Fruits 'n' veggies matter

Source : NYT news service : The Hindu 23 Nov 2011


HEALTH When it comes to nutrition, you can't beat plant-based foods

T hose in the know consider fruits and vegetables among the healthiest foods around. Health experts now encourage people to fill half their plates with fruits and vegetables. But, really, what's the big deal? Why is it so important to eat more veggies?

Nutritionists can rattle off a long list of reasons when asked that question. Vegetables and fruits are dense in nutrients but light on calories.

They contain rich amounts of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre. Eating more veggies and fruits has been linked to decreased risk for such health problems as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer.

Despite this, many people seem to have a hard time eating vegetables, something that's developed the reputation of being a chore rather than a pleasure.

More than nine of 10 Americans consume fewer fruits and vegetables than the daily amount recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines, which ranges from 2 cups to 61/2 cups, according to the ‘Fruits and Veggies — More Matters' health initiative, a programme aimed at increasing consumption of plant-based foods.

“I would say many of my current clients get maybe a cup of vegetables and maybe a fruit throughout the day, if I'm being generous,” says Jessica Crandall, a registered dietician and certified diabetes educator.

Getting a serving of vegetables or fruit is not difficult because a single serving is not a large amount, says Angela Ginn, a nutrition education coordinator.

“A whole cup raw or a half-cup cooked is considered a serving for vegetables,” Ginn says.

But there's a lot of nutritional power packed into that cup or half-cup. 

Though the precise benefit varies by type of fruit or vegetable, it could include a significant amount of:

Calcium, which promotes healthy bones and teeth, and is needed for proper functioning of muscles and nerves.

Folate, which reduces a woman's chances of having a child with a birth defect.

Iron, which is necessary for healthy blood and cell function.

Magnesium, which prevents muscle cramping and high blood pressure and is needed for healthy bones and proper enzymatic function.

Potassium, which helps maintain healthy blood pressure.

Vitamin A, which keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps protect the body against infection.

Vitamin C, which aids in healing cuts or wounds and helps keep teeth and gums healthy.

Even the micronutrients that give fruits and vegetables their colour are important sources of antioxidants, which have been shown to help prevent an array of diseases.

“Your phytonutrients that have all those vibrant colours, those are things that fight against chronic diseases,” Ginn says. “You find them in your fruits and vegetables more in abundance than you will in whole grains or in meat or dairy products.”

According to Crandall:

*Blue and purple fruits and vegetables contain anthocyanins, which have been shown to help fight some cancers and are helpful in anti-aging and memory function. They are found in blueberries, blackberries, plums, grapes, figs and raisins.

*Green fruits and vegetables contain luteins, which lower cancer risk and help promote better vision and strong bones and teeth. They are found in avocados, kiwi fruit, pears and apples.

*Red fruits and vegetables contain anthocyanins and lycopene, which can help keep the heart healthy, maintain better memory function and lower the risk for some cancers.

*Fruits and vegetables also contain a large amount of fibre. Fibre has a number of health benefits and also helps make people feel more full, reducing their consumption of other higher-calorie foods.

“Most people think fibre is just good for digestion,” she says, “but it's also helpful for lowering cholesterol, keeping your blood sugars stable and helping you feel full throughout your day.”

But even those who are already sold on eating more fruits and veggies sometimes find it tricky to work sufficient amounts into their day-to-day eating, say both Crandall and Ginn. They suggest getting creative.

For instance, work veggies into recipes that don't normally contain them. “It's just the little things you can do, even if you add grated carrot to your favourite muffin or grated zucchini to your pancakes,”

Ginn says. “You can sneak them into your food in ways where you don't even taste them, but you receive the nutritional benefit.”

They also suggest cutting up fruits and veggies so they're bite-sized and available for snacking.

As Crandall says, “Make a vegetable tray so they are easier to use, so you don't have a cucumber rotting in the back of the fridge.”

And don't worry about whether you're eating fresh, frozen or canned vegetables. They're all good for you.

