From the monthly archives:

January 2011

New Nutrition Advice From Government: Enjoy Your Food, But Eat Less

by Janet on January 31, 2011

 

 vegetable plate

Marjeliion flickr.com

At last.  The much-anticipated 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have been released.  They’re a bit late (as you tell by the 2010 moniker) but they’re here.  And now the real work begins — translating this policy into practice. 

In reality, the nutrition advice is not all that different from the last version 5  years ago.  Obesity is a bigger deal in 2010, and that was reflected by the first-ever emphasis on eating less.  Surprisingly, we’ve not had such a straightforward mandate. Now, 4 of the 23  key recommendations are related to balancing calories to manage weight.

“Discretionary calories,” a term from the 2005 guidelines that was never fully understood has morphed into “solid fats and added sugars,” which is probably another equally confusing concept.  This twosome (dubbed SoFAS)  is the biggest source of nonessential calories in the American diet — or foods that offer very little nutritionally besides calories.

Solid fats (major sources of saturated and trans fats) supply 19% of our total calories, with grain-based desserts as the biggest contributor — from butter, shortening and hydrogenated stick margarine.  Heavily-marbled meats are also major suppliers of solid fats.  Added sugars currently supply 16% of our total calories, and no surprise, the biggest contributors are soda, energy drinks and sports drinks.

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USDAgov on flickr.com

Keep in mind, what was announced today was the policy document from USDA and HHS.  This is intended to provide the scientific rationale to drive federal nutrition policy, including food and menu labeling, improving school foods and public health promotion.  What will be really meaningful is the consumer education initiative, which will be launched in the spring (an update of MyPyramid, which could be a pyramid or something new entirely).  Even so, I was glad to see that the committee spent time trying to boil down the 95-page report into some consumer take-home messages:

Balancing Calories

  • Enjoy your food, but eat less
  • Avoid oversized portions

Foods to Increase

  • Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
  • Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk

Foods to Reduce

  • Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals — and choose the foods with lower numbers
  • Drink water instead of sugary drinks

How great to see “enjoyment” even be part of the equation.   Sometimes that’s overlooked.  But I think that’s so important to emphasize.  You can still eat healthy and enjoy the food you eat.  Nutritious can be delicious.  How great would it be if the press conference today featured actual food — instead of the stark stage where Secretaries Vilsack and Sibelius gave their speeches to unveil the new guidelines. 

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USDAgov on flickr.com

After all, we eat food, not nutrients.  Probably the greatest advice of all was the call to action to make half your plate fruits and vegetables.  That’s a strong, actionable message.  That’s what we need.  We need to translate the science into small action steps that can truly change the way America eats. 

So bottom line, the new guidelines say we need to eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lowfat dairy and seafood.  We need to consume  more calcium, vitamin D, potassium and dietary fiber – nutrients of concern in American diets. And the same time, we must reduce salt, solid fats, added sugar and refined grains.  That’s a tall order. 

This can all be overwhelming.  Even Secretary Vilsack admitted he hadn’t read the guidelines until he got the job with the USDA.  Hello, I wish you would have kept that to yourself.  How do we expect the public to take notice if you didn’t view them worthy until you were paid to help revise them?

I totally applaud the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  Now we need to offer solutions to help the public make them real.  That comes down to helping people know what to pack for lunch and put on the plate at dinner.  We need to better arm the public with specific solutions to make these guidelines a reality.

Keeping it real and making it enjoyable is a good place to start.

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The Wonderful Lychee Fruit Gets Hijacked

by Janet on January 30, 2011

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Lychee fruit by SUJA on flickr

Oh, no.  Here we go again.  Lychee fruits may be the new Acai.  This exotic fruit from China and Southeast Asia has became increasingly popular in the last few years — showing up in juices and energy drinks, on restaurant menus and mixed in martinis.  In fact, the Lychee martini craze is still going strong.

