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Customized tacos do not have to be gooey when made at home and especially, when consumers do not follow the authentic filling of chucked beef with scallions. A recipe in the Washington Post claims to bring respite to tacos with maintaining the sensory properties desired in tacos with salmon.

Though the salmon filing can be complicated or kept simple with herbs and seasonings, what matters here is snacking on fats, which are not fatty. Some low-fat filings for tacos are as follows:

1. Salmon, lime, pepper and pesto filing.

2. Tofu, red bell pepper and cilantro juice.

3. Spinach and broccoli salad.

4. Minced chicken cooked with cayenne pepper and salt.

5. Shrimp cooked with squash and garnished with oregano and thyme.

Beef shoulder as a complementary to steak in stews, roasts and stuffing is reportedly the juiciest cut of meat preferred by sophisticated palates of American diners. An article points out the good and bad side of beef shoulder, where the former tends to be apt for slow cooked foods while the latter speaks of the amount of guilt hidden in the fatty layers of chuck.

Facts provided apparently tips on the various ways of removing fat after the meat is cooked by the way of cutting the fat out or removing the layer of fat after refrigerating.

The perspective made in beef shoulder is for appealing the medium rare and rare preferences of American diners, and to put it the other way it discourages the purchase of beef shoulders from supermarkets.

Earlier reports show that industrial beef is dry and it might not give much credit to the succulent preparation of the wiliest cooks. Briefly, it is for the home cooks and chefs to skill themselves with handling beef shoulder at home to treat the diners with moist meat instead of a dried slab, if unless the meat is not kept for pot roasts or stews.

Snack Food Association of America has published a survey revealing whopping sales of $24 billion in the snack-food aisle coming from cheddar-flavored snacks in the supermarket. Facts provided in the survey have reportedly listed out the expanding flavor array in the American snack market complementing the cheddar flavor.

Food innovations in 2006 has witnessed Frito Lays’ chips and other finger foods appearing in bolder flavors and the apparent inclination of American consumers towards Asian and Indian flavors is still on a high.

However the trend with cheddar as the reigning flavor is nothing new as the cheddar had caught with the bold flavors because of its pungency. Therefore, gourmets do not have much to analyze in the snacking category as the flavor preferences of American diners is concentrated and limited to bolder flavors and has not diversified to milder flavors.

When you are in bed watching TV or sitting at the dining table and a plate of salad appears before you, you cannot resist this vividly colored salad ingredients. Fruit salad doesn’t seem terribly hard. You get a bunch of fruit, cut it up,
and throw it in a bowl. Here is a recipe to make a quick tasty fruit salad with papaya sauce.

Ingredients

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 apple, peeled and cut into cubes
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1-1 medium sized carrots
A fist of cranberries
2-3 Scallions sliced
1/2 pound grapes, picked off stems
1/2 small melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 fist of any seasonal berries
1/2 cup of Papaya cut into small chunks.

Preparation

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice and the sugar.
2. Place cut up fruit in a large salad bowl, pour sugar lime mixture over fruit.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings with more lime or sugar as needed. You can season your salad with honey too.
4. You can use papaya sauce instead of sugar lemon mixture.

Papaya sauce ingredients

1 large papaya, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons fructose sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
• Puree all ingredients in processor until smooth. Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

• Drizzle Papaya-Mint Sauce over fruits. Sprinkle with coconut. Garnish with mint, cauliflower leaves or you can use celery stalks

Via: HealthRecipes

Kraft Foods Inc. has been reportedly sued by Boynton Beach, Florida, resident Linda Rex, where the latter has accused Kraft Foods for mislabeling its Capri Sun juice drinks as ‘All Natural’. Lawsuit filed on Monday in a Palm Beach County court and backed by advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has accused Kraft of selling flavored high-fructose corn syrup in foil pouches.

Kraft Foods is yet another food manufacturer in queue with Quaker Oats and Frito-Lay to have been sued over fake marketing of synthetic products. What matters is the ‘hyper’ attached to the words ‘organic’, all natural and the likes, which has led reputed food manufacturers to cheat food police and the consumers.

Fake food packaging has been affecting the health conscious consumers in many directions. Therefore food legislators should regulate the food manufacturing process right from the picking up of ingredients to the final distribution of the end products.

Fruits and vegetables form important ingredients of your food. They provide you vitamins, nutrients, salts and antioxidants. Green vegetables are rich in iron as often said by doctors and most of us no this fact. But the irony is that we prefer to eat junk instead of fresh foods.

Here is a list of 15 foods you shouldn’t live without.

