Cinnamon on CBS

I'm spice obsessed and talked about cinnamon's super powers with CBS. 
Cinnamon can reduce your appetite and balance blood sugar levels. It's an immune booster. I was mainlining cinnamon with my family sick last week (I didn't get sick, just sayin). Cinnamon also has beneficial effects on your cholesterol levels. I always advocate food first. Try cinnamon in your coffee, smoothies, as a rub on poultry and meats or in Greek yogurt. My favorite brand is Ilā (pictured below). 

Aim for half a teaspoon per day. And be sure to choose Ceylon cinnamon over cassia cinnamon.  Sure, you can take cinnamon supplements but you'll be missing out on all the deliciousness. 
What's your favorite spice? Do you use cinnamon often (baking doesn't count)?

Top 10 Savory Breakfasts

Why is breakfast a sugar fest? Even if you’re not eating cold cereal and pancakes what you’re having is most likely a desserty start to the day. Whether you’ve quit sugar with us for June or you’re just becoming more sugar conscious breakfast can be a challenge. I’ve suggested dinner forbreakfast before, but here are some of our favorites from the past couple of weeks.

Eggs- My son and I rush to the farmer’s market on Sunday morning to buy eggs before they sell out. There’s a huge difference in taste between these eggs and supermarket eggs so that would be my first suggestion.

1. Try eggs scrambled in coconut oil (virgin if you like a coconut taste, refined if not). Sprinkle with a little hot sauce and voila.
2. Green Eggs- in LBT I have our Green Eggs or muffin frittatas (see below)
3. Be a Poacher- I'm currently conquering something I hadn’t been able to without a microwave and that’s egg poaching thanks to this there are many versions be sure what you purchase is BPA free.
   
4. Paleo bread, without gluten the only bread I eat is this Paleo Bread from Food Matters- I’ve been topping it with coconut butter or avocado and Malden sea salt.
5. For a little “tartine” try our Orgran quinoa crackers with and wild smoked salmon and Greek cream cheese
6. Plain, unsweetened yogurt isn’t for everyone. I’ve been using Siggi’s plain and topping it with cinnamon or cardamom. Almond and coffee extract have been useful too.
7. Sohha Savory Yogurt- Carolyn discovered this savory yogurt and if you can get your hands on it do so. I think we’re going to see more yogurt along these lines.
   
8. If you're yogurted out try Nancy’s Cottage Cheese- this organic cottage cheese contains probiotics. Probiotics can improve mood, digestion and immunity. Probiotics also impart a little tang that I like but may come as a little surprise.
9. Miso soup- if you were in Japan you’d have this for breakfast (or part of breakfast). It’s a fermented food, in my opinion it's the best soy to eat. My two favorite brands are South River and Miso Master. I would skip the tofu and instead use sea vegetables or mushrooms. Click the South River link for an easy recipe.
10. Savory smoothie- OK so smoothies were a little sad when we first started this no sugar experiment. I don’t even need my smoothie super sweet but super bland was another story. I'm pleased to say I discovered the secret. Blend 1/2 avocado or 2Tbs unsweetened almond butter (or other nut or seed butter), 1/4 cup almond or coconut milk (yup unsweetened), 1Tbs protein powder (love my Green Dream), you can add greens or spiralina and then throw in a handful of ice. And drumroll….the key to smoothies that aren’t sweet and pretty much all of these breakfasts is salt. Add a nice pinch of Himalayan salt. You will not miss the sugar.

I’ve used lavender salt, truffle salt and Malden salt this week so a salty shoutout.

What do you usually have for breakfast? Have you thought about the sugar in your breakfast or your children’s breakfast (a whole other story)? Why do you think breakfast here is super sweet?

From The Little Book of Thin
Green Eggs 
Makes 4 Servings

1 cup sautéed or steamed kale (or other leftover vegetables though if not green, change title)
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chili powder
Black pepper to taste.
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Spray four cups in a standard-sized muffin pan with Spectrum cooking spray. Divide the kale between the 4 cups.
In a small bowl whisk together eggs, salt, paprika, chili powder and pepper. Pour eggs evenly over the kale in the muffin cups. Bake until just set, 15 to 20 minutes. Let the frittatas cool in the pan for 5 minutes then gently remove.

Healthy Indian Food at Restaurants and at Home

We are having dinner with good friends tomorrow night. As we made plans, my friend said, “you pick the place, we’ll do anything except Indian.” In no way did I have my heart set on Indian but in a city where even toddlers eat sushi and Thai, I find my friend’s Indian avoidance is way too common. Plus it’s probably my very favorite cuisine. While some people are coming around to Indian food, many remain unfamiliar.  Clients are often flummoxed when they’re headed to Indian either because they’ve never been or perhaps they feel it’s an unhealthy cuisine. Time to clear up the confusion.

