Recipe by Miz Hummus: Grand Marnier candied pecans

Grand Marnier candied pecans

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Grate the rinds of 2 large oranges to create 7 tablespoons zest.

3. Melt together over low heat in a saucepan:
1/2 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
2 teaspoons salt
Zest

4. Let cool slightly

5. Add mixture to a mixing bowl and cover 5 cups pecans in mixture

6. Butter two cookie sheets

7. Spread pecans evenly on cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes

8. Let cool for 5 min and then sprinkle pecans with 1/8 cup Grand Marnier

9. Let cool completely and serve

Rosemary-lemon gremolata over broiled wild Alaskan salmon

We had a large filet (perhaps 2 lbs?) of wild Alaskan salmon, and marinated it for about 2 hours in a gremolata of extra virgin olive oil, chopped rosemary, crushed red chilli pepper, sliced garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper, then roasted it covered with foil in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes, then removed the foil and let it broil for a few minutes on high.

Pear, Walnut and Raisin Cake

YIELD - One 8 inch cake

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) (200g) butter softened

1 cup (200g) granulated raw cane sugar

1 1/2 (200g) cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup raisins

3 eggs

1 lb pears (450g) – peeled, cored and sliced.

1 Tbsp raw sugar or granulated sugar (for sprinkling)

1/3 cup (50g) walnuts, chopped

Glaze:

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp rum



Procedure

* Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and grease an 8 inch round pan or springform.

* Measure raisins in 1/3 cup and fill raisins to the top. Next, add enough rum to fill the measuring cup. Set aside and allow to soak.

* Sift the flour, baking powder and set aside.

* In mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together. Add the eggs, one at a time.

* Reduce the mixer speed and add the flour mixture or fold it in by hand.

* Spoon this mixture into a prepared cake pan and place the pear slices on top of the cake.

* Sprinkle with the 1 Tbsp of sugar, dot with the remaining butter and scatter the walnuts and the rum raisins on the pears.

* Melt glaze ingredients and drizzle over pear and walnuts.

* Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool.

Roasted Mushrooms

This was easy. We took about 2 lbs. of mixed mushrooms (shiitakes, creminis, oyster, etc.), tossed them with a handful of chopped rosemary, the zest of a lemon, salt, pepper, and olive oil, then roasted them for 18 minutes in a 500°F oven.

*Delicious.*

Emerald Salad

4 small heads lacinato kale, washed, spun dry, and cut cross-wise into short ribbons

juice of 2 lemons

1/4 lb. aged pecorino romano, grated

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon crushed red chilli pepper (depending on how spicy you like things to be)

Several hours before serving, toss kale ribbons with lemon juice.

Just before serving, toss with grated pecorino romano, olive oil and crushed red pepper.

Ruby Salad

2 small beets

1 medium red onion

radicchio (1 head)

seeds from 1 pomegranate

2 blood oranges or 1 ruby grapefruit, supremed

Pomegranate vinaigrette ingredients:

3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses / reduced pomegranate juice / pomegranate syrup

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

Wash, trim, and place beets onto foil squares, and top each with a teaspoon or so of olive oil, plus some salt and pepper; wrap in the foil and roast at 400°F for about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Peel and halve red onion, then slice crosswise. Put about 1/8 of the thin semicircular onion slices into a small bowl of cool salted water.

When beets are cool, peel them, and cut them into bite-size wedges (each wedge about 1/8 of each beet).

Rinse and pat dry radicchio. Quarter, then slice crosswise. Arrange in platter.

Top radicchio with beets. Top radicchio and beets with citrus segments.

Drain onion slices and scatter them over the salad. Scatter pomegranate seeds atop the salad.

Whisk vinaigrette ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle vinaigrette over salad.

Brussels Sprouts, by way of Beirut

1.25 lb Brussels Sprouts, rinsed, quartered, and *thoroughly* dried

olive oil

1/2 C yogurt (thick Greek-style or plain, as you prefer)

4 Tbsp pomegranate syrup (pomegranate juice, reduced to a thick syrup)

4 Tbsp crumbled toasted walnuts

8 Tbsp Sliced Seedless Green Grapes

Ground coriander seed, black pepper, salt (about 1/2 tsp) and sherry vinegar, to taste

Handful pomegranate seeds

Mix the yogurt with the ground coriander seed and black pepper.

