Liz On Food

Poll Results: What Does "Eat Right" Mean to You?

At the beginning of March, National Nutrition Month, I asked Liz On Food readers the question, "What does 'eat right' mean to you?" These two words are the slogan of the American Dietetic Association as well as the organization's URL, so I thought it would be interesting to obtain some informal insight on the phrase. Respondents were asked to check all that apply, when asked, "What does 'eat right' mean to you?" And now at the end of the month, I share with you the results.

93%    Balancing nutrition and enjoyment when it comes to food.

57%    Eating enjoyable foods with family and friends.

53%    Eating not too much, not too little.

50%    Not skipping meals.

36%    Eating only nutritious foods.

21%    Eating organic foods and avoiding GMOs.

0%      Being a vegetarian.

Bon appetit on this last day of National Nutrition Month!

Grilled Salmon with Green Onions and Dill

I adopted this recipe from Ina Garten's (Barefoot Contessa) baked version. I pull green onions from our garden to create this deceptibly simple and deliciously irrestible grilled salmon and usually serve it with grilled vegetables and rice.

Serves: 6

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

1 whole salmon filet (about 1.5 lbs.)
5 green onions
2 T fresh dill, minced, or 2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 T olive oil

Light grill. Dice green onions. Lay out a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap the salmon completely. Brush foil with olive olive and place salmon on foil. Sprinkle pepper over salmon; cover salmon with dill and onions. Seal the salmon in the foil and grill 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Per-serving Nutritional Profile:
    Calories, 233
    Fat, 11 g
        Saturated Fat, 2 g
    Cholesterol, 65 mg
    Carbs, 1 g
        Dietary Fiber, 0 g
    Protein, 31 g
    Sodium, 62  mg
    Vitamin A, 6% Daily Value
    Vitamin C, 6% Daily Value
    Calcium, 6% Daily Value
    Iron, 6% Daily Value

This Year's First Garden Harvest: Walking Onions

Here in Colorado, March is the snowiest month, with nearly a foot of snowfall on average in the Denver metropolitan area. Yet, near the month's end relatively warm temperatures, coupled with low precipatation, have resulted in bone dry grass, wind-swept dunes at the edges of fields, and ashy dirt collecting in porch corners and window sills, the latter remnants of the January grass fire that swept through the open space west of our rural neighborhood. But BIG SNOW is on the way, according to local weather reports: 8-16 inches in the Denver area with more in the foothills.

The impending snow storm on my mind this afternoon, I was suddenly inspired to harvest my first bunch of onions for a grilled salmon recipe I modified from a baked version created by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. For the past month I have been watching our walking onions grow. A gift left behind by the former owners of our property, these perennial bunching onions allow us to enjoy a garden harvest long before any annuals are even planted. Also known as tree, topsetting, Egyptian or Cattawissa onions, these curious plants set multiple bulblets on top of stems, which then bend to the ground and root, sending up new shoots next to the first plant, in walking fashion.

While walking onions can produce year-round depending on the climate, I let ours rest and rejuvinate over the winter, with passive minimal mulching from whatever leaves happen to blow into the garden. As hardy perennials, walking onions are remarkably resilient in arid climates such as Colorado's. And this time of year, the young onions are particularly sweet and tender.

After pulling, cleaning and dicing six or so onions, I topped the salmon with dried dill along with the onions and wrapped in foil for grilling. Sealing the generous amount of onions in the foil provides a solid balance for the strong salmon flavor. This chilly evening, as we grilled in our warm fleece jackets, we watched the wall of clouds looming over the mountains. The onions may very well be covered in a white blanket by tomorrow evening. But they will survive and can surely use the moisture. And tonight we enjoyed our first garden harvest, a mere taste of the mouth-watering joys to come later in the season. 

 

Update March 26, 2009: Since the snow storm started in the middle of the night, we've received about 12 inches, and the snow is still falling. Here's what my walking onions look today, 24 hours after the first picture above. I think a few days may pass before I pull onions again. But in Colorado, spring snow melts fast.

Fruits and Veggies for Registered Dietitian Day

I'm participating in a blogfest in celebration of Registered Dietitian Day, March 11, 2009. Check out other registered dietitian (RD) bloggers' contributions at the bottom of my post. 

One of the best aspects about being an RD is the limitless possibility for creative application. Excuse me while I wax poetic about some of my favorite fruits and vegetables.

 

Stealth Grapes

I spied the almost-ripe grapes
Hanging low over the fence
At the school playground.
I carefully eyed them
As I returned each day
To see them deepen to black iris,
Always bidding farewell,
Believing the Sweet-Tart jewels would be plucked
By giggling children, shifty starlings
Or marauding raccoons
Raiding under cover of night.

