Lin Ennis

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, speaking at UC Davis Mondavi Center, on agricultural sustainability. Specifically, he address organic foods versus locally grown foods. If you’ve not yet read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, please do take the time to watch (or listen to) this video. The larger the food distribution system, the more dependent it is upon foreign oil. Transportation supplies 18% of the carbon footprint. Food is 17%. So while we’re driving hybrid cars, what are we doing to change the way we eat?

What is the world’s most-nutritious food? I wondered, so I Googled it. The answers convinced me that isn’t the right question. Here are results from just the first page of Google search: wolfberry, milk, spirulina, prunes, prunes (2 listings, different sources) and idly. Noticeably absent from this list are avocados, bananas and chia seeds. (Of course, there are reasons a webpage receives top ranking in Google that may have little to do with the content on that page, but the ranking does show popularity of the site for the phrase “most nutritious food”.) One of the holistic health writers I followed as a young person said “Apples are the best food.” I questioned that. Looking into it further, I discovered the context involved availability and storability–both key factors when she wrote in the early 20th century, and much less so today. But this does make the point that convinced me searching for the “most nutritious food” is misguided. What is best for you to eat is something that is: Where you live seems to be the first consideration when considering a “world’s best food.” If goji berries grow outside your front door, eat them! Some countries, like the United States, have access to exotic foods from all over the world. Myriad companies are selling fruits, both dried and juiced, that were unknown in the West 15 years ago. Supermarket cashiers are no longer expected to know what kind of pear or squash is rolling across their scanner–the varieties are so great, each item has a code number. What is the most-nutritious food you currently eat? I’d like to hear about it in the comments below and get some discussion going. Or is there something you aspire to add to your diet but you haven’t yet?

Safeway Organics says, “Organic Wild Mushroom & Cheese Ravioli – 10 Oz We start with organic pasta, then fill it with organic portobello and porcini mushrooms, whole milk ricotta, parmesan and romano cheeses, and a little balsamic vinegar. USDA organic. Certified organic by Quality Assurance International.” Making a truly indulgent dinner, we sauteed about 4 ounces of chopped Baby Bellas (portabello mushrooms) in 2 Tbsp butter. Not wanting to buy or make an Alfredo sauce (watching calories), we used a packet of dried Stroganoff mix over the mushrooms. Instead of a cup of sour cream, we added the remainder of a cup of non-fat Greek Yogurt (Fage) and a bit of the boiling water from the ravioli cauldron. We steamed a gorgeous bundle of fat asparagus spears until completely tender, yet still bright green. An Organics mixed greens salad with avocado, tomato and green onion added, along with an Organics red wine vinaigrette filled out our plates, making for a totally delicious repast including sweet, sour, salt, bitter and decadent satiety with the butter-sauteed mushrooms in light brown sauce. I’m not trying to trumpet Safeway or their new Organics brand particularly, but they’ve recently upsurged their organic product line, and it’s worth noticing if you’re health-minded and frugal, both of which I am. (In fact, I got five pounds of organic red delicious apples for under $3.00–the price of about two other-branded organic apples!) Are you a fan or organic food? Have you tried any of Safeway’s? What can you add to this discussion of ravioli, asparagus and spring greens salad?

Another new discovery I made recently is precooked organic brown rice, tucked away in the frozen food aisle of Safeway of all places! Part of Safeway’s new “Organics” line, it’s so new it isn’t even on their website yet! Three microwavable pouches come in each box. While the package lists each pouch as 2 servings, one cup of brown rice would be four points in Weight Watchers, so I prefer to divide a pouch into at least three servings. The rice is grown in Northern California’s Sacramento Valley, by farmers committed to sustainable practices. The best part about it is it is not genetically modified. No, the best part about it is I can have rice when I think of it, instead of needing to think of it 45 minutes to an hour before I want it!  It is prepared without salt or added fat. The 10 calories of fat per cupful are naturally-occurring. Now you know what to serve your Napa cabbage stir fry with 5-spice powder over!

My new favorite vegetable is Napa cabbage, sometimes called Chinese cabbage. I’ve ventured to try it only recently, and it is a delight both to cook and to eat. Napa cabbage is a cultivar of Brassica rapa, a wild mustard. Compared to common head cabbage (Brassica oleracea), it is milder tasting, greener all the way through the head, and less likely to go mushy on the way to being cooked tender. I think of it as sort of a cross between lettuce and cabbage, which of course it isn’t, but it does have lettuce-like qualities, such as being very leafy, unlike common head cabbage that is more dense and has a larger core. I did a quick stir fry with onion, garlic, celery, carrots and 5-spice powder. Five-spice was new to me, too. I’ll do a separate blog on that. Another time, I simmered sliced cabbage leaves and garlic with a can of Mexican style stewed tomatoes and Morningstar Farms burger crumbles–a quick, nurturing and delicious lunch. Napa cabbage seems to produce less waste, because more of the vegetable is edible. Another reason to love Napa cabbage is it doesn’t stink up the kitchen or the refrigerator.

This is a guest post by gourmet cook Heather Molans. Having heard that mesquite flour is very tasty, I began pricing it. Five dollars would procure only a small baggie full from a local that teaches classes about edible plants in the south west. Thinking that too costly, I decided to make my own mesquite flour! I eagerly awaited the end-of-summer when the pods are ready to harvest. I decided to pick them green, before the boring insects could drill holes into them. I harvested about 5 pounds from trees on vacant lots in our neighborhood as we walked our dogs one morning. I had picked the bottoms of the trees clean at our final location, and Jimmy offered to pick from the upper branches if I would hold both dogs. I had no sooner taken their leashes when Penny saw a rabbit. Fortunately, although I was pretty skinned up, nothing was broken! … [part of the original post may have been lost] Curious, I pushed just the end of a teaspoon into the less than 1 quart of mesquite flour that I had gleaned from about 5 pounds of pods. My senses were overwhelmed with a sweetness that can’t be described. I hope there are still some pods for the summer harvest – it’s worth everything – except I’ll leave the dogs home next time!! July 7, 2023