Farmer's Market Update for Summer Tomato

I had the pleasure and opportunity to cover the Union Square Greenmarket for one of my favorite blogs, Summer Tomato, this past weekend. Thought I'd share it here, as well.

And with that, back to my vacation!

http://summertomato.com/farmers-market-update-union-square-greenmarket/

Getting Out of Dodge (Clearing Out the Kitchen) and Skipping the Stove

I'm getting ready to head out of dodge for a week in Miami tomorrow - stay tuned for some food porn of local dishes down there - so I'll keep this post short and visual.

My market run last Saturday (and one more in between) got me through the week deliciously. I wanted to make sure I left nothing fresh in my kitchen that could spoil by the time I return (the tragedy of letting the last batch of ramps go to waste!). So I cooked up those ramps with everything from mushrooms to my cannellini bean salad with anchovies, and even baked them with small sweet potatoes and olive oil. The tomatoes and basil were gone in a few days, and the filets of skate from my Wednesday night fish market run were grilled with quinoa and green garlic pesto for a friend last night - and accompanied by the first of many, many glasses of rose this summer. So the kitchen is now empty of fresh produce, and ready for another run when I'm back from Miami.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a couple of photos from my bounty. So simple you really don't need much of a recipe for these. Which is actually one of the many great aspects of Spring and Summer cooking. With great, fresh produce and simple ingredients, there's not much 'cooking' involved. When it's hot out, the last thing you want is the heat from the stove. And sometimes, cold ingredients like crispy greens, a vine-ripened tomato - or opening a jar of anchovies in olive oil - is all you need. So, behold:

1. Micro sunflower greens with anchovies and lemon-shallot dressing (max 5 ingredients in the dressing: lemon juice, shallots, olive oil, salt and pepper)
2. Fresh tomatoes with basil, olive oil, truffle salt and pepper
3. Oyster mushrooms with ramps sautéed in a small spray of olive oil, with truffle salt and pepper. Get yourself this brilliant little tool to control an even distribution and quantity of olive oil.

More to come from Miami next week. Have a great Memorial Day, wherever you are. And thank you to all the servicemen and women out there!

xx,

- Paloma

Get 'Em Before They're Gone: Greenmarket Ramps Sauteed with Oyster Mushrooms

I hit Union Square's Greenmarket yesterday and bagged some amazing ingredients for this week's seasonal Spring dishes, based on completely different ingredients than what have become my habit. Hey, habits are fantastic - they're what keep us disciplined, are stronger than willpower and help us make consistent progress toward our goals - but they can breed boredom. I left my green market run with 9 ingredients (photo above) for at the very least 6 new dishes, each using 5 or fewer ingredients. I'm going to break up the recipes into individual posts over the next couple of weeks, but will start with two ingredients: ramps and oyster mushrooms.

Ramps look and cook like scallions, but taste like creamy garlic. They can be chopped and sauteed to flavor other dishes, and the long leaf can even be eaten whole. Nutritionally, they deliver 30% of your daily requirement of Vitamin A (for healthy skin, bones, soft tissues and vision) and 20% of your required Vitamin C intake (for stronger immunity). They're also a great source of folic acid (needed for cell regeneration and to the reduce the risk of heart disease and colon cancer) and selenium (an antioxidant that helps repair damaged cells and keeps your thyroid healthy).

Oyster mushrooms have a rich history in Chinese medicine. They are respected for their antioxidant and antibacterial properties, and are understood to have a detoxifying effect in your system. Not to mention that they taste creamy - I'm willing to set aside the portobello mushroom and claim these as my Favorite Funghi thus far.

