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What’s Luscious, Blue, Low In Calories, And Good For You, Too?

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The Magical, Wonderful Blueberry

It is peak blueberry season in the Northeast and I’m ecstatic.  I love blueberries – especially the kind that I’ve been getting at my local farmers’ market:  big, sweet, and almost crunchy when you first bite into them.  That said, I also love wild blueberries – tiny, very dark blue, and sweet – the kind I eat on my visits to Maine.

A Native North American Fruit

The blueberry is a native American species. When the Pilgrims established a settlement at Plymouth In the winter of 1620, their neighbors, the Wampanoag Indians, taught them new skills that helped their survival —  planting corn and using native plants, like blueberries, to supplement their food supply. The colonists learned to gather the berries, dry them in the sun, and store them for winter. Blueberries eventually became an important food that was preserved and canned. A blueberry beverage was a staple for Civil War Soldiers.

A Nutritional Superstar

A one cup serving of blueberries has about 80 calories and virtually no fat.  Blueberries rank first in antioxidant activity when compared to forty other common fruits and vegetables. Concord grape juice ranks second with about two thirds of blueberries’ antioxidant activity followed by strawberries, kale, and spinach.

Antioxidants help neutralize harmful byproducts called “free radicals” that can be precursors of cancer and other age related diseases.  Anthocyanins (the pigment that makes blueberries blue) are thought to be the reason for this health benefit.

Blueberry Buckle:  Not A Crisp, Betty, Or Cobbler!

I was looking for something easy to make that would taste good, not have an overwhelming calorie/fat count, and appeal to both adults and children.  Out came my mini-book:  How To Make Simple Fruit Desserts from the Cook’s Illustrated Library.  The crisps, betties, and cobblers all sounded great but mostly had more steps than I wanted to take.  I hit the buckle description – and it’s minimal steps — on page 68 of the 96 page book.

What Is A Buckle?

Hint:  it doesn’t secure what goes around your waist, but can cause an increase in its circumference.  According to the “buckle” chapter, traditional buckles are just yellow cake batter with fruit folded in and streusel sprinkled on top.  This recipe uses more fruit, less batter, and no streusel.  The butter is not part of the batter, but melted in the pan while the oven preheats.  The batter is added and the butter surfaces to form a thin, crisp top.

I adjusted the recipe to my liking:  less butter and sugar, more fruit, and some cinnamon and ginger added to the batter because I like those flavors with blueberries.  The decreased fat and sugar also decreases the calories.  You could try using brown sugar Splenda mix to cut down the calories even more.  I chose not to do that because I was serving children as well as adults and prefer not to offer kids artificially sweetened foods.  Although I violated the rules of precise measurement that bakers often adhere to, the dessert was a huge success with very little effort.  Really, how can you mess up blueberries? Even a self-professed blueberry hating 4 year old decided that her dessert wasn’t really blueberries anymore and cleaned her plate!

The Buckle Recipe:

The master recipe:

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup milk
  • 2 cups sliced stone fruits or berries

Master Instructions:

  • Put oven rack in lower middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Put butter (I used ¼ less) in 8 inch square or 9 inch round pan and set in oven to melt.
  • Whisk flour, ¾ cup sugar (I used ¼ less), baking powder, and salt in bowl.  Add milk and whisk until just incorporated.
  • When butter is melted, remove pan and pour batter into it without stirring it into the butter.  Put fruit over batter (I used ¼ more fruit) and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar (I didn’t do this).
  • Bake until batter turns golden brown, about 40 to 50 minutes.
  • Serve warm.

SocialDieter Tip:

A blueberry buckle is an absolutely delicious one cooking bowl dessert with an acceptable calorie count and a high “good-for-you” dessert value.

You could really beef it up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Then again you could also be totally virtuous and eat just a plain bowl of berries.  Great nutrition  — but then the 4 year old self-professed blueberry hater wouldn’t have had dessert plus seconds!

