The Sweet Beet2013-05-18T07:34:48-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=the-sweet-beetCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for The Sweet BeetGood old fashioned elbow grease.The Wheat That Is Not a Wheattag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10660262011-11-02T09:32:55-04:002012-01-02T05:12:01-05:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/
It doesn't contain gluten in part because it's not a cereal grain -- it's a seed that's related to rhubarb. It's gritty and nutty and your mouth registers "healthy" the moment it sets foot inside. Even the color of the flour (an earthy brown) says "good for you" like no other.
It's been popular for a long time in cold regions such as Northern France -- Brittany (savory buckwheat crepes are their speciality), Russia (the little pancakes known as blinis were traditionally made with buckwheat), and Northern China -- later introduced to Japan, (soba noodles).
Advantages Over Whole Wheat
No gluten
Complete protein (This means that it contains all nine essential amino acids. Animal products are "complete" but it's rare for vegetable products to be. Wheat flour for example is lacking the amino acid lysine which buckwheat contains.)
Tastes great (nutty and earthy)
More filling (This may be a plus or minus depending what you're going for.)
Disadvantages Over Whole Wheat
Drier and heavier (because there's no gluten) so it's often combined with other flour when baking. (If you're buying buckwheat pancake mix, check the ingredients to be sure wheat flour has not been added -- same with soba noodles.)
Spoils easily (because it has double the oil content of wheat flour) so keep it in the fridge or freezer.
These days it's no longer relegated to the health-food shops -- it's likely your local supermarket carries it, so grab a bag and get to know this deliciously gluten-free "grain."
For the crepe recipe shown in the image, click here.
"Cooking is the only craft that relies on all five senses. The only way to become a great cook is to use them all." Gail Simmons, judge on Top Chef joins us for an interview and shares her insights on cooking and ketchup.
What helpful home-cooking tips can you pass on to us?
Read the recipe thoroughly then pull out the ingredients and plan out the prep before you begin to cook (called "mise en place"). Actually measure them out so when you're cooking you can use the "reach and dump" approach. This is a far easier and more reliable way to cook.
Taste your food as you go and season as you go. It's much easier to correct a dish when you're half way though than when you're done.
Trust your instincts. There is a reason why you never see a measurement for salt and pepper in a recipe - no one can tell you how much you need. Cooking is the only craft that relies on all five senses. Use them all!
You're exposed to a lot of food trends - are there any you're getting tired of?
This is one that I'm not really tired of, I just think that some cities (including NYC) don't do it very well (compared to say Austin, Texas) and that's food trucks. In Austin there is literally a perma food truck "park" . There's an egg truck called "The Local Yolk" with various flavors of deviled eggs, and "Pig Vicious" with pork belly sandwiches!
Any trends you're seeing that might be on verge of becoming big?
I'm seeing a lot of people attempt the curing and brining of their own meats. For example, people making their own beef jerkey. It's small scale now, but it's growing.
Speaking of preparing foods are there any small-scale packaged foods you've fallen in love with recently?
Yes! Two....
Sir Kensington "ketchup": It's thicker than normal ketchup and has a hint of salsa but it's smooth. (Sidebar from Michelle: Another vote for Sir Kensington! It was served at two restos in NYC where I ate, The Little Owl and The Fat Radish. It was so delicious, that after the burger was gone, I spooned the remaining ketchup out of the tiny bowl it came in and ate it. It's now available at some Whole Foods and Williams Sonoma. It comes in Classic and Spiced - go for the Spiced, which is not too spicey and buy two.)
Red Boat fish sauce: Many people are turned off by the idea of fish sauce, but when used sparingly it's genius. Red Boat is an exceptional brand from Vietnam - add to salad dressing or dipping sauce or as one chef taught me, put a drop in your risotto and you will need less cheese to get the same rich flavor. It adds a deep umami flavor. (Sidebar from Michelle: It now has its own Facebook page and is available on Amazon.)
You've tasted literally thousands of dishes on Top Chef, is there one that stands out above all others?
That would have to be the Fried Banana Fritters with Sriracha. (A Thai hot sauce that's ubiquitous and comes in a clear plastic bottle with a green plastic top). It was so good I still crave it.
