EatingWell May 2013

Here at EatingWell, we believe “eating clean” is actually remarkably easy: for us, it means eating wholesome fruits and vegetables that are in season, such as the strawberry recipes developed by Jesse Cool for “Picking Season” (page 52). It means choosing whole grains over refined ones (see page 99 for some great new ideas for whole-wheat pasta salad). It means limiting (but not necessarily eliminating) saturated fats, sodium and added sugars (which Silver Palate Cookbook author Julee Rosso does in her scrumptious lightened-up brunch, page 78). And it means doing what Michael Pollan (whom we interview on page 14) calls “the healthiest thing you can do”: cook at home. It also can mean limiting our exposure to toxins and food-borne illnesses. Thanks to efforts by enterprising farmers, that’s becoming easier. In…

Jesse Ziff cool Organic Chef In 1976, Jesse Ziff Cool opened one of the first organic restaurants in the country. Many more restaurants, a catering company and seven cookbooks later, her goal is the same: to cook delicious food with the freshest ingredients, grown by, in her words, "awesome farmers." One such farmer is Jim Cochran, whom she says "has the most delicious Chandler strawberries." Read more about Cochran, a pioneer in sustainable farming, and try Cool’s strawberry recipes, starting on page 52 Laura Fraser Food & Travel Writer Since her first book, Losing It, an expose of the diet industry, award-winning writer Laura Fraser has gone on to chronicle the amazing tastes of foods around the world. Her 2001 book An Italian Affair was a New York Times bestseller and her latest…

Making Me Crazy! I have been savoring my April copy of EatingWell. “Rediscovering Quinoa” was such an informative piece. “5-Minute Breakfasts to Go” [Good] looked like something I could find time to make before work. With all the photos and recipes for my favorite foods—garlic, asparagus, avocado, fish, poultry, etc.—it’s making me crazy deciding which one to make first. Thank you for one of the most inspiring magazines. —Linda Miller, Marana, AZ Feed My Strength I was really impressed by the "Feed Your Strength" article [Nutrition Report, April 2013]. I appreciated all the tips to maintain muscle mass. But I really appreciated the knowledge that when I can’t get to the gym for a week or two and complain that I’ve lost muscle strength, it’s not all in my head! -Liz Wright, York, PA —Amelia Vidmar,…

Most of us know flowery Genovese and Italian sweet basils—think pesto—but the world of basil offers huge diversity, especially if you grow your own. Thai basil has a sweet, anise flavor. Holy, or tulsi, basil is more pungent and clove-like. Both are common in Asian dishes. Lemon basil’s citrusy tang is perfect for infusing vinegars and in seafood dishes. And lime basil adds zest to fish and salads. The spicy essence of cinnamon basil makes it a good fit for heartier dishes. Purple-hued opal basil is ideal for garnishes and adding a pop of color to salads. Tiny-leaved pistou and fino basils more than make up for their small size with intense aroma and spicy-sweet taste. Unlike other basils, they have soft stems, much like parsley. You may not find all these…

Michael Pollan: "The #1 Thing You Can Do to Be Healthier Michael Pollan wrote about agriculture in his New York Times bestseller The Omnivore’s Dilemma and nutrition in In Defense of Food. Now, in Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation (Penguin Press, April 2013), he homes in on what he believes is the single-most important step we can take to make our food system healthier and more sustainable. Why is home cooking so important? Cooking is key to changing our health and the environment. People who cook for themselves eat healthier diets. You could cook Twinkies, but it’s really hard to do and you’re not likely to do it more than once in a lifetime. You’re not going to reform the way we farm and process food unless you cook. Local food isn’t…

Tipping the Scales: For the first time, the Global Burden of Disease report—involving 500 scientists in 50 countries—found that obesity has become more of a health problem than lack of food. In contrast, its last report (in 1990) ranked malnutrition as the #1 health risk around the globe and being overweight was 11th. Malnutrition has since dropped to 8th place, while being overweight has risen to 6th. In Boulder County, Colorado, an acre of farmland can easily sell for $100,000-and that’s without the unicorn-rare water rights in this desert environment. That could make farming here a pricey or even prohibitive prospect. But since the 1990s, the county has been purchasing and preserving open space, accumulating some 100,000 acres. A chunk of that land-25,000 acres-is now devoted to promoting local agriculture. Boulder…