2408184831_698b1c08d4Lychee-Lemongrass Martini by Colin Purrington on flickr
lychee salsa on oystersLychee salsa on oysters by Augustus Gloop on flickr 

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Lychee Clafoutis by Appetite for China on flickr

Soon lychee gained status as a superfruit — fueled by a Journal of Nutrition study that found lychees contained the second highest amounts of polyphenols of all the fruits tested.  Lychees were found to have 15% more heart-healthy polyphenols compared to grapes.

It was only a matter of time before the next step in the cycle (following in acai’s myth-riddled path):  a lychee supplement.  That’s exactly what we have now with the launch of  the Lichi Super Fruit Diet.  Here’s a press release from the New York-based company Bainbridge & Knight that saw an opportunity to jump on the lychee bandwagon.  I first learned about these new herbal supplements last week when I heard an ad on the radio here in Chicago and wanted to learn more.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing — lose weight, boost metabolism, melt fat and detox.  

Here’s a link to LichiSuperFruit.com where you can learn more about the $29.99 supplements that contain lychee fruit extract, acai, resveratrol and green tea extracts.  The products just launched in November and the company plans to support with a national ad campaign, so I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about the Lichi Super Fruit Diet if you haven’t already.lichi super fruitWhy can’t we just enjoy the fruit?  Why must every trendy food get turned into a dietary supplement?  You simply cannot capture all of the benefits of a whole food into a pill.  I don’t care that these supplements contain 17 different ingredients designed to burn fat.  Eat real fruit, drink a cup of  real green tea. 

Products like this always try to align with research so you’ll believe the products are science-based and the claims credible.  Typically there’s some link to research that gets the ball rolling.  But just because a food may be worthy of praise, doesn’t mean a pill filled with an extract of that food has any merit (and there’s likely little actual lychee inside). 

There’s a Japanese company that sells a lychee dietary supplement and it funded a study that seems to be the foundation of the burn fat. claim: lychee extract may trim waist fat.  However, this is not sufficient evidence to me that lychee supplements are worth spending money on. 

I like the idea of a lychee super fruit lifestyle — but only a lifestyle that includes real lychee fruits and other whole fruits and vegetables.  Products like this are only a distraction.  

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Rick Bayless’ Wild Mushroom Queso Fundido

by Janet on January 29, 2011

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It’s not every day that the fabulous celebrity chef Rick Bayless cooks for you.  So I enjoyed every minute of it.  I was fortunate to attend an event that included a private cooking demonstration by Rick, along with a team-building, make-your-own margarita relay race.  Quite fun!  The event was held in an office space-test kitchen area that’s above his restaurants Frontera Grill and Topolobampo.

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Rick made Wild Mushroom Queso Fundido, which I thought would make an ideal appetizer for Super Bowl parties.  You can serve the cheesy dip with warm tortillas to make soft tacos, or simply pass around tortilla chips for dipping.

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I liked his idea of using dried porcini mushrooms, which are just a fraction of the price of fresh wild mushrooms.  Rick also used sun-dried tomatoes in this version instead of fresh tomatoes — which he said he often does in the winter months.  The dried mushrooms and tomatoes were rehydrated and the liquid drained before adding to a saute pan along with the chopped onion and serrano chiles.

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After the vegetables are cooked, beer is added to the mixture and then cheese is sprinkled over the vegetables and stirred until melted.  Rick used Chihuanhua cheese in this version, but you can use any other Mexican melting cheese like quesadilla or substitute Monterey Jack cheese instead.

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Wild Mushroom Queso Fundido

I found this Rick Bayless recipe from Season 6 of Mexico – One Plate at a Time, and noted the changes Rick made to the version he cooked for us.

