Chill Out for Food Day With These Salad Recipes

 Do you have a food day coming up at work?  Or a Christmas pot luck at the church?  I have some really tasty dishes you can make and share.  The Antipasti Salad not only provides bold colors,  but is very nutritious as well.  Make sure you take copies of this recipe, because I can guarantee you will be asked for it.

Grandma’s Kitchen Recipes  Antipasti Salad

Serves 8

Ingredients for the dressing:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

¾ teaspoon Italian seasoning

½ cup olive oil

For the Salad:

8 ounce package of your favorite mushrooms

2 cups broccoli florets, sliced

2 cups cauliflower, sliced

1 ½ cups grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 small green pepper, sliced

1 small can sliced black olives

¼ pound provolone cheese, cubed

Combine the dressing ingredients and pour over the vegetables.  Marinate at least 1 hour before serving.  Toss salad before serving.

Does this not look like a recipe that you learned in culinary school?  Isn’t this a lovely salad to take to food day?  Grandma’s Kitchen Recipes follows the adage, “You eat with you eyes.”  Not literally, of course.  But if you think about it, that statement is very true.  Serving a meal that has many bright colors and varied textures will create a more festive atmosphere at the table.  Bland is boring.  A plate of food can be a work of art.  So, Grandma’s Kitchen Recipes says, find the artist in you.  Create something beautiful.  Your diabetic friends will thank you for considering them, too.

This is another of my favorites.  And you can take it as a main dish salad.  The Sea Shell Salad is not as dramatic in color as the Antipasti Salad, but still has nice color and texture.

Grandma’s Kitchen Recipes Sea Shell Salad

Makes 8 (1 cup) servings

Salad Ingredients

8 ounces of uncooked shell macaroni

2 cups small shrimp, washed and deveined

1 cup julienned carrots

2/3 cup celery cut diagonally

1 small green pepper, diced

½ cup minced green onion

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

Dressing Ingredients

1/3 cup plain yogurt

!/4 cup light mayo

¼ cup cocktail sauce

Directions

Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Drain and cool. Reserve the tomatoes for garnish. Toss the remaining salad ingredients together.  In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together.  Pour over salad and toss lightly to combine.  Garnish with the halved grape tomatoes and chill several hours before serving.

And there you have it-two completely different salads that burst with color and nutrition.  By using the cocktail sauce, you don’t need to salt the dressing.  The yogurt and light mayo keep the fat down.  And the combination of shrimp and veggies make this an attractive dish.  This will be a hit at your pot luck, or at your own table.  

You will no doubt see holiday plates, platters and bowls of rich, high calorie foods for the next several weeks.  Danger Will Robinson!  Holiday eating is a diabetic nightmare.  Taking a full plate at the pot luck represents miles and miles on the tread mill.  What do you do to keep the calories in check?  Here’s a hint to keep the calories down at your food day.  Start with a small plate.  Then  take less of everything.  Either stay away from the rich foods or take a miniscule portion.  You may sample, just don’t over indulge. Take only a fork full, or split a cookie with 2 friends.  Until next time, Grandma’s Kitchen Recipes says, show restraint at you holiday pot luck, and you can still enjoy life!

Nanna Dorie

"What Do I Need To Do To Eat Healthy?"

It's holiday season and the dishes we are offered can make it very difficult to consume healthy foods, let alone stay within the portion control guidelines.  Grandma's Kitchen Recipes wanted to share this educational article. Consider this another cooking class, where I impart information.  Perhaps my research will give you a hand in defeating some of the temptations that will be thrust upon you.

The History of the USDA Food Pyramid

When Grandma's Kitchen Recipes started researching this subject I had no idea that the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) had been educating this country on the subject of a healthy diet for over 100 years.  It all began when an agricultural chemist, Wilbur Olin Atwater, PH.D ., wrote the first guidelines in 1894.  Dr. Atwater received government funds to study human metabolism.  His study emphasized the importance of variety, proportion and moderation in the diets of American males.  His research found that the calorie was a means to measure the efficiency of a diet.  Dr. Atwater also found that different types of food produce different types of energy.

In 1917 Caroline Hunt, a nutritionist, wrote the first USDA guidelines entitled “How to Select Foods.”  Caroline Hunt introduced the first recommended 5 food groups. Her guidelines were:

*       Milk and meat

*       Cereals

*      Vegetables and fruit

*      Fats and fatty foods

*      Sugars and sugary foods

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) was released from the National Academy Sciences and the USDA changed their recommendations again.  Then in 1946 it created the National Wartime Nutrition Guide which offered 7 food groups that supported RDA requirements:

1.     *   Milk and milk products

2.     *   Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, peas and nuts

3.      * Bread, flour and cereals

4.     *   Leafy green and yellow vegetables

5.     *   Potatoes and sweet potatoes

6.     *   Citrus, tomato, cabbage, salad greens

7.      *  Butter, fortified margarine

In the 1960’s and 1970’s papers were written, and research done on the dietary fat in our diets.  In January, 1977 the Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs published a paper that recommended that all American’s reduce their fat, saturated fat and cholesterol consumption, and increase their carbohydrate consumption to 55-60% of daily calories.  When the guidelines were released the cattle, egg and dairy industry went ballistic.  Congress was, in essence, telling the public that animal products were bad for you.  Because of the fall out the committee was forced to revise it’s report, but the damage had been done to the American meat, egg and milk industry.

The USDA stayed neutral for many years and did not adopt a new guideline until 1990.  The food pyramid that we are so familiar with was released in 1992. In 2005 a person climbing the stairs of the pyramid was added to the pyramid logo. Then in 2010 the food pyramid was revised again.  This pyramid was broken down in to 8 divisions:

*       Physical activity

*       Grains, recommending that at least half of the grains being consumed be whole grains

*       Vegetables, emphasizing dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, and dry beans and peas

*       Fruits, emphasizing a variety of fruits, less emphasis on fruit juices

*       Oils, recommending fish, nut and vegetable sources

*       Milk, a category that includes both milk and dairy products

*       Meat and beans, emphasizing low-fat and lean meats such as fish as well as more beans, peas, nuts and seeds

*       Discretionary calories-those calories that are not identified in other groups such as candy, or alcohol.  This section is the smallest of all 8 sections.

Now in June 2, 2011 the USDA launched “My Plate.”  Other governments and organizations have developed similar guidelines and plate design such as:  The UK’s  Eatwell Plate,  Austrailian Guide to Healthy Eating and the American Diabetes Association’s Create Your Plate system.  The guidelines for the “My Plate” icon are as follows:

*       30% grains

*       30% vegetables

*       20% fruits

*       20% protein

So now, as you can see, our pyramid has turned into our plate.  And healthy nutrition is as simple as looking at your plate.  Remember, if you are diabetic cooking, you still need to follow the food group portion sizes for your particular caloric diet.  Grandma's Kitchen Recipes will be talking about “My Plate” and how you can easily fit it into your lifestyle in later issues.  Grandma's Kitchen Recipes will show you how to prepare recipes that will keep you in the guidelines recommended.  Until then, remember "my plate" and……cooking class dismissed!

Nanna Dorie