Baked Apples with Roasted Nuts and Dried Fruit
- At November 12, 2017
- By Katherine
- In News, Recipes
0
Honey Crisp Apples from Spring Valley Orchard and Farm
The most popular fruit in the United States, apples are a great source of fiber and vitamin C. Apples also contain quercetin, a compound that may help prevent cancer and heart disease, also xeaxanthin, important for eye health. Be sure to eat the peel. The majority of nutrients are in the skin. At the market, choose firm apples with no soft spots or bruises. Be sure to wash apples under clean, running water before eating. (excerpted from the “Fruit and Veggie Glossary” in Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook in Season!)
Apples and their pear cousins are the only locally grown fruit from now until… May or June! But don’t despair. Apples are a versatile fruit, come in many shapes, sizes, colors, flavors and textures. They can be eaten “as is” or incorporated into sweet or savory recipes. Think waldorf salad, apple crisp, apple cakes, caramel apples, hard or soft apple cider, Thanksgiving stuffing, German potato salad, applesauce, poached apples in wine sauce. Grate apples into your pancakes, coleslaw, muffins, and loafs. Chop apples and toss them in your tuna or chicken salad. Use apples any time you want an alternative color, texture or flavor in a recipe or menu. You get the idea! My Baked Apples can be eaten as a dessert, a snack, an appetizer, a first course or a satisfying end-of-day refreshment with tea.
Katherine’s Baked Apples with Roasted Nuts & Dried Fruit
excerpted from “Diet Simple: 195 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations”
A traditional yet simple and healthy dessert.
4 servings
4 large apples
1 C water, sweet white wine or apple juice
8 tsp sugar, brown sugar or maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon mixed into the sugar (optional)
1/2 C chopped nuts or dried fruit (optional)
Peel the top half of the apples and, using a apple corer or melon baller, core the apples. Put about 1” of the water in a baking pan. Place the apples in the pan, blossom end down. Sprinkle about 1 tsp of the sugar in the cavity of the apple and 1 tsp around the top. If desired, stuff chopped nuts and/or dried fruit into the cavity.
Bake uncovered for about an hour, or until apples are very tender. Cool and serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate. Serve with sweet or sour cream or nonfat Greek yogurt.
Only about 90 calories each!
10 Tips for Enjoying Halloween Candy Without Guilt or Consequences
- At November 01, 2017
- By Katherine
- In News, Recipes
- 0
Now that you have all that Halloween candy, what is a healthy way to handle it, especially for your children? You don’t need to think of candy as “bad.” Studies over the years have found there is no association between candy eating and poor health or weight gain. But eating candy in moderation helps.
There are a few simple strategies designed by behavioral scientists and nutritionists to help your children (or you) enjoy candy without guilt or even weight gain. Remember:
1. Moderation is more realistic than complete elimination,
2. Eat about 10% of your daily calorie needs as candy and you can still maintain a healthy body and weight (most women consume about 1800 calories/day, so their candy allottment might be 180 calories daily. For men, perhaps about 220 calories),
3. When candy is in the house, it’s fair game for everyone. Denying access to candy your child knows is in the house (and they always know!) is counterproductive and can eventually lead to bingeing when it becomes available,
4. Remove the emphasis on restriction. If you don’t want someone in your house eating candy, don’t have it in the house. This changes the emphasis from what you “can’t” have, to what you “can” have,
5. Structure your family’s eating. Eat regularly scheduled meals at predictable times through the day,
6. Provide reasonable guildelines for eating the candy that is in the house, and practice what you preach,
7. If you’d like your child to eat candy moderately, limit how often it is brought into the home and serve small portions, or use pre-packaged candy in small amounts,
8. Serve all food positively. Fruits, vegetables and other wholesome foods should be presented just as positively as candy,
9. Don’t use candy as a reward of any kind,
10. Above all else, provide a consistently positive atmosphere in which all food is eaten. There is no “good” or “bad” food. All food fits, but you may need to define the balance, amounts, and timing that candy or any food is eaten in the household.
