Meet Harissa

I love condiments, particularly spicy condiments, so I’m wondering why it took so long for harissa and I to meet. Harissa is from North Africa and I’m from North America but since when, in 2013, does geography throw a wrench in our eating plans? While I’m all for local bounty, I also love coconut water, matcha and Himalayan salt. So it was probably just bad luck that harissa and I hadn’t crossed paths.

My first harissa spotting was at Le Pain Quotidien. I enjoyed what I tasted but their harissa is very thick, almost a paste. I was intrigued and ordered harissa from one of my favorite sites mouth.com.This was the Mina brand harrissa and I have to say I fell in love. I've since learned this harissa is widely available even sold at West Elm (a desk and some condiments anyone? weird).

I dipped veggies in harissa, added it to scrambled eggs, folded some into my sardine/avocado combo and used it on grilled chicken breasts. For every ingredient I tested harissa on, it passed with flying colors. I want to try this recipe for salmon, kale and harissa next.

As much as I love to cook, I’m not someone who feels you have to DIY for everything if someone else can make it better. I’d cop to laziness but it’s really, without getting too deep, about insecurity. Can mine be as good? With Harissa, I didn’t think so but because of this blog post I decided to try. I used this recipe.

On a 100-degree day I cranked up my oven to 500

Roasted my peppers

Diced my chilies (not the Thai chilies the recipe called for but long green hot peppers). Remember the chili pepper/metabolism connection?  I also used ground coriander versus seeds (it’s all I had).

blurry, spicy chilies and garlic

 Combined everything in the Vitamix (recipe says to do in 2 stages but needed the volume for Vitamix to work).  I spooned the blended harissa into a weck jar,  refrigerated it as directed and you know what? Just as good as Mina’s.

Have you already met harissa? Do you make it yourself? What do you use it for? What's your current favorite condiment?

I can get you to like sardines

Special Sardine Salad, see below

Three whopping years ago, I attempted to like sardines. I psyched myself up and tried them and even concluded, “I would give sardines a second date.” I must apologize to sardines because I didn’t revisit them. I felt I had faced a food fear and frankly fear and eating aren’t two things I enjoy at the same time. I have total respect for sardines, their impressive omega 3 content, low mercury and B vitamin offerings. Maybe the initial timing wasn't right. More recently, I got together with some friends to cook and one of the recipes was a sardine salad. It wasn’t just a run of the mill green salad with sardines but baby arugula with orange and fennel, other delicious additions and sardines. We were in good hands with chef and author Myra Kornfield who I have known and worshipped for years.

We all loved the special sardine salad but joked that we didn’t whip out the mandolin for our weekday lunches. Was there a way to enjoy sardines simply? Myra digested the challenge and then scurried around the kitchen. “Have you tried sardines mashed with avocado?” My fear was instantly extinguished, replaced with curiosity. “You can also do this with mackerel.” My food phobias were getting crossed off the list at rapid speed. Myra combined the sardines with avocado, juice from ½ lemon and some good quality salt. It wasn’t just fine; it was delicious.

Sardine Mash

1 tin of Vital Choice Sardines, no need to use oil that remains in can

½ ripe avocado, cubed

juice from ½ lemon

few pinches Himalayan or Celtic salt

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mash with a fork. Eat as is or over greens.

I ordered both sardines and mackerel from Vital Choice. Full disclosure, when I made my own “mash” I wimped out and used only ½ tin with ½ avocado. Once I ate them in my own home, without sardine support and still liked them, ding dong sardine-o-phobia is gone. 

Have you tried sardines or mackerel? How do you prepare them? Any foods you want to like because of nutritional value but don't? 

Good For You

There’s something that’s been on my mind lately. It’s not the usual concerns about the kids or my to-do list for work, no its sardines. In Food Rules, Michael Pollan encourages readers to “eat your little fishies.” Sardines have also been named one of the food trends for 2010, one ad agency referred to sardines as “the new tuna.” There’s a reason why sardines are in the spotlight. Sardines, like many other small fish, are low in mercury, they are also high in omega 3’s and plentiful/not overfished. Simply put, sardines are good for you. My only problem? I generally don’t eat them.

