Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in your food may make you sick. Studies link GMOs with toxins, allergies, infertility, infant mortality, immune dysfunction, stunted growth, accelerated aging, and death. Whistleblowers were fired, threatened, and gagged. Warnings by FDA scientists were ignored. Expert Jeffrey M. Smith, author of the #1 GMO bestseller Seeds of Deception, and Genetic Roulette, presents SHOCKING evidence why these gene-spliced crops may lead to health and environmental catastrophes. Learn how to protect yourself and discover the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America—a brilliant plan to quickly end the genetic engineering of our food supply.   

Movie: Everything You HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

What is minestrone? Minestrone is a classic Italian vegetable soup. It’s one of those dishes that is prepared in virtually all households in Italy, North, South and Center Italy, and – contrary to what some celebrity chefs or cookbook writers would want you to believe – there’s not ONE recipe. Think of minestrone as Art, there’s no paint-by-numbers, there are only general and vague guidelines so that everyone can make their own version of this wonderful super food.

Probably born out of necessity in rural Italy, minestrone is a hodgepodge of vegetables, in a light broth, served in different styles (see bottom of this post for serving options).

A few general guidelines:

• Minestrone is a strictly vegetable dish, not even chicken stock (there’s no chicken stock used in authentic traditional Italian cooking, EVER);
• It is not part of the “red sauce” family of cooking, alas a bit of tomato is often used, but it does not constitute the base;
• Fresh herbs are welcome, but no spices, and absolutely NO dried herbs.

The recipe in a nutshell: use as many of the traditional Italian vegetables as you’d like, the more the better.

Over the years I’ve tried many different recipes for minestrone, starting from scratch, using pre-packaged mixes of fresh vegetables, frozen mixes, none of them “hit the spot”. One day, while shopping in an Italian supermarket, I came across a frozen minestrone mix, that promised a delicious minestrone in 15 minutes, with no artificial preservatives, no artificial colorant, and I could pronounce all the ingredients. In all practicality it was a mix of frozen vegetables, uncooked, diced and mixed to perfection. I brought it home, added water, cooked it for 15 minutes and . . . it was delicious. So I looked at the list of ingredient and I reverse-engineered it, adding some ingredients of my own, substituting some other, and eliminating the lima beans. After a few trials I arrived at a couple of conclusions:

1. the quantity of each ingredient should be roughly equal;
2. the more ingredients the better.

Which poses a problem: if you use 10 ingredients, like I do, and you want to cook for 2-4 people, you’ll need to procure less than 1/4 lb of each ingredient, which is not easy: practically impossible.

There’s a solution: get 1 lb of each ingredient, and re-bag the mix into manageable sizes.

So, here we go, this is
my interpretation of the Italian Minestrone:

• 1 lb zucchini, diced;
• 1 lb red/yellow peppers;
• 1 lb spinach;
• 1 lb broccoli florets;
• 1 lb potatoes, diced;
• 1 lb petite peas;
• 1 lb green beans;
• 1 lb carrots, diced;
• 1 lb cooked cannellini beans;
• 1 lb very ripe tomatoes, diced;
• 1/2 lb of mesculum salad.

Divide all of the above ingredients into 8 1-gal size freezer bags, freeze 7 of them and prepare one right away.

To prepare your batch of minestrone:

• take a large pot;
• add your mix;
• add 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil;
• add 4 cups of water;
• cook on medium for 40-45 minutes;
• let it rest at least 15 minutes.

There are possible variations to the above recipe:

• add 1 lb of butternut squash;
• add fresh basil and/or fresh parsley;
• add an extra 1 lb of red beans for both flavor and color.

There are four variances to serve minestrone:

1. Plain minestrone, we could call this the minimalist minestrone. Just serve it in a bowl with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil;
2. Minestrone with pasta: add some ditalini pasta to the minestrone and serve it as is;
3. Zuppa: layer some toasted slices of tuscan-style bread on a bowl, and pour over a generous amount of the minestrone
4. Zuppa fredda: same as above, let it rest and chill in the refrigerator. Serve cold in a hot summer day.

Note about ingredients:   

• as usual organic is better than non-organic;
• fresh is better than frozen.

Enjoy!

(Super) Minestrone is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

Our friends at Good.is have compiles an impressive collection of photos on the theme: You are what you eat, taking a look, and documenting with excellent photos, at refrigerators.

Food for thoughts.

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{Photography by Oakley Originals }

Picture Show: You are what you eat is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

Why do we eat? Studies^[1] have shown that the drivers behind our choices of timing and quality of meals are not what you would think, read the ordered list and reflect upon your past food choices, and keep it in mind next time you find yourself reaching for something to eat:

1. Personal Preferences: you like the flavor;
2. Habit or tradition: the foods are familiar, you always eat them;
3. Social pressure: the food is offered to you, you feel you can’t refuse it;
4. Availability: the food is there, ready to eat;
5. Convenience: you are too rushed to prepare anything else;
6. Economy: the food is within your financial means;
7. Nutritional value (perceived): you think your body requires that food;
8. You are hungry.