Nora Pouillon’s Classic Ratatouille
- At October 22, 2017
- By Katherine
- In News, Recipes
- 0
Vegetables for Nora’s Ratatouille were all Found at Twin Springs Fruit Farm Stand from Ortanna, PA (90 Miles from DC)
Nora Pouillon’s Ratatouille
Adapted from
“Cooking with Nora”
And Excerpted from “Diet Simple”
Ratatouille is an authentic aromatic Provençal ragout of onions, eggplants, peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes, stewed slowly in olive oil and flavored with garlic and fresh herbs. At the Dupont Circle Fresh Farm Market, I recently found every vegetable and herb needed for this amazingly tasty and versatile dish – all from Twin Springs Fruit Farm in Ortanna, Pennsylvania. The farmers travel 90 miles to provide us city folks with the freshest, juiciest, most delicate fruits and vegetables to be had – not to mention the extraordinary nutrition they provide!
Cutting up the vegetables is time consuming and that is why I like to make double or more than the amount I need and use the leftovers …
• at room temperature the next day with grilled chicken or fish.
• mixed with eggs and cheese for a Quiche Provencal.
• heated up and stirred with beaten eggs, spiced with chilis and served with sliced ham, Prosciutto, or cooked lean sausage as Piperade or Basque dish.
• reheated and used as sauce for freshly cooked pasta, garnished with feta or goat cheese, with the addition of pitted black olives if desired.
• As Minestrone, heated with vegetable or chicken stock, adding a can of drained cannellini beans and maybe a spoon of pesto on top.
The trick of a good ratatouille is not to overcook the vegetables. They have to be added one after the other, depending on the amount of time they need to cook to be just tender. Of course, Nora recommends all the vegetables be organic.
6 – 8 servings
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tablespoons garlic, minced
1-2 eggplants (2 lbs) cut into 1-inch cubes
2 peppers, red, green or yellow, cut into 1-inch squares
2 zucchini (1.5 lbs) cut into 1-inch cubes
1.5 lbs tomatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon thyme, minced
1/2 Tablespoon rosemary, minced
2 Tablespoon parsley or basil, minced
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until hot.
Add the onions and stew for 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, then the eggplants and peppers, cover and cook slowly for 20 minutes.
Add the zucchini, cook for 5 minutes, then lastly add the tomatoes and cook for an additional 5 minutes or less.
Season with salt and pepper and the minced herbs.
Calories 220 Percent of Daily Value
Calories from Fat 150
Total Fat 16g 25%
Saturated Fat 2g 11%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 15mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 6g 22%
Soluble Fiber 1.13 g
Omega 3 Fatty Acids 0.14 g
Sugars 10g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A 60%
Vitamin C 160%
Calcium 4%
Iron 8%
Yoga for Low Back Pain
- At September 28, 2017
- By Katherine
- In Articles, News
- 0
Katherine in Peaceful Warrior II Position
“At least 80% of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lifetime… In a large survey, more than a quarter of adults experienced low back pain in the past 3 months,” according to the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
“Recent studies in people with chronic low back pain suggest that a carefully adapted set of yoga poses may help reduce pain and improve function (the ability to walk and move). Studies also suggest that practicing yoga (as well as other forms of regular exercise) might have other health benefits such as reducing heart rate and blood pressure, and may also help relieve anxiety and depression,” according to a NCCIH article.
Yoga, meaning “unity” in Sanskrit, “unites a mind and body practice,” according to a National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Integrated Health (NCCIH)
Yoga is believed to have originated in the 5th or 6th centuries BCE in India. But it didn’t become popular in the west until the 20th Century. Just twenty years ago, if you practiced yoga, you may have been skeptically regarded as a “hippie” or “a little too new age.” But today, there seems to be a yoga studio on every corner. In fact, it’s become so mainstream, that my physical therapist recommended yoga to me for healing from my particular knee and back surgeries of last year (I’ve been a practicioner for at least ten years), though I adapt poses to my individual needs, per her instructions (and which you should do per your doctor’s instructions).