Eating In Tuscany: Panzanella

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A Tuscan Specialty:  Bread And Tomato Salad

Rustic dishes often withstand the test of time — usually because they are easy, make use of local ingredients, and they’re good.   Recipes for the same dish are usually not identical – they are adjusted for the hand that makes them and the tongues that eat them — but they consistently have at least one common central ingredient.  They are dishes that are usually the result of necessity – the local crop, hard winters, what the land and surrounding environment yield, how they stand up to cooking and/or lack of refrigeration.  In most cases they are peasant dishes:  frugal, hearty, and delicious.

Panzanella is a bread and tomato salad (with some other ingredients) that is popular in Tuscany, other regions of Italy, and other parts of the world where the main ingredients:  crusty bread, tomatoes, olive oil, onions, basil – are commonplace.  Typically, the bread is two day to a week old unsalted Tuscan bread – originally, and still, a great way to make use of hard-as-a-rock leftover bread and extra tomatoes, with very tasty results.

In The Bar-Ucci Kitchen With Paola

When I was standing in the little café near our rented villa in Tuscany, I started up an interesting mixed Italian/English conversation with, Paola, the very amiable café owner of Bar-Ucci, the café/wine bar in the village square.  She speaks Italian, I speak English, and much to my surprise, I found myself thinking in Greek (still don’t have an explanation for that).  She being Italian, and me, Greek, it is safe to say that a whole lot of communication was through waving of the hands and facial expression.  We understood each other with no problem.

She invited me into the tiny kitchen behind the café to watch the morning preparation of Panzanella.

Some Leftover Crusty Bread, Ripe Tomatoes, Luscious Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Bright Green Basil, Onions, And A Few More Ingredients . . .

Even though Panzanella is a very rustic dish, it is essential that all of the ingredients be of the best quality. The bread is stale, but if it is supermarket, spongy, and pale, it ends up as a soggy and yucky mess. Lacking access to unsalted Tuscan loaves you can use any good quality crusty loaf. I happen to love olives in any way shape or form, so I’m itching to try combining kalamata olive bread mixed with another crusty variety.

Use the ripest, juiciest tomatoes, the freshest basil, and the best quality extra virgin olive oil available. As with the farro salad I have already written about, Paola, with waving hands punctuating her point, emphasized that extra virgin olive oil was the most important ingredient.  Easy to say when you live surrounded by olive trees with a gigantic olive press housed in a medieval stone building just across the square.  To her, the fabulous bread, vine ripened tomatoes, and awesome bright green basil are not luxury foods – they’re simply the components of breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The only thing that I found really different, and that I don’t love (because I go for crunchy and chewy), is that she soaked her bread in water first, squeezed out any excess drop she could, discarded the center, then tore the crust into pieces. Other recipes just use torn stale bread, without soaking, or even oven toasted bread or torn bread pan fried in olive oil.

You Can Make It A Dinner Salad, Too

Panzanella is totally accepting of a whole array of extra ingredients. With the addition of some protein, it can be a fantastic summer dinner salad.

I have made panzanella before, and I love to add tuna and some crumbled blue cheese or feta along with tomatoes and basil from my garden.  For anyone looking for a way to use up the end of season overflow of tomatoes, this is an ideal way to do it.

Some people also add hard boiled eggs, celery, anchovies, hard cheese, and capers, to name a few possibilities.  As long as you stick to the basics of bread, tomatoes, onion, basil, salt, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil, add whatever you like (you can even leave out the onions if you want – although I personally consider that heresy!).  It’ll taste great and on top of it all, be a healthy, nutritious meal.

Paola’s Panzanella:  No measurements, just eyeballed

  • Crusty bread soaked in water
  • Chopped,cored, seeded tomatoes
  • Cucumber, halved, sliced, seeded
  • Thinly sliced red onion
  • Basil, torn into pieces
  • Salt, pepper, wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil

Remove bread from water, discard inside, squeeze out as much water as possible, tear crust into pieces and put in a big bowl

Add tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions to taste

Add salt, pepper, oil to taste

Refrigerate for one hour

Adjust seasonings, if necessary, before serving

Heap into a serving bowl or on a plate and garnish with basil leaves

Check out other Panzanella recipes at:

