Nutritionist Dr. Johnny Bowden has better, more believable reasons that you should eat certain foods and identifies 11 foods that you're probably not eating but should. Except...well, that's great and everything, but the thought of a beet, sardine, turmeric, prune and pumpkin salad is really nauseating. The Times article gives a few ideas (and Men's Health published the original list along with some recipes a few months back), but here are some more recipes for each of the 11 foods, in case you're like me and need a little more inspiration than "combine with yogurt."
- Cabbage: Pomegranate seeds, cinnamon and red cabbage all team together to make one side dish of awesome.
- Swiss Chard: If you're like me, you'll eat just about anything in a pastry crust. Lace it with goat cheese and your kids won't even notice the swiss chard and beets hiding in these empanadas. And if I ever find a store that carries lime pickle, I'm all over this.
- Cinnamon: Oh, you know how to do this one, but remember, it doesn't have to be sweet, like this amazing breakfast cinnamon quinoa from our dream girl Heidi. Please tell me that the cinnamon in your spice cupboard is fresh and cost more than 99 cents? The light orange-y cheap stuff is totally fake and doesn't have the health properties of the real deal from a reputable spice purveyor.
- Pomegranate Juice: Use this in anything where you need a touch of acid, like salad dressings or vodka drinks or even guacamole. And how decadent is pomegranate and blueberry ice cream? And good for you too? If we must.
- Dried Plums: Okay, so they're really more commonly called prunes but this pantry staple isn't just for when you need more fiber. Throw some into your stock pot to lend a complex earthiness to your stews, like this amazing Beef Guinness version, or just chop them up and toss a little sweetness into your summer salads.
- Pumpkin Seeds. I keep a container of these in my desk drawer for snacking and they're an automatic in trail mix or as a replacement for nuts in baked goods, but I never would have thought of using them to make a sauce for poultry or as a component in a Mexican tuna tostada.
- Sardines: I'm super creeped out by sardines but Jennifer swears that this pasta dish will make me change my mind and yours.
- Turmeric: These Malaysian Turmeric and Honey Wings have piqued my interest. I may have to modify the recipe and try it on chicken breasts at upcoming summer barbecues.
- Frozen Blueberries: Another easy peasy. Here's a blueberry cinnamon foccacia, cinnamon cakes with blueberry cream and, just to make you groan with deliciousness, blueberry sour cream ice cream! And a big hit at a recent cocktail party was sparkling blueberry juice with white rum, that one guest exclaimed tasted just like alcoholic blueberry pie. Yummers.
- Canned Pumpkin: Wow, how great is pumpkin if it ended up on the Superfoods list twice? Sure, you can throw this into pies, muffins and every sweet thing imaginable (it adds amazing moistness to chocolate cake) but isn't it more fun to make dinner out of it, like the triple blast of nutrition you get in a pumpkin, black bean and lentil soup?
- Beets: Lemon-roasted beet salad with feta cheese is yummy enough to tantalize even the staunchest beet hater and again, who can resist this tower of power that looks just like a Jell-O salad?
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