Deep fry the Brussels sprouts or sear the cut sides in a pan until well browned - almost burnt - or toss with olive oil and roast in the oven at 500 degrees Fahrenheit until crispy. The Brussels sprouts should still be green with browned outer leaves when cooked. Toss with salt and sherry vinegar.

Stir together until completely coated the Brussels sprouts, spiced yogurt, walnuts and grapes, then swirl in the pomegranate syrup so it looks kind of like a ribbon winding through the dish, garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve warm.

Superfood Indulgence: Dark Chocolate-Ginger-Walnut-Cherry "Bark"

Dark-Chocolate Bark with Ginger, Walnuts and Dried Cherries (or Cranberries)

This antioxidant rich indulgence packs omega-3s, vitamin C, and fiber derived from whole foods into one small, delicious (vegan!) package.

1 1/2 cups walnut halves (6 ounces)
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup dried sour cherries or cranberries (4 ounces), coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a baking sheet for 8 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Let cool, then coarsely chop.

Line a baking sheet with parchment / wax paper. In a glass bowl, heat two-thirds of the chocolate in a microwave oven at high power in 30-second bursts until just melted. Stir until smooth. Add remaining chocolate and stir until melted. Stir in the walnuts, cherries and crystallized ginger until evenly coated.

Scrape the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it into a 12-by-8-" rectangle. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, or until firm enough to cut. Cut into 48 pieces (6 x 8) and transfer to a plate. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Thanksgiving 2010

Blue cheese - Brie - Chevre plate

Gold almond raisin crispbread, apple and pear slices and fig jam

~

Ruby salad (pomegranate, radicchio, ruby grapefruit, and beets with pomegranate vinaigrette)

Emerald salad (kale)

~

Flash-fried Brussels sprouts with pomegranate syrup, Greek yogurt, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and green and gold grapes

Gingered yams with mustard greens

Roasted wild mushrooms

Rosemary-lemon gremolata over broiled wild Alaskan salmon

Vegetarian stuffing

Cranberry chutney

Hermann Wiemer 2008 Dry Riesling

~

Gold pumpkin pie with ginger whipped cream

Pear, walnut and raisin cake with salted caramel sauce and whipped cream

Mulled wine

Astonishingly simple chocolate mousse recipe

Courtesy of unwilling guest blogger Mr Bee:

Purchase ~200g of bittersweet chocolate (Callebaut ~70% cacao works for me — the better the chocolate, the better the mousse) and six eggs. Mr Bee is Aussie and so talks in metric equivalents; I think I used 0.48 lb chocolate or something like that.

- Beat egg whites in a bowl until firm
- Melt chocolate on low heat and mix into bowl with egg yolks (use bowl that you want to serve mousse in as this will be final bowl)
- Then fold the beaten egg whites into the chocolate/yolk mixture using a wooden spoon (make sure it is wood)
- Put in fridge for 4-5 hours
- Optional: add a little fruit or sea salt, or even sesame seeds to give it a “sexy edge” (Mr Bee’s words)

Food Poem Fridays: Dan Masterson's SUNDAY DINNER

Sunday Dinner

by Dan Masterson

Linen napkins, spotless from the wash starched
And ironed, smelling like altar cloths. Olives
And radishes wet in cut glass, a steaming gravy bowl
Attached to its platter, an iridescent pitcher cold
With milk, the cream stirred in moments before.

The serving fork, black bones at the handle, capped
In steel, tines sharp as hatpins. Stuffed celery,
Cut in bite-sized bits, tomato juice flecked
With pepper, the vinegar cruet full to the stopper
Catching light from the chandelier.

Once-a-week corduroyed plates with yellow trim,
A huge mound of potatoes mashed and swirled.
Buttered corn, side salads topped with sliced tomatoes,
A tall stack of bread, a quarter-pound of butter
Warmed by its side. And chicken, falling off the bone:
Crisp skin baked sweet with ten-minute bastings.

Homemade pies, chocolate mints and puddings,
Coffee and graceful glasses of water, chipped ice
Clinking the rims.

Cashews in a silver scoop, the centerpiece a milkglass
Compote with caved-in sides, laced and hung
With grapes, apples, and oranges for the taking.

Tree Trimming Sipper: Rosemary Martinis

Last night, we Hindus, Jews, Zoroastrians, Muslims and Christians trimmed my favorite Persian and Jewish couple's Christmas tree while becoming steadily more inebriated on a very alcoholic infusion of rosemary lightened with lemon. Spirits were high in more than one sense of the word, and the sweet scent of pine wafted not just from the Douglas fir but also from our martini glasses.