3/4 ounce (about 1/2 cup) dried porcini (or other wild) mushrooms
Hot green chiles to taste (roughly 1 large jalapeno or 2 serranos, stemmed  [Rick used 2 serranos in his version, stems left intact for the heat]
1 medium white onion
1 large ripe tomato [Rick substituted sun-dried tomatoes]
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons beer, preferably a full-flavored beer like Mexico’s Bohemia
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, about 2 cups [Rick used Chihuahua cheese]
About a dozen warm corn or flour tortillas [Rick used mini homemade flour tortillas]

1. Rehydrate the mushrooms. Scoop the mushrooms into a small bowl, cover with boiling water, weight with a plate to keep the mushrooms submerged and let rehydrate for 20 minutes.  Drain off the liquid, pressing on the mushrooms to remove all the water.  Chop into 1/4-inch pieces.

2. Prepare the flavorings. Finely chop the chiles (seed them first, if you wish), then chop the onion and tomato into 1/4-inch pieces.  Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chiles, onion, tomato and mushrooms and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the onion begins to soften and brown, 7 or 8 minutes.  Add the beer and stir until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is once again dry looking.

3. Finish the queso fundido.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, sprinkle the cheese evenly over the vegetables and stir slowly and constantly until just melted — too long over the heat and the cheese will become tough oil and stringy.  Immediately scoop into a warm serving dish (a small fondue dish with a tea light below is ideal) and serve with warm tortillas for making soft tacos.

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Why Walmart’s Nutrition Pledge Really Matters

by Janet on January 24, 2011

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It was hard to miss Walmart’s big announcement last week.  I’m sure you know all about it by now, but I wanted to offer up my point of view.

I tuned in to watch part of the webcast, which featured First Lady Michelle Obama who congratulated America’s biggest grocer on its commitment.  You can view the webcast here or read the First Lady’s remarks.  Here’s what the announcement was all about.  Walmart pledged to:

  • Make healthier choices more affordable
    Including slashing the prices of fresh produce (saving consumers $1 billion/year) and eliminating a premium price for better-for-you products
  • Reformulate thousands of packaged foods by 2015
    Reducing sodium by 25% and added sugars by 15%, eliminating all trans fats
  • Develop criteria for a simple front-of-package seal
    A consistent way to identify healthier foods
  • Build new stores in areas to increase accessibility of healthier foods
    Helping to eliminate food deserts in urban areas

Throughout the webcast and immediately following, I  noticed several cynical tweets.  Soon I was reading some less than positive blog posts, including…

Why We Should Question Walmart’s Latest PR Blitz by Anna Lappe, Civit Eats on Huffington Post
Walmart’s Nutrition Initiative:  Smoke ‘n Mirrors or Real Change by Fooducate
A Skeptic’s View of Walmart’s Nutrition Initiative by Marion Nestle

A few eyebrows were raised over Michelle Obama’s participation.  Some people dismissed the press conference as a simple PR stunt.  Others just couldn’t get past the fact that this was Walmart — an often controversial chain that has been criticized for its treatment of workers and dismissal of unions, as well as its mammoth size and impact on a community.

michelle obamaWhatever you think about the country’s largest retailer, this was a big deal. Sure, we can argue that this was a PR stunt, and it’s all about making money.  But still, these changes can make a huge difference.  Here’s what our First Lady had to say…

“…today, with this announcement, the largest corporation in America is launching a new initiative that has the potential to transform the marketplace and to help American families put healthier food on their tables every single day.  This Nutrition Charter promises a real change that can have a fundamental impact in how our kids eat, you see, because when parents have the information they need about the products they buy, that puts them back in charge, so they can make good decisions for their families.

When kids are consuming these products every day, those reductions in sugar, and salt and trans-fat can really add up.  When healthier options are finally affordable, that can affect every single meal a child eats, whether it’s adding fruit at breakfast, or whole wheat bread at lunch, or some more veggies on the plate at dinner.  And when 140 million people a week are shopping at Walmart, then day by day, and meal by meal, all these small changes can start to make a big difference for our children’s health.”