Last week, I put the pressure on. I wrote about foods I dislike and vowed to try sardines. I planned to sample sardines in Vermont this past weekend. I purchased 2 different varieties and then forgot (really I did) to pack them with the other groceries. Yesterday became my sardine day. In the morning I dropped my boys at school. Another mother pulled me aside and said “I liked your post on foods you dislike.” I told her I was going to bite the bullet and try sardines. She said “oh I love sardines but only the fresh ones not in the can.” I smiled but panicked. I had purchased 2 types of canned sardines. One of the commenters on the blog had also mentioned, as with most things, that fresh sardines were superior. It’s so sad to admit this but I was getting nervous to eat the sardines.

I did some work at home and actually put the sardines on the kitchen counter to ensure that I ate them. When I went to shower I told my babysitter Louise, who eats sardines all the time, “I am trying sardines today.” “You’ll like them Lauren, they’re pretty good” she assured me in her calm Jamaican accent. As lunchtime approached this was turning into something I hadn’t experienced before. I try new recipes, unusual fruits, condiments and all sorts of food both for business and pleasure. Never before had I been scared to try anything. I was anxious, not unlike the people on that show Fear Factor who eat maggots…but this was just a can of sardines.

I started my preparations. To calm my nerves I decided I would make a sardine salad. I would combine the sardines with more familiar tastes and ingredients just as I offer my children only one new food at a time. So I chopped some Tuscan kale, in my opinion the best kale to eat raw, sliced ½ avocado and a lemon (food stylist I am not) and then there was just one thing missing. I opened up the can of sardines in Piripiri sauce. Let’s be honest folks, they smell. I told myself tuna smells and I eat my beloved Zoe tuna often. I removed 3 of the 4 sardines in the can and placed them in their kale and avocado bed. I squeezed the lemon slices and added a little olive oil. Stalling, I took my Sur la Table salad choppers out and lightly chopped the ingredients rendering the sardines camouflaged.

I sat at the table, with Louise watching, and took a bite. It was ok, between the lemon and the piri piri and the avocado I wasn’t entirely sure I tasted sardine. I ate some more and it was fine. I did it, I faced my ridiculous fear and sampled sardines. Was it love? I can’t say it was. But it wasn’t terrible. And I would be open to trying fresh sardines and maybe even the sardines with turmeric I still have in the pantry. As I mentioned in the polite bite post, I would give sardines a second date.

I nudge clients to eat more fish or try leafy greens. Do you think, as adults, we should eat certain foods just because they’re good for us?

Polite Bite

My younger son, Weston, had a fantastic teacher last year. Ms. Sehgal, his Pre-K teacher, was smart and patient, loving and firm. Yet there was one quality Ms. Sehgal possessed that outshined all the others and that was her love of cooking. In Pre-K they have “letter of the week” where the class focuses on the sound the letter makes and words starting with that letter each week. Weston’s class cooked something starting with each letter. There were pumpkin muffins for “P” week and quesadillas for Q week and suddenly Weston was trying all sorts of things he never had or would try before. At lunchtime during school, where a hot meal is offered daily, children were required to take one “polite bite” of the entrée of the day. Ms. Sehgal succeeded at doing what many parents attempt, that it encouraging children to sample new foods.

Many of us persuade or even bribe our kids to experiment nutritionally though we don’t necessarily do the same. At Foodtrainers, clients fill out paperwork before their initial session. One item asks for favorite foods (healthy and unhealthy) and also foods clients dislike or do not eat. I have always prided myself on creating realistic, individualized food plans for clients. I incorporate clients’ favorite foods or healthier versions of these foods and work around the disliked foods. Occasionally, if a client avoids an entire food group I will offer subtle suggestions. For the most part, I do not push or pursuade them to re-try foods. I then go home and chart my kids “new foods” and for every 10 they get a sticker. I wrote earlier last week about Health Hypocrites  and I’m starting to think this may be an example of that hypocrisy.

As adults, we sample new preparations of foods we like at restaurants or with recipes but feel we know the foods we do not like. For some it’s Brussels sprouts, for others sashimi. I’ve found there are common foods that appear on the dislike list such as cauliflower and mushrooms, mayonnaise and organ meats. A blog called Fit Sugar got my attention today with a post entitled “learn to love: broccoli rabe”. I liked this concept that we can learn to love a food we previously didn’t. I heard a chef, I can’t recall which one, once say that if you think you don’t like a food it’s because you haven’t had it prepared correctly. I think there’s a truth to that and also that we may like certain preparations of foods better. But how will we know if we don’t continue to taste test? Maybe these disliked foods deserve a second date.