So they're great for you, check. Now here's what I did with them as one course of a highly seasonal Spring dinner: behold, sauteed oyster mushrooms with ramps:

• Prep: Wash 6 ramps (if you're cooking for two) and 2-3 large oyster mushrooms. On the ramps, cut off the tiny edge that appears to have 'hair' at the end. Then chop the entire ramp, including the leaf - it's edible, tastes and cooks great. For the oyster mushrooms, simply pull off the bulbs and set aside. Toss any 'stems' at the heart of the mushroom that may feel too hard for your taste.
• Cook: Drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil on a good saucepan. Once, heated, add your chopped ramps and oyster mushroom bulbs. Stir and cook until the mushrooms shrink and are visibly cooked. They might look a bit translucent.
• Serve: Add salt and pepper to taste (I used Himalayan pink salt and freshly ground black peppercorn). Enjoy with a good glass of rose on a Spring night (or afternoon)

Told you it'd be easy. If you try this, let me know what you think! More to come,

- Paloma

Preview: Sunday Night Dinner

So, I started out making my truffled cannellini mash for the week, but decided to add a couple of different flavors and texture - some crispiness and savoriness with green onions, and some saltiness with anchovies. What's not photographed is the truffle oil and salt, but this was an experiment in photographing fresh ingredients, as much as it was cooking. Rookie mistake? Yes. But you have to start somewhere.

Recalibration, Day 2.5 and Disaster Prevention: What to Keep On Hand for When You're Too Tired To Cook

* Image attribution to New York Times

I'll keep this post short, and without a recipe per se - but with some creative, easy go-to recommendations.

Some of you may know that I'm challenging myself with a two-week recalibration to shake my sugar addiction (beyond the obvious, see this video to understand why I believe this is important), and to generally hit the reset button on my body and digestive system. I generally make very healthy food choices, buy and consume a lot of organic produce, choose pastured beef - but good Lord, do I love my sweets. 2+ tablespoons of honey with my morning oatmeal. Honey and lemon with green tea (twice a day). A little piece of chocolate after lunch or dinner - you get the picture. It may be natural, but it sure adds up (did you think I was done with the honey after breakfast? Nay.) Once you have some of the good stuff, your taste buds generally want MORE.

So, back to recalibration. Darya Rose's approach is very simple and boils down to eliminating 4 key foods:

1. No sugar 
2. No wheat
3. No dairy
4. No alcohol

So, I'm 2.5 days in, and I can already notice a clear change in my mood and energy levels throughout the day. No highs and lows of blood-sugar (and energy level) before and after meals. No bloating.  A clearer mind. And I'm challenging myself with slowing down and recognizing what's driving any desires to snack - is it escapism from a piece of work I'm trying to crack, boredom, frustration - or truly hunger? 

I'm definitely 'all in' on this. I feel good. I'm motivated to lose my rabid sweet tooth, and to gain full control and awareness over my food choices. Call me a masochist, but I enjoy a challenge that forces me to understand what's beneath any sense of discomfort.

But last night, after a later evening at the office and catching up with some friends, I didn't get home until after 9pm, feeling tired and HUNGRY - and honestly, not motivated to wait 20 minutes to cook some quinoa or farro. I was also out of fresh greens (and in need of a market run immediately). I know this is a question often asked by a lot of us - what do you choose that is easy and healthy when you just don't feel like cooking? I need this go-to list, as well - so here's what I netted out at:

• Eggs (organic): they take 5 minutes to scramble and cook (I enjoy a good breakfast for dinner)
• Arugula, kale or baby spinach for a quick salad (just add olive oil, salt, pepper and toss)
• Baby tomatoes: Toss with olive oil, by themselves or with other greens. You can lose count of these kids and they won't make a dent in your waistline - but they will fill you up
• Avocado: Take half, add salt and eat by itself or on greens. Alternatively, mix with bananas, lemon juice and fresh pineapple chunks (if you have them). Delicious salad with protein, essential fatty acids, vitamin C and natural sweetness.
• Yellow squash: 5 minutes to shred with a good peeler and saute in 5 minutes. And behold... squash 'pasta'!
• Bananas: Instant potassium and satiation when you'd otherwise grab a cookie. Also, toss with avocado for a surprisingly good salad.
• Gluten free oats (devoid of any traces of wheat): 5 minutes to home cooked oatmeal. Again with the breakfast for dinner
• Almond butter (more nutritious than peanut butter): Make sure you choose one that is natural, has 2-3 ingredients max. Store it bottom up so that the oil rises to the bottom of the jar. Add it to almond milk and a banana for a nutritious, tasty and fast smoothie.