Think about it:  140 million people a week shop at Walmart.  That’s an enormous number.  But it’s not just the people walking through the doors of Walmart who will benefit.  The real significance is the trickle down factor.  Walmart is the largest customer of practically every food company in the country.  The pressure is on to reformulate or innovate — or you’re shut out of getting on the shelf at Walmart.

The real reason why this move is such a big deal is Walmart’s marketplace muscle — the power it has to ignite change throughout the food industry. Walmart is not only changing the nutritional profile of its private brand, it’s calling on all the major food manufacturers to get in line.  And they’ll do it.

That’s the power of this announcement.  Yes, it’s great that Walmart is reducing the price of fresh produce.  We need to encourage the consumption of more whole foods.  That’s really important.  But we need to face the facts, families rely on packaged foods — and we shouldn’t outright condemn anything that comes in a box, bag or can.  Let’s try to make these convenience items more nutritious — reduced sodium soups, cereal and yogurt with less sugar and frozen entrees void of trans fats.

We can nudge folks to eat fresh and prepare foods from scratch using whole foods.  But I’m happy to know that when they stray from the perimeter of the grocery store, they’ll have more nutritious packaged options to choose from.

We can do all the educating we want, but people need healthier options to choose from, and they need the healthy options to be affordable.  Why shouldn’t Michelle Obama acknowledge Walmart’s nutrition initiative.  I’m glad she was part of the press conference.  She recognizes that to truly change the way America eats, we need to tackle the issue from several angles.

I applaud Walmart for this commitment.  The bar has been raised.  That’s how positive changes happen.

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The Art of Eating Clean

by Janet on January 16, 2011

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I’ve enjoyed getting to know Terry Walters, well, at least virtually at this point.  We’re planning to meet in person some time next month in Chicago.  Terry is the author of  Clean Food and the newly released Clean Start – two beautiful books that were designed by a terrific Chicago graphic design firm MacKenzie Brown Design. In fact, it was my friend Andy Brown who helped make the virtual introduction.  He’s quite proud of the books and is a big fan of Terry’s work.  I can see why.  Thanks for sending me the book.

There’s one amazing recipe after another in Clean Start.  I love how the book is organized seasonally.  The emphasis is on whole, local foods — especially the foods we need more of, including whole grains, fresh produce and healthy fats. There are two winter recipes that I have my eye on.  I haven’t made yet, but thought you might be interested in trying too.  They both contain some of the trendy ingredients that I predict will be big in 2011 — squashes, ancient grains and bitter greens.  Reprinted with permission from Clean Start © by Terry Walters, Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.  Photography by Gentl & Hyers.  Design by MacKenzie Brown Design.

French Lentils with Roasted Roots, Caramelized Onions and Thyme

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Lentils are a perfect complement to winter’s colorful and sweet roots and squashes. Not only are they a great source of protein, but their somewhat earthy and savory taste enhances a variety of winter meals.  Although there are three main steps required to make this recipe, the prep time is minimal.  This dish goes great with sauteed mustard greens, kale or collards.

1 rutabaga, peeled and diced
1 celeriac (celery root), peeled and diced
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup dry French lentils
3 cups vegetable stock or water
Sea salt
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 large red onion, diced
4 cups thinly sliced mushrooms (variety of choice), about 1 pound
1 tablespoon mirin
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
Chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place rutabaga and celeriac in 8 x 8 baking dish, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and roast 20 minutes. Remove from oven and toss.  Return to oven and roast an additional 20 minutes or until soft.  Remove from oven and set aside.

While vegetables are roasting, rinse lentils and place in pot with vegetable stock and a pinch of salt.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until just tender (about 20 minutes).  Remove from heat and drain well.  Toss with 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon lemon juice and set aside.

In large skillet over medium heat, saute onion in remaining tablespoon olive oil until it starts to brown (5-7 minutes).  Add mushrooms and mirin and continue sauteing.  Add remaining 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon at a time to deglaze and caramelize vegetables.  Add thyme and saute 2 minutes longer, for a total saute time of 12-14 minutes.  Fold in lentils and roasted vegetables and saute to heat through.  Season to taste with salt, toss with parsley and serve.