Most common mistakes that you see the chefs make on the show...
It almost always it has to do with them not tasting their food (due to the enormous stress and time pressure). There's also the issue of under and over seasoning, and poor "balance". Balance is key in cooking - you want a little acid, a little sweet, a little savory - the flavors should be harmonious.
Is all the access to food content making us better cooks or is it simply entertainment?
I can't say it's making people better cooks, but it is opening up the conversation and making us more aware of food. The basic language and knowledge has been greatly elevated because of the access too food content. It's also opened up food and cooking to new audiences. There are now seven year olds that want to be chefs! But food as entertainment has been with us for a long time - in the 60's Julia Childs was cooking on TV. Like baseball, food will never go out of style; we will always need to eat and we will always find it entertaining. I think of food TV this way - all the fun and none of the calories.
Food politics is a common source of discussion these days, Tom Collicchio (your fellow judge and the first chef at Gramercy Tavern in NYC) was criticized on the show for serving corn fed beef (as apposed to grass fed) at his high-end restaurant Craft in Los Vegas .... what can you say about this?
First and foremost, you have to remember that restaurants are businesses and they have to stay in business. And though everyone thinks they want grass fed beef, most people actually prefer the taste of corn fed - it is less dry, more marbled, and less gamey, not to mention much less expensive than grass fed.
In general, do you think high profile chefs have any ethical/political responsibility when it comes to the food they serve?
There's not a single chef I know of that does not think about the politics of the food they're serving. Some have taken on sustainability in a very major way (for example Dan Barber) while others are involved in other facets of food issues. Tom Collicchio is very focused on hunger and recently made a documentary called "Hungry in America". I personally am on the board of City Harvest.
You often have judges that are not from the cooking world - any that stand out as incredibly fun to have had at the judge's table?
Adrock from the Beastie Boys - the band actually has a long history of rapping about food. They have over a 100 songs with food references.
Ok, final question, who would be your absolute dream as a guest judge on Top Chef?
Amy Sedaris - she is one of funniest people I know AND a great cook.
Your turn. Whether you watch Top Chef or not, we are now able to gorge ourselves with food content - it's the all-you-can-eat buffet that never closes. Is there too much? Want more of some stuff that we don't get enough of? Has it made you care more about food? Eat better? Cook better?
Michelle Madden is the creator of the award-nominated food blog, The Sweet Beet(nominations include a Webby and Saveur.com's top food blog). On her funny, engaging but highly informative blog, she shares tips and tricks for eating healthy along with original recipes. You can find her at www.thesweetbeet.com
]]>Which Food Trends Are Rising, Which Are Fallingtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9206472011-08-11T12:20:12-04:002011-10-11T05:12:01-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/
It seems that in the past there was always one dominant food trend at any one time - the no fat/high carb trend of the early 90's, the high fat/no carb trend (aka Atkins) of the late 90's. But these days there are multiple movements, all vying for your membership, some are even complete opposites - think Vegan and Paleo.
Here's my take on twelve trends and whether they're Falling, Rising or Flat ... Your view?
Enter to win a case of Greek yogurt from Chobani, by signing up for emailed posts of the food blog, The Sweet Beet! Click here to learn how to win.
Michelle Madden is the creator of the award-nominated food blog, The Sweet Beet(nominations include a Webby and Saveur.com's top food blog). On her funny, engaging but highly informative blog, she shares tips and tricks for eating healthy along with original recipes. You can find her at www.thesweetbeet.com]]>Winner Of 'Top Chef Masters' Floyd Cardoz Reveals His Favorite Restauranttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9166162011-08-04T16:42:06-04:002011-10-04T05:12:02-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/Floyd Cardoz just won Top Chef Masters, so he knows a thing or two about cooking. In this interview, he shares how to get more flavor out of spices, which spices he buys at Costco, which food trends he's sick of and who he really wants to have cook for him.
Curry is not a spice, but a sauce. Right?
It's a blend of spices with a choice of hundreds, and then made into a sauce. We're most familiar with "madras curry", a blend of cumin, coriander, turmeric and fenugreek. But curry can be green, white, brown, orange, yellow or pink and they can all taste very different.