I know I'm but touching the surface here - there's so much you can keep on hand to maintain your healthy food choices, even when you just...don't...feel...like cooking. What other ideas do you have? I'd love to hear and learn from your creative go-tos.

P.S. So much for a short post. Have a great weekend!

- Paloma

Why (Good) Habits Beat Willpower: The Habits of a 'Foodist'

I've had at least a couple of conversations recently about the mindfulness (or rather, the risks of the mindlessness) of eating. It seems that when the daily routines and stresses of our lives - and the need to be distracted from and escape them - accumulate and frustrate us, many of us tend to fall into a pattern of mindless eating. It may seem negligible - an afternoon cookie treat never killed anyone. But too often, when stress and a sense of mental or emotional discomfort persists beyond a few days, mindless eating becomes a pattern. You may develop the craving for something sweet every afternoon around 3pm. Fruit might be replaced by a cookie. And too many late nights at work might elevate from a fling to mercurial relationship in the always-receptive web of Seamless (or takeout) - all accompanied by 3 glasses of Malbec. Eat your feelings, much?

Some of you may have heard me rave about Summertomato before, as a smart resource for practical food + nutrition information, and a no-b.s. whole foods philosophy. So it felt like a moment of serendipity when I stumbled on Darya Rose's post yesterday, Focus More On Your Mind and Less On Your Diet If You're Serious About Losing Weight. While I encourage you to read the piece and take from it what you will, I was left mulling over three key ideas:

1. Stress doesn't always have to lead to mindless eating: Mindless eating is rarely about hunger, and more often about the need to satiate a higher-order need. If you're reaching for the delivery menu and a keypad stroke away from eating your feelings, what need are you looking to fill? 
2. Mindless eating (stress) is stronger than willpower: I understand that answering the aforementioned question (what emotion am I eating?) requires some self-reflection that will most often require some time. But the awareness of that question may make the difference between fried rice with orange chicken and, say - a sushi roll and a seaweed salad.
3. But good habits trump all:  Develop beneficial habits that produce a compelling reward (personally, compliments or fitting into an old high-school dress work for me. Vanity, thy name is Paloma...), and you'll stick to them. Find healthy foods you enjoy eating, find a workout you thoroughly enjoy and make them more readily available to you. Pack your lunch. Find a home workout for when you can't get to the gym. Start by identifying those desired actions (and eventual habits) that feel good for you to do. Give yourself - at the very least - 2 weeks for consistent actions to become a habit.

On that note, I realize 'healthy' food has become something like the word 'engagement' in my industry (digital marketing): overused, lacking definition and unnecessarily meaningless. What is 'healthy' when packaged food labels scream 'low-GI', 'natural', 'organic' or what be it - and, despite eating your weight's worth in them - you're still not losing weight (hence the problem)? Enter the whole foods philosophy of Darya Rose (and encouraged by others).

Darya recently published Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Trying. At the expense of oversimplifying, it's a practical guide to identifying whole, real foods (read: most of them won't come with an ingredients label) that you LOVE, and building a practical, sustainable food-style around them. While cooking your own food is a large part of maintaining good habits (and why I started this blog), she recognizes you WILL and should enjoy restaurants, as well - and will identify how you can navigate restaurant selections to your benefit. Lastly, it's all grounded in science - she's a neuroscientist.

This will be my nightly reading for the next few days. In the spirit of sharing what's on my radar and guiding my decisions, thought I'd make you aware of it, as well.