SERVES 6

Deep Dish Greens with Millet Amaranth Crust

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I thought this was an interesting combination of kale and frozen vegetables that’s topped with a whole-grain crust. And the photo is gorgeous. In the book, Terry writes: When my children were young, I made this one-dish meal with frozen veggies and a more traditional pie crust.  As they became more adventurous eaters, I added more dark leafy greens, and eventually exchanged the crust for this hearty whole-grain topping.  I’m not sure my family even remembers the original version, but they definitely love what it has become.

Topping
3/4 cup combined millet and amaranth
2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Filling
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
3 carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons mirin
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 bunch collard greens, chopped
1 cup water
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

Place millet and amaranth in pot or rice cooker with vegetable stock and salt.  Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until all liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat and set aside.  In large Dutch oven over medium heat, saute onion in oil 3 minutes or until soft.  Add carrots, peas and corn and continue sauteing to heat through.  Add mirin, fold in kale and collards, and saute until tender and bright green.  In small mixing bowl, whisk together water, tamari and arrowroot.  Pour over vegetables, stir until sauce starts to thicken and remove from heat.  Transfer to pie plate or casserole and set aside.

Turn on broiler.  When grains are done, fold in dried parsley and season to taste with salt and plenty of black pepper.  Stir to combine and spread evenly over vegetables.  Drizzle with olive oil and broil 5 minutes to yield a creamy grain topping with a crisp crust.  Remove from oven and serve hot.

SERVES 4

Variation:  Substitute polenta for grains and 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes with their juices for 1 cup water and tamari.

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Chicken’s Salty Little Secret

by Janet on January 14, 2011

Mar 31 - Raw chicken

photo:  courtesy of haneka on flickr

How much do you know about the chicken you buy?

If you’re not carefully reading labels, you might not realize that some brands have been injected with a salty broth.  It’s an increasingly popular practice called “poultry plumping” that  has a lot of people crying foul. You may not even be aware that it’s happening.  Yet, about one-third of the fresh chicken in supermarket meat cases in this country has been enhanced to make the meat  tastier, juicier and more tender.

Read more in my column in the January issue of  Cooking Light.

You know when you’re picking up packaged deli meats that there’s been some processing involved.  You expect bologna and other luncheon meats to contain higher levels of sodium — but fresh, raw chicken?  The juiced up varieties can contain as much as 440 milligrams of sodium per serving, or nearly 500% higher than natural, untreated chicken.   In fact, a  single serving of plumped up poultry can contain as much sodium as a large order of fast food French fries.

To me, the most troubling part of this practice is the “natural” claim that you’ll find on the label of these salt water-injected birds.  Poultry companies have gotten a green light from USDA to call their products “100% natural” or “all natural” even though they’ve been injected with extra salt and water.  Some brands mix in a seaweed extract called carrageenan that helps to retain the added water – which can be 15 percent or more of the meat’s weight.  That means if you buy a 7-pound enhanced chicken, you might get only 6 pounds of meat and end up paying a premium for 1 pound of added water.

The “natural” labeling of plumped poultry has the industry fiercely divided. The major processors who inject their poultry with salt water solutions (including Tyson and Pilgrim’s Pride) say consumers prefer it and the enhancements help keep the lean meat juicy and flavorful.  They claim their products meet the “minimally processed” description that’s required for the natural label, and the injected ingredients (including the carrageenan) do not include anything artificial.

That may be true, but seaweed and salt aren’t naturally found in chicken.  You don’t expect a whole food like this to be altered when you buy it.

The poultry processors on the other side of the debate say the practice is deceptive and they want to see the enhanced birds stripped of their “natural” moniker.  They say the industrial needle injections and high pressure vacuum tumbling that are used to enhance the poultry should not be considered “minimally processed.”