You recommend not buying pre-made curry powder, but given that this is what 90% of us home chefs do, what do you recommend?
Buy the individual spices and blend them as needed (with a coffee grinder). It gives you more flexibility to make different blends and will be much more flavorful/fresher. It's the oil in spice that gives flavor and oils are not very stable.
When is it time to throw a jar of spices out? Three years?
Six months max - especially if it's a powder. By one year, at least half the flavor is gone (remember you have no idea how long it may have been on the store shelf!). Keeping spices near the stove also adds to their decline because heat destroys oils.
Which spices are worth spending money on and which ones can you buy at Costco?
What's important is not price, but freshness ie. store turnover. Costco has high turnover so many of their spices are great. I buy black pepper at Costco all the time. I also buy all my olive oil from them!
Most unlikely spice and food combo you've created
Watermelon and chile - sprinkle a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and eat it as an appetizer.
How do you cook differently when you're feeding diners versus feeding yourself?
I don't. When I cook, I want to be happy with what's on the plate. For example, I hate cream so I don't use cream for my guests and I don't use cream for myself.
Ever peak at other's cookbooks when you run out of ideas?
I don't follow recipes, but if I'm trying something I've never done before I'll open a book to see how it's done. I like Rick Bayless' book for understanding techniques of Mexican cuisine.
Your can't-live-without utensils...
My zester/grater - it's just an old fashioned zester, not a fancy microplane. I love my Oxo peeler and I love my rubber spatula.
Favorite meal ever
Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. I had a seafood dish that was like a plate of jewels.
You've eaten the food of every great chef in the world. Is there anyone that you would like have prepare you a meal that hasn't?
Eli and Peyton Manning. I would love to have them cook me something from Loiusiana...
Ha! Do they know this?
No. I tried shouting it once at the Giants stadium, but there were a lot of other people shouting so I don't think Eli heard.
What food trends would you not miss if they were to end?
Foams, gelling agents .... distorting and overly manipulating food. What's wrong with an egg, looking like an egg and tasting like an egg?
Any trends you predict?
Goat. I think more people should, and will, start eating it. Goats are easy to raise, it's a healthy meat, it's light, it's delicious.
Any crazy restaurant fantasies?
My dream is to have a small restaurant 14 feet long, one menu. You come in, you eat what the chef's created and he serves it to you. That's it.
So I have to ask: reality TV - why are we obsessed with watching other people cook?
I think it's actually a good thing, since it inspires us. What I don't like though is extreme food shows - Extreme Chef or Man vs. Food. To act like it's cool to eat 10 bs of food in one sitting is totally disrespectful of food. I think we should focus on educational, passionate cooking, not destructive eating and cooking.
Thank you Floyd! Let me know how Eli and Peyton's performance is in the kitchen ...
Michelle Madden is the creator of the award-nominated food blog, The Sweet Beet(nominations include a Webby and Saveur.com's top food blog). On her funny, engaging but highly informative blog, she shares tips and tricks for eating well along with original recipes. Find her at www.thesweetbeet.com ]]>Beyond The Omelet: 6 Ways to Break The Egg Routinetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8782492011-06-22T17:31:48-04:002011-08-22T05:12:02-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/
As experimental as I pride myself on being the kitchen, there's one thing I never vary - eggs in the morning. I went through my bagel phase, my three cereal combo phase, oatmeal, smoothies, and yogurt, but eggs just work for me, and perform far better than any other food at ensuring I'll keep my hands out of the office snack baskets.
But it means that if I don't vary them, I not only get tired of them, but I stop really tasting what I'm eating and I'm a big believer that when we stop experiencing novelty and excitement with our food, we start to eat mindlessly and we start to eat more.
Michelle Madden is the creator of the award-nominated food blog, The Sweet Beet(nominations include a Webby and Saveur.com's top food blog). On her funny, engaging but highly informative blog, she shares tips and tricks for eating healthy along with original recipes. You can find her at www.thesweetbeet.com or on Facebook.
