Did you know that cinnamon can help regulate blood sugar and cholesterol or that turmeric is the superstar of spices? How about the fact that pumpkin seeds are loaded with magnesium? I would have never thought that canned pumpkin is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin-A! I can’t wait for blueberries to come on!
Read this excellent article on 11 foods you probably aren’t eating and how to start including them in your diet! The major bonus of these recommendations is that the majority come very low in price!
Number one on the list was beets! I love them grated on top a salad along with pumpkin seeds and grated carrots (as seen above)! Yum! Eating two of these powerhouses in one. It’s so beautiful too, don’t you think? Pumpkin seeds can be ground up in a coffee grinder to throw in oatmeal, smoothies, or pancakes!
Here is an awesome recipe for cabbage that we tried this week! Fabulous!
Browned Cabbage with Horseradish
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, diced large
About 1 pound cabbage, sliced thin (1 pound is about half a typical head)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon mustard
1 teaspoon (or more) horseradish
1 teaspoon flour
1/2 cup water
Salt & pepper to taste
In a large skillet or Dutch oven, melt the butter til shimmery on medium high. Add the onion, cabbage and salt; stir til covered with fat. Allow cabbage to cook, covered, for 10 minutes, letting it brown. Stir only very occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Stir into cabbage and let cook 1 – 2 minutes til cabbage thickens slightly. Season to taste and serve.
Original recipe & photo from A Veggie Venture
Any other ideas to help include these 11 foods more in your diet?
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cheddar-corn-chowder-recipe/index.html
This is one of our absolute favorite winter recipes, especially when adding some stewed chicken. (I like to make chicken stock using the whole chicken and then freeze the meat to use in dishes like this.) Anyway, it has 1/2 tsp of turmeric… I wonder if that’s enough to receive the health benefits?
Red cabbage on the top 11 list? Who knew! Here’s my favorite red cabbage recipe, very German, very flavorful.
http://motherdaughtereatwell.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweet-and-sour-cabbage.html
I have been reading your blog for a couple of weeks, and really enjoying it – thanks for your insights, especially in view of forming a Biblical view of nutrition and environmentalism.
So I know this is a really old post, but I just made up a favorite dish of ours tonight which reminded me of it – Pasta with Kale and Anchovies (or sardines work, too) The pasta and cabbage are just cooked together, and you add a tin of sardines, fried in olive oil with a red chili, top with toasted bread crumbs and a bit more olive oil. Plus some parmasan cheese (optional in my experience with a dairy allergic son)
It is a really cheap way to get some omega-3s, and doesn’t taste too fishy
I just wanted to add a little bit that I saw on television recently. It was the use of red beets in sweet dishes including chocolate cake and (believe it or not) ICE CREAM!!! They were tested by known chefs on the program and given rave reviews! Perhaps you can develop some recipes based on these…
And I’m planning on trying as many of your recipes as possible in the near future to feed my hungry brood!
We tried the browned cabbage tonight. It was really good. I wish I would have had some horseradish though.
Many of the recipes I commonly make don’t include turmeric, so I found a great way to incorporate it into my meals…Whenever I steam my brown rice, I simply add a generous sprinkling of turmeric to the water before steaming. The finished rice has a lovely yellow color, and a very mild flavor that compliments nearly any dish, so it makes a great versatile side and packs in the nutritional bonus of the turmeric!
I’M JUST CURIOUS, WHERE’D YOU COME UP WITH YOUR LIL’ ONE’S NAME? IS IT FROM THE GREEK WORD? ENJOYED READING YOUR BLOG.
Yes, we really appreciated the meaning of Karis from the greek word, meaning “grace”.
Thanks for stopping by!
We like beets in our carrot/apple juice. I put cinnamon in EVERYTHING it seems! Its so yummy! I especially love it on toast with some raw honey!
We snack on pumpkin seeds and put them in our granola which we eat on out oatmeal.
We mix sardines with tuna in homemade mac and cheese for tuna mac.
And we dont eat canned pumpkin but I puree and freeze pumpkin in the fall that we use all year, wonder if that counts?
My 4YO’s favorite food is frozen bluebrries, he is often stained from snacking on them!
I would definitely assume your freshly frozen pumpkin would be of a higher quality than canned. So that is even better! Thanks for sharing all the other ideas.
Neat article -the only thing on the list we don’t eat is prunes and sardines! We eat the other 10 regularly – some of them thanks to the daily green smoothie!
Borscht is wonderful, depending on how it’s made. Mine includes both beets and cabbage, and it is better the second day after it’s made (the flavors have time to marinate). I realize the recipe says not to cook the beets, but I’ve always eaten my borscht hot, and it’s SO yummy.
We’ve enjoyed that before.
I enjoy swiss chard with a little mayonnaise on top, or a dab of lemon juice.
I believe Trader Joe’s carries yummy pomegranate juice, fizzy style, in a wine bottle.
Tumeric is great in Indian (or other) curry recipes!
Blueberries are delicious in muffins, smoothies, on cereal, over waffles or pancakes, etc. Mmmm!
Thanks for the tips! Swiss chard is good added to almost any soup.
Your cabbage recipe sounds yummy. I love cabbage; sometimes I just eat it raw.
I’ve never tried it, but after reading your post maybe I’ll try making borscht. The idea of cold soup seems so strange to me, but borscht has beets and cabbage in it.
Thanks again for sharing all of your research! Your blog is great.
~Andrea
Andrea,
I have had authentic borscht while in Russia on a mission trip a few years back. I did not like it at all, couldn’t even finish my portion…but hey, you just might, and it truly is very good for you. Let me know how it goes.
We had so many varieties of borsch while in Russia and Ukraine, most were terrific, but a few were not my favorites. Unless what you really disliked was the slightly sweet taste of beets, I would it try again sometime. Borsch has so many delicious and nutritious vegetables in it (especially those that grow well in cold climates). We serve it hot, but add the beets during the last half hour of cooking so that all of the color is not cooked out of them. Also, a dab of Russian sour cream on top (then stirred in) is an essential final touch. I hope you can someday meet a bowl of borsch that you can love!