Monday, August 16, 2010

FRESH GARDEN VEGETABLE TIME

We're at the peak of Manitoba's vegetable season, and its time to take advantage of the bounty of our gardens and our local market gardeners' produce.
It's fresh SWEET CORN time, that time we look forward to all year, as well as the ripe tomatoes, new potatoes, cucumbers and all our favourites for eating fresh, canning and freezing.
In the spirit of sharing all the pertinent information we can gather about the what, when, why and how of good food, we would like to direct you to the Blog of our friend Erin Crampton, who, as well as operating the admirable CRAMPTON'S...EAT LOCAL seasonal market in Winnipeg, goes the extra distance to provide a wealth of information on fresh-in-season local food: picking, cooking, eating and preserving on her Blog:

http://cramptonsmarket.blogspot.com

We hope you'll find her information as illuminating and helpful as we have, and we're happy to share this great source with you!

We hope you're enjoying the best of Manitoba summer!

NEW IN THE STORE...
By the end of this week ( Aug. 20) you'll find some great new items in the Roseisle Grocery Co-op.
  • For those of you with wheat or gluten intolerance, or anyone who enjoys a good treat, Schar vanilla creme sandwich cookies will be available.
  • That wonderful herbal sweetener STEVIA is proving to be so popular, we're putting a larger size bottle of the liquid (237ml.) and a shaker of the powdered form (28 g.) on the shelf. We're also re-stocking the book on STEVIA, NATURE'S SWEET SECRET, which includes information about Stevia and terrific recipes using the liquid or powdered forms.
  • And right next to the Stevias, a newcomer in the "low glycemic index*" category... AGAVE Light NECTAR. AT 1.5 times the sweetness of white sugar and the exotic taste that hints of maple and honey, you'll want to use AGAVE NECTAR anywhere you would use sugar or syrup! See below for ALL ABOUT AGAVE NECTAR for the scoop on this little sweetie.
  • New on the pulses shelf, RED LENTILS. Flavourful, fast-cooking, they'll soon be a family favourite. See below for East Indian RED LENTIL SOUP recipe.
  • Next to our Crunchy Soynut Butter on the spreads shelf, a newcomer... slightly sweet SOYNUT BUTTER SPREAD... makes great sandwiches alone or paired with one of our John Russell honeys, bananas or a Crampton's Jam or jelly! Peanut-free, tree nut- free, gluten-free, organic, vegan, kosher. Safe for school lunches, excellent for toast and treats, and good for you!
At the check-out, next to the VERMINTS, another mouth-freshening treat... "PUR" GUM! This Swiss-made chewing gum is Aspartame-free! All-natural ingredients, sweetened with XYLITOL. a popular natural sweetener. NO GMO, vegan, nut-free, lactose-free, gluten-free, soy-free, peanut-free, egg-free, dairy-free, casien-free, and the Pomegranate-Mint contains anti-oxidants. See below for the story on XYLITOL.

ALL ABOUT AGAVE NECTAR
"NOW" brand Certified Organic Agave Nectar is a natural sweetener extracted from the Agave plant. Agave is a truly remarkable plant that grows in the harshest environments with little water and no upkeep needed. It is naturally found in western Mexico. It requires no pesticides or fertilizers and is actually a cornerstone to its ecosystem. The Agave plant is truly a sustainably grown/harvested crop. It is grown for 6-8 years, then before turning to seed, it is harvested by hand, thus reducing the "carbon footprint" during harvesting.
Naturally-occuring Fructans, which are complex sugar molecules, are separated into their simple sugar components Fructose and Glucose, by two methods. One uses a natural, non-GMO enzyme, and the second uses thermal hydrolysis.
Unlike High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), in which the glucose is made froam milled starch of corn, AGAVE contains no starch.
While the taste is very sweet, the GLYCEMIC INDEX* is low, so blood sugar and insulin levels will thank you for using AGAVE LIGHT!

EAST INDIAN RED LENTIL SOUP
Masoor dal, as these salmon-pink lentils are collectively called in India, is very richly flavoured and fast to cook. This soup is a good beginning to an Indian-style meal, or it makes a meal in itself served over Basmati rice with yoghurt on the side.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
3 cups water
3 cups organic vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup RED LENTILS sorted and washed
1 tablespoon light sesame oil
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. peeled and grated or minced ginger
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. salt
1 mild (Anaheim) or hot (Jalapeno) green chili, seeded and finely diced (may be pickled)
2 ripe tomatoes, diced, or 2 cups diced canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons minced cilantro (coriander)

Garnish:
4 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
4 tsp. fresh cilantro (coriander)

Preparation time: 20-25 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

1. Bring the water/broth to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the lentils, stirring to prevent clumping or sticking. Bring the water to a boil again, watching to see when it begins to foam. If the foam gets too high in the pan, scoop the foam out gently and discard. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the lentils are very soft, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, place the oil in a heavy saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, and saute until translucent. Add the ginger, turmeric and cumin seed, and 1/4 tsp. of the salt. Cook until the onion is medium brown and very sweet.
3. Add the chili to the onion mixture to taste, cook until it turns bright green. Stir the tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt into the onion mixture. Cook another 5 minutes.
4. Add the onion mixture to the cooked lentils. Heat gently until the flavours meld. Add the minced cilantro, and taste for salt and spices. Serve immediately garnished with the red bell pepper and cilantro leaves.
The leftover soup may be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

(recipe from Lynn Walters' "Cooking at the Natural Cafe in Santa Fe" Freedom, California: Crossing Press, 1992).

XYLITOL
Discovered in the 1800'S, XYLITOL is an all- natural sugar alcohol that has been the subject of intense research for over 30 years. This ongoing research continues to teach us that Xylitol is an excellent choice when it comes to sugar substitutes.
It has approximately 40% fewer calories than table sugar. Moreover, it is absorbed and utilized at a much slower pace than sugar, therefore doesn't cause blood sugar and insulin levels to spike in the manner that sugar does. Xylitol has an extremely low glycemic index* rating of 7, while refined white sugar is closer to 100.
While sugar creates an environment that is very favourable to bacteria that are linked to ear, mouth and respiratory infections, XYLITOL does not create such an environment, another reason that its an excellent ingredient in the PUR gum we've now made available to you.

*Glycemic Index:
The glycemic index is a tool that measures the speed at which a specific food (particularly carbohydrates) enters the bloodstream to create insulin . The faster the speed of entry of food into the bloodstream, the more insulin is secreted . Along with a myriad of health problems caused by an over-secretion of insulin, one of the major problems of excess insulin is that it triggers the extra storage of fat. "google" glycemic index, wikipedia etc. for more information.

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... Real Happy Shopping, Healthy eating!