Here are some simple suggestions for healthy Indian restaurant food:

• Indian is mainly a carb challenge with the most delicious delicious breads and rice. If you’re having a carb at Indian choose between roti, sort of like whole-wheat naan, and rice but not both. 
• Select items cooked in the tandoor oven. Tandoori salmon, shrimp and chicken are smart selections. These will be flavorful but less caloric as there’s no sauce (less sauce, less carbs to soak up sauce). 
• In terms of vegetables cauliflower, okra and spinach are good choices.  
• For appetizers, soups are your best bet. Mulligatawny is a nice lentil soup. 
• Indian is usually shared so watch your portions; remember the one-plate rule.

Of course, the best way to sure healthy Indian is to take matters into your own hands.

So while we’re likely going to a seafood restaurant tomorrow, I was thrilled to be was sent a copy of “Vegan Indian Cooking” by Anupy Singla. This chef’s “Indian Slow Cooker” book made our ski weekends much more delicious last winter and both the chicken curry and chicken tikka masala were favorites.

I have enjoyed this book just as much. The book starts out with basic recipes such as one for cashew cream to replace dairy in recipes. There are fantastic ways to use grains from dosas (which my family loves from Hampton Chutney in New York) to my new favorite Chickpea Flour Crepes. My kids have been loving the Spiced Stovetop Popcorn. There are also handy recipes for beans and lentils to be cooked in the slow cooker.  And for you Brussels sprout people how about Masala Brussels sprouts? Some of the recipes can be found on Anupy’s blog Indian AS Apple Pie. I can see this book being the go-to resource for healthy Indian home cooking.

I don't usually read the forward in cookbooks but I did in this case. There's a great section in the opening pages entitled Indian Food Myths. Indian food doesn’t have to be spicy, heavy or unhealthy. It doesn’t have to be complicated either. Naan isn’t served in most Indian homes and finally the slow cooker is Indian (you’ll have to get the book to figure that one out, interesting). I may send these myths over to my friend to see if I can convert her.

In honor of my 500th blog post (not really, just realized that as I started writing), Anupy is giving two hungry readers a copy of Vegan Indian Cooking. To be eligible, comment and tell us where you are on a scale of 1-10 in terms of Indian food love. What are your favorite Indian foods? Or, you can tweet about our Indian Cookbook giveaway @Foodtrainers on twitter. 
You have until Friday 9/14 to enter. Congratulations to the Olove winner Ameena.

I decided to refresh my spices before doing any recipe testing.

Spices and Tease NYC, the tease is that the tins of spices are impossible to open (see below)

All fun and games until a turmeric explosion

On the breadbin, not so bad but white (now yellow) countertops? Oy.

Foodtrainers' Favorite Gifts

Sprout Skincare

I love gifts. I generally enjoy giving gifts even more than receiving them (I swear). Whether it’s a hostess gift or birthday present, I like sharing something I think a friend or family member will appreciate. The gifts I cherish receiving are usually smaller ones. A friend showed up with a test tube-like container of black sea salt recently. It was wrapped with a bow such a nice surprise. And a few days ago a client came to a session with shishito peppers from the green market. I was so excited to try them I bit a piece off of one on my way home, not smart.
This week, we sent out our annual Foodtrainers’ Gift Guide to our Monthly Morsels mailing list. We tried putting together our “top 10” gifts but ended up with 11 because none of us was willing to cut anything out.  I thought I’d mention some of the gifts that weren’t on the list as well as my personal favorites.

For the Beauty Queen

When I wrote my natural skincare blog, many of you commented or tweeted me with your favorite brands of skincare. The Sprout users were a vocal bunch. I love the ingredients and the packaging (see top) of this line. I adore the gentle cleanser (and rosewater scent). I love the exfoliant (oats and salt- what could be better?) and though I thought I’d give it to the boys, I stole back the Cocoa Lip Balm (we share).

For the Hotty

I’ve gushed about McClure’s pickles before. Yes, I got out of my bed deathly ill to Google and track them down.  McClure’s also makes Bloody Mary Mix with the pickle juice. With Tito’s handmade vodka it’s a heavenly combination. On its own it’s the most delicious snack or egg accompaniment. If you like pickles and spice, you can’t go wrong. Give a jar to someone you love and they will love you back.

For the Tea Devotee

ultiliTEA- for my birthday, a friend of mine said “I sent you something, I know you’ll appreciate it.” Sure enough, she was right. I already have an electric teakettle at the office but this one has different temperature settings for green, herbal and black tea and it boils water by the time you have your tea bag in the cup. 

For the “Eco-have-it and know-it-all”

Strawesome- Everyone thinks of BPAs in plastic bottles what about straws? These glass straws are great for smoothies, for parties ( I used their black straws  in our Halloween dark and stormys) and according to dentists, when drinking coffee or tea. My kids love them but I love them more. They come in different sizes and colors, so match your décor or your favorite cocktail.

