Gourmet Global

There was a great article on cnn.com yesterday detailing the healthiest supermarkets in the country:

Whole Foods
Safeway
Harris Teeter
Trader Joe’s
Hannaford
Albertson’s
Food Lion
Publix
Pathmark
Super Target

Plus I have my little two cents to add:
Whole Foods - while I agree it is one of the healthiest, it is also the most expensive and in these hard, economic times you can still get healthy alternatives at a variety of other markets.

SuperTarget - I HIGHLY recommend. Many of my colleagues and friends had been telling me for many months that I have to go to the grocery section of Target and when I finally made it there - WOW, was I impressed. Their store brand, Market Pantry, is very good and made with mostly all natural ingredients. I bought their Italian salad dressing and ketchup. Tasted as delish as any other name brand that you are used to.
Archer Farms, their organic brand is amazing-with LOTS of unique snacks. The Archer Farms line of cereals are delicious -the Triple Berry Clusters is really good but my absolute fave is the Multigrain with Yogurt Cranberries. Made with wheat, kamut, millet, brown rice and oats, it is full of fiber and delicious. I eat it with oat or rice beverage (instead of milk), and it packs a lot of fiber, vitamins and minerals in one bowl of breakfast cereal. Add some sliced banana and it keeps you full until lunch. Also, the potato chips with black pepper and sea salt is to die for.

Some other local markets that did not make it on this list that I highly recommend are:
Fairway - huge selection of fruits and veg. at reasonable prices. The location in Brooklyn is located behind God’s back, as my grandmother would say, but the Manhattan location is very accessible to public transportation and the prices can’t be beat, especially for Manhattan. They also have a large International section - the only place in Manhattan I can get halloumi (one of my favorite cheeses - from Cypress). Organic meat also, at half the price of Whole Foods.

Food Coops are also great. Two are in Brooklyn:
The Flatbush Food Coop, which is only a few blocks from my house so I frequent it often. The prices are a hit or miss - Some things can be really reasonable (especially if they are on sale) and others can be really expensive. Because membership is not mandatory (as it is in most coops) their prices have to be higher because they have more salaries to pay.

The Park Slope Food Coop prices are amazingly cheap, but membership is required. In addition to making a $100 investment in the coop, you must work a 2 hr and 45 minute shift every 4 weeks. You reap the benefits of your work by paying extremely low prices for all natural and organic products.

The 4th street coop is located at 58 East 4th Street. I am not familiar with this food coop but take a look at their website and you can call and find out how they operate.

Sahadi’s on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, in the middle of the Middle Eastern enclave, sells a variety of foods from a variety of cuisines throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Spices, All varieties of Grains, Coffee, Dried Fruits and Nuts as well as Fresh Olives are also in abundance at this market.

Urban Organic, which I mentioned in my last post, sends me carrots every single delivery. Needless to say, I am having to come up with interesting ways to use all my carrots. I came up with these wonderful low fat muffins. I used almond flour but you can use any kind of nut flour you like. This is a great way to boost the protein in muffins.

These muffins are great for kids, having very little sugar and virtually no fat. Instead of soaking the dried fruit in port, you can soak it in orange juice if you prefer. These are tasty, healthful muffins for everyone and very simple to make.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried fruit peel
1 cup port (or orange juice)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup natural applesauce (unsweetened)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup almond flour (or any nut flour - soy flour or oat flour are also good substitutions)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup grated carrots (about 3 average sized carrots)
1/4 cup grated coconut (use natural unsweetened coconut - not the flaked stuff)

Directions:
Soak dried fruits in port for 1/2 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, blend sugar and egg together until well blended, about 3 minutes.
Add half of the dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. Add the applesauce and vanilla. Mix until blended. Add the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix until well blended.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in carrots, dry fruit and coconut until thoroughly combined.
Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray or use paper muffin cups. Fill muffin pan about 2/3 fill with batter and bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
I use mini muffins tins to help control the size of the muffin and a great way to use portion control for us adults to control our caloric intake. These are not the HUGE muffins you get in deli’s and bakeries.

Enjoy and watch the kids love this healthy version of a muffin!! Please try this recipe and let me know your feedback!!

Good Evening or should I say morning at 12:30am??

