrawberry1 cup5938
12Fruit Red Delicious apple One5900
13FruitGranny Smith appleOne 5381
14NutPecan1 ounce5095
15Fruit, BerySweet cherry1 cup4873
16FruitBlack plumOne4844
17VegetableRusset potato (cooked)One4649
18Beans/LegumesBlack beans (dried)Half cup4181
19FruitPlumOne 4118
20Fruit Gala apple One3903


Another bit of good information for you to think about is ORAC:

Scientists at the USDA have developed a rating scale that measures the antioxidant content of various natural plant foods. The scale is called ORAC, which stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.


Fruits Antioxidant Value
ORAC units per 100 grams
Vegetables Antioxidant Value
ORAC units per 100 grams
Prunes5570Kale 1770
Raisins2830 Spinach 1260
Blueberries2400 Brussels sprouts 980
Blackberries2036 Alfalfa sprouts 930
Strawberries1540 Broccoli flowers 890
Raspberries 1220 Beets 840
Plums 949 Red bell pepper 710
Oranges 750 Onion 450
Red grapes 739 Corn 400
Cherries 670 Eggplant 390
Kiwi fruit 602
Grapefruit 483
USDA recommends to eat foods containing at least 3,000 ORAC units a day. If you can not fit enough of these healthy foods into your diet, then I highly recommend you take a supplement.

At the end of the day friends, it is all about prevention. I hope to give you some helpful ideas to add powerful disease preventing food and tips to your everyday meals in order to aid in you and your family's well-being.
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