We can’t live on bread alone. Now we learn those of us happily living on bread-heavy diets supplemented with multivitamin tablets aren’t getting away with anything. Several big sample studies show vitamin pills may not simply be useless, they might actually be out to get us.
Silver linings abound for the optimistic. Vitamin-rich foods are out there ripe for the plucking and easy cooking – and baking. The NY Times ran a great column listing 11 such nourishing foods most have ignored. The belle of this bunch is pumpkin. You need to be eating more of it.
Pumpkins pack vitamin-A-convertin’ beta-carotenes that beef up your immune system. The orange flesh also carries heaping helpings of potassium and vitamin C, helpful in keeping your blood pressure low and your ticker free from disease. Pumpkin’s high in fiber, got no fat and counts as a low-calorie food.
We do our pumpkin old-school style. Line a baking sheet, set your whole pumpkin in the center and stab the pumpkin several times with a knife. Then slide the wounded pumpkin into an oven at 350 for one hour. By hour’s end the pumpkin will be tender and oozing with flavor. You can then slice the pumpkin and season the tender flesh at will.
Stalk the Irvine Farmers Market and you’ll find a whole range of pumpkins (or squashes), from the standard and sweet Sugar pumpkin to the fanciful Rouge Vif d'Estampes (a.k.a. the Cinderella pumpkin).
Worst case scenario, buy canned pumpkin. Canned pumpkin is easy to buy, store and serve. Heat it up straight from the can with salt and pepper, butter, maple syrup or any way your heart desires. It’s a dandy of a side dish -- a happy substitution for artery-clogging mashed potatoes. Team it up with cinnamon (another NY Times unsung hero food) for bonus points. Cinnamon may help regulate blood sugar and your cholesterol. Studies have also shown the smell of cinnamon makes people happy and conjures feelings of security (realtors know this and have used the old cinnamon scent to sell houses for years).
-- The Yam
1 comment:
Wow! I never knew pumpkin had such high nutritional value. I'm a big fan of pumpkin pie, and I love the idea of just throwing it in the oven and then seasoning the finished product with my favorite pie ingredients. Mmm...can't wait to try it at home!
Post a Comment