For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Really good reading this week. I love Marion Nestle’s commentary on meat substitutes, as well a bunch of well-designed studies linking nutrition and the brain. And definitely don’t miss Time magazine calling out the crappy Twitter streams of the culinary glitterati. Ha!

Great news, the new Digg is finally open to the public. That means all of you can now see the stories I’m Digging throughout the week if you visit my profile or follow me: http://digg.com/daryapino. If you’re using the new Digg and are finding cool foodie/healthy/geeky stories, feel free to leave your username in the comments and I’ll check out what you’re up to.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on the new Digg or StumbleUpon. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Do we need meat substitutes? <<Real meat is better for you than fake meat. If you’re vegetarian, there are many better options. (Food Politics)
• Drinking Water Proven To Help Weight Loss <<This was a popular story online this week. But, for the record, drinking water didn’t help young people (under 50) lose weight. (Discovery News)
• 8 Common Foods (That Are Poisonous) <<BS of the week. Media sensationalism doing what it does best. At least there’s enough humor in this one that I assume they know they’re full of it. (Houston Press)
• A short period of gluttony can have a lasting effect <<Looks like occasionally “letting yourself go” is a really bad idea. So is occasionally dieting, btw. Your body is very adaptable and can absorb an occasional slip up (especially if you exercise), but don’t make it a regular habit. (Los Angeles Times)
• Exercising Restores Sensitivity of Neurons That Make One Feel Full <<This is a really cool finding. Often overweight people have trouble re-adapting to normal eating portions if they’ve been overeating for many years, but this data suggests exercise may help restore normal appetite. Also helps you slim down and look awesome. Win! Win! (ScienceDaily)
• Vit D linked to cancer, autoimmune disease genes <<Scientists discovered that vitamin D interacts with at least 200 different genes, including those linked to cancer and MS. This is a possible mechanism by which it offers benefits, and a reminder that it is really important. (Medline)
• Twitter Streams of the Food Gods: Pretty Thin Soup <<I guess I’m not the only who noticed that the Twitter streams of food celebs totally suck. Ditto health celebs. My favorite people to follow tweet infrequently and are witty, insightful and almost always share useful and/or funny info. I try to hold myself to those standards. (Time)
• Link Between Diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease Strengthened <<This is actually a lot cooler than it sounds. Normally studies do a poor job linking insulin resistance to Alzheimer’s because diagnosing the disease is tricky. To be 100% sure someone has AD you need to perform an autopsy and see plaques in the brain. Otherwise it could be a different kind of dementia. In this study the end measure is plaques. (Medline)
• How berries can help your brain clean house <<Antioxidants called polyphenols apparently activate microglia (the forgotten nerve cells) in the brain. Cool! (The Globe and Mail)
• FDA Approves Salmonella <<This is so right on it’s scary. And hilarious. I <3 The Onion.

What inspired you this week?

Tags: Alzheimer's disease, appetite, B.S. of the week, brain, meat, Twitter, vegetarian, vitamin D, water

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Lots of fascinating food news this week. If 380 MILLION poison eggs doesn’t convince you to stop eating the industrial kind, I don’t know what will. There’s also some interesting new data on red meat and heart disease, as well as an inspiring story of doctors prescribing farmers market vegetables.

Another quick note: I tweeted yesterday about this cool farmers market backpack (yes I want one) and Betabrand wrote back saying my readers get $15 off anything on the site. Pretty awesome. Use the code: tomato