Yet most importantly, at a time when sodium consumption has risen to the top of worrisome health issues and we may see new dietary guidelines reduce daily sodium recommendations —  here’s an example when salt is being needlessly added in unexpected places.

Foster Farms, a West Coast family-owned producer, created a campaign called “Say No to Plumping” to raise awareness of the issue and promote truly natural, untreated chicken.   They’re using bloated chicken mascots dubbed the Foster Imposters to mock the use of the “all natural” label on injected poultry products and urge stricter regulations so consumers know what they’re buying.  Their commercials are rather amusing…

Processors are required to disclose the injections, but lettering can be small – just one-third the size of the largest letter in the product’s name.  The words “100% natural” will likely be what you see first so you might not look beyond this description.  During my own visits to the meat case, it wasn’t easy to quickly tell the differences between the various packages of fresh chicken – especially when the dominant visual is the fresh meat peering below the clear plastic.

To know if you’re picking up an enhanced product, you need to go beyond the bold type and look for the fine print, such as “contains up to 15% chicken broth.”  You won’t always see the word “enhanced” used – simply the percentage of added salt water.  You can also check the ingredient list to see if you spot chicken broth, salt and carrageenan, and, of course, look for the sodium content on the nutrition facts label.  If it’s truly natural, with no injections, the sodium content won’t be higher than 70 milligrams per serving.

A group called the Truthful Labeling Coalition is trying to raise awareness of poultry plumping and change the regulations that allow these salty birds to boast about being “natural.”

Did you know about this practice before?  What do you look for when you buy chicken?

See what others have said about the issue…

Center for Science in the Public Interest Pumped-Up Poultry Not “Natural”
Washington Post Crying Foul in Debate Over “Natural” Chicken
Wall Street Journal  The Fine Print:  What’s Really in a Lot of “Healthy” Foods

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My Top 10 Picks for 2011 Trendy Foods

by Janet on January 9, 2011

There’s been a lot of talk about 2011 food trends.  In fact, the entire practice of predicting food trends has become a trend.  I know I’ve certainly devoted a lot of space to the topic of food trends.

Food may not be as trend-ridden as fashion but it’s getting close, writes Lisa Gosselin, the editorial director of Eating Well in the Huffington Post – Food Fads: What’s In and What’s Out in 2011. I really liked her take on what’s trending up, what’s trending down and what is so, so over for 2011.

Trending down:

  • Super fruits – Once the darlings of the nutrition world, Lisa says super fruits like pomegranates, acai and goji berries have become the victims of their own hyper-marketing.
  • Cupcakes – We still love you, but it’s time for something new.  Now it’s all about pie, especially fruit pies in all their deconstructed formats (crisps, grunts, slumps and betties).
  • Bacon – It may be the most lip-smacking, tastiest treat on the planet, but do we need it to be candied, covered in chocolate or added to just about everything from breakfast to dessert?

Trending up:

  • Gluten-free diets – Giving up gluten has gone mainstream, and while it’s beneficial for the 3 million Americans with celiac, gluten-free processed foods are not healthier than their counterparts.
  • Street food – First it was hot dogs, then tacos, now food trucks are dishing up everything from Korean barbecue to French crepes.
  • Omega-3 – These fatty acids have some of the broadest and strongest impacts on our health, yet not all omega-3s are created equal; EPA and DHA are most powerful.
  • Probiotics – The jury is still out on some of the claims, but the good bacteria in fermented foods may offer some digestive health benefits.
  • Growing your own – Last year saw an 28% increase in gardening for food among 28- to 34-year-olds. Watch for even more young farmers in 2011.
  • Meatless meals – Meatless is not just the new vegetarian, it’s bigger than that.  Meatless Monday has become a movement — for personal and planetary health.
  • Simpler, more wholesome food – The growth of more “natural” foods with few simple, healthy ingredients.

