Shopping at the Supermarket

Okay, so you don’t have a convenient farmers market. (Or it’s winter and it’s snowed under.) Where do you buy your food?

It is possible to buy healthy food at a supermarket. The key is to remember to buy food that looks like food, not like entertainment or pre-made meals. You might have to sacrifice the organic part, but don’t give up completely. Better to eat real food than pseudo-food.

The golden rule for supermarkets is to shop the outside aisles. That’s where most of the food is.

Start in the produce section. If there is an organic section, check it out first. Buy as much variety here as you can.

Then look at the rest of the produce. Focus on what is grown in the US and Canada. Other countries can use chemical pesticides and fertilizers that we have banned. (In Canada it’s required to label country of origin on food. In the States, you might have to ask.)

When looking at the mounds of fruits and vegetables, consider two things: seasonal food and variety of colors.

Usually, eating seasonally means eating less expensively. In the winter, eat more root vegetables and winter squash. In the summer, eat more peppers and cucumbers. Always eat greens.

How many colors can you get in your basket? Every color has different nutrients and health benefits. Once in a while, try a vegetable you haven’t eaten before. Bert Greene’s Greene on Greens is a wonderful primer on vegetables common and unusual, with fun stories and good recipes. (Just cut down on the amount of butter he uses.)

Your supermarket has a produce manager. Try to meet him or her. Ask how to tell when something is fresh. Mention items you particularly like. Produce managers are generally proud of their wares - just look at the way they artfully display them - and they want to have satisfied customers. Just as farmers will grow varieties customers ask for, so will supermarkets stock the food people request. (My mother is known in her supermarket for her impressive watercress consumption.)

Supplement the fresh produce in the frozen vegetable aisle if necessary. Bagged frozen vegetables are a great time-saver, just don’t get ones with added flavorings.

As you progress around the store, read labels. The fewer ingredients the better. If an ingredient is unpronounceable, don’t eat it.

Buy food that looks like food.

And stretch yourself occasionally with a trip to the health food store or the farmers market.

Growing from the Ground Up

I was digging a hole in the back of a flowerbed the other day, preparing to plant a rosebush. Usually after the amount of rain we’ve had, this would be a frustrating chore. My feet would sink into the soil, and inches of clay would cling to the bottom of my clogs.

But in the six years we have lived here, Larry and I have been mulching and composting and amending the soil almost non-stop. Slowly the earthworms have returned, the soil has become lighter and more nutritious for the plants, and I can step in a flowerbed without being weighed down by clay.

We have not relied on chemical fertilizers like Miracle-Gro to give us large plants and flowers. They work with the plant tissues, not the soil, so they have short-term benefit. For the long term, you need to feed the soil: the matrix in which the plants live, and from which their roots draw nutrients. (To see pictures of our garden, visit www.elserenoessences.com.)

As I was patting myself on the back for the improved soil, I realized that I have the same philosophy towards maintaining health in the body.

I can keep myself functioning with sugar and coffee and chemicals in the forms of supplements, but below the surface the lack of nourishment takes its toll.

Real food creates the framework for health in every cell. Vegetables that grow in rich well-fed organic soil have high nutrient contents that strengthen and renew my body. (At least one study has shown that organic produce is higher in nutrients than non-organic.)

Just as the well-fed soil helped the trees on our property create strong root systems that kept them standing through the recent winds and rain, eating whole food on a daily basis gives me a foundation for health even during stressful times.

Vegetable Stock

I’m often asked how I make vegetarian food so flavorful. The secret is vegetable stock.

Homemade stock is culinary gold. Add it to soups, stews, even the water for cooking rice -- it adds a boost of flavor and cohesiveness to any dish.

You can buy organic vegetable stock in liquid or cubes, but while these will add flavor to your dish, they have that underlying processed food taste. Better to make your own.

Simply put vegetables in a pot, cover with water, and simmer a couple of hours until the flavor transfers from the vegetables to the water. Strain and use. I store the stock in 2-cup containers in the freezer.

Because the stocks I make are well-flavored, I can use just 2 cups in recipes calling for up to 5 cups of stock. I add water to make up the difference.

This is my current favorite recipe. Vary the ingredients as you like. Use canned tomatoes or different herbs. The mushrooms and onions are essential.

You can put the ingredients together before dinner, let it simmer on the stove for a couple of hours, and then stash it in the freezer before you go to bed. It’s a good winter project: it smells good while cooking, steams up the kitchen, and adds to your storehouse of good food.

Vegetable Stock
1 leek, trimmed and halved lengthwise, washed well, then chopped
3 onions (about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled and chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, quartered
2 shiitake mushrooms, fresh or dried, washed well and chopped
2 plum tomatoes, rinsed and quartered (optional)
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano or 1 tbsp fresh
1 tsp salt (optional, but recommended)
1 tbsp black peppercorns

Combine everything in a large pot. Add water to cover (about 2 quarts). Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and simmer without a lid for 2 hours. Add water as needed to keep vegetables barely covered.

