All About Nuts

WASHINGTON - No almonds. Big problem.

The makers of the high-energy, eat-and-run Clif Bar needed 85,000 pounds of almonds, and they had to be organic. But the nation’s organic almond crop was spoken for.

Eventually, Clif Bar found the almonds in Spain. But more shortages have popped up: apricots and blueberries, cashews and hazelnuts, brown rice syrup and oats.

America’s appetite for organic food is so strong that supply just can’t keep up with demand. Organic means food is grown without bug killer, fertilizer, hormones, antibiotics or biotechnology.

Organic products still have only 2.5 percent of the nation’s food market. But the slice is expanding at a feverish pace. Growth in sales of organic food has been 15 percent to 21 percent each year.

Mainstream supermarkets, eyeing the success of organic retailers such as Whole Foods, have rushed to meet demand. The Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and SuperValu Inc., which owns Albertson’s LLC, are among those selling their own organic brands. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said this year that it will double its organic offerings.

The number of organic farms, an estimated 10,000, also is increasing, but not fast enough. As a result, organic manufacturers are looking for ingredients outside the United States.

Not that people have been clamoring for it, but I generally have avoided writing about granola. Can't stand reducing myself to a crunchy cliche.

Thing is, I love granola. What I don't love is the hunt for good granola. Few have nearly enough fruit and never the varieties I want. I've tried dozens of readymade granolas, everything from low-fat raspberry to exotic coconut and cashew blends.

And most of them are lousy.

Turns out several of my friends went through this same process a few years ago. But rather than whine about it, or make do with mediocre granola, they began baking their own special blends.

My friends sent me their recipes. I was eager to try them, but never did. I had it in my mind that it was a labor-intensive exercise and the payoff just wasn't worth it. I mean, how much better could it really be?

Then recently I encountered a particularly bad batch of granola. It was dry and mealy, tasting as though somebody had sifted all-purpose flour into the mix. Maybe my friends were right.

Rather than stick to my friends' recipes, I used them to create a skeleton from which I could concoct my own granola.

Assembling the dry ingredients was easier than I expected. Uncooked rolled oats and wheat germ (a food I can't recall having ever knowingly consumed) form the core of most granola recipes.

Beyond that, taste ruled. I wanted lots of crunch, so I rounded out the dry ingredients with sunflower seeds, pistachios and chopped almonds, plus a bit of cinnamon for taste.

Liquid ingredients were trickier. These varied widely from recipe to recipe. I eventually settled on a sticky blend of honey, maple syrup, molasses, canola oil, and vanilla and almond extracts.

Finally, the fruit. This was easy. I love banana chips, so a whole mess of those went in. But I also enjoy the chewy contrast that softer dried fruits add, and so tossed in several cups each of raisins and dried cranberries.

Read more...

I am a vegetarian and although I love protein-rich foods (especially cheese) I don’t eat a huge amount of them as they are so high in calories and I have reached the age (49) when I have a tendency to gain weight rather easily.

I am healthy and fairly fit (I walk the dogs a couple of miles each day, swim and do yoga) but I get very tired when doing things such as walking up stairs. I always opt for low-fat dairy, such as semi-skimmed milk and low-fat hummus. Can you advise me on either protein supplements or good low-fat protein foods?

The first thing to do is check with your doctor that everything is medically OK, because certain conditions, such as hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), could explain extreme tiredness, muscle aches and a struggle to maintain a stable weight, despite a seemingly healthy diet.

The following protein-rich foods are all low in fat, so they really shouldn’t pile on the pounds: chickpeas, beans of all sorts (from kidney beans to black-eyed beans); lentils (tinned ones are fine, as are tinned pulses); split peas and green peas; soya products such as miso (fermented soya bean paste), tofu (soya bean curd), tempeh (soya meat-alternative), tamari (wheat-free soy sauce). Nuts (cashews, peanuts, pine nuts, all sorts) and seeds have more fat in them, but it is predominantly monounsaturated fat. You can use nut butters (peanut butter or hazelnut/almond butter) instead of normal butter, and sprinkle seeds on cereals, whiz them in a blender to a fine powder or stir them into muesli or porridge. Other great grains that include less but good protein are quinoa and spelt.

It used to be thought that for vegetarians to metabolise the amino acids, they needed to accompany vegetable protein, such as beans, with a cereal-type food, such as toast, with each meal. We now know that this isn’t necessary — but it is a good idea to mix proteins with some cereal foods such as pasta, rice, bread and oats throughout the week.

Read more...

pretzels, along with candy bars and fine chocolates from our Chocolate Factory, mixed nuts and pistachios from the Nut Farm, massive amounts of jelly beans, hard candies, and fruit gems from the

Pistachios 1 ounce (49 kernels) dry roasted contains 6.0 grams protein and 3.0 grams fiber. Potassium 295.4 mg Phosphorus 137.5 mg Magnesium 34.0 mg Calcium 31.2 mg Sodium 2.8 mg Iron 1.2 mg Selenium

Under Construction People Gotta Eat, Inc. 20 Bisbee Court Suite A Santa Fe, NM 87508-1338 Toll Free

4 c. shelled pistachios Decoration ï Thin strips of red pepper, chives, green of leeks or scallions, carrot, and radishes Aspic ï 1 lg. egg white ï 3/4 tbsp. unflavored gelatin ï 1/2 c. green of leeks

Recipes for Shabbat Pistachios By Eileen Goltz As a kid one of my favorite things to do was get a big bag of red pistachios and suck on them long enough to turn my mouth, tongue, fingers and anything