I never know what’s worth buying organic and what’s not.  They have organic everything.  But sometimes it costs twice as much and for something like a banana, does it matter?  I never know.  So I’ve been trying to use the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list as my guide, especially for food that we make for our bub. Confession: I’ve bought at least four of these in the last two weeks that were conventionally grown.  It’s just not that easy to find organic potatoes, for example.  Basically the list includes the twelve fruits/vegetables that were found to have the most pesticide residues.  Now use a little common sense here – of course it’s better to eat conventionally grown fruit and vegetables than none at all but if you have access to organic for at least these twelve, it’s a good choice.  It’s particularly important for children and pregnant women.

The Dirty Dozen:

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Imported Nectarines
7. Imported Grapes
8. Sweet Bell Peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Domestic Blueberries
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/Collard Greens

They also provide a “Clean Fifteen” list of produce that were found to have the least pesticide residue.  These fruits and veggies are safer to eat non-organic.

The Clean Fifteen:

1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocados
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet Peas
7. Mangoes
8. Eggplant
9. Domestic Cantaloupe
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet Potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms

Reviewing the list was helpful to me. I am not going to freak out if I can’t find an organic item on the dirty dozen list but if the option is there, I’m now more likely to take it. Now there are organizations that encourage you to take this list with a grain of salt.  For example, the Alliance for Food and Farming provides a pesticide calculator that helps show the number of servings someone would need to eat in order to experience the negative effects of pesticides.  You would need to eat a LOT of produce to get significant levels of pesticide exposure but really, if you have a healthier option, why not take it?  Produce is one of the few things you can buy at the market that is not processed.  The pesticides sitting on them are additives that YOU don’t need (I understand that the farmers do in order to provide the crops, but YOUR body doesn’t need those pesticides).  Luckily between the farmer’s market, Sprouts, and Trader Joe’s, I can find several of these in organic options.  The tough part is that I find that our list of markets continues to grow.  This week we went to four markets to get groceries.  Not particularly time efficient but then I’ve been thinking that if I do a good job with meal planning, maybe I SHOULD be going to the market several times a week to get the freshest produce.  Much of the world does this.  Hell, in India, the market comes to your house everyday – a guy with a cart walks buy and you can get your produce for that day.  And in France, people stop by the market on their way home from work for bread, dairy and fresh vegetables.  It’s really only here in the states where we have these monsterous refrigerators and freezers stockpiled full of packaged foods.  But I digress.  Hope this list is helpful to you and happy produce shopping!

Oh quinoa, you have ascended to lofty nutritional heights in my mind.  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a grain (I’ve also read that it’s a seed so I dunno) that has been gaining popularity over the last ten years.  It has an incredible protein composition – it contains ALL nine essential amino acids.  It’s the only plant based food to provide that.  It will give you stamina and provide protein that you would otherwise only find in meats.  Additionally its glycemic load is low, which means it’s less likely to cause a sugar spike like some of the foods it’s often subbed for – rice, pasta, couscous.  We like it and I have had several conversations with people that start out something like this: “I bought some quinoa but I have no idea what to do with it.”  So I thought I’d share some recipes that I’ve made and enjoyed.  Oh ya, and I don’t usually take pictures of the food I make so the pictures I’ve included are ones that I pulled off the intarwebz.  Bon appetite!

Quinoa Bowls – this is a staple for sure at our house.  Think Chipotle burrito bowl but with quinoa.  I usually have the ingredients on hand and it cooks up quick so we like it.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp green chiles
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained  (OR rehydrated dried beans!!!!)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Avocado (optional)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Add green chile.  Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn and salsa into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.
4. Top with avocados and shredded cheddar cheese

Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa -  I made this recipe up so you might need to play with it a few times to get it exactly the way you want it.  I kinda wing it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups COOKED quinoa (usually is yielded from 1 cup uncooked quinoa)
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped into small trees
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and saute onion until soft.
2. Add broccoli and saute until softened.  Remove from heat.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 5 minutes until fragrant and light brown in color.
4. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce.
6. Combine cheese sauce with quinoa and veggies.  Top with additional cheese for extra cheesability. 

Quinoa Burgers -  Got this one from a blog called Eating Well Living Thin.  Made this on Valentine’s Day with the intention of forming the patties into hearts for my man and my bebe.  It did not work out that way so we had plain ol’ round patties.  OH. SO. GOOD.  Definitely a keeper.  This makes a hefty portion – 10 burgers at least.  Seriously, REALLY good.  Surprisingly so.  I modified the ingredients a bit:

Ingredients:

• 2 rounded cups COOKED quinoa 
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety, if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 1/2 medium carrot, finely grated
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 green onions, including white parts
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Olive oil for frying

1. In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, zucchini, eggs, flour, green onions, Sugar, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.
2. Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat.
3. Mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick.
4. Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.