I consider myself a pretty broad eater but do have a few foods avoid (or am scared to try). One is sardines, another happens to be broccoli rabe and the final food is organ meats. I purchased sardines and plan to try them this weekend; I am also open to giving broccoli rabe another go. As for organ meats, for many reasons, I’m not interested…not even in one polite bite!
What are some foods you dislike? Are you open to trying them again? Do you think we should learn to love certain foods?

31st Grade Reading Journal: Nutrition At Your Fingertips

In case you’re new to this blog, a little explanation. My 7 year old son keeps a reading journal for school. He is supposed to read 20 minutes a night and keep a log of what he read. I was a little jealous of this assignment and decided I would keep my own reading journal and here it is. I am excited about the book for this week. Clients often ask me for a suggestion for a general book on nutrition. I am sure they’re not happy when I answer that there isn’t really one I like. I have books on sports nutrition, cookbooks I adore, sections on emotional eating but short of a nutrition textbook nothing general. Well I finally found a book that fits the bill and one that should be on everyone’s bookshelf: Nutrition At Your Fingertips by Elisa Zied MS, RD, CDN.

Elisa and I were introduced by a mutual friend. Shortly before I left for the ADA conference in Chicago this year, I received an email from my friend Cheryl saying “Elisa is going to the conference too, you have to meet up!” Had I received this email from anyone other than my fun, upbeat friend Cheryl I would have probably ignored it. Fortunately, I didn’t ignore it and Elisa and I met in the new products expo at the conference. Since then we’ve had lunch and I saw Elisa while she was visiting Cheryl in Vermont. I have to admit though, I run into Elisa most on Twitter. Elisa is probably the nutrition worlds Twitter champ. What I enjoy most about Elisa’s tweets is that she is quick to spot a gimmick, tell us all about it and replace the overblown advice with her sound nutritional knowledge.

I had a few questions for Elisa about her latest project:

Lauren: Who is this book geared toward? I see it as a staple on any bookshelf but who did you have in mind?

Elisa: When I wrote this book I had young adults, parents, older people, and anyone concerned about health/wellness/nutrition in mind. Lately, trainers, doctors, nurses and other RDs have told me what a great, easy to read reference book this is.

Lauren: Yes, I’ll admit I purchased (yes purchased on Amazon) the book to check it out for clients and have already used it researching for articles and client sessions. I will vouch for it being easy to use and locate information. Was that your intention?

Elisa: I wrote it as a guide for anyone who doesn't have hours on end to read about nutrition but instead wants a quick go-to reference they can spend a few minutes thumbing through to find clear, and to-the point answers to their most basic (or not so basic) nutrition questions. I also tried to make the book very practical and action-oriented so that people would not only understand why it's important to eat certain foods but to know how they could realistically do so.

Lauren: That’s so key, I think even when we know what to eat, we can all use help doing it! What do you feel are the most useful or “action oriented” sections?

Elisa: My favorite parts include chapters on Healthy Food Shopping, Weight Management, and Eating to Beat Disease. My Healthy Eating Tips chapter is also one of my favorites, since it breaks down goals like limiting saturated or trans fat, reducing sugar intake, or boosting fiber intake into practical, real world tips that are easy to follow and incorporate.

Lauren: Oh yes, I loved the Eating Tips chapter too! I earmarked your advice for “increasing whole grains.” One last question, if there were a few foods people should keep “at their fingertips” what should they be?

Elisa: You can keep nutrition at your fingertips by stocking up on and consuming all kinds of fresh and frozen (without added sugar) fruits and veggies; protein-rich foods such as lentils and other beans, fish (canned light or albacore tuna and sardines), nuts and nut butters (made without added sugar) and lean meats (sirloin, chicken or turkey breast); low fat dairy foods; whole grains such as low sugar cereals/pasta/brown or wild rice; and last but not least, healthy oils like olive oil or canola oil.

Lauren: Ooh sardines, I need to delve into sardines haven’t ever really gone there. And I think wild rice gets forgotten too. Thanks Elisa for such good advice!

What are your favorite nutrition books or cookbooks? And what foods to you try to keep at your fingertips?