What’s very interesting is that “Hunger” is the last item on the list.

Why do we do the things we do? Who’s in control? Who’s driving the bus?

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{Photography by Savannah Grandfather}

[1] Understanding Nutrition, by Eleanor Noss Whitney, Eva May Nunnelley Hamilton, Sharon Rady Rolfes.

Why we eat is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

Who hasn’t savored the aroma of Tamari, the taste of soy sauce, the crunchiness of freshly steamed Edamame, the hearthyness of Terriyaki baked tofu, or the delicate texture of soy milk panna cotta.  And doesn’t miso soup feed the soul first and then the body?

And it’s all about a Smart SuperFood, the magic Soy Bean.  If you want to know everything there is to know about Tofu, Soy Beans and the various say-based products, William Shurtleff will take your hand and take you on a journey in time and space to the origins of tofu, its traditions, the uses, methods of soy farming, ancient and modern production methods, traditional and new recipes; you will enter a new world of knowledge about something that is much more than a bean or a cake of curds, how it affected millions of people, how it is beneficial to everyone and how it can serve as a future solution to solve world hunger.
A welcome addition to anyone’s library, food enthusiast or non-fiction reader:

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Photography by Robyran and Lil’ Dee

Soy and Tofu: the spiritual superfood is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

If there’s a fruit that is a perfect dessert on his own, it is Persimmons.  Originally from China, it is widespread in Asia, very popular in southern Europe especially at Christmas time, it can now be found also in the States.
You can probably find these beautiful orange fruits in your supermarket, select large very firm fruit with no bruises.  Handle then carefully and make sure that their journey from the grower is not ruined at the checkout counter.  The fruit in this state has yet to ripen, and bruises to the flesh will cause the fruit to rot before ripening.
Traditionally in Italy Persimmons was one of the Christmas treats for kids, so the persimmons were placed upside-down, in long rows on kitchen counters awaiting ripening.

With time the orange color will become more and more intense, leaning toward red, the point will collapse as the fruit will reach maturity and the skin will wilt considerably, and the flesh will be almost translucent; not as pretty as when you first brought it home, but absolutely delicious.

Once it is fully ripe, it is a messy and fun fruit to eat, with many ways and techniques.
First of all wash it thoroughly, then remove the stem before deciding which way suits your taste buds better.  Remove the stem by holding the fruit on one hand, firmly but without squeezing it.  Hold the stem between the thumb and the index fingers of the other hand, and pull slowly but firmly, no rush.  The stem will come out clean revealing the meaty and tasty insides.
If this is your first encounter with persimmons, you’ll be sorry you didn’t buy at least a dozen per person, they can be addictive.  These some of the variables that you want to experiment:

• temperature: either room temperature or refrigerated cold (our choice);
• peeled of skin on: it’s a very tricky job to peel a persimmon, and you might risk to waste some precious flesh.  Moreover the skin is thin and full of vitamins and other nutrients, and very tasty in a perfectly ripen fruit, we suggest keep the skin;
• whole, halves, or partitions: the easiest to begin with, and out personal favorite is halves.  Then scoop out the flesh with a fine teaspoon as if you were scooping out jam, scraping down to skin. A perfectly ripen fruit will have the consistency of a jam, and the same naturally sweet flavor;
• Enjoy and repeat over and over, creating your own ritual.

Persimmons are the ultimate natural dessert, and a sidekick superfood according to SuperFoodsRX.

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Photography by ElroySF (cc), Tamakisono (cc), and Shioshvili (cc)

Why be in love with superfoods reason #317,811: Persimmons is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis: most of us associate these diseases with third world country, and rightfully so.  Developing countries account for 95% of the global AIDS prevalence and 98% of active tuberculosis infections.  Furthermore, 90% of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.  Together, these three diseases account for 10% of global mortality (*).  There are the so called Diseases of Poverty, byproduct of the huge world problem of fighting poverty in the world.  Therefore we consider ourselves lucky since we live in affluent countries.  And yet, with all of our affluence, education, means, and availability of information and resources, we have our own illnesses, diseases of affluence (**):

• type 2 diabetes,
• coronary heart disease,
• cerebrovascular disease,
• peripheral vascular disease,
• obesity,
• certain forms of cancer,
• asthma,
• alcoholism,
• depression,
• allergies,
• as well as a major range of other psychiatric illnesses.