I made a simple syrup infused with rosemary by slowly over low heat stirring 1 cup sugar into 1 cup water along with all the needles from five or six rosemary stalks. When the sugar completely dissolved, I let the rosemary sit to infuse the simple syrup, probably for at least half an hour until the others arrived.

I took wide strips of zest off several lemons and juiced them, and set myself up with ice, vodka, and a cocktail shaker to make individual martinis.

For each, I placed a few strips of zest, a shot of vodka, and half a shot of rosemary infused simple syrup into the cocktail shaker with two ice cubes and the juice of about half a lemon. I vigorously shook each cocktail for at least 30 seconds, strained, and served.

Happy syncretic Obama nation holidays to all : )

A Gold and Green Thanksgiving

As soon as I upload the pictures, I promise to blog this year's Thanksgiving meal. It was distinctive in two ways.

1. We used the Deli Garage's available-in-Europe-only edible gold spray paint to dramatic effect.

2. Twenty three fruits and vegetables made appearances - some in multiple dishes - in this order:
figs
cranberries
apples
pears
lacinato kale
radicchio
pomegranate
red onion
ruby grapefruit
beets
Brussels sprouts
green grapes
yams
mustard greens
shallots
celery
carrots
leeks
onions
fennel
oranges
mushrooms (shiitake, cremini, and oyster)
pumpkin

Food Poem Fridays: Seamus Heaney's DERRY DERRY DOWN

Derry Derry Down by Seamus Heaney

i

The lush

Sunset blush

On a big ripe

Gooseberry:

I scratched my hand

Reaching in

To gather it

Off the bush,

Unforbidden,

In Annie Devlin's

Overgrown

Back garden.

ii

In the storybook

Back kitchen

Of The Lodge

The full of a white

Enamel bucket

Of little pears:

Still life

On the red tiles

Of that floor.

Sleeping beauty

I came on

By the scullion's door.

Recipe: Asian Pear Salad

The friend who put me up to blogging, her husband, their roommate, and her sister and I are cooking together sometimes these days. The other night we threw together a yummy South Indian-inspired meal of lemon rice, sauteed red cabbage with peanuts, chillies, and coconut, and egg curry.

We started with this very simple salad:

• 3 asian pears, julienned;
• the juice of 1 lemon;
• some wonderful heirloom cherry tomatoes;
• a ripe mango, julienned;
• literally just a *splash* of extra virgin olive oil, some black pepper, and a dash of ground coriander seed; and
• some fresh cilantro.

Food Poem Fridays: Anne Higgins's CHERRY TOMATOES

Cherry Tomatoes
by Anne Higgins

Suddenly it is August again, so hot,

breathless heat.

I sit on the ground

in the garden of Carmel,

picking ripe cherry tomatoes

and eating them.

They are so ripe that the skin is split,

so warm and sweet

from the attentions of the sun,

the juice bursts in my mouth,

an ecstatic taste,

and I feel that I am in the mouth of summer,

sloshing in the saliva of August.

Hummingbirds halo me there,

in the great green silence,

and my own bursting heart

splits me with life.

Food Poem Fridays: Cindy Gregg's THOUGHTFUL VOYEUR: WOMAN AND CANTALOUPE

Thoughtful Voyeur: Woman and Cantaloupe
by Cindy Gregg

Watch her select it
over sassier summer
fruits, carved offerings
of purple, yellow,
red in a supermarket
stunned with
fluorescent light.

Seeing her slice it open,
ponder how the melon
secrets its exquisite
pastel beneath a rough,
webby exterior, silent
protest to the showy
outer life of
its every former
neighbor – apple,
banana, strawberry, grape.

Later on, recall
the knife's decisiveness,
the sudden exposure of
such a pleasing hue,
its juicy glisten
brightening, gladdening
her stark white kitchen
with a brief and modest blush.

Beijing and Hong Kong Food

Eating wild blackberries while hiking an unrestored section of the Great Wall;
Having a Baishi apricot blossom tea ice at the sculpture garden of the Pace gallery in Beijing's 798 Art District;
Yogurt snacks at Wangfujing Night Market in Beijing;
Hot pot ingredients come to you on a conveyor belt on "Gourmet Street," the food court at Oriental Plaza in Beijing;
Shaved ice, red bean, and condensed milk desserts;
Mung bean popsicles -- many people were cooling off with these at Tiananmen Square, so I had to try one;
Tasting fine jasmine and osmanthus green and oolong teas in Hong Kong;
Even Starbucks has adapted to the Asian preference for jellies.