June in the North East not only means a return of flip flops, the whirling of air conditioning units, dinners outdoors, but most importantly - strawberries. The joy that a basket of ruby red farm picked berries brings to the mouth is immeasurable. Once you start buying them locally, you start to rethink everything you once believed about berries...
Six mis-truths about berries...
1. Big ones are juicier. It is incredibly satisfying to hang onto the green leaves and bite into a monster strawberry, but jumbo berries usually have less flavor, juice and nutrients than smaller ones. They tend to have a lower skin to water ratio and it's the skin where much of the nutrients congregate. Tiny wild blueberries, for example, are far more flavorful than larger ones and can be bought frozen year round.
2.The longer they keep, the "fresher" they were to start. If a berry keeps more than 3 or 4 days, it was likely picked well before it was ripe and may have been bred for its lower water content, firmer flesh and longer shelf life. In other words, not the kind of berry that was grown on a smaller scale farm and sold at a farmers market. The berry that lasts only 1 or 2 days was likely picked yesterday, has greater flavor and higher nutritional value. (Blueberries will last a little longer though than say strawberries .)
3. Color does not vary greatly. There's actually a huge range, especially when you consider farmers markets berries when they're in season. Not only are darker berries usually sweeter, they have more antioxidants than paler berries.
4.You can't tell if it's juicy until you bite into it. If you can't see juice when you buy it, you won't taste it when you eat it. Look for signs of juice in the carton (especially with blackberries and raspberries). Low juice berries are an indicator that the berry was bred for handling and a long shelf life.
5. Symmetrical berries are a sign of high quality. Big, uniform berries are grown for high volume, lower spoilage and to ensure a consistent and enticing look in the plastic package. Berries grown on smaller farms can be quite mutant looking but usually more flavorful than "perfect" large-scale-production berries.
6.Organic is always best. Though pesticide-free, many organic berry brands sold in stores are grown to withstand long-distance travel and an extended lay-over in a warehouse. (Given their higher production cost, there is even greater economic loss should they spoil rapidly.) The ideal body type for this job? Big and strong. If it's a choice between organic from a huge conglomerate and non-organic from a local farmer, I would go for the local. In fact, even if the farm has not been certified organic, they may still practice pesticide-free farming, so be sure to ask.
A couple tips for prolonging berries once you bring them home: 1) Don't wash them until just before eating as moisture facilitates the growth of mold; 2) If they're packed tightly in their box they'll spoil faster, so transfer them to a container with more space to slow down the spoiling; 3) Though they'll have far more flavor at room temperature, if you won't be eating them for a day or so, store them in the fridge. When you take them out, run very warm water over them to quickly bring out the flavor.
Any berry tips to share? Your favorite way to eat seasonal berries?
Michelle Madden is the creator of the award-nominated food blog, The Sweet Beet(nominations include a Webby and Saveur.com's top food blog). On her funny, engaging but highly informative blog, she shares tips and tricks for eating healthy as well as offering recipes that nourish and delight. You can find her at www.thesweetbeet.com or on Facebook]]>10 Ways To Sweeten Food Without Sugartag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8602592011-05-20T16:34:19-04:002011-07-20T05:12:01-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/
By cutting way back on added sugar (even healthier, natural sugars) you not only start to crave it less, you start to detect "sweet" in hidden corners of non-sugar added foods. The problem with simply substituting one added sugar for another (agave for table sugar say, or artificial sweeteners in place of caloric sugars) is it still keeps the sugar bar high, never allowing our taste buds to recalibrate and get the same sensation of sweet with far less sugar.
The other powerful trick is to distract the taste buds with another flavor so they're less focused on the absence of sugar. Cinnamon in plain oatmeal or nutmeg in low-sugar muffins can give the mouth the impression of sugar even in its absence.
Here are ten ways to get "sweet" without sweeteners.
Michelle Madden is the creator of the award-nominated food blog, The Sweet Beet(nominations include a Webby and Saveur.com's top food blog). On her funny, engaging but highly informative blog, she shares tips and tricks for eating healthy as well as offering recipes that nourish and delight. You can find her at www.thesweetbeet.com or on Facebook
]]>Your "Natural" Herbal Tea May Not Be So Naturaltag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8362512011-03-21T22:20:21-04:002011-05-25T18:40:24-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/"If need to be known for a medical reason, your physician may contact us in writing."