Ginseng, the miracle herb

Source :Kamala Thiagarajan :The Hindu :24 Nov 2011

One of the most important herbs in Chinese medicine, ginseng, is renowned for it's nourishing, healing, energizing and anti aging properties, making it the most popular herbal supplement in the world

The root of this ancient herb, ginseng, is pale yellow in colour. History has it that it was first discovered in the mountains of North America, from where it travelled to the Middle East and reached China. Widely popular in China (even though it took many years for the western world to truly appreciate its worth), it was mostly used as a soothing therapeutic aid.

Interestingly enough, the root of the plant bears a startling resemblance to the human body, a fact that sparked off several mythological stories and folklore. 

Today, millions of people around the world continue to use ginseng as a quick pick-me-up. Known to stimulate and energize, it can be taken after a sleepless night, before an important meeting, if you're just recovering from a bout of the flu that has sapped all your energy. Tonics made of ginseng were also touted as China's most potent anti-aging secrets.

“Taking a supplement that contains ginseng is the best way to ensure that your body functions in its highest capacity,” says Seema Singh, head nutritionist at Alchemist Health Institute and Hospital, New Delhi. 

“It keeps blood pressure in check, speeds metabolism, prevents excessive weight gain, improves circulation to ensure that your body gets enough oxygen and it boosts immune function to help you fight disease.”

Boosts your brain power:

In a study published in the Nov 2000 issue of Pyschopharmocology, it was established that ginseng, when taken as a supplement, helped improve one's memory skills. The study involved 256 middle-aged volunteers who were divided into two groups.

One group was given supplements of ginseng and the others were not.

 Both groups were monitored on a regular basis. Those who were given a regular ginseng supplement were said to have experienced improved memory skills. 

This boost in memory lasted throughout the two-week period in which they took the supplement.

Boon for cancer patients and for cancer prevention:

In 2007, a study by researchers of the Mayo Clinic found that regular intake of ginseng could help prevent the extreme fatigue felt by cancer patients. In the future, ginseng injections may be available for patients who are terminally ill and those taking chemotherapy, but more research is required on this before it becomes possible to produce it en masse.

 But even as far back as 1978, a Korean doctor called Taik-Koo Yun, who worked at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital in Seoul, began to investigate the role of ginseng in preventing cancer.

 He claimed that the herb could prevent most cancers though he wasn't certain exactly how the healing properties of the herb worked.

Keeps diabetes at bay:

As the largest diabetic nation in the world, it should come as good news to India that ginseng can help fight the disease and keep blood sugar levels in check.

 In a study published in 2000 conducted by Dr Vladimir Vuksan, at St Michael's Hospital & Research centre, the University of Toronto, it was established that blood sugar levels dropped significantly, for both diabetics and non-diabetics, an hour after they ate a meal with ginseng.

Incorporate in your diet:

“Ginseng roots can be eaten raw or chewed,” advises Singh. “Make ginseng tea by simmering the sliced roots in water, allowing these to soak thoroughly. 

Adding ginseng (chopped very finely) to your soups, salads and food (just as you would add ginger,) is a good option as well. Diabetics can chew on raw ginseng or use capsules and extracts.” Be sure to consult your doctor before incorporating ginseng in your diet, especially if you happen to be diabetic.

How to make…Alla gojju

Source :SATHYA venkat ;The Hindu:24 Nov 2011

Alla gojju (ginger kuzhambu) is a recipe I learnt from my grandmother. It tastes great with hot rice, especially on rainy or winter days. It has therapeutic qualities.

What you need

Ginger peeled and grated – 2 tbsp

Tamarind, lemon-sized ball - 1

Sesame oil – 3 tbsp

Curry leaves, salt – to taste

Jaggery – a little

For the gojju powder

Black gram – 2 tsp

Bengal gram – 2 tsp

Cumin -1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Red chillies – 3

Asafoetida – 3/4 tsp

Sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp

Tamarind juice extract – 2 cups

Cooking instructions

Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil and fry the peeled ginger until it turns brown. Keep aside.