Strain through a fine mesh sieve (lined with cheesecloth if you like) over a large bowl. Gently press the vegetables against the sieve to release their moisture, then add to the compost pile. You should have about 8 cups stock. (If you have more, boil it down to concentrate the flavor.) Cool, then refrigerate for 1 week or freeze for 6 months.

Cooking from Scratch

I cook dinner from scratch almost every night.

It’s not as hard as it sounds.

Since I discovered the strain chemical pesticides and fertilizers put on my body, I’ve been committed to eating organic food, and that’s hard to find except at home.

Even the pre-packaged organic meals from Whole Foods are laden with ingredients I don’t call food.

So I cook my own.

Over the years I’ve devised a cooking system that suits me. When I get home from work, I’m mentally tired. I can’t be inspired by the contents of the fridge to create a healthy dinner.

So I plan ahead. Saturday night I decide on the menus for the week. I consider what we have in the fridge and pantry, what seasonal produce will be at the market, and what our week will look like (when will Larry be home late from the gym, do I have an evening meeting?).

For dinners, I select a main course to be accompanied by two or three vegetables. Often a dish can carry us through a couple of nights. The accompanying vegetables will be whatever looks good at the farmers market. I try for the greatest variety possible during the week - one night cauliflower and snap peas, another beets and turnips, another mustard greens and carrots. The more kinds of vegetables, the greater variety of nutrients that we consume. And I enjoy the contrast of colors on our plates.

I’ve learned that unless I have a lot of time and energy, one recipe is enough for an evening. The vegetable sides are steamed or roasted. Fortunately, fresh-picked organic produce tastes great without being made into a fancy dish. My energy goes into the main course, which might be a bean stew or a grain casserole. If I have a bean dish planned for one night, then I write myself a note to soak and cook the dried beans the night before and store them in the fridge.

I post the menu on the fridge, make my shopping list, and the creative part is over.

When I get home from a long day at work, I look at my menu list, and settle in to chop, steam and sauté. There’s something deeply satisfying about the colors of the vegetables and the aroma of frying onions and garlic. I think of where the produce has come from. I appreciate the farmers who grew it and brought it to market. I marvel at the variety of nutrients and beauty in front of me. Cooking becomes a sacred act of connection and gratitude.

I love being able to tell Larry “the black beans are from Lompoc, the sweet potatoes from Joshua Tree, the mustard greens from Three Rivers, and the beets from Ventura County.”

We eat at the dinette in the kitchen, serving ourselves from pots on the stove. And we enjoy the seasonal organic produce, and the knowledge that we are eating real food.

Start Me Up

I like the idea of coffee: putting on a pot of coffee before getting to the paperwork; sitting around the kitchen table with cups of coffee.

But I’m not really a coffee drinker. I have gone through phases of coffee addiction and abstention. I’m currently in a phase of the occasional cup with Sunday brunch.

I recently had an americano at the Cafecito Organico stand at the Hollywood Farmers Market. This is an espresso with extra hot water. Apparently it has less caffeine than brewed coffee. It tasted good and warmed my hands in the early morning chill.

Coffee stimulates an adrenaline rush that can be tough on the body. Some people are better off avoiding it. Most can drink it in moderation.

It is a natural food. Coffee beans are roasted, ground and infused with hot water. The grounds are great on the compost heap or sprinkled around acid-loving plants in the garden.

How can that be bad?

But then I see ads for International Coffee and non-dairy creamers, or I stand in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and see their menu of coffees with powders in them. Have you looked at the ingredients? Corn syrup, flavorings - natural or artificial, they are not food.

In fact, I would argue they’re not coffee. They are chemical-laden milkshakes for grown-ups.

If you drink coffee, make it organic. Your liver has enough work breaking down the chemicals in coffee without adding pesticide and fertilizer residue. Add milk (or soy milk) if desired. Don’t add chemical sweeteners or whiteners. They’re not food; why add more strain to your liver?

If you want sweet flavored coffee, try this recipe from the Mexico the Beautiful cookbook.

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Lower the heat and add 1/2 cup coarsely ground dark-roasted coffee, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, a 4-inch piece of cinnamon, 5 whole cloves and the peel from 1/4 orange. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup cold water, remove from heat and cover. Let stand for 5 minutes. Strain before serving. It’s not traditional to add milk, but I do.

(Or squeeze a piece of orange zest into your regular mug of coffee, drop the zest in too, and stir in brown sugar and milk to taste. No corn syrup or flavors required.)

Putting on the Feedbag

This squirrel knows a good thing when he sees it - you can just see his tail sticking out of a bag of grain at my neighbor's house.

