Juice - "Magenta Haze"

~12 purple haze heirloom carrots

2 red bartlett pears

Made 2 servings

I was very excited to see colorful heirloom carrots at the store so I thought I'd try out the purple haze variety (even though they weren't organic). This juice turned out so sweet! And surprisingly thick and opaque--kind of like magenta tomato juice (from a can, not fresh tomato juice). There are ice cubes in the juice and you can't even see them!

Purple carrots get their intense color from the pigment anthocyanin, which is an antioxidant. The Possible Health Benefits of Anthocyanin Pigments and Polyphenolics is an interesting read.

Source: USDA "Carrots With Character"

Tips for Saving Money on Organic Produce

A few days ago I wrote about why you should eat organic produce. Here are some tips on how to save money doing so.

Buy What's in Season for Your Area
Not only will in-season produce taste fresher, it's often cheaper. If it's in season, it doesn't necessarily have to be shipped in from great distances or even overseas. Of course, there are some things that can't be grown locally (e.g., bananas) that will always have to be shipped in, no matter the season. Here's a list of seasonal produce by state.

Join an Organic CSA or Co-op
You'll probably have so much produce if you join a CSA or a Co-op you won't know what to do with it! That's why juicing and blending will come in handy. Not only will you receive seasonal produce, you'll get things you may not have thought about buying. It can be fun to plan a meal around something new--great way to stay out of a cooking rut. If you have a CSA in your area, the produce will come from a local farm or farms. A co-op's produce can come from anywhere--just like produce at the store. Here's a searchable directory for the US (and parts of Canada).

Shop Locally
If there's not a CSA/co-op in your area or it's just not for you, check out farmers' markets. Keep in mind that just because it's at a farmers' market it doesn't mean it's local nor does it mean that it's organic.

Use Common Sense
Sure some organic produce can be outrageously expensive. $5 bell peppers! $9 per lb cherries! But that doesn't mean you have to buy it! There are so many things to choose from you probably aren't going to miss that bell pepper.

These were NOT $9 a pound

Buy Frozen
There's nothing wrong with frozen produce--especially if the produce in questions isn't in season. Produce is frozen when it's at it's peak ripeness and full of nutrients. Some nutrients are lost but not as much as with canned. I'd try to eat more fresh than frozen but frozen is better than none at all. Frozen produce is also perfect for green smoothies to keep the foaming to a minimum.

Find Other Stores in Your Area
The large health-conscious grocery store chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's aren't the only stores to find organic produce. Theses smaller stores can often be cheaper. In the Dallas area there's Natural Grocers, Sprouts, and Sunflower Market. All of these stores have multiple locations throughout the US. My favorite store for produce is actually Natural Grocers because all of the produce is organic. There are other smaller stores just like those all over.

Grow Your Own
This might sound like a daunting undertaking but it is possible! I'm proof! My husband and I have black thumbs but we've had swiss chard and various peppers in our garden for months and months now! Our herbs didn't do so well...but that's another story. We started with small plants from a local nursery. I don't think we could have done it from seeds. If you don't have much room, you can always do container gardening. Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces is a great book on getting started. Also, talk to your local organic nursery--they will be able to advise you on what grows best for your area and many have classes.

Cheat With the Clean 15
EWG lists 15 fruits and vegetables that are the least contaminated by pesticide, dubbed "The Clean 15". Just make sure you avoid conventionally grown produce from "The Dirty Dozen".

Even with all these money saving tips you might end up paying more for organic. But it's important to remember that what you eat greatly affects your health. And a healthier person spends less on medical care.

Organic vs Conventional

Why buy organic produce when conventional is often cheaper? There are many reasons! Here's a quick guide to why.

It Can Be More Nutritious
One reason for this is because organic farming practices, such as rotating crops, not "mono-cropping", and soil that contains more nutrients often make produce itself more nutritious.

It Can Taste Better
For the reasons above. Of course, taste is subjective and the flavor also depends on many other factors such as growing location, conditions, and season.

It's Better for the Environment
For the reasons above as well as organic crops use less water and there is no pesticide contamination/residue/runoff. As a hobby beekeeper, this is a very important issue.