This is what I was told when I asked the company about their "natural flavors."
Sweet and Spicy Tea and Herb Blend is the name. It comes in a box with a sketch of a man plowing a field with a horse. The trees are billowy, the colors faded -- compelling evidence of its purity. And lest there be doubt, the brand name references goodness and the planet. Oh and it says "natural" on the package.
The tea is an unsweetened black tea with herbs, so logically (I reasoned) the "sweet" was coming from the herbs. I let it steep and cool and then sipped. It was Coca-Cola sweet!!
What was in this herb mixture?!
Rose hips: Not Sweet
Cinnamon: Can be sweet if there is enough
Chamomile: Not Sweet
Lemongrass: Not Sweet
Peppermint: Not Sweet
Papaya: Sweet when in papaya form, but water is not sweet when diffused with it
Jasmine tea: Not Sweet
Anise seed: Sweet but the amount here seemed too small to make it this sweet
Ginger root: Not Sweet
Orange peel: Not Sweet. Have you ever licked the outside of an orange?
Orange oil: Not Sweet
And then I saw it, Natural Flavors. I had glossed over it at first, but natural flavors was actually the very first ingredient listed after black tea (meaning the largest ingredient by volume of all the herbs).
I emailed Good Earth (the brand in my cup) and asked about their flavoring. This is what they said:
"The natural flavoring is a natural cinnamon flavor derived from the oil extractive, part or in whole, and from oil extracts of citrus which could include mandarin orange, orange, tangelo or tangerine. The specific components are proprietary. If need to be known for a medical reason, your physician may contact us in writing with the specific request. There is no MSG or gluten in the blend or flavors used."
The medical reason is that I want to know what's going into my body. I emailed Good Earth back to ask specifically how it was that the tea was so sweet and whether it was the flavors that were making it so.
No response.
For some reason, "flavor" in herbal teas bothers me more than"flavor" in other foods. And "sweet" as flavor bothers me even more than than a specific "food" flavor. My mouth can imagine tasting, say, cinnamon flavor, as it could logically be coming from the cinnamon, but when the flavor is telling my mouth"sweet" and there's nothing sweet there, there is too much of a disconnect between my "sensing" mouth and my "reasoning" brain.
Tea brands that use "natural flavors" (Not all flavors used by these brands are used to make the tea sweet, and not ALL use natural flavors in ALL their teas, but ALL of them use flavors in SOME of their teas. That make sense?)
Allegro
Bigelow (Also uses artificial flavors)
Good Earth
Celestial Seasonings
Choice Organic Teas
Kusmi Tea
Lipton
Mighty Leaf
Salada
Stash
Tazo
Teavana
The Republic of Teas
Tulsi Tea
Twinings
Two Leaves and a Bud
Yogi
Tea brands that don't use "natural flavors" (They don't use flavors in ANY of their teas. The taste is from actual herbs, fruits and oils.)
Numi
Teatulia
Traditional Medicinals
It's lonely in the herb field -- that's because herbs, fruits and (non-tea) leaves, once dried, and infused in a cup of water are often quite bland. Unless it's mint, ginger or pure cinnamon that have some oomph, most are subtle, and unless exceptionally high quality, verge on tasteless. They also lose potency on store shelves, an inconvenient character "defect" not suffered by "flavors."
So why the concern over natural flavors anyway. Because they're not natural. The more natural a food claims to be, the less it usually is. A truly natural food, rarely calls itself "natural," it just calls itself "lemon" or "cinnamon." Moreover, the chemical called "flavor" is virtually identical whether natural or artificial. Banana flavor for example is created by distilling the flavor molecules from a banana using a chemical solvent, while artificial banana flavor is created by mixing chemicals, that result is the identical chemical output.