Mr. Martinez buys the grain for his chickens, however many neighborhood critters enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Flocks of mourning doves and sparrows gather, but the squirrels are the most enthusiastic.

I have noticed, however, that their usual frisky spring behavior is slacking off. Yesterday two squirrels chased each other up and down a tree twice, and then collapsed to rest, panting vigorously. In early January, when the grain was less accessible, they were able to run up and down trees and around the yard a few times before taking a break.

I think they're feeling the ill-effects of too much food, and I think we humans can relate.

It is so easy in our modern world to eat too many calories. Fast food places and inexpensive food outlets prevail. Advertising seduces us into believing we will feel better with pizza or soda or whatever the company is shilling. It's a smorgasbord of cheap food out there, and it's hard to resist.

Michael Pollan said recently on Democracy Now that one of his rules is not to buy any food advertised on television.

What a great idea.

I think it would be the first step to eliminating the obesity and diabetes epidemics in this country.

Of course, it would require cooking and eating real food, and giving up the soda and junk food addiction.

In the meantime, I'm hoping Mr. Martinez will lock up the grain so the squirrels can return to their frisky selves.

The Sad Lack of Rutabagas

A downside of living in Southern California is the sad lack of rutabagas.

A rutabaga is a root vegetable which looks rather like a pale-orange elongated turnip. Like most roots it is a good source of minerals, especially potassium, and has traces of all essential vitamins, including a large amount of beta carotene.

Because rutabagas store well, they are traditional winter fare, and can be found in the root vegetable section of supermarkets in northern climes. (I seem to remember a small campaign to name the rutabaga the national vegetable of Canada.)

They are a delicious addition to a roasted vegetable dish of beets, turnips, carrots, parsnips and potatoes. (Peel and chop the vegetables. Toss in a little olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast, covered, at 450° until fork-tender.)

The Scots call them neeps, and Bashed Neeps are in my family lore. I don’t remember eating any, but I’ve never forgotten the name.

Only twice this winter have I found organic rutabagas at the Hollywood Farmers Market, but what rutabagas they were: small and fresh, with the greens still attached. The first bunch I roasted as above. Delicious!

But with the second bunch in hand, I came across Bert Greene’s recipe for Bashed Neeps in his vegetable primer Greene on Greens.

It is the best rutabaga recipe ever, almost like orange mashed potatoes but with an ethereal lightness.

I share it with you in the hopes that you will find some neeps to bash.

Bashed Neeps
1 lb rutabagas, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1-2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

Cook the rutabagas in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes. Cook until both vegetables are cooked, about 15 minutes longer. Drain.

Mash with the butter until smooth. (Use a regular potato masher.) Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Should serve 4 but probably won’t.

Starting the Day off Right

Every morning I prepare bowls of fresh organic fruit for Larry and me.

This morning I sectioned two grapefruits - they looked white but were very sweet. Jorge, who farms in Temecula and sells his produce at the Hollywood Farmers Market, grows more varieties of citrus than I knew existed. Even his grapefruits vary throughout the year as different kinds ripen. The colors change from white to pink and all shades between. The flavor ranges from sweet to puckery. I enjoy the uncertainty of never knowing what I will get when I cut the grapefruit.

I credit Jorge's grapefruits with keeping Larry and me healthy. Larry works in a cubicle surrounded by people who pass viruses and flus around, yet he rarely succumbs.

All fresh fruit is known for its stress-busting properties, so it’s a great way to start the day. Citrus fruits contain phyto-chemicals that are thought to prevent everything from cancer to strokes. Grapefruits are also rich in Vitamin C, bioflavanoids, and lycopene (another cancer-preventer) -- the pinker the grapefruit, the more lycopene.

While it’s interesting to know what compounds are in the food, I think nature (meaning our bodies and the plants) knows better than we do how nutrients work together. Eat the whole food to get the whole nutrient package.

So I don't make us grapefruit juice in the morning. Instead, I cut the grapefruit in a way that maximizes nutrition and flavor.

First, I carve off the peel and thick white pith. I then cut the grapefruit lengthwise first in half and then each half into four or five pieces. Each piece has some of the thin, bioflavanoid-rich membranes in it. There is often a thick bitter pith at the core of the grapefruit with the seeds. I slice this away, and then cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces.

This morning I added a nice tang by sprinkling some organic blueberries from Forbidden Fruit Farms in Santa Barbara County (also from the Hollywood Farmers Market) on top of the grapefruit.

I don’t sweeten our morning fruit. We eat it as it comes. Sometimes, if the fruit is extra tart, we get the bonus of doing facial exercises while we eat, eyes squinching, face contorting -- it's a great reminder that in life there is some sweet and some sour, and the secret is in finding the balance.