Cabbage pizza

Viva la Vida — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:48:01 +0000

Bhindi Masala – Spicy Okra

Viva la Vida — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:17:29 +0000

Bhindi (Okra) saute with spices is a delicious main course vegetable dish. Serves 2 to 3.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb okra (bhindi)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons oil

• Pinch of asafetida (hing)

• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (adjust to taste)

• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)

• 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)

• 1 tablespoon gram flour (besan) (optional)

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow bell pepper

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper

Method:

Wash the okra and pat dry. Make sure to completely dry the okra as wet okra will be sticky when cutting. Cut off the both ends of the okra, and slice lengthwise in halves. Set aside. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Test the heat by adding one cummin seed to the oil; if seed crack right away oil is ready. Add the cumin seeds and asafetida (hing). When the cumin seeds crack, add the okra. Stir for a minute and reduce the heat to medium. Cover the okra for two to three minutes. Remove the cover and add the coriander powder, red cayenne pepper and turmeric. Next add gram flour (besan) and continue to stir-fry until the okra is tender. Add the salt, mango powder and bell peppers, cook for another minute. Salt is added last to avoid the okra becoming lacy.

Variations: 1. Adding colorful bell pepper is a great garnish for the okra and adds flavor to the dish. 2. You can substitute the bell pepper with sliced tomatoes as a garnish. 3. You can also slice the okra in 1/4 inch pieces and follow the same method above. (Manjula’s Kitchen)

The Healthiest Foods On Earth

Viva la Vida — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:47:42 +0000

The most important consideration in constructing a healthy diet: Eat whole foods that have had minimal processing. By Jonny Bowden, Forbes.com Find more: In Depth: 10 Foods You Should Be Eating, But Aren’t In Depth: 11 Ways To Boost Your Energy In Depth: Nutritional Superstars In Depth: 10 Meals You Should Memorize In Pictures: World’s Most Expensive Fast Food 1 | 2 | Next > What is the best diet for human beings? Vegetarian? Vegan? High-protein? Low-fat? Dairy-Free? Hold on to your shopping carts: There is no perfect diet for human beings. At least not one that’s based on how much protein, fat or carbohydrates you eat. People have lived and thrived on high-protein, high-fat diets (the Inuit of Greenland); on low-protein, high-carb diets (the indigenous peoples of southern Africa); on diets high in raw milk and cream (the people of the Loetschental Valley in Switzerland); diets high in saturated fat (the Trobriand Islanders) and even on diets in which animal blood is considered a staple (the Massai of Kenya and Tanzania). And folks have thrived on these diets without the ravages of degenerative diseases that are so epidemic in modern American life—heart disease, diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, osteoporosis and cancer. In Depth: The Healthiest Foods On Earth The only thing these diets have in common is that they’re all based on whole foods with minimal processing. Nuts, berries, beans, raw milk, grass-fed meat. Whole, real, unprocessed food is almost always healthy, regardless of how many grams of carbs, protein or fat it contains. All these healthy diets have in common the fact that they are absent foods with bar codes. They are also extremely low in sugar. In fact, the number of modern or ancient societies known for health and longevity that have consumed a diet high in sugar would be … let’s see … zero. Truth be told, what you eat probably matters less than how much processing it’s undergone. Real food—whole food with minimal processing—contains a virtual pharmacy of nutrients, phytochemicals, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and healthful fats, and can easily keep you alive and thriving into your 10th decade. Berries, for example, are phenomenally low in calories, high in fiber and loaded with plant compounds that improve memory and help fight cancer. Studies have consistently shown that nut-eaters have lower rates of heart disease. Beans are notorious for their high fiber content and are a part of the diet of people—from almost every corner of the globe—who live long and well. Protein–the word comes from a Greek word meaning “of prime importance”—is a feature of every healthy diet ever studied. Meat, contrary to its terrible reputation, can be a health food if—and this is a big if—the meat comes from animals that have been raised on pasture land, have never seen the inside of a feedlot farm and have never been shot full of antibiotics and hormones. Ditto for raw milk, generally believed to be one of the healthiest beverages on the planet by countless devotees who often go to great expense and inconvenience to obtain it from small, sustainable farms. Wild salmon, whose omega-3 content is consistently higher than its less-fortunate, farm-raised brethren, gets its red color from a powerful antioxidant called astaxathin. The combination of protein, omega-3s and antioxidants makes wild salmon a contender for anyone’s list of great foods.

Another great food: eggs—one of nature’s most perfect creations, especially if you don’t throw out the all-important yolk. (Remember “whole” foods means exactly that—foods in their original form. Our robust ancestors did not eat “low-fat” caribou; we don’t need to eat “egg-white” omelets.)

There are really no “bad” vegetables, but some of them are superstars. Any vegetable from the Brassica genus—broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale—is loaded with plant chemicals called indoles, which help reduce the risk of cancer.

In the fruit kingdom, apples totally deserve their reputation as doctor-repellants: they’re loaded with fiber, minerals (like bone-building boron) and phytochemicals (like quercetin, which is known to be a powerful anti-inflammatory and to have anti-cancer properties). Some exciting new research suggests that pomegranate juice slows the progression of certain cancers. Other research shows it lowers blood pressure and may even act as a “natural Viagra.”

Tea deserves special mention on any list of the world’s healthiest foods. The second most widely consumed beverage in the world (after water), all forms of tea (black, oolong, white, green and the newer Yerba Matte) are loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Some types (green tea, for example) contain plant chemicals called catechins which have decidedly anti-cancer activity.

Finally, let’s not forget members of the Alliaceae family of plants—onions, garlic and shallots. Garlic has been used for thousands of years for its medicinal properties; hundreds of published studies support its antimicrobial effects as well as its ability to lower the risk of heart disease. A number of studies have shown an inverse relationship between onion consumption and certain types of cancer.

A healthy diet doesn’t have to contain every one of the “healthiest foods on earth,” but you can’t go wrong putting as many of the above mentioned foods in heavy rotation on your personal eating plan.

Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., is a board-certified nutritionist and the author of seven books on health and nutrition, including The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy and The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.

Flavoring the soup

Cabbage pizza

Bhindi Masala – Spicy Okra

The Healthiest Foods On Earth