Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Monsanto protests

People around the world protested Monsanto last weekend, even here in laid-back Los Angeles. You can read about the LA protests here.

What interests me is that most people don't know they're eating genetically-modified foods. Tofutti, Boca Burgers and Kashi were three companies singled out by protesters in Chicago. Read about it here.

Last November a proposition was on the ballot in California to require packaged foods to indicate if they contained gmos. Needless to say, a huge Monsanto marketing push helped the proposition fail.

But honestly, it had to fail. If you are eating packaged food in North America, you are eating gmos. Wheat, corn and soy are always genetically modified unless they specifically say organic or non-gmo. Plus, have you read a label recently that does not include the words "natural flavors?" These can be  gmo. They can even be animal by-products from an animal fed gmo corn. Along with corn syrup, natural flavors are the hardest ingredients to avoid in packaged foods.

Can you imagine if all the foods you normally put in your shopping cart at Whole Foods or the local grocery store suddenly were labeled "contains gmo ingredients"? Consumers would freak out. Maybe that would be a good thing, but not for the grocery store managers who would be fielding all the complaints.

The only way to avoid gmos is to eat non-processed organic food. Like the foods I write about on this blog. The more processing involved in the food you eat, the more likely it is to contain organisms you might want to avoid.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Easy Summer Suppers


This is a beautiful time of year in Southern California. Birds, butterflies, flowers - I come home from work and head out into the garden to enjoy it. And then I don't feel like coming in to cook dinner. I don't want to be cooped up in the kitchen when I can be sitting out in the cool evening air, enjoying the fragrance of the flowers, the rising moon and the birds having a last bath at dusk.

So we had a week of not eating dinner.

But that's not a good long-term nutritional plan. So I turned my mind to easy dishes that last a few days in the fridge and just need to be scooped onto a plate when it's time to eat. This has been a much better week of eating.

I planned the cold meals the same way I do our regular dinners - a bean, a grain and some vegetables. When we're ready to eat, we pull the containers from the fridge, scoop what we want on our plates, grab a fork, and head out onto the patio.

This marinated tofu lasts well in the fridge, is good eaten cold, and also can be grilled if you're feeling ambitious.

Marinated tofu
1 block firm organic tofu
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp tamari

Rinse the tofu and dry it. Cut into 1/2 inch slices and pat them dry.

Warm the oil and tamari in a skillet. Add the tofu (if it's wet the hot oil will splatter) and let cook 5-8 minutes until colored. It might go a little crisp, but that's not necessary. Flip and cook on the other side.

You can eat the slices warm, or refrigerate them to eat cold later. They're good grilled in a sandwich, diced and added to a grain dish, or eaten cold as part of a salad dinner.