Epicurious

Alton Brown, Good Eats, Food Network

Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, Food Network

Eating In Tuscany: A Recipe For Farro Salad

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My Tuscan Eating Adventures (Part 1, Farro)
My photos taken outside the cafe and during preparation of the farro salad.
I had the rare pleasure of spending last week in the village of Volpaia, Italy, resident population of 52, a picturesque fortified medieval hamlet in the Chianti Classico wine district. High on a hilltop just north of the town of Radda in Chianti, Volpaia was built in the 11th century as a fortified village on the Florence-Siena border. It is a terra murata, or a walled village, with part of the original protective walls and two of its six towers still standing.

In the middle of the tiny village square, just opposite the restored church, is a charming little café/wine shop/food shop run by a happy woman with a booming voice and matching personality.  The minute she learned I was very interested in the food she served, particularly her panzanella (bread salad) and her farro salad, she invited me into her small kitchen to watch the daily preparation of both.

Just as I learned to cook from my Greek, diner owner, short-order cook and dinner preparing father, she measured nothing, eyeballed proportions,  tasted everything, and used seasonal vegetables and regional products almost exclusively.

Only Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil

As I watched each salad being assembled, I was told repeatedly (and forcefully) that the most important ingredient is extra virgin olive oil.  Believe me, even when you grow up with olive oil as a staple, as I did, at ten in the morning when the booming voice repeats this as every ingredient is added, it makes an impression.  Of course, when you are in a village that has olive trees everywhere – encasing the vineyards, along every road interspersed with cypress tress, and grown in pots in front of homes and the café – with the vineyard’s very own olive press residing in  the medieval building across the way – using a generous (really generous) amount of the truly organic first pressed, intense, flavorful, and deep green, is both a cinch and a way of life.

Farro:  A Nutritious And Versatile Grain

The café’s farro salad was extremely fresh and delicious.  A little research shows that farro (FAHR-oh) is not wheat, but a plant and grain all its own that looks like light brown rice and has a nutty taste. It is lighter than other whole grains and contains a starch similar to Arborio rice (which is why it can be used in risottos).

Farro, a nutritious whole grain, sometimes referred to as spelt (which is really more like a close cousin), is rich in fiber, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C and E; easily digested; and low in gluten. A serving size, ½ cup cooked (4 oz), has 100 calories, 1g fat, 26g carbs (3.5g fiber), and 4g protein.

Farro has history – it’s the original grain that fed the Mediterranean and Near Eastern populations for thousands of years and was the standard ration that fueled the Roman legions that marched through Italy.

A Healthy and Nutritious Whole Grain

For centuries, farro has been a mainstay of Tuscany, a region in northeastern Italy. Because farro is not an easy grain to grow and can produce low yields, farmers in the Mediterranean switched to grains that had higher yields.  However, with an increased interest in whole grains, farro is making a comeback helped by inventive chefs who are adding it to salads, soups, and meat entrees. With a  husk that adheres to the grain,  faro is high in fiber, vitamin B, and protein. Tuscans often combine it with legumes making it a complete protein meal.

Cooking Farro

Farro (botanical name, triticum dicoccum) is easy to prepare and can be found in Mediterranean groceries, specialty and whole food stores.  Check the package directions because some farros may need presoaking. It doubles in volume when cooked and keeps for 3 to 4 days, covered, in the refrigerator.

There’s a lot of leeway with cooking time, but when it is boiled it should be tender but still have some firmness in its center. People have a preference for the level of chewiness or mushiness of their farro and cook it accordingly. Most recipes call for cooking it anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes.  It can be eaten hot or at room temperature, as a salad, side dish, cereal, or added to soup.  It continues to absorb liquids even when taken off the heat, so it can really plump. It’s darn hard to overcook it.

Volpaia Salad de faro

This is the recipe from the café in Volpaia.  No measurements – everything to taste.  They put the farro in cold water, boil it for 15 minutes, rinse it in cold water, and then let it cool to room temperature before adding the other ingredients.

