I know...it's a dry heat...

…and yes, I’ll take that over your East Coast humidity – the kind that feels like stepping out of a nice refreshing shower and wrapping yourself in a hot, wet wool blanket or crawling inside a dog.  Still, we’ve had the highest high temps in 5 years and the second hottest July on record. And August has been following suit. My tomatoes are loving it, but I’m wilting. 

I just read some research done on major league baseball pitchers that showed they were more likely to retaliate nastily for their teammates being hit when the temperatures were higher.  In other words, hot weather makes people cranky, so you climate change deny-ers are going to be double pissed-off when it turns out you were wrong. (I'm just sayin'.)

When it’s extra toasty outside, I like to stay cool inside – say, “cool as a cucumber”?  I’m starting to get a few cukes in the garden, and I found a nice salad that is incredibly easy and tasty at allrecipes.com.  Even the preschool grandkids liked it – much to my dismay!  They ate all of it, so I had to make more when the next cucumbers were ready.

Cucumber Sunomono

Yield:  5 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 large cucumbers, peeled
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 4 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

Instructions:

1. Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and scoop out any large seeds. Slice crosswise into very thin slices.
2. In a small bowl combine vinegar, sugar, salt and ginger. Mix well. Place cucumbers inside of the bowl, stir so that cucumbers are coated with the mixture. Refrigerate the bowl of cucumbers for at least 1 hour before serving.

 This salad reminds me of the veggie salad that the Mustard Seed Restaurant serves with their rice bowls, so I’m also giving you our copy-cat Osaka sauce recipe.  You have to use real, fresh-squeezed lemon juice in this to get the taste right. It’s great on grilled or sautéed shrimp, chicken, or tofu...or you could just drink it!
 

Osaka Sauce

• 3 T. soy sauce
• 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice (3 lemons)
• 2 tsp. Coleman's mustard
• 3 T. sugar
• 2 T. sesame oil
• 2 T. rice vinegar
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil

Whip all ingredients together in blender until well mixed.

"Come-back Kids"

Growing up in a small farm town gave me a rather utilitarian approach to plants – if you’re going to plant it, water it, and weed it, you’d darn well better be able to eat it! The flower beds of my childhood were filled with perennials that were permanent fixtures: peonies, bleeding-hearts, violets, daffodils, and tulips.  The idea of buying and planting flowers that only last a summer seemed like extravagant self-indulgence.

When I had my own place, and started perusing home-and-garden magazines and noticing other people’s yards that I found attractive and might want to imitate, I especially noticed the stand-alone pots of colorful blooms grouped on porches and decks. They always looked welcoming and showed the care that the residents took to add a little beauty to their surroundings.

So, I found myself scouring the garden shops to find the right shade of petunias and complimentary blooms, plus the trailing vines, spiky leaves and colorful foliage that filled my pots with vibrant summer color. 

A couple of years ago, I evidently strayed into perennial-land and picked up some foliage plants.  This one is lamium or “spotted henbit”.  (I’d love to know how it got that name.) I love its cool-looking green and white foliage.  This variety produces small purple flowers. I also got some variegated ornamental grass. These two have survived our recent mild winters, so I now just poke in the petunias and alyssum around them, saving a little bit of time and money.   All the enjoyment with less extravagance!

 

I still love annuals for their recklessly exuberant colors; they are the floral demonstration of the philosophy of carpe diem (seize the day, for tomorrow may bring locusts or frost).  I always plant marigolds around my raised beds to discourage bugs.  This year I added alyssum after reading that aphids don’t like it.  Last year my pots of broccoli and kale were infested, but so far, this year it seems to be working.  I’ve stayed true to my roots by making these annuals work for their keep.

A lot of gardening success is caused by the random alignment of timing and weather.  I’ve never had any success with beets, for example.  I don’t know if it’s my timing or if the birds in our yard consider the sprouting leaves their own personal salad bar.  I love beets, but I don’t think of cooking them often enough. I love that in their fresh, natural state, they’re a two-part edible – greens to sauté or steam and the ruby roots to roast.  I found them at the farmers’ market last week and “cooked up” this easy summer recipe that was a big hit at my house!

