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How to: Easy method for roasting beets can’t be beet

How To: Easy Method For Roasting Beets Can't Be Beet by Everybody Craves

After years of being banished to the back of the salad bar, beets are having a resurgence. The popularity of the bright red taproot comes as part of an overall increase of interest in health and nutrition. A study published in the American Medical Journal in 2016 found that the number of Americans with poor diets fell from 56 percent to 46 percent between 1999 and 2012. For many health conscious consumers, beets have been enjoying their rightful place center-stage of a balanced diet. They’re chock-full of essential nutrients like B vitamins, potassium, iron, copper, magnesium and manganese, and have all kinds of positive impacts on the human body. Consuming just one glass of beet juice per day has been found to lower systolic blood pressure by several points, while also lowering chances of heart disease and artery damage overall. Nitric oxide found in beets relaxes and dilates blood vessels, increasing blood to the brain and…

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Seasonal

Get relief from the heat with these 10 hydrating fruits and vegetables

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According to the old rule of thumb, the average adult is supposed to drink 8 glasses of water every day. Some days that can seem downright impossible — and oh so bland! But here’s a tip for your water woes: You don’t have to drink all of that water. On a typical day, 20 percent or more of our water intake comes from solid foods like fruits and vegetables. While it’s still incredibly important to drink enough water, try incorporating some of these snacks into your daily routine. You’ll be checking off a few dietary boxes since all foods listed below are at least 90 percent water and they offer various other nutritional benefits, as well. Cucumbers 96.7% water Cucumbers have the highest water content of any solid food, so they are perfect for summer salads on those sweltering days you can’t seem to stomach much else. Try mixing with watermelon and red onions…

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Seasonal

What’s the difference between grape and cherry tomatoes?

What's the different between cherry and grape tomatoes?

The other day I began making one of my favorite stuffed pepper recipes, when I discovered that I had purchased grape tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes on my grocery shopping run. Minor panic set in. There is probably a reason, I thought, I’ve always roasted cherry instead of grape tomatoes. Would I have to go back to the store to get the right ingredient? The easy answer is no, my recipe would turn out delicious as usual, even with the grape tomato substitute. However, it did get me wondering what the differences really are, and if at some point, they aren’t interchangeable. Cherry tomatoes Cherry tomatoes are named because their small size and round shape closely resemble that of cherries. They are juicy and sweet with thin skins. They are prized in the culinary world because they squirt juice when you bite into them. The delicate tomatoes are commonly used…

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News Bites

Eat more fruits and vegetables to reduce risk of breast cancer, researchers say

As if you didn’t have enough reasons to eat your fruits and vegetables, a new Harvard study shows that women who get their daily servings, or more, have a lower risk of breast cancer, especially aggressive tumors, than those who eat fewer servings of fruits and veggies. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, and yellow and orange vegetables, had a very strong link to lower risk of breast cancer. In the study, lead by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, researchers analyzed diet questionnaires from the Nurses’ Healthy Study (88,301 women, starting in 1980) and the Nurses’ Health Study II (93,844 women, starting in 1991). They found that women who ate 5.5 servings of fruit and vegetables each day had an 11% lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who ate 2.5 servings or fewer. (A serving is defined as one cup of raw, leafy vegetables, a half…

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Crave-Worthy Recipes

Arugula, mint and apricot salad

Arugula, mint and apricot salad2

Apricots are too often overlooked in the summer. We repeatedly reach for fresh berries and cherries, even peaches and watermelon. But for many, apricots are a fruit only eaten dried. A ripe apricot, with its dainty golden blush-color, dripping with juices is a perfect fruit on its own or used in a summer salad. Apricots give you a boost of vitamin A which is said to help repair skin damage from the sun. They also maintain electrolyte balance in the body — great for sweaty, active summer days, since electrolytes reduce cramping and keep blood pumping through your body. Expand your fruit horizons this summer and try this refreshing arugula, mint, apricot salad while the apricots are at their peak. arugula, mint, apricot salad Serves 2 Ingredients 2 cups arugula 1/4 cup mint leaves 2 ripe apricots, sliced 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 cup almond slices 1/2 orange (for dressing), cold 1 tbsp extra virgin…

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Soon, your avocados will last longer thanks to a Bill Gates-funded startup