If it sounds like an oxymoron, it is: the richer a country get, the sicker its people. The causes?  We all know them: bad food choices, sedentary life, too many harmful chemicals in the environment where we live.  Of course, the opposite of the cause is indeed the solution:  better food choices, active lifestyle with physical exercise, and more natural environmental choices.  However it is so much easier to grab that frozen dinner or pick up the phone and order take out or delivery service of junk-food meals.  It is easier to flip through hundreds of channels on TV than to go for a walk, let alone a good run.  And every household has a plethora of chemicals, each one with its own use from cleaning the counters, to glass surfaces, furniture and bathrooms.  All bad habits, passed on from generation to generation, and perversely taken to new heights each year by the advertisement driven mass media culture.

You can take active and positive action:

1. Get information about the connection between your food choices and your wellness, or the lack thereof.  A good place to start is The China Study, as well as the other books featured in this blog.
2. Join a gym, or start jogging!  Walking, jogging, or running are the no-excuses forms of exercises, they are always available no matter where you are, they are inexpensive and require little or no equipment:  you do have at least a pair of sneakers, don’t you?
3. Change the way you depend on your choice of cleaning products.  Karen Logan’s Clean Home Clean Planet is a great starting point

Today, NOW is a great time to start.

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Photography by Jon Feinstein (cc)

(*) Souce: Wikipedia: Diseases of Poverty
(**) Source: Wikipedia: Diseases of Affluence

Diseases of Affluence and Diseases of Poverty is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

A better pesto: super pesto

Pesto is delicious and highly versatile.  Originally from Genoa (Italy) it is a classic of the Italian Cuisine.  Traditionally pesto is a blend of basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and parmigiano reggiano.  Welcome and common additions are a few spring of parsley and salt.  A variation from Sicily adds capers and a touch of pementa (hot peppers).

There’s a better pesto, a super pesto, easy to prepare, and with infinite possibilities.  Here’s the fool-proof quick and easy recipe. In a food processor combine:

• 1 package (usually 7oz) of organic mesculum mix (at times called spring mix), found in the salad isle of your supermarket;
• 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil;
• 2 cloves of garlic, or more, according to taste;
• 1 cup raw organic walnuts;

Blend the mixture until creamy.

While the mesculum is not technically a superfood, the greens and radicchio in it are full of phytonutrients; all the other ingredients are indeed superfoods.  If you can opt for organic choices.

How to store it:

• In jars or tupperware, making sure you pour a veil of fresh olive oil on the surface;
• Freeze it in sandwich bags, defrost into jars to keep in the refrigerator;
• Freeze in ice cube trays, and defrost as needed.

Always keep a jar in your refrigerator, you can add pesto as an accent to hot soups (very common in South of France and the French Riviera), in cold soups like gazpachos, you can make superpesto quinotto, add to your favorite tofu recipes, spice up your sandwich, veggie burger, pasta, try on everything, especially in lieu of salt.

For a surprising effect, have your friends blind test your superpesto with their pesto, they’ll fall in love with your cuisine!

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Photo courtesy of The Salad Farm

A better Pesto: Smart Super Pesto is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

Over the weekend we visited the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival, and we took the opportunity to attend T. Colin Campbell’s presentation on his landmark book The China Study.

This book has changed the lives of thousands of people the world over, if you are reading this you probably don’t need additional motivation to make better food choices, but we still suggest Campbell’s book in order to broaden your views, to better understand the food industry, and to be in a position to help a friend or a family member somewhere down the line when someone dear to you will be stricken with a major health crisis.

The China Study is no ordinary book: short on opinions and long of facts and data, is it a scientific treatise in very readable book form, where Prof Campbell uses the medical establishment scientific method to draw conclusive evidence of the link between today’s pervasive food intake based on highly processed animal-based ingredients and the major health issues affecting humans.

Once you read it, you’ll be compelled to buy multiple copies for your friends and family, and with the holidays coming up, is there a better gift than the gift of conscious health?  Go ahead, get yourself some excellent and eye-opening reading, and got a copy for a friend, you might save their life!

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Photography by Denn (cc)

The China Study and T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. is a post from: Smart SuperFoods

Who doesn’t like risotto?  Italian have been combining their sauces with the long grained Italian rice (Arborio) for centuries now,  associating the passion of crafting the plate with the pleasure of sharing the meal with friends and family.
The greatness of Superfoods is that many classic dishes can be modified into superdishes, increasing flavor, texture and how good they are for you.

Have you discovered Quinoa yet?  Let’s make some Quinotto!
Let’s prepare the Quinoa first:

1. Take one cup of Quinoa, possible organic, rinse it thoroughly under cold water.
2. In a saucepan, add 2 cups of water to the Quinoa
3. On medium heat bring it to a boil, then simmer for 15-18 minutes, taste for doneness

Now, add to the Quinoa your favorite tomato sauce: and you are done!  Easy, fast, inexpensive, healthy, flexible: very Smart Superfood.
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Photography by Angie Torres (cc)

What’s for dinner: Quinotto! is a post from: Smart SuperFoods