MajestyJo
06-07-2011, 05:00 AM
BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH SHALLOTS AND SAGE - Serves 4
A simple and yet delicious dish. The balsamic vinegar gives it just the right amount of balance
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (3/4 cup)
1 (1 3/4-lb) butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (4 cups)
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth or water
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Method
Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook shallots and squash, stirring, until shallots are softened, about 5 minutes.
Add broth, brown sugar, sage, and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, pepper, and salt to taste.
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MajestyJo
06-07-2011, 05:13 AM
Vegetariasm
By Philip S Chua M.D.
Animals are my friends, and I don't eat my friends.
- George Bernard Shaw
THERE is no question that diet plays a very important role in the
development of cardiovascular diseases and some forms of cancer, especially
of the gastrointestinal tract. One particular diet -- one high in
saturated fat and cholesterol, and low in fiber -- consisting mainly of red
meats (pork, beef, non-skim dairy products, etc) and eggs, has been
branded as unhealthy. Voluminous clinical studies have shown beyond a
reasonable doubt that excess serum cholesterol, specifically chronically
elevated HDL (the bad cholesterol) and triglycerides, is the culprit in
the more than half a million deaths from heart attack each year in the
US alone. This translates to one person dying from a cardiovascular
illness every 60 seconds. And this does not even include the mortality from
cancer.
The culprit
Cholesterol is a sterol, a complex alcohol constituent of animal fats
and oils. If abnormally high in the blood stream, this substance forms
plaques which adhere to the inner wall of arteries causing hardening of
the arteries and stenoses (blockages), many leading to heart attacks,
strokes, or poor leg circulation.
Cholesterol, in normal levels, is essential to health. The good
cholesterol is called High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), and the bad cholesterol
is called the Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL). For better health, a
person should have Total Cholesterol no higher than 150, HDL above 60, LDL
below 100, and Triglyceride level below 150. To be accurate and
significant, the cholesterol study should include these four, in a blood test
called Lipid Profile.
Sources of cholesterol
While our liver produces (endogenous) cholesterol, the main source of
(exogenous) cholesterol in our body and the blood is from the food we
eat. Some of the food types that are high in cholesterol include egg
yolk, pork, duck, chicken skin, lamb, beef (and other red meats), butter,
lard, and other non-skim dairy products.
Omega-3 fatty acids
The good fats come from fish and is called fish oil or Omega-3 fatty
acids. These substances are a natural blood thinner that prevents blood
clot formation and minimizes hardening of the arteries. Thus, eating
fish daily reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, even among those
who are diabetics and hypertensives (those with high blood pressure),
provided these conditions are treated and well-controlled.
The cholesterol factor
Everything else being similar, diabetics and hypertensives respond
better to treatment, have fewer complications from their illness, and have
a better prognosis if their total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and
triglycerides are normal, compared to those whose lipid profile is out of whack.
Diet and longevity
The proponents of the vegetarian diet argue that studies have shown
that the longest-lived animals had low-calorie vegetarian diet, and that
rats fed high protein, high fat diet had the shortest life span. The
studies of Dr. Paul Dudley on the Hunzas of Pakistan, who have amazing
longevity, showed that they subsist on spartan and vegetarian diet of
nuts, grains, fruits, vegetables, and a little goat milk. Fresh and/or
dried apricots are their staple food. The Hunzas' lifespan is 140 years.
While the inference is clearly there, more extensive controlled clinical
studies on human subjects are needed to find out with certainty if
vegetarian diet, although already proven to be healthy, really improves
longevity.
Vegetables and fruits
Vegetables and fruits have phytochemicals that are good for our body.