Matcha Source

Rob G. and I toasting his upcoming wedding (and cooling off) at the Matcha Source pop-up shop in Soho.

Thanks for the shout-out, Matcha Source! Here's one right back "atcha":

Matcha Source provides high quality powdered green tea from Japan. Chefs love this stuff because it is so delicious, good for you, and blends easily into both liquids and fats, making it a wonderful ingredient for desserts especially but also all kinds of drinks.

Through July, they have a pop-up shop on Crosby Street between Broome and Grand. If enough of us go, maybe Soho will get a more permanent one-stop shop for all things matcha!

Food Poem Fridays: Erica Jong's FIGS

Figs

by Erica Jong

Italians know
how to call a fig
a fig: fica.
Mandolin-shaped fruit,
feminine as seeds,
amber or green
and bearing large leaves
to clothe our nakedness.

I believe it was
not an apple but a fig
Lucifer gave Eve,
knowing she would find
a fellow feeling
in this female fruit

and knowing also
that Adam would
lose himself
in the fig's fertile heart
whatever the price—

God's wrath, expulsion
angry angels
pointing with swords
to a world of woe.

One bite into
a ripe fig
is worth worlds
and worlds and worlds
beyond the green
of Eden.

Maximizing Your Budget for Organic Produce

This house buys organic, but it can be more expensive than conventional produce. Fruits and vegetables that are grown conventionally absorb different levels of pesticides based on how tough an outer layer they have. You can get away with buying conventional pineapple, for instance, save a little money, and still not be exposed to too many chemicals in the fruit.

To help consumers, the Environmental Working Group has put out information on which fruits and vegetables absorb the highest, and lowest, amounts of chemical residue.

Choose organic when it comes to these fruits and vegetables:
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Domestic blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported grapes
Lettuce

For these fruits and vegetables, even if you buy conventional, you won't get too much chemical residue because they have a tougher outer layer:

Onions
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet potatoes
Sweet onions

The President's Cancer Panel recommendeds eating produce without pesticides. There is a proven association between pesticides and health problems such as cancer, attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder and nervous system disorders; pesticides can also weaken immune systems and harm the developing brain.

Food Poem Fridays: Naomi Shihab Nye's RED BROCADE

Red Brocade

by Naomi Shihab Nye

The Arabs used to say,

When a stranger appears at your door,

feed him for three days

before asking who he is,

where he’s come from,

where he’s headed.

That way, he’ll have strength

enough to answer.

Or, by then you’ll be

such good friends

you don’t care.

Let’s go back to that.

Rice? Pine Nuts?

Here, take the red brocade pillow.

My child will serve water

to your horse.

No, I was not busy when you came!

I was not preparing to be busy.

That’s the armor everyone put on

to pretend they had a purpose

in the world.

I refuse to be claimed.

Your plate is waiting.

We will snip fresh mint

into your tea.

Food Poem Fridays: Michael Heffernan's PUTTANESCA

Puttanesca by Michael Heffernan

Before I gave up wondering why everything
was a lot of nothing worth losing or getting back,
I took out a jar of olives, a bottle of capers,
a container of leftover tomato sauce with onions,
put a generous portion of each in olive oil
just hot enough but not too hot,
along with some minced garlic and a whole can of anchovies,
until the mixture smelled like a streetwalker's sweat,
then emptied it onto a half pound of penne, beautifully al dente,
under a heap of grated pecorino romano
in a wide bowl sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley.
If you had been there, I would have given you half,
and asked you whether its heavenly bitterness
made you remember anything you had once loved.

Funeral Food

My mother's father passed away on April 6. He was an incredibly dear and beloved person in our family. Perenially hip, I think he had a pair of jeans before my dad. He used to call me R2D2 and once said, underwhelmingly, after seeing "Eyes Wide Shut," "I liked the other Kubricks better."

He and his father were both way ahead of their time, pursuing industry in India at a time when statist, illiberal ideas held in the governance of the economy.