And what about MSG. To me they're spiritual cousins. Though MSG can be found as a naturally occurring chemical and is naturally present in many foods, when it is listed in ingredients, it is a concentrated additive created in a lab. It is created to enhance flavor in order to create an illusion of something that does not exist. Flavors are created in a lab to add flavor to create an illusion of something that does not exist. The sole purpose of this alchemy is to trick our taste buds -- the food equivalent of sleight of hand, dropped in from the sleeve when the mouth is focused on thinking that the taste is coming from the real thing.
So what to do when you want flavor in your herbal tea without chemicals? This is a tough one. I recently learned that Bengal Spice (a personal favorite) has natural flavors and some of these flavors make it sweet and that giving this up will have serious implications for my afternoons. But I'm going to switch to a pure ginger tea and add some bee-created honey.
What are your thoughts on "flavors" in teas?
For more food learning, come visit The Sweet Beet and enter to win $100 OXO kitchen tool for signing up for emailed posts!
]]>Is Food Too Cheap?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8257532011-02-21T10:44:23-05:002011-05-25T18:35:25-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/
I was looking for three chicken breasts. Not eight. Or four. Just three. I was visiting my parents in Arizona and shopping for dinner. They're Canadian snow birds, flying south for the winter in search of sun and lower priced food. Due to a variety of reasons -- a lower population, higher food taxes,lower government subsidies to the farmers -- Canadian food is notoriously expensive -- especially meat and cheese.
I was at Basha's, the local super-sized super-market near Phoenix. It's a cavernous place that feels like an airplane hangar. Everything about it is big. The aisles are wide enough to drive a tractor through, the cereals are family-sized for a family of ten, the end-of-aisle displays are monolithic towers, screaming their offers out as you round the corner, "80% off when you buy two bags of Tostitos and dip!" This is grocery shopping in high definition. As vast as the store is though, it was also eerily empty. It felt like someone had thrown a huge party, put out all the food, but no one was showing up. The registers were lit but no one was paying. This only added to its bigness.
I know I'm comparing it to shopping in New York City where you shop with a hand basket over your forearm, and stores don't have parking lots and where you can buy bread in half-loaves, but still, this tipped the scales at over three football fields.
I rang the bell at the butcher counter. "I'm looking for just enough chicken for three people, but I only see big sizes." He came around the counter. "We actually don't carry small sizes, but we have a special on where you can get two two-pound packs of chicken breasts for the price of one." (Buying just one was not an option -- the second one was bound with cellophane to the first.) "So I can't buy just one of the packs and I can't request a smaller amount from you?" "No, but this is an excellent price and you're getting a lot of chicken." He was right. I was getting a lot of cheap chicken. The problem was, I didn't want a lot of cheap chicken.
We had split-pea soup for dinner.
There is something unsettling when enormous quantities of food are sold at bargain prices -- when food is so abundant that a restaurant can offer a double sized portion of your meal for $1 extra, or a store can sell a pound of Twizzlers for 50 cents or eight chicken breasts for $4.
Basha's left me wondering...Is food too cheap? Do we eat too much (in particular low nutrient-density food -- the cheapest of all), and waste too much, because we pay so little and therefore don't value it? In other words, we over-buy because it's cheap and over-eat because we've bought it. And what we don't eat, we toss, because we know we can buy it again. In the early 1900s we spent 25% of our income on food, today we spend less than 10%, and it's dropping. Over the past 25 years, the price of a McDonald's hamburger has gone down 30%. Is it any surprise our waist lines are expanding, and our illnesses worsening, with every dollar we save?
When did quantity trump quality? Why do we balk at paying $6 for a pound of grass-fed, small-farm, nutrient rich beef, but keep coming back to the $6 all-you-can-eat, pasta buffet. America has always been the land of plenty, but we have plenty of plenty. And that's the problem.
We have driven costs so far out of the food system that in so doing we have not only driven down nutritional value, but driven out the notion of food being a precious resource. And when we do encounter its preciousness, in the form of whole, "clean", fresh food, at a farmers market or if we're lucky, our local store, we pay exorbitantly for it. So is it any wonder most of us choose the lowest priced products (refined carbs and factory raised animals), eating more than we need, and getting fewer of the nutrients our bodies crave.
It makes the two-for-one special, start to look a lot less special.