Here are my picks for the top 10 trendiest foods in 2011 — or at least what I hope will be hot.

1. Chickpeas

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Chickpea and Orzo Salad with Piquillo Pepper Vinaigrette by flickr user Bitchincamero

I’ve frequently talked about my love for the humble chickpea — which has now become a superstar among legumes.  We’ve seen hummus become the new salsa and now Subway has introduced falafel in Chicagoland.  It’s only a matter of time before these fried chickpea nuggets will go mainstream.  With Meatless Monday trending up, expect to see more legume-based entrees and I can’t think of a better bean to use.

2.  Kale and other bitter greens

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photo courtesy of flickr user: Shauna/Glutenfreegirl

Kale is suddenly every where on restaurant menus. This sturdy, bitter green is wonderful sauteed, used fresh in salads, tossed in soups and pasta, and even baked crisp for kale chips.  It seems America is warming up to bolder, stronger flavors — which helps open the door for kale, swiss chard, turnip greens, broccoli rabe and other bitter greens. That’s a good thing!

3. Freekeh and other ancient grains

5212675235_a896991f1cFreekeh courtesy of flickr user: Lyudavitaya

I’m crazy about Freekeh, an ancient smoked wheat from the Middle East that I’ve written about before.  But I haven’t met a grain I didn’t like.  Expect to see other ancient and exotic grains like amaranth, kamut, millet, quinoa and spelt strike it big in 2011.

4.    Pumpkin and winter squash

291049268_0d3492a20dDouble Pumpkin Risotto courtesy of flickr user Abstract Gourmet

Pumpkin is not just for Halloween anymore.  This beta carotene beauty will become a year-round favorite, along with other nutrient-dense squashes.

5.    Black rice

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Thai Forbidden Black Rice Salad courtesy of flickr user Dayna McIsaac

Black rice, often referred to as forbidden rice, was identified as the top side/starch for 2011 in a survey of chefs conducted by the National Restaurant Association.  This nutty, chewy rice is rich in antioxidants and it’s being touted as a new superfood.

6.   Ethnic sandwiches

4597599567_6b898d5e64Bulgogi Burger Wrap courtesy of flickr user TheHungryHungryHungryHippo

We have street food to thank for the sandwich trend.  Last year was all about the gourmet hamburger, now it’s the sandwich’s turn to shine — especially ethnically inspired sandwiches such as the Vietnamese Banh Mi that is one of the featured offerings at Graham Elliot’s new sandwich restaurant Grahamwich in Chicago.  The new hip sandwich shop also sells amped up popcorn and vegetable pickles — two additional trendy foods.

7.   Pies

3501701071_95d7c528e5photo: courtesy of flickr user Mr. Flibble

OK, I think you’ve heard by now:  Pies are the new cupcakes.  I think we’ll always love cupcakes, but pies are definitely hot, hot, hot.  They’re showing up in every size, form and format, from savory to sweet and from deep-dish to individual deep-fried ones.

8. Artisanal ice pops

4520428083_b3bd5dd488photo: courtesy of flickr user SafePlacePhotos

Gourmet, handcrafted popsicles are popping up all over the country.  Check out Travel & Leisure to find out where you can find these high-class, big-flavor treats that are “the most fun you can have on a stick.”

9.  Varietal honey

101694235_5f468904a8photo courtesy of flickr user roboppy

Artisanal, single-source honeys are joining chocolate and olive oils as a new wave in the single-origin trend.

10. Sumac

2918622960_1b9aca1071Sumac coated salmon on braised leek, butternut pumpkin and bacon mash courtesy of flickr user tseyin

Sumac is not always easy to find outside of Middle Eastern markets, but I think that will change as more people discover the wonderful fruity-tart flavor of this deep red spice.  I’ve noticed sumac showing up on restaurant menus and more people are writing about sumac so I think 2011 may be its year.  If sumac is not available in your area, you can buy it online (including Penzeys and The Spice House).

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