Roasted Almost-Pickled Beets

4 medium-sized beets

1/3 c. light Raspberry –Walnut Vinaigrette

¼ c. crumbled feta cheese

Scrub the beets and cut off the green tops. Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and roast in a 350-degree oven until tender when pierced with a fork, 45 – 60 minutes. Cool, peel and cut into ½ inch chunks. Toss with dressing and chill. Top with crumbled feta cheese right before serving.   You could also toss this with baby greens and chopped walnuts for a roasted beet salad.

I’m going back to the farmers’ market for more beets!

The Popeye Effect

Remember how Mom used to say to always start the day with a good breakfast?  Well, being the compliant child, I always have.  It helps that I wake up hungry.  Jim, on the other hand, wakes up with no interest in food.  Coffee is the most he can manage in the morning.  A couple of years ago, his blood sugar started to rise, and one of the things the dietitian recommended was that he eat breakfast to keep his blood sugar more even throughout the day.  I found a “green smoothie” recipe in a magazine, and we both found that it worked well for us as a way to start the day.  I like that it’s simple, but includes lots of nutritious ingredients.  I think of it as nutrition insurance for the day.   Here’s the recipe:

GREEN SMOOTHIE                                                               
1 c. soy milk

2 c. baby spinach, kale, or other mild greens

1 banana, in chunks

1 c. frozen blueberries or other fruit

1 scoop protein powder

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. flaxseed meal

Start by blending the soy milk and the spinach.  The original recipe called for almond milk, but soy milk has quite a bit more protein, which is something I try to pay attention to.  Once the spinach and soy milk are well blended, add the rest of the ingredients and blend like crazy. This helps keep you from finding those embarrassing bits of green in your smile later.  You can freeze the banana ahead of time for a more milkshake-like taste.  Over time, I’ve reduced the sugar in this by switching to unsweetened soy milk and choosing a protein powder with less added sugar.  The cinnamon adds some sweetness and you can add vanilla or your choice of sweeteners.

Makes two servings.

A friend told me you really don’t taste the greens in a smoothie, and I was doubtful, but it’s true if you use spinach or baby kale.    Sometimes I like something a little different. This spring I grew a pot of spinach and arugula mixed together. The arugula has a kind of spicy bite that makes a nice change, although I wouldn’t want it every day.  It’s kind of an acquired taste, but the key is that dark green leafy vegetables are not your enemy, they are your friend.  It turns out that Popeye was right, but I still won’t eat the slimy stuff that comes in a can.

The greens provide a lot of vitamins, and blueberries are good sources of antioxidants.  Flaxseed provides fiber, lignin and omega-3 fatty acids.  The cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar, and also enhances the sweetness of the fruit.  Getting a serving of fruit and a half serving of leafy greens makes me feel like I’ve started off the day on the right foot. I also like that the smoothie has 13 grams of protein – especially important now that we are focusing on a more plant-based diet.

Sweet Deceptions

I decided to improve my health this year (that’s New Year’s resolution #1 for many of us) by reducing my intake of refined sugar.  I eliminated all added sugars and starchy carbohydrates for 3 days.  During that time, I subsisted on lean protein and non-starchy vegetables. After the first three days, I started adding back foods while trying to avoid foods with added sugar. 

 Some nutrition researchers believe that sugar affects the brain much like an addictive drug, and that those who are sensitive will not lose their cravings unless they eliminate sugar completely for several weeks. I think I fall into this category; I seem to be engaged in a constant battle with my inner Cookie Monster.  When I started reading food labels very carefully, I found that many foods, even “healthy” meat substitutes like Garden Burgers, have added sugar.  (Yes, that woman squinting at a bag of “soy crumbles” in the frozen food aisle was me. Sorry I took so long.) 