Fry the black gram, Bengal gram, fenugreek, cumin, red chilli, asafoetida, and sesame until it turns red. Powder the mixture.

Heat the kadai with the remaining oil, add mustard seed, black gram, a little asafoetida, and curry leaves (green chillies can also be added for spice). After it splutters, add salt and tamarind juice with a pinch of turmeric powder. Boil until the raw smell of tamarind disappears. Add the gojju powder or paste. Mix well to avoid lumps. When it thickens, add the fried ginger and jaggery and boil for two-three minutes. This dish can be stored for a few days.

Sathya Venkat is a freelance writer who loves to dabble in the kitchen.

Milky way

Source :The Hindu:DR. RITIKA SAMADAR :23 nov 2011
Surprise everyone with some quick milk-based recipes.


All we need is an excuse to indulge our sweet tooth. In olden days, most of what we ate was home-made but today most of us opt to buy ready-to-eat packaged stuff to save ourselves time and effort.


While it may not be possible to makehalwaandkheerregularly, remember that a personal touch makes a huge difference to what you eat and what you serve others. So when you have guests over, don't offer aerated drinks or tea/coffee. 


Here are a couple of quick shortcuts and they are both delicious and healthy. In terms of preparation, it does not take more time than tea/coffee. 


Since they will have your personal touch too, they will definitely be a huge success. So reveal the hidden chef inside you!


All you need is lots and lots of milk, which can be used to make many unique recipes. Some quick milk-based items that you can surprise your guests with arelassi, smoothies, cold coffee, varieties of shakes,sewaiyan.


 One way to save time is to ensure that you have boiled and cooled milk ready. This is what takes up maximum time. 


But also ensure that you do not heat it over and over again thereby killing the nutrients in it. So this time pass up readymade drinks and try these classic recipes.

Banana and chocolate smoothie


Keep the ingredients. Take 1 cup vanilla yoghurt, 10 strawberries, 2 bananas, 1 cup milk, and 1.5 cups of chocolate syrup. Blend all this on high The writer is a Delhi based dietician. The writer is a Delhi based dietician.in a mixer until smooth. Serve immediately!


Mocha smoothie


Take 8 parts coffee yoghurt, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup and 6 ice cubes. Blend on high in a mixer for 30 seconds. Your super special Mocha is ready in a minute!


Creamy pudding milk-shake


Take 3/4 cup milk, 1 tablespoon instant vanilla pudding, 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup, 2 scoops vanilla ice cream. Blend high in mixer. Serves one.


Classic cold coffee


Dissolve instant coffee powder and sugar in boiling water and allow it to cool. Now blend the coffee mixture and milk in a blender for few seconds. Add cream and crushed ice. Blend for another few seconds till it becomes frothy. Serve chilled!

Delectable vegetarian range at Jordan

Morning glory: A ful counter dominated by the copper baraka.


Source : BL: Marryam Reshii : 14 Nov 2011

If you think Arab food is meat-heavy, Jordan will surprise you with its delectable vegetarian range.

Our guide in Amman had the rather unlikely name of Basel Ahmed. Had I but known it, his name was the perfect metaphor for Jordan itself: on the crossroads of Christianity and Islam. 

He had two seemingly irreconcilable passions: history and cuisine. While on site — Jordan has an unfair proportion of world-famous Roman ruins, ancient Christian churches and rock-hewn cities — Basel would hold forth on pediments and apses. 

While we conversed in our free time, he talked effortlessly about jameed, the rock-hard balls of dried yoghurt that are at the heart of Jordan's national dish. If his details of the acanthus leaves atop Roman columns were a trifle dry and lacking in liveliness, his seamless detailing of the ingredients that went into the array of starters known as mezze was nothing short of spell-binding.

