Is broccoli low-carb? It depends . . . I haven't written many posts about vegetables over the years. Nuts, yes. Seeds, yes. Even fruits (avocado, blueberries, strawberries and tomatoes). Once in a while, I've put up a photo of a plate with, say, a few green beans and a big juicy steak. But the focus has not been on the beans. The lack of focus on veggies may give readers the false impression that I don't eat many. In fact, I do veggies. Not just lettuce, either, but real, honest-to-gosh, … [Read more...]
Salad is better with eggs
Obviously, eggs add protein, fat, nutrients and taste -- plus a dash of contrasting color -- to a green salad, but it turns out they do even more than that. According to a new clinical study, whole eggs on a salad also help people better absorb the nutrients from the raw veggies. Salad is better with eggs. The study from Purdue University found that the lipids in the eggs -- that is, the fatty acids -- increased the absorption of the carotenoids from a variety of vegetables. While the fats in … [Read more...]
Italian Green Bean Salad
For years, Anita has been putting together a summer salad with green beans, tomatoes and red onion. It's an old family recipe. She calls it "Italian Green Bean Salad" in honor of her father, who's an old Italian. It's a delicious, nutritious summer treat, and reasonably low-carb. This summer, with a bumper crop of beans, cucumbers, hot peppers and tomatoes growing in our backyard garden, we were looking forward to making salads with the freshest, most organic of ingredients. Then blossom-end … [Read more...]
Keeping cool, low-carb style: simple salmon salad
When it's hot, most people like to eat light. Low-carb makes that easy. Lately, it's been hot all over, including here in Michigan. Locally, our temperatures have been in the 90s all week; today's high is predicted to be 98 degrees with a heat index of 110. If you live in Oklahoma or Texas, that may seem like a cool breeze to you, but up here, we aren't accustomed to temps in the upper 90s. After all, not only is Michigan a northern state, but it's surrounded by the largest bodies of … [Read more...]
Great foods for a low carb diet (part 4): salmon and sardines
Before adopting a low carb diet, the only canned fish I ever ate was tuna, mostly in the form of the classic tuna-salad sandwich. I still eat canned tuna, minus the bread, but because of two concerns, I restrict the amount. First, there is my concern about mercury in tuna. I'm not in one of the government's "high risk" groups for mercury consumption (pregnant women, nursing mothers, children), but I figure, why take chances? I buy only light tuna, which tests significantly lower for … [Read more...]
Low-carb road-trip eating
When my wife was 11 years old, she was mesmerized by Peter Tork, a member of the Monkees. Depending on whom you ask, the Monkees were either actors in a TV comedy or musicians in a rock-band. Or both. My wife would say both, and more, but her focus was always on the blond, hazel-eyed Mr. Tork. It still is. All of this explains why she and I drove to Merrillville, Indiana, yesterday to watch the Monkees (three of the four, anyway) perform at the Star Plaza Theatre. It was a stop on the … [Read more...]