Twenty-three epidemiological studies have shown that diet rich in grains
and vegetables reduces the risk of colon cancer by 40 percent, and
breast cancer by 25 percent. Some of the hundreds of phytochemicals in
fruits and vegetables are: lycophene, ellagic acid, lutein, flavanoids,
saponins, monoterpenes, phthalides, phenols, ajoene, cassaicin,
coumestrol, genistein, sulforaphane, zeanthin. Our mothers were right in cajoling us to eat vegetables and fruits while we were growing up. Too bad, most of us didn't listen. But since we are now wiser and know better, let's
educate our own children and persuade them to eat more vegetables and
fruits -- and less animal meat -- for better health. The incidence of
cancers, heart and kidney diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity
among vegetarians is much lower than among meat-eaters.
Types of vegetarians
Vegetarians come in three forms: (1) Lacto-ovo vegetarians, whose diet
consists of vegetables, dairy products and eggs, no meat or flesh of
any kind (pork, beef, lamb, etc., poultry, fish and seafood); (2)
Lacto-vegetarians who do not eat eggs, but eat vegetables, fruits and milk;
and, (3) Vegans or pure vegetarians, who do not eat any food or food
products of animal origin, including milk and eggs, and subsist on
vegetables, grains, nuts and fruits only. Most vegans also do not buy or use
animal products, such as those made of leather, fur, feather, ivory,
etc., all of which involves the killing of animals.
Imported from England
The Reverend William Metcalfe of England, together with his friend,
Sylvester Graham, a young Presbyterian minister and 40 other English
church members, brought the vegetarian way of life to the United States in
1817. For thousands of years, being a vegetarian was a part of
socio-cultural-religious practice around the globe, most notably in the Far
East. Many people around the world today choose to be vegetarians for
health reasons.
Vegetarian Who's Who
If you are a vegetarian, you're in good company. Some of the famous
vegetarians include Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Leonardo da Vinci,
Buddha, Plutarch, John Milton, Sir Isaac Newton, Mahatma Gandhi, The Dalai
Lama, Benjamin Franklin, Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh, Leo Tolstoy,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Voltaire, Albert Schweitzer, George Bernard Shaw,
Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Rabindranath
Tagore, Mark Twain, Robert Browning, Linda and Paul McCartney, John
Denver, Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Steven Spielberg, Cameron Diaz, Josh
Hartnett.etc.
Was Jesus a vegetarian?
Knowledge as recorded in the Bible about how the Essenes, the Nazoreans
and Ebionites, lived suggests that Christ was probably a vegetarian. He
was vehemently against animal sacrifices. Matthew and Peter were said
to be vegetarians. The brother of Jesus, James the Just, the first head
of the church in Jerusalem after the death of Christ, was raised as a
vegetarian. If Jesus' parents raised James as a vegetarian then it would
be likely that Jesus was also raised as one. The early Christian
fathers adhered to a meatless regime. Many early Christian groups supported
the meatless way of life. In fact, the writings of the early Church
indicate that meat-eating was not officially allowed until the 4th century,
when the Emperor Constantine decreed that the practice of vegetarianism
was heresy and punishable by death.
Man: A natural herbivore?
Was man supposed to be a plant-eater instead of a meat-eater? Yes,
according to several investigations and books on the subject. A. D. Andrews, author of "Fit Food For Men," made an anatomical and structural
comparison between herbivores (plant-eating animals) and carnivores
(meat-eating animals), and came to the conclusion that man's teeth, salivary
glands, quality of saliva, long intestinal tract, absence of claws, are all similar to those of herbivores, very much unlike those of carnivores. Thus, he argues that man is a natural herbivore, and must eat what herbivores eat: vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, and not meat or flesh, in order to stay healthy. Staying away from what herbivores should eat, and eating a lot of red meat, is unhealthy and is the cause of most, if not all, of man's ailments, is also a well-respected argument in the scientific community.
Strength, vigor and vitality
The belief that vegetarians are weak and sickly is a myth. Elephants,
bulls, cows, carabaos, and some dinosaurs (plateosaurus, brachiosaurus,
etc.) are a few of the strongest animals known to man -- all
herbivores. Various studies comparing athletes who are carnivores and herbivores revealed astonishing findings: Vegetarian athletes fared 2 to 3 times better, with greater endurance and better recovery time, compared to
their meat-eating counterparts in similar sport activities.