One key ingredient I forgot to include in the recipe last night - fresh parsley - Hope no one tried to make it tonight without this important ingredient. Adding 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped to the marinade adds a freshness to the chicken. Otherwise the chicken will seem a bit heavy with the double whammy of two smoky spices - the cumin and the coriander.

Please try the recipe with the 1/4 cup of parsley and I always appreciate your feedback.

Now the difference between these herbs for those who are unfamiliar with them:
Parsley, cilantro and chandon beni (pronounced shadow beny) are all relatives. Most people are familiar with both parsley and cilantro. They look very familiar. For years, the only way I could tell them apart was by smell. Cilantro has a very strong smell.

Parsley is an herb with a mild grassy taste. It is a holistic herb. Many people in the Caribbean drink parsley tea to aid in the control of high blood pressure and the Cherokees use it in a tonic to strengthen the bladder.

On to cilantro. Cilantro or coriander as it is called everywhere else in the world except the United States and South America - we always have to be different, don’t we? Just like the Metric System - we can’t be like the rest of the world!! Anyway, cilantro has a much stronger taste and aroma than parsley and has a citrus like taste. The coriander plant also bears fruit. These dried fruits aka coriander seed are one of the primary ingredients in all curries. Coriander leaf is the herb of choice for most of Asia, parts of Africa and in Scandinavian countries. It is one of those things - you either HATE it or you LOVE it - no middle ground, so you just have to try it (if you have not already done so) and decide for yourself!

Chandon beni, aka culantro, recaito or saw leaf herb (depending what part of the world you are from) is the other relative of parsley and cilantro. It smells and tastes are similar to cilantro, but even stronger. A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY is the rule when you are using this herb. It is the most common herb used on the island of Trinidad. Very few savoury dishes will be cooked there without the addition of the ever present chandon beni. Since coriander is so prevalent in East Indian cuisine, the Indians who came probably found this as the best alternative since coriander is not indigenous to the Caribbean. Chandon beni has a similar taste, although it does look different - this became their replacement for coriander.

Please try chandon beni ( the one many of you have probably never heard of) and let me know what is your favorite all purpose herb!!!

I stopped by the Unions Sq. Farmer’s Market today, the largest Farmer’s Market in the NYC Metro area. I had not been there in a long time and everytime I am blown away by how diverse nature is.

Purple Bell Peppers, Brown Scotch Bonnet Peppers, Red Scallions (look purple)! I can’t wait to eat these and get all those vitamins into me. The darker the vegetable, the better it is for you. The darker colored vegetables are extrmely rich in anti oxidants. That is why orange sweet potatoes are better than white ones. That is true for all foods - brown sugar is better than white sugar, whole wheat flour is better than white flour.

And one of the reasons I would not go to the Farmer’s Market very often is because of the prices. I know how much better it is for me to eat organic without hormones and pesticides, but unfortunately my wallet cannot always afford it. I am glad to see that is changing. With demand for organics so much higher, prices are not what they once were.
Organic lamb for 10/lb.
The largest heads of cauliflower I have seen in my life for 3.50 a head.
This huge bunch of fresh chiles was $6.00 for the whole bunch.

The Union Sq. market is open Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat 8a-6p. Saturday is the best day to go, however, because all of the merchants are there. They don’t all come on the other days.

Especially those of you who have children, it is very important to feed them organics especially dairy. Since young children drink so much milk, ingesting all those hormones on a regular basis is so bad. That is why we have 6 year old girls starting to menstruate and developing breasts. The hormones are making their bodies develop too quickly and that is so bad with all these pedophiles around. Young children that age don’t realize what some men’s motives are and are unequipped to interpret the signals.

I am going to start eating organic a lot more often and buying organics for my clients - with these prices, I and them can afford to do it!

On the same topic, I saw an interesting documentary the other day called How To Save the World - I am not sure where it is available - perhaps Netflix?? I saw it as part of the South Asian International Film Festival and it was about the switch many farmers in India are doing, switching to organic. When farming is your livelihood as it is for many Indians, a failed crop means your family does not eat that year. Many crops were failing when they started using chemically engineered hybrid seeds. The amount of farmers committing suicide was rising year after year. Now that many farmers have switched back to the way they were raising their crops for centuries before huge corporations convinced them to switch, their crops are succeeding again and farmer suicides are starting to decrease.

Catch this movie if you can.

As long as you can afford it, I am pushing organic on you all!!!