Soon your avocados will last longer thanks to a Bill Gates-funded startup

Eating all your avocados at peak ripeness before they spoil is a feat that takes some serious planning. If you slice them too early, you have a hard, inedible center, but if you’re too late, you have a mushy, brown avocado that heads straight to the trash can. But Apeel Sciences, a California-based startup company that counts Bill Gates among its investors, says it has developed a way to keep avocados, and other produce, ripe and delicious for twice as long. The gif below, courtesy of CBS This Morning, shows how strawberries treated with the new product stand up to strawberries left untreated. via GIPHY Apeel uses food waste and other plant material to create a coating on produce that delays the aging process. The coating mimics the natural peel or skin that already protects the produce, and can replace the wax that grocery stores currently use. Aside from saving consumers from fruit and…

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Crave-Worthy Recipes

Brussel sprout chips with a kick

Brussel sprout chips with a kick-4

Brussels sprouts aren’t exactly the most-beloved vegetable at the market. But as a member of the nutritious cruciferous family — think cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli — they should have a place in your healthy diet. Brussels sprouts are the killer combination of being both high in fiber, vitamins and minerals, but low in calories. A half cup of cooked sprouts is just 28 calories, but has 137 percent of your vitamin K (good for blood clotting and bone health), and 80 percent of your vitamin C (immune functions) along with other nutrients like vitamin B6, potassium, iron, thiamine, magnesium, and phosphorus. For people who don’t get enough fish or seafood, Brussels sprouts can be a good plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids. They’ve also been shows to keep blood sugar levels steady, and some studies suggest that their high levels of antioxidants can help protect against certain types of cancer. Phew! That’s…

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Crave-Worthy Recipes

Refreshing pineapple, cucumber salad

Refreshing pineapple, cucumber salad

Summer is the season to celebrate with fresh fruit salads. There is such a bounty of fruits and vegetables and you can enjoy them individually of course, but you can also put them together in unusual ways and get excited about bright new flavors pairs. This is one of my favorite fruit salads to share. People are always surprised at how well this colorful combo works together. Sweet pineapple is balanced by the bite of the lime and the crunchiness of the cucumber. The cilantro brings it all together — herbs are good like that. Truth-be-told, this recipe is just a variation of a pineapple salsa recipe I make — just with bigger pieces of pineapple and cucumber so it’s easier to eat with a fork (and not just a tortilla chip). But, that said, if your crowd appreciates a little heat, you can consider adding the diced jalapeños back in. They…

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Crave-Worthy Recipes

Sweet potato muffins with pecans and raisins are perfect way to use up leftovers

Sweet potato muffins with pecans and raisins are perfect way to use up leftovers

There’s something about using veggies in baked goods that feels so smart. Zucchini bread and carrot cake are two classics, but if you like those, you should try making these sweet potato muffins. They’re a great way to use up leftover sweet potatoes whether they be baked, mashed or casseroled. You can always eat leftovers the next day same way, but isn’t it more fun to make something new? Here’s a simple recipe for sweet potato muffins. They have a mild flavor, and can be dressed up with honey, a pat of butter or an extra drizzle of syrup, but if you’re fine with a clean and healthy tasting muffin, you’ll gobble them up as-is. *Note: If your sweet potatoes aren’t already well-mashed, or if they’re in a casserole, mash before using in recipe. (If casserole is covered in marshmallows, consider scraping some off before mashing.) Sweet Potato muffins with raisins and pecans Makes…

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Strawberries top list of produce with most pesticides, avocados have the least

For the third year in a row, strawberries rank the worst on the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen list of fruits and vegetables.

If you pass on the organic produce in order to save a few bucks, perhaps you should at least consider the organic strawberries, new research suggests. For the third year in a row, strawberries rank the worst on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list of fruits and vegetables. The annual list looks at which of our grocery store produce is harboring the highest number of harmful pesticide residues. This year, more than 98 percent of samples of fruits like strawberries, peaches, cherries and apples tested positive for at least one pesticide residue on the skin. About a third of all strawberry samples had at least 10 pesticides present, the study reported. One sample had an “astounding” 22 pesticide residues. Behind strawberries on the Dirty Dozen list landed spinach. About 97 percent of spinach samples showed pesticide residues were present. Nectarines, apples and grapes rounded out the top five. The report is based…

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