Ingredients

Spelt (farro)

Tomatoes, cored, seeded, chopped

Celery

Onion

Mozarella

Salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil

Fresh basil for garnish

  • Put farro in cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes
  • Drain and rinse in cold water
  • Mix in tomatoes, celery, onion, mozzarella
  • Add salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Mix and refrigerate
  • Adjust seasonings before serving

Tip:

Farro makes a great nutritious and filling salad.  Think about adding other proteins: chicken, tuna, hard boiled eggs, for a main dish salad.  In cooler weather use it for risotto or a pilaf or add it to soups as you would barley or rice.

Stay tuned for more Tuscan eating adventures and photographs, including my morning spent in a Tuscan cooking class and lunch at the home of the chef and owner of the Volpaia vineyards.  So good!

Calorie Saving Ice Cream Toppings

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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a good old ice cream sundae.

As far as I’m concerned – and I’m far from an ice cream purist – my favorite thing is the stuff you can put on top of ice cream.  The mixture of the topping and the ice cream – or frozen yogurt – is what makes it!

So Many Toppings

You can put just about anything on ice cream.  I’m not suggesting broccoli or smoked salmon, but my guess is that some inventive person, somewhere in the world, has incorporated flavors or put flavors on top of ice cream that we normally wouldn’t even dream of.

Toppings Can Add A Mountain Of Calories

The standard fare:  hot fudge, whipped cream, peanuts, walnuts in syrup, crushed heath bar, caramel sauce – can all add hundreds of calories to your sundae.  For instance:

  • Smucker’s Spoonable Hot Fudge Topping:  2tbsp, 39g, 140 calories, 4g fat, 24g carbs, 2g protein
  • Smucker’s Spoonable Ice Cream Topping Pecans in Syrup Topping:  1tbsp, 36g, 170 calories, 10g fat, 20g carbs, 1g protein
  • Regular Redi Whip:  2tbsp, 20 calories, 2g fat, 1g carbs
  • Cool Whip, extra creamy:  2tbsp, 32 calories
  • Regular m&m’s:  10 pieces, 20g, 103 calories, 5.2g fat, 12.1g carbs, 1.9g protein
  • Peanut m&m’s:  about 16 pieces, 38.8g, 200 calorie, 10.15g fat, 23.48g carbs, 3.72g protein
  • Peanuts (1oz): 160 calories, 14g fat, 5g carbs, 7g protein

Some Stand-bys Are Lower In Calories

Some favorites are lower (not necessarily low) in calories, like:

  • Rainbow Sprinkles (Mr. Sprinkles):  Serving Size: 1 tsp (4g); Calories: 20, Total Fat: 0.5g, Carbs: 3g, Protein: 0g
  • Chocolate Sprinkles (jimmies):  Serving Size: 1 tbsp.; Calories: 35, Total Fat: 0g, Carbs: 6g, Protein: 0g
  • Smucker’s Spoonable Ice Cream Topping Light Hot Fudge, Fat Free:  2 tablespoons (39g), 90 calories, 23g carbs, 2g protein
  • 10 mini marshmallows:  22 calories, 0 fat, 5.7g carbs, .1g protein
  • 18 gummi bears (40g): 140 calories, 0 fat, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein

Think Outside The Box For Lower Calorie Choices

The world is your oyster in terms of toppings.  Why not fruit, cereal, or an already counted for you, crushed up 100 calorie pack of anything? Here are some other suggestions:

  • Smucker’s Spoonable Pineapple Topping:  2 tbsp, 40g, 100 calories, 0g fat
  • Regular Redi Whip:  2tbsp, 20 calories, 2g fat, 1g carbs
  • Fat Free Redi Whip:  2 tbsp, 5g, 5 calories, 0g fat, 1g carbs
  • Cool whip, light:  2tbsp, 16 calories
  • Cool Whip, fat-free:  2tbsp, 15 calories, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein
  • 1 mini box of raisins (.5 oz):  42 calories, 0.1g fat, 11.1g carbs, 0.4g protein
  • One medium banana: 105 calories, 0 fat, 27g carbs, 1g protein
  • One cup strawberry halves: 49 calories, o.5g fat, 11.7g carbs, 1g protein
  • Sugar-free Jello puddings:  60 calories
  • One cup of Froot Loops:  118 calories, o.6g fat, 26.7g carbs, 1.4g protein
  • One cup of blueberries:  83 calories,  0.5g fat, 21g carbs, 1.1g protein
  • Crushed pretzel sticks, 1 oz:  110 calories, 1g fat, 23g carbs, 3g protein