Ahmed's father was a chef who spent much of his working life in Kuwait. What his son picked up was Jordanian cuisine, albeit seen from the perspective of a neighbouring country. Much of what constitutes Arabian cuisine has similar dishes; it is the details that make the difference. Thus, rice or mince-filled vine leaves are common to Greece and the Levant: Jordan, Syria and Lebanon; each country makes it rather differently. Similarly, the fresh cheese known asshankleesh is available across the Levant and Turkey, and so on.

 Marriot Amman Hotel Amman Jordan


My rather naïve impression was that Arabic food was meat-heavy. That impression was about to change considerably. 


Breakfast, for one, was invariably an entirely vegetarian meal. 


Ful — dried fava beans — were slow-cooked into a stew.


 The only richness was the texture: thick, almost solid was way better than thin and watery. 


Each of the hotels we stayed at during our five days in the Kingdom, most run by international chains, offered a ful counter.


This always had its own set-up within the breakfast buffet, as if to emphasise its almost sacrosanct nature. 


The baraka, a narrow-necked, round-bottomed pot made of copper and tinned inside and out, stood on its own stand, inside which lighted coals could be placed, to keep the ful warm. 


You scooped out as much of the fava beans as you wanted, and helped yourself to a wedge of lemon, cumin powder, more fragrant than anything in our region, za'atar, tahina or sesame seed paste, and good quality olive oil.


 Our guide told us that most people in the region agree that Egyptian ful is rated the highest. “But I consider our ful the best,” he ended triumphantly, with suitably patriotic fervour.


Lunch and dinner both start with mezze.


There are a few rules: breads take the place of cutlery, the plates are placed in the centre of the table and you scoop up what you want with khubbuz bread. In theory, there is an endless array of dishes that collectively are known as mezze, which itself is of two varieties: cold and hot. In practice, hot mezze are often dispensed with entirely, and only coldmezze are served; that too, in their truncated version, which means barely half a dozen. 


Thus, hummus, muttabal, baba ghanoush, labneh, salad with fattoush,muhammara and tabbouleh made their appearance like clockwork, but waraq inab, kibbeh and falafel kept themselves resolutely hidden from our view!

Cold mezze
Cold mezze is one hundred per cent vegetarian, which is why I am always surprised that the Levant gets so few Indian tourists. 


Thai cuisine, by comparison, has little to offer the vegetarian, but Thailand gets a hefty share of Indian travellers. 


Snacks and food shopping too are of the sort that every card-carrying Indian is likely to be attracted to: figs, several kinds of dates, dry fruits, baklava and chewy toffees studded with pistachios and almonds. 


Then, there are spices — Basel Ahmed took us to the souk in the southern city of Aqaba where we went berserk picking up fragrant cumin and za'atar: a unique blend of herbs and spices in one glorious mix, helped along with traces of olive oil, and toasted and salted sesame seeds.


If our meals tended to be photocopies of each other, it was because the Jordanians genuinely have not thought enough about showcasing their cuisine.


 It is largely the same as Lebanese and Syrian food, but within that ambit, each of the three countries does the same dish slightly differently. Thus, Jordanian hummus was composed of equal parts of chickpea mash and tahina — in the other two countries, hummus has far less tahina and discernibly more lemon juice.


The three Ms were the glory of the cuisine, however. Masakhan, maqloobahand mansaf.


What is endearing about these dishes is their flexibility. You can interpret each in the way that appeals to you. And if you find it considerably different from that of your neighbour, why, that's the beauty of this cuisine.

Masakhan (which we never did get to taste) is essentially pieces of chicken sprinkled over with sumac, the tart dried powder of berries, on bread. It is more of a hearty snack or a side dish than a main course. You will get vastly differently results from pita bread or flatbread. Masakhan is said to have come from Palestine, but has been co-opted into Jordanian cuisine.

Maqloobah has even more variations. The Managing Director of Jordan Tourism Board cited it as an example of Jordanian flexibility and he has a point. You can make this “upside down cake” with beef, lamb, chicken, or only with vegetables.


 It contains rice cooked in stock, batons of zucchini and gourd as well as the meat in large slices. It is the way it is layered into a deep cooking pot and then tipped out onto a serving dish, in the manner of a pineapple upside down cake, that gives maqloobah its name! It can be eaten with salad or yoghurt. And if that's not being flexible, what is!