It Won't Harm (or Kill) You
This is probably the most important reason to eat organic produce. The chemicals in pesticides and herbicides are indeed very scary. One popular (for farms and household) herbicide, Roundup, can "alter endocrine mediated biochemical pathways, leading to obesity, heart problems, circulation problems, and diabetes". Not to mention the fact that it has been linked to cancer. That's reason enough to avoid conventionally grown produce.

You can easily tell if produce is organic by the sticker/tag on it--the number is called the PLU code. If it begins with a 9, it's organic. If it begins with an 8, it's genetically modified. If it begins with any other number it is conventional but not genetically modified.

Keep in mind that just because something's organic, it doesn't mean it's good for you. Organic cookies and chips aren't exactly health foods.

The labels Natural, Green, Free Range, etc, do not mean it's organic. If you're in the states, make sure it says USDA Organic. If outside the states, refer to your country's organic labeling guidelines.

Also see my post on how to save money on organic produce. It doesn't have to be expensive!

References: Report: Organic Farming for Health and Prosperity (PDF), Mayo Clinic, Rodale, Produce Marketing Association

Juice - "Pale Yellow"

2 pears

1/2 lb yellow baby carrots

I was excited to find a bag of "baby" yellow carrots and wanted to pair (no pun intended) it with a fruit that isn't overpowering in taste or color. I really wanted the yellow carrots to shine in this juice. Pears are perfect for that. This juice had a very delicate flavor. Yellow carrots don't have the sharpness that regular orange ones do. 

Yellow carrots are high in bioavailable lutein, which decreases the risk for developing macular degeneration. Of course, these "baby" carrots are actually just carrots whittled down from larger carrots so you're missing out on a portion of the nutrients but these are still healthful.

Source: USDA "Carrots With Character"

Ingredient Spotlight: Kale

Used In: Smoothies* and Juice

Other Preparation Methods: Raw, Steamed, Sauteed, Dehydrated, Baked, Boiled, Braised 

ANDI Score: 1,000

Kale--an amazing green--beautiful, nutritionally dense, and tasty. There are quite a few varieties of kale but the most commonly available is lacinato (dinosaur), curly, and red kale (pictured). It's packed full of flavonoids for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. It lowers your cholesterol and possibly your risk of cancer. Not to mention many health benefits that haven't even been studied/realized yet. It is truly a super-food!

One cup (67g) chopped raw kale is very high in Vitamins K (684% DV), A (206%), and C (134%). It's also worth noting that it contains 1.3g Fiber, 2.21g Protein, and only 34 calories. And that's just for one cup! Your green smoothie could easily contain 2-3 times that!

Kale is on the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen List, which means you should only buy it organic.

The variety, age, freshness, source, any many other factors affect the flavor. Sometimes kale can be bitter. Sometimes it can taste very "green". Sometimes it's a bit sweet. I've found that lacinato kale is generally less bitter than curly and red kale can be a bit sweet. And by sweet, I don't mean fruit-sweet, just sweet as far as greens go. 

*Lacinato kale blends up smoothly but unless you have a high-powered blender such as the Vitamix or Blendtec, you won't be able to completely blend curly kale varieties.

Other sources: USDA National Nutrient Database, FDA, WHFoods, The Vegetable Bible, and my own experience

My Recipes with Kale

Anthony Bourdain on the Obesity Problem in the US

Anthony Bourdain talks with Keith Olbermann about the obesity problem in the U.S.
I actually really like the show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations even though much of it is about how much he loves meat. So as you can imagine, we do not see eye-to-eye on food but in this interview, I can really get behind what he says. They are discussing a newly released report from The Lancet (a British medical journal) that states 50% of Americans will be obese in 2030 if things continue as they are now. They conclude that the main way to halt this trend is by government intervention. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but the thought that 50% will be obese is staggering. And this is obese, not just overweight.

So do something about it. Put down that soda and make some "green" juice. Have a green smoothie instead of a milkshake. Eat something from the produce aisles rather than the overly processed and nutritionally devoid "food" section. We each have to take responsibility for our own health. Garbage in, garbage out.