Nana loved eating, and had a very distinguishing palate. He used to make his own throat-soothing tea, which had at least 12 different ingredients. He loved meat but married my grandmother, and meat's never passed her lips; so he would buy and clean it himself, at a time when most men did not participate in cooking. He knew a lot about ayurvedic considerations around diet: if I ate too much mango, would warn me against its ability to cause acne if eaten in excess; if I ate too much honey, he would say to be careful as it raises the body temperature.

He was the gentlest, lovingest person; and we will all miss him hugely.

Nana got his start in industry selling mung dal (lentils); when he was cremated, his ashes were placed atop a sack of mung dal during the interim period before they were scattered in both the Cauvery River and the Ganges.

Whenever there is a major life event - marriage or funeral, for example - Sindhis make Sindhi curry for guests coming for some of the rites. It is a delicious, strained tuvar dal and tamarind-based curry wth green seeded vegetables like bhindi (okra) and singhi (drumstick) or green beans. Traditionally, it's poured over hot rice and deep fried, tiny balls of chickpea flour soaked in sugar syrup (boondhi).

For 12 days after Nana's funeral, we fed sacred cows his favorite foods.

Food Poem Fridays: Barbara Crooker's ODE TO CHOCOLATE

Ode to Chocolate by Barbara Crooker

I hate milk chocolate, don't want clouds
of cream diluting the dark night sky,
don't want pralines or raisins, rubble
in this smooth plateau. I like my coffee
black, my beer from Germany, wine
from Burgundy, the darker, the better.
I like my heroes complicated and brooding,
James Dean in oiled leather, leaning
on a motorcycle. You know the color.

Oh, chocolate! From the spice bazaars
of Africa, hulled in mills, beaten,
pressed in bars. The cold slab of a cave's
interior, when all the stars
have gone to sleep.

Chocolate strolls up to the microphone
and plays jazz at midnight, the low slow
notes of a bass clarinet. Chocolate saunters
down the runway, slouches in quaint
boutiques; its style is je ne sais quoi.
Chocolate stays up late and gambles,
likes roulette. Always bets
on the noir.

Good Food From Local Farms to Manhattan Tables

Miz Mamacita, a soon-to-be guest blogger here, found out from her Mommies' Group about a new grocery delivery service, Basis Good Food to You. Some of the Mommies have started ordering organic, whole, hormone-free milk from Basis, and it is catching fire in the press, too!

Every week, subscribers (subscriptions run for four or ten weeks) choose from a list of 100% traceable farmers market food and either pick it up at a point near their apartments or have it delivered directly home. Prices are incredibly reasonable -- 12 servings of fruits or vegetables for $19, for instance.

To boot, Basis uses a zero-emission fleet of cargo tricycles to make deliveries south of 59th Street in Manhattan.

To learn more, call Basis at 212.334.5544 or email them at goodfood@basisfoods.com.

How Cooking Helped Save the Marriage of Traumatized War Correspondents

Foreign correspondents Paula Butturini and her husband John Tagliabue suffered bullets, police beatings and a battle with depression that almost tore their marriage apart. Paula's new book is about how cooking and eating together got them through. She writes about eating's capacity to trigger the brain to hope and the comfort of daily routines.

KEEPING THE FEAST
One Couple’s Story of Love, Food, and Healing in Italy
By Paula Butturini
259 pp. Riverhead Books. $25.95.

Food can't cure clinical depression, but it can "jump-start a journey toward solace."

Food Poem Fridays: Connie Wanek's HONEY

Honey

by Connie Wanek

Luxury itself, thick as a Persian carpet,

honey fills the jar

with the concentrated sweetness

of countless thefts,

the blossoms bereft, the hive destitute.

Though my debts are heavy

honey would pay them all.

Honey heals, honey mends.

A spoon takes more than it can hold

without reproach. A knife plunges deep,

but does no injury.

Honey moves with intense deliberation.

Between one drop and the next

forty lean years pass in a distant desert.

What one generation labored for

another receives,

and yet another gives thanks.

An Oscar Potluck

Two of my closest friends work in media/entertainment, and I've been left with a rather large television, so they and some others came over for some noshing, dishing, and Oscars-viewing.

We had so much food! laid out - not like an etherized patient, more like the antipasti table at a trattoria. Everything we ate last night was light, refreshing, tasty, simple but high quality, easy to prepare. The floral honey, bright green parsley flavor and crunch in the chickpea salad, and raspberries felt like harbingers of a much-awaited spring, while the depth in the blood oranges and dark, woodsy, berry tang of sumac felt like a poignant last look at winter.