I recommend yoga or any other mindfulness meditation practices for my clients when changing their lifestyle habits. It is a simple yet powerful tool that can help you transform your health and your life. The mindfulness you can experience with yoga (or other forms of meditation) can help you become more focused and clear, for concentration to be more sustained. It can help you handle emotional situations more effectively by improving decision making and reducing impulsivity, as I relate in my article, “Mindfulness in Eating and Living,” and I describe in my book, “Diet Simple.”
A Natural Remedy for Coughing
- At September 26, 2017
- By Katherine
- In News, Recipes
- 0
The Natural Healer (Photo by the National Honey Board)
I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed a lot of sniffles and coughing going on this season (and unfortunately, that includes me!). Whether it’s from an allergy, a cold, an upper respiratory tract infection, post nasal drip, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), there’s an age-old remedy for coughing that has been recently proven by science to be effective. The ingredient is easily available, and is often a staple in your own kitchen.
What is it? Honey. “An 8,000 year old cave painting in Spain depicts honey harvesting, and we know it’s been used for food, medicine, and more by cultures all over the world since,” according to Ullman’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry.
“Coughing is a protective reflex action triggered by irritation or obstruction of the airwaves,” according to this study in Pediatric Reports. “There is a high prevalance in children and it impacts a child’s ability to sleep, play and eat. It is the largest single cause of primary care doctor visits.”
Honey was found to be more effective than dextromethorphan, found in common over-the-counter cough medicines, according to this study reported in Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. In fact, these results found the medicine was no better than the placebo.
In another study, coughing was reduced and sleep was improved in 2-year-olds with upper respiratory tract infections when they were given 2 teaspoons of honey before bedtime. In the study, honey was as effective as dextromethorphan, according to the Mayo Clinic.
A similar conclusion was found in a review of studies published in Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews, when children aged 1 to 18 were tested.
The World Health Organization identifies honey as a potential treatment for cough.
Honey is an especially good potential remedy for children, as it could be a natural way to avoid overuse of drugs like antibiotics (but check with your doctor first!).
Honey Cough Syrup
1-1/2 Tablespoons Zest of 2 Lemons
1/4 Cup Peeled, Sliced Ginger or 1/2 teaspoon of Ground Ginger
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
In a small saucepan combine lemon zest, sliced ginger ad 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Then strain into a heat-proof measuring cup. Rinse the saucep and and pour in 1 cup of honey. On low heat, warm the honey but don’t allow it to boil. Add the strained lemon ginger water and the lemon juice. Stir the mixture until it combines to form a thick syrup. Pour into a clean jar with a lid. This can be refrigerated for up to 2 months.
* Recipe by the National Honey Board
The Perfect Labor Day Recipe: Katherine’s Salsa Fresca with Watermelon
- At September 01, 2017
- By Katherine
- In News, Recipes
- 0
Katherine’s Spicy Salsa Fresca with Watermelon from “Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook in Seasons!”
Katherine’s Spicy Fresh Salsa with Watermelon
www.KatherineTallmadge.com
excerpted from “Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook in Season!” ($4.95)
Nothing could be a more perfect Labor Day recipe. Featuring the best fruit of the season! It contains all the flavors: sweet, savory, spicy, and salty. I usually use vine-ripe tomatoes for my fresh salsa, excerpted from my book, Diet Simple. But watermelon is a surprising and exotically delicious substitute for all the tomatoes, or just half of them – as in this version. Serve this salsa with grilled salmon, chicken or beef… even tortilla chips… whatever you may traditionally use salsa with.
22 servings
Ingredients:
1 lb vine-ripe, fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped (start with about 1-1/2 lbs)
1 lb chopped watermelon, seeds removed
1 large candy onion, peeled and chopped (about ½ pound)
3 – 4 jalapeno peppers (1 – 2 ounces), to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ tsp salt, or to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 – 4 Tbsp fresh lime juice (1 – 2 limes), optional, or vinegar if you wish for the salsa to last longer in your refrigerator
Add the onion to the tomatoes and watermelon. Finely chop 2 of the jalapeno peppers to start with. Taste. If you desire more heat, add 1 – 2 more jalapenos. Mix in the cilantro. Add the salt and pepper, depending on your taste. Mix in the lime juice, if you wish.