Please share your thoughts, even if (especially if) you disagree.
Come visit The Sweet Beet . Learn more about healthy eating and share your thoughts with others!]]>13 "Health Foods" That Aren'ttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8062952011-01-11T15:06:38-05:002011-05-25T18:25:24-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/ For more food facts, trivia and recipes, check out the blog The Sweet Beet.
]]>How To Make Homemade Stock From Scrapstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8053432011-01-07T11:06:13-05:002011-05-25T18:25:24-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/This is a "how-to" that covers two of the most common New Years resolutions: Eat Healthier and Spend Less. Food scraps(that might otherwise be thrown out) can be saved and used to make vegetable or meat stock. What could be easier than dumping your peelings, stems and cores into a pot, adding water, a few additional ingredients for taste, covering the pot, walking away, and returning to homemade stock! It's that easy...
For more food facts, trivia and recipes, check out the blog The Sweet Beet.
]]>Is Your Food Pro-Life?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7987172010-12-27T10:53:42-05:002011-05-25T18:20:30-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/ For more food facts, trivia and recipes (beyond probiotics) check out the blog The Sweet Beet.
]]>Are Brown Eggs More Nutritious Than White? Test Your Egg IQtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7945652010-12-14T14:54:34-05:002011-05-25T18:20:30-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/ As a country, we consume billions of eggs a year, and as an individual with a passion for them, I am quite sure I consume more than my per capita share. Which is why marketers are working hard to convince us that their eggs come from blissfully happy, healthy chickens. But what do the labels really mean ... Take this True or False "quiz" below to see how egg-savvy you are. For more food facts, trivia and recipes (beyond eggs!) check out the blog The Sweet Beet. Win 6-mos of artisanal food by signing up for emailed posts!
]]>14 Food Shockerstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7894172010-11-29T16:17:25-05:002011-05-25T18:15:22-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/The Sweet Beet (a food site described by Daily Candy as "An investigative blog for foodies") has unearthed surprising food facts that will shock, enlighten and amuse. Did you know that whole flax seeds do not deliver as much Omega 3 as ground ones? And that organic foods are allowed to contain flavorings? Read on...
]]>What Happens When Mouths Meettag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7877962010-11-23T17:45:25-05:002011-05-25T18:15:22-04:00The Sweet Beethttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/
I can always tell the extent to which I am into a date, based on my desire to share appetizers. I don't think it's even conscious. We are either drawn to someone and want to experience arugula together or not.
Sharing food is the most intimate act you can perform with your clothes on. It's authentic and primal. No great relationship can ever begin until you've taken food from the same dish.
Our very existence has depended on communal food. The mother shares her milk with her baby, the hunter shares his buffalo, the gatherer her gooseberries. In the past we lived and died by food dependency and communal consumption -- eat the rancid bison and we all perish. We subconsciously know the power of food.
These days, though, even when we do sit together, we eat alone. We live a single-sized-serving-microwaveable-entree existence, in a culture of BYO-brown-bag lunches. We are creatures programmed to share, living in a have-it-your-way world.
The intimacy of Thanksgiving comes not just from the rarity of gathering at one table -- napkins on lap, iPhones on vibrate, it comes from the fact that everyone at your table is eating the same food from that same ovenproof dish. The Brussels Sprouts that land on your plate -- whether you want them or not- are the genetic clones of the Brussels Sprouts being eaten by your table-mate. The same DNA, the same nutrients, the same energy that is entering your cells, is entering the cells of all who consume it. That's pretty intimate. Eating identical organic matter creates an enduring cellular connection between people that lasts well after the food's been digested. It's the difference between everyone bringing their own turkey to Thanksgiving and carving from the communal bird.
It's why Potlucks endure, why an apron is sexy, why two people serving themselves out of the same waxy white box of Chinese take-out counts as togetherness, and why when we split the tuna tartar, I know our future is possible.
And it's why, for one day, every year, we suppress our dietary independence, lay down our menus, and share atoms with the people we love.
What did you share this Thanksgiving?
Michelle Madden writes the food blog, The Sweet Beet. Sign up on the homepage, to win 6 months of artisanal food!