Quinoa Khichadi:  My mother-in-law makes a DELICIOUS sabu dhana kichadi.  I thought I would try to make it a little healthier by using quinoa instead of the food coma inducing tapioca (Or at least I think that’s what sabu dhana is).  For those of you not familiar, kichadi is a mishmash dish that typically has a grain and a bean.  Her version uses peanuts and is awesome.  Mine’s not as awesome but it ain’t bad.  It can be as spicy as you want it.  This is another recipe that I didn’t do a great job measuring; I just made it.  If you know how to make indian food, don’t use these measurements, use your gut.  If you don’t, this should serve as a decent guideline.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups COOKED quinoa
• 2 small potatoes, cubed into small chunks
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 green chili of some sort
• 1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts, ground into a fine powder (reserve 2 TBSP for yogurt chutney below)
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder (the indian kind, not the kind you put in chili with beans and beef and tomoatoes)
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt

Yogurt chutney:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp chili powder (again, the indian kind)
• 2 rounded TBSP ground peanuts
• pinch of sugar

1. Warm olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add potatoes and saute, stirring frequently until soft.  (After cooking for about five minutes, I actually put a lid on it and added some water to help the potatoes along)
2. Add green chili and saute briefly, about 1 minute.
3. Add quinoa, spices, and peanuts and continue to stir until heated through.  Remove from heat.
4. Combine ingredients of yogurt chutney in a medium bowl.  Adjust salt, sugar, and chili powder to suit your taste.

Serve bowls of khichadi, stirring the desired amount of chutney in for each person.

Hope these come in handy for you!  I was at a loss after buying a four pound bag from costco so I started looking for recipes.  There’s all kinds of good stuff out there to make and if you’re a vegetarian especially, quinoa is a great addition to your diet to help you get those amino acids.

Been thinking about beans.  Ya, I know.  Maybe I need to get a hobby or something.  But really, my husband’s been asking about using dried beans instead of canned beans and I’ve been seeing bits and pieces about dried beans vs. canned and it’s making think I’d like to move in that direction.  Since we’re leaning more vegetarian these days anyway, maybe more beans in our diets wouldn’t be a bad thing.  We don’t use a ton, but we do use a lot of pinto beans in the refried kind we buy, we also use black beans for quinoa bowls and chili, and we use kidney beans in the chili we make too.  And lately I’ve been giving my baby lentil soup.  Here are a few good reasons why I think I’m going to start soaking beans:

1. BPA levels in canned foods are scary.  I gotta tell you…when I read this, my heart sank because I’ve been giving Miss K lentil soup (from a can) that she loves. I bought it because the label had ingredients that were simple.  No scary chemicals.  The list was short.  Didn’t think about BPA at all.  I don’t know if the brand we buy has BPA but I know that dried beans don’t.
2. We would produce Less waste.  A biodegradable plastic bag for a whole lotta beans vs. a can for a few beans…hmmm.  Dried beans wins again.  Although the cans are recyclable, so at least there’s that.
3. Dried beans are less processed.  I don’t know what that slimy liquid is in the kidney beans we have but my guess is that it’s not a natural byproduct of the bean.
4. It’s more economical.  I often throw away a quarter can or half a can of beans because we don’t finish them.  Now I can measure out how much I need.  Dried beans are way cheaper than canned.  I’ve read that dried beans about double in weight when you refresh them.  I can of refried pinto beans is usually around $1 and weighs 15 oz.  You can get dried pinto beans for about half that.  I’m sure if you bought in bulk it’d be even less.
5. Some beans have added sodium.  Using the dried kind allows me to control the salt I put into them.

Now, like so many other things that I’m choosing to do because it’s better for our health or the environment, this will be a little more work.  I’ve read that it’s better to soak beans overnight.  So that means I have to plan and that I’ll have less on-the-fly options if I do away with them completely.  I think I need to be reasonable, so I think I’ll still have a can or two that I can use in a pinch but for planned meals, I’ll use dried equivalents.  My mom does it every week.  She uses all kinds of dried beans, a couple days a week.  I just need to plan better like she does.  It might take a while to update on this one…too bad I bought an 8 pack of refried beans and a 4 pack of lentil soup from costco that I need to get through first.  I did buy some dried bean soup mix that I’m gonna hop on within the next week or so.  That will be my first experience!

Now I don’t know if they’ll taste different (better or worse, don’t know!) but I’d like to try.