For the Hydrator

Ovopur- ok this is not a “little” gift but it’s a good one. Plastic has its problems and those gigundo, plastic water dispensers aren’t the most attractive contraptions. I’m a fan of healthy and beautiful and the Ovopur meets both criteria. We have one in our waiting room and though some mistake it for a snowman, it’s pretty popular. Can your New Years resolution be buying no more bottled water?

For the Cook

California Olive Ranch- Carolyn and I heard about these olive oils when we took Dan Kluger’s class at Degustibus. I am the type of person that goes home and looks up each item a chef mentions. I ordered the oil and passed on the pricey knife that was plugged. As directed, I’m using Millers Blend for cooking and Arbequina for finishing and salads. California Olive Ranch sources from sustainable olive ranches and its bottles are recyclable.
What have been your favorite gifts recently? Anything your eyeing this holiday season? Which of the above items would you pick?

Cardamom Cure

There are times when Friday comes and goes and I pay little attention. Other times I want to shout TGIF from the rooftops, exhausted and irritable after a jam-packed week. This week is a TGIF!!! week. So this morning, not one to wallow (recently anyway), I headed off to a 90 minute yoga class. Yoga and I are not in love yet but yoga demands my attention which was then diverted from my crabbiness. I left yoga and headed to one of my new favorite, local vegan restaurants Peacefood Café  for a smoothie. I swayed from my reliable standby the Chocolate Mint and ordered the Bombay Delight: coconut, banana, date, cardamom and nut-milk. It was refreshing and unusual. Many of ingredients were familiar, what I enjoyed so much was the cardamom. I was a little sad with the smoothie was finished.

Surely I have heard about cardamom and maybe even cooked with it. However, I cannot recall having it with sweeter ingredients and definitely hadn’t had it in a smoothie. I poked around a little and found some other ways to cook with cardamom:

• Eating Well had chutney with rhubarb and cardamom
• Epicurious listed a Chai with Cardamom
• Worlds Healthiest Foods (a great resource) suggested mashing an avocado with a little lemon and making a topping with a little kelp powder, garlic salt, cumin, coriander, cardamom, and white pepper.
• I found a similar cardamom smoothie to the one at Peacefood Cafe
• There is also a blog entitled “the cardamom addict” 

 Clearly I am not alone in going cuckoo for cardamom. As you can gather, while the yoga class may have initially distracted me, the Bombay Delight completely changed the tone of the day. It went from TGIF to TGTC or thank god there’s cardamom!
Do you cook with cardamom? Any spices you are wild for? Or what do you do when you’re feeling listless and exhausted?

Talking Turmeric

Every so often, for the past of couple of weeks, my mother has been emailing me photos. The photo above, entitled The Salt Gatherers, she sent yesterday. My mother explained her month-long trip this way “some people grieve by getting in bed and pulling the covers up over their heads. I feel it’s best for me to continue to live.” I credit my mother for this and have been living vicariously through her during her trip to India. I have been hearing about the food she is eating and all the delicious flavors and combinations. Yesterday she wrote “I had a porridge of rice, cashews, raisins, curry leafs and cardamom for breakfast.” I could practically taste it. And so in honor of my mother, I am going to tell you about something she is eating a lot of in those curries. Today let’s talk turmeric.

If I had to pick one spice, I wished clients used more in their cooking it would be turmeric. Turmeric is one of the spices used in curries but also what gives yellow mustards their color. In Chinese and Indian medicine turmeric has been used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory. Turmeric is helpful for my sports nutrition clients as it decreases joint pain. Turmeric is also a potent antioxidant and has been shown to slow the growth of cancer cells. Turmeric may also help your liver clear LDL cholesterol and lower cholesterol. It is especially interesting to note that in India where turmeric consumption is very high, Alzheimer’s rates are extremely low.

I asked my friend John Marsh, the chef at the Green Door Café for a non-curry turmeric recipe. This one sounds great.

Potent Antioxidant Chicken Broth with Turmeric

1, 2-3 pound all natural chicken

3 legs of celery

1 medium white onion

1 carrot

Chop all except the chicken


2 bay leafs

3 black peppercorns

Parsley/thyme bouquet

4 quarts water

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

Bring all to a boil; reduce to simmer for 1 hour remove chicken, let cool. Strain solids out of the broth. Remove chicken from carcass and dice. Add your favorite vegetables diced, simmer 5 -15 min depending on how soft you like your vegetables. Add diced chicken, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Turmeric works well in dips, egg salad and lentils. Chef John recommends organic turmeric from Whole Foods or Fairway. He also uses turmeric with fish, especially snapper and grouper, and says it's great in preparing risotto or any other good rice dish. I also would like to point out turmeric is available in capsule form in one of my favorite supplements called Zyflammend.

In case you’re not convinced (how could this be?) turmeric, in a 2009 Tufts study, showed promise as a weight loss aid…in mice.

What are your favorite spices? Any other turmeric recipes or ideas?