How to Pick the Best Cantaloupe and Delight Your Friends!
- At August 27, 2017
- By Katherine
- In Articles, News
- 0
Katherine Choosing Cantaloupe at the Farmers Market Early in the Morning!
I’m not exaggerating! I think I’ve become the most popular person in the area and I credit it to a new variety of cantaloupe called Flavorburst. I buy them at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market on Sundays from Spring Valley Orchard and Farm in West Virginia. Perfectly sweet, juicy, and velvety in texture. Because of their thin skin, they pack more meat than a huge cantaloupe, and are only $2.00 each. I’ve shared them with neighbors, friends, colleagues, clients, and community organizations.
Flavorburst Cantaloupe from Spring Valley Orchard and Farm in West Virginia (Photo by Elena Lipson)
In fact, I get so many orders for them, I had to buy 20 last week (no one wants to get up early enough on a Sunday morning!). There are still 6 left on my windowsill from a week ago because I’ve perfected how to choose enough to last almost two weeks: ripe, medium ripe and unripe. This is how: An unripe Flavorburst Cantaloupe has a small, green circle at the top. Keep these on your windowsill or kitchen counter until their ripe.
Unripe Flavorburst Cantaloupe – Place on Windowsill Until Ripe
A ripe cantaloupe, on the other hand, develops a larger, yellower circle, with tiny cracks, and smells cantaloupe-y. Slice it, serve and share it immediately, or place it in an airtight baggie in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Ripe Flavorburst Cantaloupe. Slice, Eat, Share or place in frig.
True Food: A Truly Delicious Experience for Healthy Foodies
- At August 22, 2017
- By Katherine
- In Articles, News
- 0
I encourage my clients to explore new and delicous ways of enjoying food. In fact, in my weight loss or lifestyle transformation programs, all favorite food is included. Why? Because “taste” will always be the primary reason we humans are willing to eat something. Good tasting food kept us alive during evolution. Anything that tasted bad might have killed us! We still have that instinct today.
So, if a “diet” or “healthy” dish you’re eating isn’t delicious, or it’s something with which you’re getting bored, you won’t stick with your healthy lifestyle. Eating food that you love is the only sustainable way to live.
This brings me to my client, Noah Arber’s, story, as she told it to me …
“Katherine! I had an incredible dining experience at True Food Kitchen in downtown Bethesda, Maryland – and many other locations – that I think your other clients might want to know about. I believe this restaurant is unique, from the food they serve, to the modern and trendy decor. They not only serve delicious and appealing food, but every item on their menu is made using colorful, fresh, and healthy ingredients. It was so enjoyable, I went back the next day. Not only was there a delicious variety to choose from, but I felt good after my meal, knowing I had put fresh, non-fatty or processed ingredients into my body. Even after trying their fruity sangria and their flourless chocolate cake, I was still down half a pound the next morning!
The first time there, my friend and I started our meal with the “Torched Avocado,” with cucumber noodles, mushrooms, snap peas, radishes, sesame, and turmeric ponzu. Next was the “Shiitake Lettuce Cups,” with tofu, jicama, sambal, thai basil, and cachew. These dishes were beautifully presented and bursting with flavors I had never tasted before – not to mention I was eating fresh, healthy ingredients.
For our entrees, we enjoyed “The Ancient Grains Bowl” with miso glazed sweet potato, turmeric, charred onion, snow peas, grilled portobello, avocado and hemp seeds. The following day, we tried the “Spaghetti Squash Casserole,” with caramerlized onion and fresh mozzarella, and the “T.L.T. Sandwich,” on multigrain toast with smoked tempeh, butter lettuce, tomato, avocado, and vegan mayonnaise. Our side was “Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Salad.”