*Popcorn tossed with Sumac

*Queso de Murci Curado, a six months' aged raw goat's milk cheese from Murcia in Southeastern Spain (with unspeakably delicious raw Manoir des Abeilles honey mixed with freshly ground black pepper poured over it)

*Red Kardoula Peppers stuffed with Feta and marinated in olive oil, garlic, and basil

*Green-and-black Olive Tapenade (with pita chips): Simply, pitted green and black olives food processed with fresh parsley and thyme, red chilli powder, a small amount of capers, and a slice of preserved lemon.

*Stuffed Grape Leaves

7-layer Bean Dip

Steak Sandwiches a la Ina Garten courtesy of Miz SunDrop

*The Ratatouille from "Ratatouille"

*Blood Orange and Treviso Salad: I sliced two heads of treviso on the bias and laid supremed blood orange slices over that on a platter, scattered some sliced scallions on top, and dressed the salad with a vinaigrette of blood orange juice, pomegranate molasses, cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

*Roasted Chickpea Salad: I tossed cooked chickpeas with olive oil, salt, sumac, red chilli powder, and cumin, and roasted them spread out on a baking pan for 45 minutes in a 350-degree oven, then tossed them with shredded red cabbage, lots of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley, and a simple vinaigrette of lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Farmers Market Quiche

*Raspberries with Honeyed Greek Yogurt

*Moroccan Mint Tea

* = organic

For Rheumatoid Arthritis, Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

I also recently found out that a good friend of mine has all of the factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but so far she's physically asymptomatic (that is, no joint pain). Although she doesn't yet have the physical symptoms, she's concerned about her risk of developing all kinds of inflammation-related chronic disease, and how she can adjust her diet to combat inflammation.

Dr. Andrew Weill has a helpful visual anti-inflammatory diet tool - a new food pyramid:

And I found this really great site that someone who suffers from RA put together that has tons of resources. This particular individual has cut out wheat and dairy products and found that to be the most helpful.

It seems like the basic answer for RA is to eat a healthy, Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains for vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber, cold water fish and certain nuts/seeds for omega-3s and protein, lots of olive oil) and low in sugar, meat, refined carbohydrates and saturated fat, and to figure out if you have any food sensitivities that cause inflammation.

A lot of folks with RA start out by eating a "Stone Age" or "hunter-gatherer" diet — only fruit, vegetables, seeds, meat, and fish for one month — and then they start keeping a journal while they reintroduce other types of foods, one at a time, to see if any particular type of food
is causing inflammation. The most common RA-exacerbating foods are wheat, milk and other dairy products, corn, beef and nightshade family foods (tomato, potato, eggplants, peppers and tobacco). The casein (milk protein) in dairy and gluten (wheat protein) seem to be very commonly cut out by RA sufferers.

Periodic fasting has also been studied and seems to help RA sufferers.

For RA, there is a lot of research showing that the following nutrients
help:

1. Omega-3 fatty acids, which you get from (4-6 servings/week) of cold water fish like salmon (choose wild pacific salmon), herring, mackerel, sardines, cod and halibut, also flaxseed and walnuts, and which are anti-inflammatory (human studies with marine omega-3 fatty acids show a direct relationship between increased consumption and diminished C-reactive protein levels);

2. Vitamin D, which you get in salmon, shrimp, sunflower seeds, eggs and vitamin-D fortified milk products (if you don't have any milk protein sensitivity), organically grown fruits and vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil (vitamin D is getting a lot of attention right now; the guidelines were just rewritten for daily recommended consumption, and most people who
are getting tested nowadays find out they're considered to be vitamin D-insufficient);

3. The Mediterranean diet as a whole (pioneer study on the effect for RA sufferers is published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases), which is rich in fish, olives and olive oil, legumes, and fresh produce (and low in simple carbs, meat, and dairy fats). Extra virgin olive oil contains oleocanthal, which very similar chemically to ibuprofen, and this may explain why it is anti-inflammatory;

4. Vitamin E (high in kiwi, whole grains, collard greens, dark leafy lettuces, almonds, sunflower seeds);

5. Antioxidant-rich (whole) fruits and vegetables - the bioflavonoids (plant compounds) have anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor activity (the more brightly colored and the greater the variety, the better; the ones with some bitter tasting compounds are also high in antioxidants; one trick I like to use is, on a weekly grocery shopping trip, buy the rainbow —
tomatoes, carrots, yellow bell peppers, dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, blueberries, beets...); and

6. Antioxidant-rich tea (white, green, and black).

Simple carbs, saturated fats, and vegetable oils that contain linoleic acid and are high in omega-6 fatty acids increase inflammation (corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, wheat germ oil, and sesame oil).

