Dana Jacobi - The Superfoods Cookbook: Nutritious Meals For Any Time of Day Using Natures Healthiest Foods

Dana Jacobi

PHOTOGRAPHS
Erin Kunkel

The way I like to eat is easy and intuitive. Put simply, it means focusing on plant-based meals that are delicious and creative as well as wholesome. The foundation for the recipes in this book is a Mediterranean-style diet emphasizing fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Some recipes add poultry, fish, or meat for heartiness and additional protein. I also believe in using healthy fats, flavorful and low-fat dairy foods, plus herbs and spices to give dishes bold flavors. I love using nuts and seeds to enhance dishes.

The recipes in this book feature short ingredient lists and sensible prep times. In some dishes, a combination may be unexpected or it gives a simple ethnic twist to healthful ingredients, as in Sicilian-Style Shrimp with Cauliflower and Almonds, North AfricanStyle Bulgur and Grilled Vegetable Salad, and Indian Spiced Roasted Beets. Other recipes make healthy versions of favorites such as Three-Berry Cobbler, and Huevos Rancheros.

Sharing good times is also part of well-being, so this is food that brings people together with pleasure. For me, this is as important as eating less meat and using ingredients rich in antioxidants. Good eating also means enjoying varietya bit of everything in moderationrather than following strict rules for what you should eat and what to avoid.

What is good for you can also be good for the planet and your community, so I support buying from local farmers and producers, including those who treat livestock humanely. I point out where organic produce may be desirable and share recommendations from the Environmental Defense Fund. All the seafood choices meet sustainability standards used by Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch.

I hope that this book ends up a dog-eared kitchen companion, a source of helpful, health-supporting information, and that its dishes become favorites that your family and friends look forward to sharing.

Brassicas are loaded with vitamins C, A, beta-carotene, and minerals. Sulfur compounds that neutralize carcinogens contribute to their strong taste. Eating just an ounce a day of crucifers can significantly lower cancer risk.

Loaded with calcium and potassium as well as vitamin A and beta-carotene, this mild-flavored Asian cabbage is good thinly sliced and added raw to salads as well as stir-fried. Separate the creamy, crisp stems to cook first, then add the dark green leaves. Baby bok choy is lower in nutrients.

Broccoli contains potent substances that help your body neutralize and get rid of cancer-causing toxins. Most of its goodness is in the florets, especially those with a bluish or purple cast. Whirl in some florets while making pesto for a nutrient boost.

You get 4 grams of protein, along with vitamins A, C, and folate, plus a generous amount of carotenoids in one cup of cooked brussels sprouts. So they cook evenly, select ones that are equal in size. Saut them, quartered lengthwise or sliced, with garlic in olive oil or broth until tender-crisp.

Green cabbage gives you lots of folate, fiber, beta-carotene, and vitamin C, while red cabbage provides twice as much vitamin C. Its red color comes from antioxidants that protect against disease-causing free radicals. When cut, cabbage quickly loses nutrients. Cooking it al dente keeps its sweet taste.

White, green, and purple cauliflower all give you vitamins B5, B6, C, and folate, along with manganese essential for peak brain function and proper sugar metabolism. Serve this versatile crucifer in soups and stews; mashed, pured, roasted, or steamed; or raw in crudits and salads. Heads should be firm, with no soft or brown spots on the curd.

Napa cabbage, with its light green crinkly leaves, is an excellent source of folate and has nutrients strongly linked to cancer prevention. It is more flexible and less dense than regular green cabbage, so it can be used as a wrapper as you might a tortilla, and is especially good for Asian-style fillings.

The strong flavor and deep color of these leafy greens means that they offer big health benefits. All are rich in carotenes and carotenoids. Cruciferous greens also contain important sulfur compounds.

Use the leaves, florets, and all but the toughest part of this leafy green that is rich in beta-carotene. Boiling softens the bitter flavor of this crucifer as does the addition of a touch of lemon juice or vinegar in the dish.

A top source of heart-protective folate, carotenoids, iron, and bone-strengthening vitamin K, spinach is wildly versatile. Spinach can replace lettuce on a sandwich, or be mixed into meatloaf.

There are two types of mustard greens. The first has sharp-tasting, big, ruffled leaves, which are second only to collards in calcium content. These are best braised. The second kind, milder-tasting Asian varieties, have smaller leaves, rich in carotenes, that are tender enough to stir-fry.

Among crucifers, kale beats broccoli in beta-carotene and carotenoid content as well as in vitamin A and calcium. There are many types of kale. More tender types can be used for salads and all can be quickly and lightly braised in broth or wine for an easy and healthful side dish.

Cook the shiny leaves and creamy, wide stems of Swiss chard separately to enjoy its earthy, tender, carotene-rich leaves plus mild-tasting fiber-rich crunch. The leaves cook like spinach, and the stems may be braised, or boiled and then sauted. Ruby and rainbow chard stems may be too tough to eat.

This soul food contains as much calcium in a serving as a glass of milk. It is also a powerhouse combination of sulfur compounds. For the sweetest flavor, steam or blanch the shredded leaves, then saut or braise them with garlic or bacon.

The most appealing salads include an assortment of greens. Using a variety makes salads healthier, too. Eating two cups of salad a day is a sure way to get good amounts of folate, vitamins A, C, and K, carotenes, minerals, and an array of the phytonutrients we need to stay healthy.