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on the new Digg or StumbleUpon. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Choosing healthier protein-rich foods instead of red and processed meats may reduce heart disease risk in women <<Atkins defenders often argue that there is no evidence linking meat consumption to heart disease, saying that cholesterol levels aren’t a good measure. In this study the endpoint is heart attacks, not cholesterol. Worth thinking about. (American Heart Association)
• 20 Salads Worse Than a Whopper <<I still don’t think you should eat Whoppers (there are way better burgers), but don’t assume that salads are gonna help you lose weight. (Men’s Health)
• A ‘habitual offender’ unleashes nearly half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs <<BS of the week. You know those 380 million poison eggs that have already sickened 50,000 people? Well they guy who makes them has a history of not caring about you or your family. Be outraged. (Grist)
• Eat an Apple (Doctor’s Orders) <<How freaking cool is this?!?! (New York Times)
• Add diet soda to the list of things to avoid while pregnant <<Maybe Diet Coke isn’t as harmless as you think. (Los Angeles Times)
• Baking Ingredients and Substitutions <<I don’t bake often, but I do like to swap out sugar and occasionally other ingredients when I do. But sacrificing taste is completely unacceptable to me. This is an incredibly informative post from a world renowned pastry chef. (David Lebovitz)
• B Vitamins and the Aging Brain Examined <<I love the brain. I love nutrition. I found this interesting. (ScienceDaily)
• Tomatoes, Eggs and Sweet Habaneros <<Tomatoes for breakfast? Hell yes! (Local Lemons)
• Egg Cage Match! Local Cage Free Vs. Conventional Eggs <<Speaking of good eggs and bad eggs, here’s a fun video explaining the difference. (Big Wheel Provisions)

Tags: B.S. of the week, baking, eggs, heart disease, meat, neuroscience, soda

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Let’s start with some news. I’ll be on The Block Radio podcast this morning sometime between 7am and 10am PST talking about how to make the most of your farmers market trip. It will be archived on the site once it airs. The interview was inspired by an article/slideshow I had at The Huffington Post last weekend, Top 10 Mistakes Made By Farmers Market Noobz.

Also, for the next two weeks I’m participating in the Inkwell interview at The Well with David Gans and Diane Brown. Have questions for me or just want to eavesdrop? Come join us!

Lots of good news in the food world this week. Brian Wansink demonstrates that it’s pretty easy to trick kids into making smarter food choices at lunch. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn posting calories really does help people eat less. And local meats are easier to find than ever. w00t!

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there. (Note: If you want a follow back on Twitter introduce yourself with an @ message).

Links of the week

• Small changes steer kids toward smarter school lunch choices <<Really simple, practically free changes get kids to dramatically improve their food choices. Guess what, it works on adults too. (Washington Post)
• In New York, Local Meat Is Easier to Find <<Does this make you as happy as it makes me? Hopefully local meat will be easier to find all over the nation soon. (New York Times)
• Dairy prevents heart attacks? <<Yoni Freedhoff beat me to the BS of the week, so I’ll just let him explain why there is no data that dairy prevents heart attacks. Thanks Yoni! (Weighty Matters)
• Fish, Crocodile And Hippopotamus Served As ‘Brain Food’ For Early Human Ancestors <<Will someone please tell me where I can get hippopotamus meat? (Before It’s News)
• Notes from the underground market <<Awesome write-up in the Washington Post about the new underground farmers market that has rocked the SF food scene.
• The Great Bacon Odyssey: Does It Really Make Everything Better? <<Let the bacon experiment begin! (Wired)
• Posting calories may help people eat less <<Thoughtful and informative piece by Marion Nestle. Seems this tactic is more effective than I assumed. (SF Gate)
• The Locavore’s Dilemma <<Do you subscribe to a CSA but get fed up with all the extra produce you’re stuck with? Here are some ideas on how to keep it from going to waste. (Slate)
• Farro & Herbs Recipe <<Farro is my new favorite ingredient and I can’t get enough of it. I’ve been making a very similar recipe lately (but with more veggies and less cheese–don’t skip the dill) and it is to die for. Seriously try this stuff. (101 Cookbooks)
• 8 Great Moments in Athlete Food Endorsements (VIDEOS) <<WOW, these are epic. My favorites are Scottie Pippen with the “6-footer” he can’t handle and DJ Mbenga’s tacos. This is perfect Friday afternoon entertainment. (Huffington Post)

What good stuff did you learn this week?