Mansaf was the only Jordanian dish that we did get to taste. I guess I'll have to head back to that wonderful country for a taste of the other two.

Singapore's Cake Shop

Lyn Lee's delicious wares

Source : BL:Abhishek law ::13 Nov 2011

A lawyer by training, Lyn Lee realised quite early that successlay in the secret of her delicious chocolate cakes.

RECENTLY IN SINGAPORE: 

Appearances are deceptive. A step into a pristine white shop and a slice of a dark chocolate cake that “melts” in your mouth. Absolute bliss.

You look around the other offerings — ice-creams and white chocolate cakes. All are equally good, but this simple brown “old fashioned” chocolate cake leads the list of favourites.

Welcome to the Mecca of chocolate cakes at Awfully Chocolate — 

Singapore's home-grown cake shop and a success story for lawyer-

turned-entrepreneur Lyn Lee.

Ms Lyn Lee who started Awfully Chocolate

A trained lawyer, Lee found her calling in chocolate cakes and not in the 9 to 5 treadmill. And thus began the journey of her cake-shop.

Ask her what prompted this shift and pat comes a simple reply: “It's the search for a chocolate cake that made me start Awfully Chocolate. I wanted to make and eat a chocolate cake that people would eat again and again without getting bored of it.”

THE BEGINNING

“It wasn't just me who wanted to avoid the nine-to-five schedule. There were six other friends of mine who found their calling in entrepreneurship,” she says on the sidelines of a retail summit in Singapore.

And in 1998 in a residential neighbourhood — Katong — in Singapore began the first steps towards what is now Awfully Chocolate. And it's USP — just one plain, almost drab, chocolate cake. No colouring, no cream and absolutely no frills generally associated with a cake.

There was no big display, no cakes on racks and neither was there any big marketing associated with it. In short, it hardly looked like a cake shop.

“What was there to display? We had just one cake and that too just a simple hand-made chocolate one,” Lee recalls looking back at the humble beginnings of the now famous cake-shop. And perhaps it was this simplicity that made the shop click or maybe the right mix of dark chocolate and cocoa. But the venture became a successful one.

But successfully conceptualising a venture is not an end in itself. Financing it and making it run profitably with limited resources and entrepreneurship skills were the other challenges.

FINANCES

As it happens with most start-ups, finances were limited and naysayers aplenty. And people felt that without variety the venture was doomed from the word go. They didn't hope for much from the banks.

Finally, resources were pooled in and pockets were stretched to the limit.

“We did not start big. Resources were limited and a bank loan was not an option. Though we were prepared to work it out, we were not ready to sell our homes and come to the streets if the venture fell through,” Lee says.

MAKING IT BIG

Days turned into months and months into years. The venture had clicked. Good old-fashioned word-of-mouth publicity saw people from across the island nation of Singapore queue up for their share.

“When people said they liked the cakes and came back for more, I was convinced that we had a successful venture,” she said.

The company from its humble Plain Jane offerings has moved on to include three fancy varieties of chocolate banana cake, chocolate rum and cherry cakes. All three have done well. Now, it offers a variety of other chocolate cakes too.

But despite the rapid demand, expansion was still not on the cards.

“I preferred to be cautious with my expansion plans,” Lee says.

In 2004, nearly six years after her first store, Lyn opened her second store using the profits from her first shop. She also introduced ice-cream with the Awfully Chocolate dark chocolate ice cream.

THE MALL MOMENT

Slowly mall developers started taking interest in her neighbourhood store. CapitaMalls, one of Singapore's largest mall developers, assisted her in starting a store in one of their malls in Singapore. It was a new journey for the company — as a retail chain.

The company now has over 17 franchises across Asia, including Singapore, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Ask her about moving to virgin territory such as India and she smiles and says; “I still prefer to be cautious and try out new markets at home rather than big-scale overseas expansion.”