Instead the globe clusters
Clung to the vines
Day after day,
As if in a secret garden
Growing just for me.
Perhaps the children didn't see them.
Perhaps they did not know
How a grape grows on vines,
Not in a bag in the produce aisle.
Maybe they saw death
In the inky bunches,
Trained by anxious adults,
"Don't eat the berries, they might be poisonous!"

When I was sure they were ripe,
I picked under dusk stealth
The juiced-up black pearls
Just waiting to be snatched
Before dropping
To the ground, withered and barren.
I was almost sad to be
The one to harvest
The fruit
Rather than the children.

But of those grape beauties
I saved from disuse,
I concocted
Jewel-toned and bursting Stealth Jelly,
My secret now ready to share.

 

On a Summer Afternoon, Grilling Vegetables
    (Inspired by Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables)

Chunky, fresh and sizzling,
Halcyon and verdant squash,
Vermillion pepper, always strident,
Pearl onions on the loose,
Renegade tomatoes, fruit in disguise,
Scent-of-earth baby bella,
Glisten with olive oil and intertwine with garlic.
Kaleidoscope flavor and smell.

 

RD Day Blogfest - Other Posts

Beyond Prenatals - Food vs. Supplements and Real Advice vs. Fake Advice
Annette Colby -No More Diets! A Registered Dietitian Shares 9 Secrets to Real and Lasting Weight Loss
Ashley Colpaart - Dietitians working in food policy, a new frontier
Diana Dyer - There and Back Again: Celebration of National Dietitian Day 2009
Marjorie Geiser - RD Showcase for National Registered Dietitian Day - What we do
Cheryl Harris - Me, a Gluten Free RD!
Marilyn Jess - National Registered Dietitian Day--RD Blogfest
Julie Lanford - Antioxidants for Cancer Prevention
Renata Mangrum - What I'm doing as I grow up...
Meal Makeover Moms' Kitchen - Family Nutrition ... It's our "Beat"
Jill Nussinow - The Registered Dietitian Lens I Look Through
Wendy Jo Petersen - March 11 is our day to shine!
Diane Preves - Registered Dietitians and the White House Forum on Health Reform
Andy Sarjahani - Dr. Seuss Tribute continued: Green Eggs and Ham and a Sustainable Food System
Rebecca Scritchfield - Big Tips from a "Big Loser"
Anthony Sepe - RD Showcase: Registered Dietitian Day, March 11, 2009
Kathy Shattler - RD Showcase for Nutri-Care Consultation
UNL-Extension, Douglas/Sarpy County - Nutrition Know How - Making Your Life Easier
Monika Woolsey - Dietitians--Can't Do PCOS Without Them!
Monika Woolsey - In Honor of National Registered Dietitian Day
Jen Zingaro - My life as a Registered Dietitian

 

Here Chicky, Chicky

A few miles east of our rural Boulder County home, the City of Longmont, Colo., began issuing permits for backyard chickens on March 9. On the first day, half of the 50 allotted permits were issued before noon. Under the new city ordinance, permit holders are allowed to keep up to four chickens in residential areas. Longmont's move is part of a growing trend of raising backyard chickens, an outgrowth of the urban farming movement. In recent years, several other mid-size cities have permitted backyard chickens, including Ann Arbor, Mich., Fort Collins, Colo., and Madison, Wisc., joining the ranks of major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

A couple generations ago, many families raised their own chickens for food or extra income. Now, the convergence of the down economy and the local food movement have set the stage for a home roosting comeback. Savoring fresh eggs and fried chicken during childhood family vacations at my grandparents' Missouri farm, I can understand the nostalgic attraction of backyard chickens. Nonetheless, I think I'll merely observe this trend, rather than fully participate in it, especially because our family includes our wanna-be-hunter Golden Retriever, Buddy. Aside from envisioning him terrorizing chicks and chasing chickens, I can picture Buddy (rather smell him) vigorously rolling in poultry droppings and perfuming our indoors with eau de cologne poulet poupe. And I still have a memory of our long-passed Chesapeake Bay Retriever proudly dropping at our feet a freshly killed hen, not more than five minutes after arriving at my relatives' farm. Tough old bird or not, there was the main course for our evening meal.

If you're interested in raising chickens, you'll find plenty of advice and community at Backyard Chickens.

Poll: What Does "Eat Right" Mean to You?

March is National Nutrition Month. The American Dietetic Association with its URL eatright.org advises to "focus on eating right at any age." See a common theme? Take my poll; I'll be posting results later in March.

Poll: What Does "Eat Right" Mean to You?