Wholesome Wednesdays: Pineapple

I do not live in Hawaii. Or south America. I do like pineapples, however and when they're on sale i occasionally purchase them. Does it make it better if i serve them with locally caught wild hog and homegrown veggies? I hope so.
I have always preferred the tangy pineapples to the 'sweet gold' ones, but i'll take them either way, especially grilled or spiced (soaked in apple cider vinegar and spices).

I would assume pineapples are pretty full of sugar, but do they have nutritional boons to balance that sweetness? Let's find out.

I like to start at The World's Healthiest Foods to see what they say about an ingredient. If it's in their site, it has something good to offer. They often focus more on the actual nutrition, including minerals and complimentary foods to eat to get the most out of the ingredient- versus calorie count which focuses more on if an ingredient will make you fat or not. Pineapple gets a pretty good review, and has anti-inflammatory properties as well as enough vitamin C to make it a good immunity support.

That's a whole lotta manganese! According to WHFoods:

"manganese, which is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses. For example, the key oxidative enzyme superoxide dismutase, which disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within our cells), requires manganese. Just one cup of fresh pineapple supplies 128.0% of the DV for this very important trace mineral. In addition to manganese, pineapple is a good source of thiamin, a B vitamin that acts as a cofactor in enzymatic reactions central to energy production."

 That crazy talk supposedly means that pineapple is a great source of energy. No wonder it tastes so great after a long day of swimming in the heat. Pineapple is also good for your eye sight, so perhaps i'd better be eating even more of it, as i'm feeling some macular degeneration coming on in my impending 30s.

Calorie Count gives pineapple an A! Turns out this sweet treat isn't so bad for ya after all.

It's definitely mostly carbs and sugar with a smidge of protein, but 78 calories for a full cup of pineapple doesn't seem so bad to me. I think i'll go eat a few more chunks of pineapple right now! Oh, and it's fantastic to float a piece of pineapple in ice tea - flavors the tea just a bit and then you have a yummy snack waiting at the bottom of the glass.

Wholesome Wednesdays: Legumes

If it were a normal December, I'd be saying things like "brrrr, it's soup weather!" But La Nina is messing with my plans. That's not keeping me from making yummy soup though. I had some good friends over for a simple yet delicious meal of bean soup last night and was inspired to write my praises for legumes, those sometimes gassy forms of near complete protein.

Bean soup with tomatoes, peppers, onions and herbs from the garden, homemade chicken stock, free range chicken sausage, adzuki and black beans, smoked paprika, chilly powder, salt and lots of time.

Dried beans are a wonderful source of protein and they store so well. They can be kept in attractive lines of mason jars on your counter, or be stowed in conveniently shaped plastic tubs in the cupboard. They store for years and take very little effort to rehydrate into delicious concoctions of hummus, falafel, chilly, soup, or just about any yummy side or main dish you can think of. When paired with rice the amino acids chains form near complete proteins, making the ole 'bean and rice' simple meal a vegetarian's go-to meal for healthy, vegetarian protein.

Legumes pack in so much punch, in fact they can be hard to digest. This difficulty is also caused by the stachyrose and raffinose present in legumes, which are not ingestible by the small intestine, and pass down to the colon instead. Flatulence is also caused by a sugar –- oligosaccharide which cannot be broken down. Soaking beans overnight and discarding the soaking water can help eliminate the presence of these pesky elements. Combining the nutrient-rich bean with some ruffage (leafy greens), epazote or just a mixture of other cooked/raw foods can also help to make them more digestible. Lentils cause the least amount of flatulence and have some of the best nutrients, so they may be a great option for folks not desiring to scare away their co-workers the next day. Legumes have quite a bit of iron in them, another reason they're a great red meat replacement that's easier on the body and environment. Beans also have a large amount of fiber in them which will help you to feel full if dieting, aid in 'regularity' and help stave off cancer and obesity by boosting overall health.  You can never have too much fiber, in my opinion.

I could go on and on about beans, but i'll leave it at this: it's easy to buy canned beans. They make a very quick meal. But they're also lacking a lot of the nutrition that's essential to good health. It takes a little extra time to soak beans overnight, but really - is that so much effort? The beans are really doing all the work for you and they only take 45 minutes to cook the next day. You can let them simmer all day long as i did for the soup above, but you don't HAVE to. Go out and buy some dried beans today. You'll be thrilled with their price point: cents a pound versus dollars a can, and your overall health will thank you. The fields used to graze inefficient cattle instead of complete human-feeding foods will thank you as well when they eventually get turned back over to more efficient food raising. Or at least i can hope....    Dried beans! The musical fruit! The more you eat! The more resistant to cancer, obesity, irregularity and general malaise you'll be! hahaha.

What's your favorite use for dried beans?

Wholesome Wednesdays: Beets Plus a Recipe

YUM!!!!!    OMIGOSH that was so good. I didn't take any photos, however, as i hadn't planned on blogging the recipe since it was thrown together last minute. But upon just eating the leftovers for lunch, i felt the need to write it down.

A friend who runs the Hope Farmers Market brought by some beautiful beets and spring onions this weekend knowing that i would know what to do with them. That's a lot of confidence! But i DID i DID know what to do with them, and this is what i did:

While sitting on the back porch enjoying the beautiful breeze, i put a quart mason jar's worth of sprouted black beans (had sprouted 3-4 days) in a pan with a pint of homemade turkey stock and set on medium with a fresh bay leaf while i returned outside to enjoy the weather.  When the beans seemed mostly soft, about 15-20 minutes i chopped and tossed into a large fry pan:

• 4 cloves garlic, mashed in a T or so olive oil
• 3 big spring onions, just the white part
• 1 finely diced habanero
• salt and pepper
• smoked paprika

When the onions were softening and the pan was sizzling, i poured in the beans/stock (great sizzling sound!) and covered. Nearing time to eat i tossed in chopped beet greens and the onion greens plus more salt and pepper and some egg whites i had leftover from baking the easter bread. The beet greens wilted much like kale: longer than spinach, and the whole combo was just perfection!

My husband doesn't much care for beets, but he liked the greens so i think i'll try growing some this fall. You just can't beat a vegetable that's as good above ground as it is below! Versatility is a real boon when you have such a tiny space to garden in. The leftover beet roots are destined for some grilling tomorrow night with some more olive oil,  garlic and salt.

So what about the nutrition of these beautiful root veggies? This website has some great details, but the long and the short of it:
Beets provide a good punch of vitamins and minerals with very few calories and delicious sweet taste. 

The pigment that gives beets their rich, purple-crimson color-betacyanin-is also a powerful cancer-fighting agent. Beets' potential effectiveness against colon cancer, in particular, has been demonstrated in several studies.    -whfoods.com

 Beet fiber contains some helpful enzymes that assist in detoxifying the liver and beet juice was found to be a potent inhibitor of the cell mutations caused by nitrates, preservatives often found in meats and sausage products.  Beets may help to reduce inflammation and are high  in the B vitamin folate, which is essential for normal tissue growth especially during pregnancy.

I'd say beets are great! Most veggies with dark coloration such as beet red or dark leafy green are a safe bet that they help fight cancer and promote optimum health. So enjoy your beets!