Once people are on medication for RA there is a whole host of dietary guidelines, particularly concerning supplements, because certain of the RA medications make it harder to absorb certain nutrients.

After Gallbladder Removal, Eat a High-Fiber, Low-Fat Diet

Recently, my good friend had her gallbladder removed. Half a million Americans have a cholecystectomy every year.

The gallbladder stores bile, which the liver produces and which is necessary to help digest fats. When you don't have a gallbladder, bile goes directly into your small intestines. The liver is on
its own after gallbladder removal.

Following a high-fiber, low-fat diet post-cholecystectomy helps food move through your digestive system and cuts down on intestinal discomfort. Lemon juice and vinegar also help the digestive system to break down fatty acids.

Whole grains like oatmeal and fresh produce (like beans, broccoli, artichokes, apples, and oranges) are high in fiber. Concentrating on "good fats" is important when cutting down overall fat intake, so you can still get the essential fatty acids your body needs. Non-tropical nuts (walnuts, almonds, etc.), seeds, fatty cold water fish such as salmon and mackerel, and extra virgin olive oil are all great sources of healthy fats. Being liquid at room temperature (as opposed to saturated fats, which are solid at room temperature), unsaturated fatty acids slide through the digestive system and take fat-soluble toxins with them.

Foods to avoid / cut out after gallbladder removal:
- red meat, pork, poultry (they're high in difficult-to-digest animal protein and animal fat);
- dairy (although a lot of folks without gallbladders find they can tolerate yogurt);
- chocolate and caffeine (can be digestive tract irritants);
- refined carbohydrates (they "gum up" the digestive system);
- fried foods (very high in fat);
- spicy foods (again, can be irritating); and
- soft drinks.

Truvia vs. stevia

A friend recently asked me about the difference between Truvia and stevia.

Truvia is a branded, processed sugar substitute consisting partly of stevia extract and mainly of erythritol, a natural sugar alcohol that is almost non-caloric, does not affect blood sugar, does not cause tooth decay, and, in regular use (i.e., not extreme quantities), does not cause side effects.

Stevia is a plant; its leaves, the aqueous extract of the leaves, and purified steviosides are used as sweeteners. It is mostly just sweet but has a tinge of a licorice flavor. Stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose and may even enhance glucose tolerance. Powdered, crystallized, and aqueous stevia can be purchased in natural foods stores.

Cutting the calories in your diet that come from sugars — everything from processed white sugar to the simple starches and carbohydrates that naturally occur in fruits and white flour — has multiple benefits. You will reduce your propensity towards insulin resistance and thereby cut your diabetes risk, lower inflammation caused by insulin spiking in the blood, lower fat storage and even lower LDL or "bad" cholesterol.

But it is not as simple as replacing the white sugar you use in your tea/coffee with Truvia or stevia. It's about reducing your overall intake of simple carbohydrates. To accomplish that, you should stay away from foods with a high glycemic load, such as sugar, white starches (white rice, white bread, potatoes), fruit juices and purees and juices from sugary vegetables like carrots and beets; even many alcoholic drinks are high in sugar. Eat instead: whole grains (brown rice, steel cut oats, buckwheat, flax flour, whole grain pasta), whole fruit in place of juice, whole vegetables.

Most people find they feel much better — have more energy, feel less tired — when they cut simple carbs out. After you flood your bloodstream with glucose, insulin spikes to take it out, and then you feel hypoglycemic and like eating something starchy again; it's exhausting, a vicious cycle, and over time very damaging to the circulatory system and linked to chronic
disease. Complex carbs release glucose into the bloodstream much more slowly.

Going further: My brother also believes that, because there is a natural insulin spike at the beginning of the day, people should take advantage of that and have all of their carbs prior to 2pm and try to eat nothing during the 2 hours before you go to sleep. So he has steel cut oatmeal for breakfast, a sandwich on whole grain bread for lunch, things like that, and he tends to load up on proteins like fish or lentils for dinner accompanied by raw or lightly cooked vegetables (i.e., no more rice at dinnertime for him). This seems to be working for him.