- P

Hit the Sauce! Home-Made Basil Pesto

After catching a Spring cold (and allergies), I've very reluctantly spent more of the weekend indoors than I'd have liked. Despite the perfect 50's - 60's temperatures, endless sun and perfect biking conditions - congestion, going through multiple tissues in a half hour, eyes welling up, etc. - made it too uncomfortable to be outdoors for long. I know...DEAD SEXY. But rather than sulk more than I already have, I decided to up my own ante as a home chef by making my own sauce from scratch. I wanted something fresh, versatile, easy on ingredients (less than 5) and quick to prepare. Hands down, I went for basil pesto.

I'll start by saying that - in addition to being delicious and one of the most aromatic herbs that can fill your kitchen - the humble basil leaf is rather nutritious. And for someone that suffers from highly irregular PVCs (they're under control now), I was surprised to learn that basil is actually particularly good for cardiovascular health. According to Livestrong (say what you will about Armstrong, but the site is still extremely informative):

• Basil is high in several vitamins and minerals related to cardiovascular health, including the antioxidant vitamin A, which prevents free radicals from oxidizing cholesterol and causing it to build up in the blood vessels; and the mineral magnesium, which causes the muscles and blood vessels to relax, thereby helping improve blood flow and reduce risk of irregular heartbeat or heart spasms. Dried and fresh basil are both high in folate and vitamin K and contain trace amounts of vitamin E and the rest of the B vitamins. Basil also has vitamin C, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron and trace amounts of other essential minerals.
• Additionally, basil contains flavonoids like vicenin and orientin with antioxidant properties, as demonstrated in a 2001 study reported in "Mutation Research." The study showed that these two compounds, extracted from Indian holy basil, protect human lymphocytes from exposure to low and non-toxic levels of radiation. Basil also has volatile oils with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, as demonstrated in a 2010 "Pharmaceutical Biology" study on sweet basil. The researchers found that its essential oils have antibacterial effects on a number of pathogens, including staphylococcus.

So it's delicious, can aid cardiovascular (and overall) health, fills a kitchen with an incomparably fresh, natural scent, and is versatile (use to top cannellini beans on in my truffled mash, pasta, crostini or with vegetables). And it was crazy easy to make. Here's how:

• Buy: A generous bunch of fresh basil (preferably organic), good olive oil, pine nuts and sea salt. 
• Prep: In a food processor/chopper, add basil and about 2 tablespoons pine nuts and chop. If the container is too small to hold all your basil leaves at once, just chop as much as you can and then add more basil leaves gradually. Once all your basil and the 2-3 tablespoons of pine nuts are chopped, slowly add a bit of olive oil (a drizzle at a time) until it reaches your desired consistency. Personally, I like mine a bit chunky, with a much higher ratio of basil and pine nuts to olive oil. But the consistency is your call.
• Eat: Enjoy as a sauce over pasta, spread it on bread, or savor your creation from a small spoon. Refrigerate the rest and enjoy throughout the week.

Despite my nasty congestion, I thoroughly enjoyed the scent of basil throughout my kitchen, and the smug satisfaction of knowing I made this classic Italian sauce myself - and that it tasted amazing. I might now be ready to cook for my Italian friends. Dolce vita indeed.

- Paloma

Them's the Rules: Balanced Meals for Optimal Digestion (and Pesto + Kale Picadillo)

Thanks to my Mom (The Greatest), I learned a couple of years ago that - for many (not all) of us - how we combine our foods can either help our hamper our digestion. Thanks to my mom's discovery of the very informative Sherry Brescia, I learned that I'm one of those that needs to pair foods in select combinations to work with my body's natural digestive process. In other words: I can only eat - say, a protein with greens, but not with bread or pasta. The wrong food combination can be very difficult for my body to digest, leaving me feeling pretty sick - and too much acidity accumulated over time. 