Vegetables with protein
Vegetarians get their protein from soybeans, lentils, kidney beans,
lima and pinto beans, black beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, peanuts,
almonds, cashew, sunflower seeds, and other nuts, broccoli and other
vegetables, wheat, grains, brown rice, potato, and eggs and dairy products.
These sources easily meet the daily requirement of between 60-80 grams
of protein, even for vegans. So, animal meat is not really essential
for health and life.
Our prescription
A daily low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-fiber diet of fish and a lot of
vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains (brown rice instead of white), with
occasional red meat, if desired, coupled with abstinence from tobacco,
doing daily exercises, maintaining proper weight, drinking a glass or
two of red wine with dinner, taking a daily multivitamin-mineral
supplement, taking time off with friends and/or family for rest and relaxation
on weekends, visiting the doctor for check-up as advised, and
adequately treating any existing medical condition (hypertension, diabetes, etc) is our prescription for health, peace, happiness, and better
productivity.
The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people live
a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities, and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health.
Philip S. Chua, M.D., is Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana, U.S.A., and currently the Chairman of Cardiovascular Surgery of the Cebu Cardiovascular Center,Cebu Doctors' Hospital, Cebu City, Philippines. He practiced cardiovascular and thoracic surgery in Indiana from 1972 to 2001, following his Cardiac Surgery Fellowship under the world-renowened heart transplant surgeon Denton A. Cooley, M.D., at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, Texas. Dr. Chua is past president of the Association of Philippine Physicians in America and the Society of Philippine Surgeons in America. He writes a weekly health column for six newspapers, one monthly newspaper, two magazines and 3 websites on the internet: MALAYA Philippine national daily, Cebu Daily News, Southern Leyte Times, HEALTH News (a weekly Manila Times magazine publication, international edition), ESSENCE magazine (bimonthly, Cebu), Philippine News (California, national edition), The Filipino Guardian (Los Angeles-Las Vegas), Pinoy Monthly (Chicago), and The Filipino Reporter (New York). The two other websites are: www.pinoyonboard.com (click HEALTH) and www.BetaSigmaFraternity.org (click Betan@Heart).
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MajestyJo
12-12-2011, 08:24 AM
Rice with Vegetables - Spain
Serves 4 VEGETARIAN
Rice dishes with vegetables and pulses require extra oil because the ingredients are lightly fried beforehand. It is therefore handy to have a little oil in reserve - heated previously with a clove of garlic - to add to the mixture if it gets too dry.
Ingredients
2 medium-size fresh artichokes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/4 cups olive oil
1 medium-size eggplant, peeled and diced small
4 oz green beans, trimmed and chopped
4 oz spinach, washed and chopped
1 tomato, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
3 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 oz fresh peas, shelled
3 1/2 oz fava beans, shelled
3 1/2 oz fresh lima beans, shelled
Salt
1 pinch saffron
2 1/2 cups medium-grain rice
Directions
Remove the tough outer leaves of the artichokes, trim the ends and divide into quarters. Place in a dish, add the lemon juice and cover with water.
Heat the oil in an 18 in paella pan (shallow metal pan) and fry the eggplant, then remove and set aside. Fry the green beans, followed by the spinach and artichokes, then the tomato and garlic. When everything is done, add the paprika and water.
When it comes to a boil, add the peas, both types of beans, eggplant, a little salt and the saffron. Cook for 35-40 minutes. Check the seasoning. Add the rice, spreading it out evenly.
Cook over high heat for 10 minutes, then gradually turn the heat down over the next 8-10 minutes. Taste a few grains of rice to check that it is cooked. Remove from the heat, leave for 5 minutes, then serve.
Nutrition Facts: 1Serving Size 4 oz Calories360; Fat-3g(Saturated-0.5g);Cholesterol-13mg;Sodium-10mg;Carbohydrate -61g(Dietary Fiber-9g);(Protein-20g) calories from carbs-16%; calories from Fat-45%)
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