SocialDieter Tip:

Get creative with your toppings.  You can have taste, nutrition, and caloric bargains if you think beyond the standard toppings (although sprinkles are a lot of bang for the caloric buck but low on the nutritional scale).  The other important thing is to watch the portion size of the ice cream or frozen yogurt under the wonderful topping(s) – and try low fat, sugar free, fat free, slow churned ice creams and frozen yogurts and the many wonderful flavors of sorbet.

What Kind Of Water Are You Drinking?

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Water, Water Everywhere

It’s getting very warm outside where I live and I see tons of people walking, running, or riding bikes with all kinds of water bottles and holders hanging off of them.

Water is great.  It’s the main chemical component in your body and accounts for about 60% of your weight. Your body depends on water to do things like flush toxins out of your vital organs, carry nutrients to your cells, and supply a nice moist environment for your ears, nose, and throat.

How Much Should You Drink?

Eight glasses, ten glasses — how much?  According to the Institute of Medicine, men should drink around 3 liters (about 13 cups) of fluids a day and women should drink 2.2 liters (about 9 cups).

What you eat can supply a significant portion of those fluids. Food supplies, on average, about 20% of your total water intake. For instance, fruit and vegetables, like watermelon and tomatoes, are 90% or more water by weight.

Drinks like juice and milk are contain mostly water. Beer, wine, soda, coffee, and tea also contribute. Your best bet is water because it’s cheap, calorie free, and available.

Bottled Or Tap?

One of the first questions you often hear in a restaurant is:  “Bottle or tap”?  The answer is not as straight forward as it might seem.  According to CSPI’s Nutrition Action Healthletter (6/10):

  • Theoretically, purified bottled water can be safer than tap because bottled water companies start with tap water that meets federal standards and then often treat it with UV light or ozone for additional disinfection and/or with reverse osmosis to remove chemicals.
  • Tap water is just that – out of the tap, not from plastic landfill clogging bottles.
  • The EPA regulates tap water and requires utilities to let consumers know when their water doesn’t meet standards.
  • The FDA regulates bottled water and doesn’t require bottlers to notify consumers if water standards are not met.
  • Tap water is free or pretty cheap.

Types Of Bottled Water:  The Plain Stuff

The FDA requires the type of bottled water to be shown on its label.

Spring Water is from an underground formation that flows naturally to the earth’s surface and is collected only at the spring or from the underground formation that feeds the spring.

Purified Water is produced by distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other processes. It’s also called “distilled water,” deionized water,” or “reverse osmosis water.”

Mineral Water has specific proportions of mineral and trace elements when it emerges from its source. No minerals can be added.

Sparkling Bottled Water has the same amount of carbon dioxide in it that it had at its source. Sparkling bottled water can be labeled “sparkling mineral water,” “sparkling spring water,” etc.

Artesian Water/Artesian Well Water comes from a well that taps a confined aquifer (a water-bearing underground layer of rock or sand).

Well Water comes from a hole bored or drilled in the ground that taps a water aquifer.

Socialdieter Tip:

The choice is yours. Just be sure to drink an adequate amount of good, clean water and please try not to clog the landfills with plastic.  I put some fresh mint from my garden into a pitcher of water in the fridge.  Really refreshing.  It’s a good idea to periodically check the potability of your water, especially if your water is supplied by a well.  Mine is and when the seal on my well cap eroded the well got contaminated and had to be disinfected.  Even my dog was drank bottled water for a couple of weeks.  Municipalities often issue “boil water” alerts when their water sources show high bacterial contamination.  Please don”t ignore these warnings – they are to protect you.