Tags: B.S. of the week, bacon, CSA, meat, psychology, recipe, underground farmers market

Mexican-style Quinoa Salad

One of my favorite things about the arrival of summer is all the beautiful, crisp salad greens at the farmers market. I absolutely love to eat salads, but how can you turn a salad into a full meal that is truly satisfying?

The trick is to make sure you add enough protein, fat and carbohydrates to your salad so it is still a perfectly balanced meal.

There are dozens of healthy additions you can use to make your salad more filling and delicious. Here are 10 of my favorites.

10 Ways To Make Your Salad More Satisfying

• Warm ingredients Grilled or sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms and meats wilt salad greens and make them slightly warm, adding depth and character to an otherwise boring salad. See my Warm sausage salad recipe.
• Brown rice Adding 1/2 cup of warm rice to a salad makes it more satisfying to eat and keeps you full for longer. Use single serving rice balls and this simple addition will add less than 2 minutes to your salad prep time.
• Nuts Walnuts and sliced almonds are my favorite, but feel free to try pecans, cashews, peanuts, pumpkin seeds or anything else that sounds interesting.
• Beans Chickpeas, black beans, edamame and other legumes are inexpensive and delicious sources of protein and fiber to add some substance to a salad.
• Avocado Half an avocado is sometimes exactly what a salad needs to take it to the next level.
• Smoked salmon For a slightly more upscale salad experience top your greens with a few slices of smoked salmon.
• Quinoa Mix in a small amount of quinoa as an accent or make it the base of a salad by adding cooked or raw veggies and greens. See my Mexican-style quinoa salad recipe.
• Grilled meats Your salad is a great place for summertime BBQ leftovers.
• Egg Boiled, fried or poached, an egg is a wonderful way to make your salad more substantial. See my Summer salad with poached egg recipe.
• Sardines Canned fish is one of the easiest, healthiest ways to get extra protein and omega-3 oils in your salad. Here are 6 reasons to eat more sardines.

How do you make your salads more hearty?

This article was originally published June 8, 2009.

Tags: avocado, beans, brown rice, egg, meat, nuts, quinoa, salad, salmon, sardines, wheat berries

Loose Beets

I know that it is technically still February, but I’m going to officially declare it springtime here in San Francisco, at least for all of us foodies.

The spring greens are in full effect. Today I found spinach, lettuces, asparagus and even pea shoots.

Pea Shoots

Asparagus

Brassica greens like kale and cabbage were around for most of the winter, but now we are seeing the late season varieties such as these savoy cabbages.

Savoy Cabbage

Herbs and onions are getting more diverse as well, as more delicate herbs like cilantro and thyme are reappearing. Still no basil though.

The giant leeks you can find these days are epic.

Big Leeks

Fresh Herbs

The root vegetable season is also shifting to the tail end. I’m seeing fewer radishes and other spicy roots, but sweet beets and carrots are thriving.

Carrots

In fruit, citrus is still where it’s at. Tropical fruits like kiwi, mango and guava are also available. But it’s hard to beat these $1 navel oranges from Hamada Farms.

Deceptive Tomatoes

Navel Oranges

You should still avoid the deceptively juicy looking tomatoes, however. Trust  me, they aren’t good. The vendor said it will be about 3 weeks before the heirlooms show up.

Until then you’ll have to amuse yourself with all the rest of the amazing spring produce. These flank steaks look pretty awesome too.

Flank Steaks

Today’s purchases:

• Broccolini (Iacopi Farm)
• Cauliflower (Iacopi Farm)
• Ruby chard (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Leeks (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Asparagus (Zuckerman’s Farm)
• Navel oranges (Hamada Farms)
• Sweet baguette (Downtown Bakery)
• Eggs (Marin Sun Farms)
• Yirg (Blue Bottle Coffee)

Is your season turning?

Tags: asparagus, beets, cabbage, carrots, Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, herbs, leeks, meat, oranges, pea greens, San Francisco, tomatoes