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News and Views:
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Eat Your Phytochemicals, Dear!
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| Phytochemicals are those invisible nutrients in fruits and vegetables that fight and prevent disease and promote health. You might not think of a strawberry or a leaf of spinach as a very complicated or impressive organism until you analyze —or try to duplicate — the amazing array of sulfides, antioxidants, flavanoids, indoles, phenols, carotenoids, luteins, and other substances it contains. This is why eating the fruit or vegetable itself puts you miles ahead of those who just pop a vitamin pill and think they’re covered for the day.
It’s true that Americans have become more conscientious about getting their five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. But we so often choose the nutritional pipsqueaks, so to speak, over the heavy hitters.
This year, why not resolve to cut back on the iceberg lettuce (devoid of anything beyond fiber and water), the celery (ditto), and the French fries (the most common way to eat a good vegetable) and turn instead to some of the most nutritious items in the produce section? Choose grapes, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale, bananas, grapefruit, broccoli, winter squash, tomatoes, oranges, prunes, apricots, and others. Keep them handy in the refrigerator or fruit bowl, and those five to nine servings will disappear like raspberry sorbet on a hot summer day.
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Planning Your Kitchen Garden
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| It’s not a moment too soon to indulge yourself in one of winter’s greatest pleasures, cruising the seed catalogues from the comfort of your armchair. At this point, weeds and potato beetles don’t exist, all flowers are in bloom, and the tomato plants in your mind are laden with ripe red beauties.
One of the biggest boons to a cook is having a handy source of culinary herbs and edible flowers. A little garden right outside the kitchen door (either in the ground or in large containers) can hold all the essentials. If you are ordering seeds or plants now, consider these possibilities, and begin planning your kitchen garden.
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Buy as plants:
Rosemary (bring inside next fall)
Lemon grass (see "Stocking the Thai Pantry," above; bring inside next fall))
Sweet bay (bring inside next fall)
Tarragon (hardy to Zone 4)
Lavender (some varieties hardy to Zone 4)
Chives (hardy perennial; invasive)
Mint (hardy perennial; invasive)
Parsley (bring inside next fall; can also be started now from seeds)
Thyme (hardy perennial; fragrant groundcover)
Start from seeds:
Anise hyssop
Basil (many varieties available)
Cilantro
Dill
Lemon balm
Sweet marjoram
Oregano (reseeds enthusiastically)
Sage
Edible flowers:
Calendula
Nasturtium
Marigolds (especially Lemon Gem and Tangerine Gem)
Violas
Scented geraniums
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Oatmeal: The Real Stuff
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| A Scotsman who was visiting us last winter remarked on the differences between the English and the Scots. "The reason England is famous for its horses and Scotland for its men," he rumbled, "is that in England they feed oats to their horses, but in Scotland we feed oats to our children." Anyone who has warmed their innards with a bowl of hot oatmeal before venturing into a cold winter day knows the sustaining power of oats.
This winter, some of the poshest restaurants in New York City have oatmeal on the menu (for a reported $14 a bowl at the TriBeCa Grand Hotel). For pennies a bowl, you can cook your own. The farther away you get from instant oatmeal, the tastier your results will be. Here are a few ideas.
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- Rolled oats (also called old-fashioned oats): start with oats and cold water in the proportions given on the container (usually 1 part oats to 2 parts water). They take a few minutes longer to cook than quick oats, but you get a sturdier, tastier oatmeal. Before you start cooking the oats, peel and chop an apple and chop up a handful of walnuts; melt a lump of butter in a small skillet and saute the apple and nuts over low heat, dusting with cinnamon if desired. Cook the oatmeal, stirring often. When the oatmeal is done, combine it with the apples and stir in some brown sugar. Pour on milk or buttermilk if desired.
- Oatmeal with dried fruit: Combine old-fashioned rolled oats, water, and a handful of raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, or currants (in any combination you like) and cook until oatmeal is done. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and top each serving with molasses or maple syrup.
- Steel-cut oats (also called Irish oats or Scottish oats): These oats are cut rather than steamed and rolled, and take about 25 minutes to cook (unless you soak them in cold water overnight, in which case they will cook in about 15 minutes). Use about 3 parts liquid to 1 part oats. Their nubbly, chewy consistency and hearty oat flavor are worth the extra effort. Try cooking the oats in a mixture of half apple cider and half milk; simmer until oats are tender but not mushy. Serve with butter and milk, and perhaps a plate of sauteed apple rings on the side.
- Another way to cook steel-cut oats is to combine oats, water, and a pinch of salt in a crock-pot and cook overnight without stirring. Spoon into bowls and top with butter, brown sugar or maple syrup, and a splash of cream. The Scots always serve cold milk or cream on the side.
- To buy steel-cut oats: the most economical way is to buy them at a natural-foods store, where they will cost about $1 a pound. A tin of McCann’s Irish Oats costs about $6. (But it’s a lovely tin.)
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