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July 12, 2005
Eat More Vegetables
Always good advice, unless you are MR and you already eat more vegetables before nine am than most people do all year.
I'm on a new kick to eat even more vegetables, since for a CR'd person, my diet has been comparatively low in the cute little crunchy critters (and I don't mean soft shell crabs.) Even though I always come out way over 100% on the RDA's of Vitamins A and C, there are so many good things in vegetables and they are so low calorie that one feels like one should eat more of them. When you watch Kenton, Dean, MR, or many of the CR boys eat a meal, you really have to marvel at their ability to pack in the veggies. It's like they are lumberjacks cutting down huge forests of greens with their chainsaw-like teeth. I am filled with admiration as I watch MR destroy a supersized bowl of lightly steamed exotic vegetables. And in the constant search for ways to improve my diet without adding calories, I have resolved to follow his fine example and eat more vegetables.
So: I went to the wonderful produce store that is right next to my apartment and lo and behold: a new green! For months MR has been on me to find some more high nutrient greens to put into my salad, but I haven't had the energy to run around Chinatown looking for them. Today, however, I found a huge bunch of dandilion greens practically in my own backyard, and wow, they're cool! It was really more of a bouquet than a bunch, as they were very tall and leafy and could have easily been transported in a vase. I brought them home and chopped them into my kale salad. Along with olive oil, salsa and balsamic vinegar, the dandilion and kale salad almost tasted like that thing of wonder and beauty, MR's Breakfast Salad. Almost, but not quite. The dandilion greens were a touch on the bitter side, but the kale balanced them out. As we know, I like extremes in all things, so bring on the bitter greens!
I do love playing with vegetables. Tonight I have a meeting from 5 pm to 8 pm at a pub, and I am hoping to be able to order at least a limp tossed salad with vinegar, since we will have to order something as booth rental if we sit there for three hours. Then when I get home I have another giant bag of frozen carrots, cauliflower and broccoli waiting to be mixed with flax oil and brewers yeast. Yippie! Veggies!
I'd have to admit that I'm starting to lose my taste for frozen vegetables. I'm getting so used to the taste of delicious fresh summer veggies, just lightly steamed with a touch of flax or olive oil and perhaps a squeeze from a fresh lemon or lime, or just some fresh ground pepper and a dash (I know what you're thinking MR, to you it looks like an avalanche but to me it's a dash) of half-salt. I have to go get some more brussels sprouts to play with. It's so much fun to watch them roll around the plate. If you can't play with your food, you should get out of the kitchen. Or something like that.
The most exciting thing about my dandilion green discovery is that now I have my very own stems! Unlike kale stems which I usually just chop into my salad and eat then and there, these stems will need to be either steamed or eaten with salsa, like tall skinny low cal high nutrient tortilla chips. My very own stems! I feel like I have arrived at some higher CR plane now, even though I'm sure there's no evidence that JUST eating stems slows the process of biological aging.
Whatever floats your sugar-free jello, I suppose.
Posted by april at July 12, 2005 12:05 PM
Comments
If you are interested in the other "good things" in vegetables, you might want to check out http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php, which lists the different health claims attributed to each food (as well as how to prepare different veggies). They mostly cite university studies, although I'm not well-informed enough to be critical, so maybe consult MR on any wonder claims.
By the way, your previous entries show you like non-fat dairy. One alternative to yogurt or ricotta which I really like is fat-free fromage blanc from this company: http://www.vtbutterandcheeseco.com/html/Nutri-Info%20Quark-FB.htm
The whole 8 oz. tub has 120 calories, 40% RDA of calcium, and 20 grams of protein but only 8 grams of lactose, which is a more appealing ratio (to me) than yogurt. I'm not sure if it has all the health benefits of yogurt, but it is incredibly yummy and thick and good with cinnamon and cocoa.
Posted by: Tamar at July 12, 2005 1:20 PM
Oh, I forgot to mention that I buy the fromage blanc at WholeFoods in the refrigerated cheese section.
Posted by: Tamar at July 12, 2005 1:24 PM