Food Outside The Box

You probably know about Liver, but what if you don’t like Liver? I found this infomation linked here from The Office of Dietary Supplements and thought you might find it interesting. Lentils are high on the list too. The list includes mature Soybeans, but honestly, when do you see a recipe using mature Soybeans!? It’s one of my frustrations with how nutrition is taught…it’s great to know about the basic elements of good nutrition (i.e. what are good or bad carbs or fats, sources of proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc.), but it’s important to know how to incorporate good nutrition into your diet. A more practical source, in my opinion, would be to list Edamame (immature boiled or steamed Soybeans) which have 2.5 mg per 100 mg serving (3.5 oz), and are most commonly found in Japanese restaurants (you can also find them in the freezer section and they’re delicious added to grain or green salads, especially if you use some Asian flavors, like Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Oil).

I happen to love Chicken Liver Pâté and get Organic Chicken Livers from Whole Foods. I usually have to ask for them at the butcher counter since they’re not always in the case, and they give me a 1/2 pint of frozen ones. I like this recipe from Jacques Pépin and Food & Wine since you simmer the Livers in water and avoid the splattering that often occurs when you sauté them. I like to cover the Pâté with a thin layer of Duck fat or Bacon fat. It’s nice to serve with some sauteed Apples or Pears, along with the toasts. It makes a great make-ahead appetizer for entertaining.

Here is another recipe from Lidia Bastianich for Bigoli (Pasta) with Chicken Livers.

For some Lentil recipes, here are some from Martha Stewart. I also like to make Lentil Salad (cook up some Petit Fench Green Lentils, then add some chopped Carrot, Celery, Shallot, Olive Oil, Red Wine or Sherry Vinegar, Salt & Pepper) and Red Lentil Hummus (cook up Red Lentils, then puree with a small clove of Garlic, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper…adding Roasted Red Peppers or Sundried Tomatoes will add even more good flavor and health benefits).

This week I’ll be finishing up a four-week nutrition class from Kitchen On Fire and it’s been very enlightening. Why don’t they teach this in school, in more detail, when we’re growing up? It’s so important! Unfortunately, I think many of us don’t learn what we need to know until some blood test tells us we’re deficient or too high in this or that, or some other medical issue comes up…Nutrition is complex and there are so many “diets” and misinformation, but ultimately, like my teacher said, everyone is unique and that means what is good for some, is not good for others. It’s defintely a learning process, but one that I think is quite worthwhile to give some time to study. For me, the fun part is making it taste good and staying creative

Tags: Heme, Iron, Liver, Non-Heme