Needless to say, I enjoyed all the foods I tried. They were some of the most delectable dishes I’ve experienced in the D.C. food scene. I ordered their True Food cookbook, so I can make the recipes at home. I would definitely recommend you tell your friends, family, and especially your clients about it. It was truly a healthy, and most importantly, a deliciously indulgent experience. Who says you can’t eat healthfully and enjoy yourself too?”
Afternoon Delight! Swedish Waffles, Vanilla Bean Yogurt and Fresh Summertime Peaches
- At August 11, 2017
- By Katherine
- In News, Recipes
- 0
Swedish Waffles with Vanilla Bean Yogurt and Fresh Summertime Peaches
When I was growing up, my Swedish mother would make crepes for dinner when my father was away traveling. She’d indulge us (and herself) with some of her simple and delicious treats, one of which was crepes, topped with butter, confectioners’ powdered sugar, whipping cream, and lingonberries (a berry similar to a cranberry but sweeter and smaller). Actually, it was more like a dessert for dinner! Those were the days…
Today, I use this recipe using skim or 1% milk, and the crepe-thin, crispy, eggy waffles are topped with vanilla bean greek yogurt and fresh fruit – whatever’s in season. This spring, it was local Farmers Market strawberries. This time of year, sweet and juicy peaches. Yummy!
I’ve been treating my friends to waffle parties recently. Sometimes they’re a treat for breakfast, sometimes lunch, and sometimes dessert, topped with gelato… They’re loving it! So am I…
Katherine’s Summertime Peach Crisp with Roasted Nuts, Dried Fruit & Ginger
- At August 10, 2017
- By Katherine
- In News, Recipes
- 0
Katherine’s Summertime Peach Crisp with Roasted Nuts, Dried Fruit & Ginger (Photo by Alison Eaves, Washingtonian Magazine)
Katherine’s Summer Peach Crisp with Roasted Nuts, Dried Fruit & Ginger
By Katherine Tallmadge, M.A., R.D.
excerpted from “Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook in Season!” ($4.95)
Serves 12
Filling:
½ Cup Pure Maple Syrup
½ Cup Raisins, Dried Cranberries, or a mix of both
2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Minced Candied or Crystalized Ginger, to taste
2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
3 pounds Seasonal, Ripe Peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
Topping:
1-1/2 Cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
½ Cup Chopped Walnuts, Pecans, Hazelnuts, any favorite Nut – or a mixture**
½ Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour*
½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Walnut Oil, any Nut Oil,** or Canola Oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare filling: In a large bowl, mix the maple syrup, dried fruit, lemon juice, ginger, and flour. Add the peaches and mix well. Pour into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Prepare Topping: Mix the oats, nuts, brown sugar, whole wheat flour, and cinnamon. Add the oil and mix until the topping is moist. Pour over the filling in the baking dish.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crumble is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes until serving
300 calories per serving.
“Katherine’s Summer Peach Crisp with Nuts, Dried Fruits, and Ginger” is adapted from a recipe in “Eating Well” Magazine.
*A whole grain – whole oats and whole wheat flour – has three parts: bran, germ and endosperm. The bran and germ contain fiber, Vitamin E, B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and pantothenic acid) minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, sodium, selenium and iron), protein, essential oils, antioxidants and phytochemicals (plant substances that may protect health). The endosperm contains mostly starch with a little protein and very few nutrients. When a grain is refined, turning whole wheat flour into white flour or brown rice into white rice, only the nutrient-poor endosperm is left. The heart-healthy, cancer-fighting riches found in the bran and germ are lost. Learn more about whole grains…
**Nuts – Every time a new study comes out about nuts – any nut – it’s positive news. Nut eaters around the world have fewer heart attacks, and we know that most of the protective nutrients are in the oil of the nut. While you already know each nut has a different look and flavor, each nut also has its own unique nutritional characteristics. For instance, almonds are the highest in protein and Vitamin E, and the lowest in artery-clogging saturated fat. Walnuts are the only nut with omega-3-fatty acids. Pecans have the highest antioxidant content. Pistachios contain lutein, a compound which may significantly improve eye health. ALL nuts are good for you. My favorite: Italian Hazelnuts!