I learned to drink my coffee black.  I quit sweetener in coffee a few months ago, but giving up that splash of milk was brutal. That only lasted for the requisite three days. After the first 3 days, I got to add a serving of dairy, an apple, more vegetables (oh joy!), and a glass of red wine.  I was totally ready for the wine. As we all know, extremely restrictive diets don’t work as a long term weight loss strategy for most people because they are dull and difficult. (I mean the diets, not the dieters.) Still, this “detox” made me much more aware of the role that sugar plays in our diets, even for those who don’t load up on desserts.  I also found that once I got past my craving for sweets, I noticed the more subtle natural sweetness in many foods.

According to food writer Michael Pollan--whose book The Omnivore’s Dilemma traces the evolution of our food sources from farms to industrialized food production systems--since 1985 Americans’ consumption of added sugars, both refined and unrefined, has increased from 128 pounds to 158 pounds per year.  (Think of eating your weight in sugar in a year – sort of like a giant marshmallow Peep!) Besides white sugar, honey, and maple syrup, that includes corn sweetener, and high fructose corn syrup.  Consumption of high fructose corn syrup has increased from 45 pounds to 66 pounds per person.  

There has been a parallel increase in obesity in the U.S. According to a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the percentage of U.S. adults categorized as “obese” in a 1988-1994  study  was 22.9% compared with 30.5% in 1999-2000 .The prevalence of those classified as merely “overweight” also increased during this period from 55.9% to 64.5% Extreme obesity (BMI 40) also increased significantly in the population, from 2.9% to 4.7% .

4 grams of sugar per serving

While fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods all contain natural sugars, sugar and other sweeteners have also become a common added ingredient in most processed or prepared foods. Take, for example, commercially-prepared pasta sauce or marinara. Now, I know that in a perfect world, I’d have prepared and preserved batches of homemade spaghetti sauce during last summer’s tomato harvest.  Sadly, odd weather and a trip to Colorado created a major crop failure in our garden.  One tomato and no sweet peppers. So instead of rows of shiny red jars of all natural marinara in my pantry, I have nothing.  I didn’t mind much, because I think that there are lots of tasty, good quality pasta sauces available at my local grocery store, and the idea of home canning vegetables raises my fears of the kind of botulism that doesn’t take away wrinkles. 

 

When I decided to make tofu parmesan, I wanted to find a marinara without added sugar.  Hunt’s used to make a canned sauce with no added sugar, but it’s apparently been discontinued.  I read the labels on at least 10 different brands or varieties of sauce, and all had added sugar. 

I finally found a couple of “gourmet” style sauces without added sugar.  This one cost about $3.50.  It had a nice natural flavor, although it was a little bland.  I decided to pass on the Mario Batalli sauce that sold for more than $9 a jar.  My favorite, though, is Trader Joe’s Organic at under $2.50.  It has a nice spicy flavor and no added sugar. 

It strikes me as odd that it costs more to leave extra sugar out of foods than to put it in.  Sugar is now substituted in many foods to reduce fat and used to improve flavor.  That makes me wonder why flavors need improving, if quality ingredients are used. I realize that many traditional spaghetti sauce recipes call for a pinch of sugar, but a “pinch” does not equal up to 12 grams per serving. This means that ½ cup of sauce contains nearly 3 teaspoons of sugar, which is about half of the daily consumption of sugar recommended for women by the American Heart Association. 

While a small amount of the sugar is naturally occurring from the tomatoes, that amount is only about 2-3 grams. I guess this is a reminder of how important it is to read food labels if you are concerned about the ingredients in the foods you eat.

3 grams of sugar per serving

As I was writing this post, a Center for Disease Control study reported that adults who get at least 25 percent of their calories from added sugar were three times more likely to die of heart disease than those who only consume 10 percent of their calories in added sugar. This risk is for people at a normal weight and does not include the health risks connected to obesity which have been well-documented in the media.  It is obvious that eating excessive amounts of sugar is bad for us, but what most people don’t realize is that our modern American diet of fast and convenience foods, those prepared and sold  by large corporations, contain unhealthy amounts of sweeteners that we all could do without.