At the expense of grossly oversimplifying Ms. Brescia's philosophy, here's how the guidelines of optimal food pairing loosely break down:

• Protein (beef, pork, poultry, fish) + non-starchy vegetables (think greens) = good
• Non-starchy veggie + starch (or grain) = good
• Starch (or grain) + protein = bad
• Greens, non-starchy vegetables work great with just about anything; safe food
• Dairy by itself = good
• Dairy + pretty much anything else = bad
• Fruit + 0 = good
• Fruit + pretty much anything else = bad

If you're realizing that these equations add up to my inability to eat a hamburger with a bread bun, a grilled cheese sandwich or a slice of pizza with cheese seductively and brazenly oozing over the edges, you'd be correct. But sticking to these guidelines most of the time has made a world of a difference in my digestion and how I feel. So them's the rules I cook and eat by, most of the time. And on that rare occasion I eat a slice of pizza? No big deal. It's all about maintaining a heavier balance of discipline over indulgence.

So, in the spirit of properly balanced meals, here's a favorite recipe that I cooked for a friend last night. I'll call it pesto + kale picadillo - Cuban-style ground beef, but simmered in basil pesto (instead of the traditional tomato, garlic, red pepper + herbed sauce). A couple of notes on why this particular dish is optimized for digestion: the white rice as the bed for the picadillo is absent, and the parmesan for the basil pesto. Instead, lets elevate the mighty kale leaf as our non-starchy green; it's one of the most nutritious around (see below). According to WebMD:

• One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of the minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.
• Kale’s health benefits are primarily linked to the high concentration and excellent source of antioxidant vitamins A, C, and K -- and sulphur-containing phytonutrients.

But I digress. Onto this crazy easy protein + non-starchy green recipe:

• Buy: 1/2 lb - 1 lb of ground beef for two people, depending on if you want left-overs for the next day. I chose 85% lean beef, grass-fed and locally raised beef from Jersey - but I saw Food Inc. (and read too many investigative pieces) and am very selective about my food choices based on their source. You decide what's right for you. 
• Also, a large bunch of organic kale, and basil pesto
• For the pesto, you can either make your own (without cheese), or try Meditalia's if you're in a hurry (like I was last night). I like Meditalia's because it's dairy free and non-GMO. If you read the above combinations, you'll remember that I can't combine dairy with most anything else - and I think pesto is equally delicious without the cheese, anyways. Good olive oil, basil and salt? I'm happy.
• Prep: Wash the kale and cut up the leaves by hand, leaving the steam aside. I'd aim to fill a medium bowl with the chopped kale - it will shrink rapidly when cooked.
• Cook: Add the ground beef to a good skillet (I swear by WearEver Pure Living) at medium heat, using a wooden spoon to break down the ground beef into small pieces. You want your beef pieces to look like the size you'd expect in a bowl of chili. Cook until it's pretty well done - I like to see the edges lightly brown. After about 10 minutes, add the kale. Stir it in so that beef covers the pesto. Cook for about 1 minute or two, until the kale shrinks from its original size and crispy texture.
• Dress it up: Add about 3 tablespoons of basil pesto if you're cooking 1 lb of meat. Allow sauce to cook along with the beef and kale at very low heat, stirring the mixture together for about 2 minutes. You're not looking for a soupy consistency here - you want just enough sauce to flavor the beef, not drown it.
• Eat and enjoy: My friend Seth, a beef lover, enjoyed this thoroughly, and wants to repeat himself. I consider this a compliment.

P.S. If you suspect you have any digestive 'issues' - I highly recommend checking out Sherry Brescia's approach. It's rooted in research and extremely easy to follow - no gimmicks, no deprivation, no shakes or juices - just some smart guidelines to work with your body's digestion using REAL, whole and natural foods (ALL of them). That said, as a marketer that believes in the critical importance of creating a strong product/experience first - and a strong brand identity/design immediately thereafter (or in parallel), I wish I could get my hands on Ms. Brescia's brand identity and site design. I beg you to overlook the brochure-wear site structure and non-existing UX - and instead focus on the content. It's dead on.

- P