Apples: Apples are a must-have as the content of vitamin C is much higher as compared to other citrus fruits. The antioxidants help you detoxify the cancer causing chemicals. Apple juices and the fruits are served with salads and food recipes.

Carrots: Carrots are rich in bet-carotene, which is transformed into vitamin A by our bodies. They are good for your eyes and help in ensuring good eyesight. Avoid cooking them as most of the nutrients are lost. It’s better to eat them raw. Carrots are loved by children and even I love them.

Flax-seeds: This ancient grain is gaining importance presently it is used by most of chef’s in their recipes. This grain is advised to them who are suffering from hormonal imbalance. A small amount of it daily can help in avoiding the risk of breast cancer. Try to have grinded flax-seeds in order to get the maximum benifits.

Tomatoes: These berries are rich in uric acid, lutein, lycopene which acts as an antioxidant. Recent studies prove that the risk of developing cancer of bladder, stomach and colon is comparatively less in those who consume tomatoes. I love to gobble fresh, red, raw and juicy tomatoes along with my lunch and dinner.

Garlic: Garlic is extremely beneficial for those who suffer from bad cholesterol, high blood pressure and it helps to reduce the risk of stomach cancer. Garlic is used in most of Indian recipes as it adds to the flavor.

Cauliflower: The Cruciferous member is believed to prevent cancer and promote healthy liver. This crucifer can be beneficial for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

Onion: Onions are rich in flavonoids and help to lower blood pressure. While you chop onions, you are reducing its benefits so try to crumb and grill them. They were used by Egyptians to cure diseases and were used in most of their food recipes.

Plums: plums can be used in recipes, salads and jams. These are rich in iron and if you are anemic you can go for plums as they absorb iron from your blood stream. Plums are rich in vitamin C too and reduce the threat of macular degeneration.

Green Tea: Green tea is rich anti-oxidizer and one can bag it from nearby grocery shops. Look for fresh and pesticide free tea, brewed in farms of Himachal Pradesh (Kangra tea), green tea is famous for its taste and flavor. This tea helps to reduce risk of heart strokes and helps in healthy immune system.

Cranberries: These berries are rich in vitamins and antioxidants and have great importance of health for the urinary tract. These can be used as an important antibiotic supplement, because of its anti-fungal and antibacterial effects. Try to take fresh and pure cranberries, do not try them in your cocktails to get the benefits.

Yams: Candied or not, yams are very beneficial to you as they are rich in vitamin B6. Potassium, iron and sodium are most essential elements of our body and potassium is one of the elements found in yams.

Celery: A green stalk used in most of the salads and soups is rich in Pthalides and vitamin C, celery also helps in healthy blood vessels.

Olives: Olives are used in salads, food recipes and cocktails in most of restaurants and hotels menus. Olives are source of vitamin E and can act as an anti-inflammatory. Olive oil is an essential component of most of chef’s recipes.

Strawberries: Red and pink strawberries are rich in phenols, good for your hearts, can act as anti-inflammatory and can reduce risk of cancer.

Honey: Honey can be taken as a medicine as well as a natural sweetener. Its anti fungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties can help promote quick healing of wounds.

Via: Protectyourincome

Seychelles Govt. issues possession permits to the buyer of Coco De Mer (Lodoicea maldivica), the large hard shelled seed found in Seychelles in Indian Ocean. Seychelles restaurants and hotels are shaping their lagoons into coco-de mer. It resembles two coconuts attached in center.

The sailors who first this nut floating in the sea for the very first time anticipated that it bear a resemblance to a woman’s disembodied buttocks. These seeds disperse by water and appear in two sexes; male and female trees.

This nut is heavy and cannot disperse to distant places. Hence, rotten nuts are found in nearby ocean basins. Coco-de - mer (heart shaped) fruit takes 10 years to ripenand bears a fleshy and fibrous envelope surrounding a hard shell. In ancient times it was used as a medicine and as an aphrodisiac. Now this nut is gaining importance as an ornament.

What are you waiting for? This is a fabulous chance to own the unique mythical double coconut wii, the Coco De Mer

Via: Ebay

Stuffed pork chops have always balanced cheap fare with gourmet finesse, but a recipe redux of stuffed pork chops in The New York Times claims to bring out a cheaper version of pork cut than the one used for the stuffed pork recipe published by The Times in 1959. Cheaper substitute to pork loin in pork belly or steaks in the recipe redux by Marco Canora, the chef at Hearth in New York, claims to have given similar flavor as the stuffed pork chops.

But 2007: Brined-and-Braised Pork Belly with Caraway cannot be called a redux of 1959: Pork Chops with Rye-Bread Stuffing, for the very reason that both the recipes are entirely different. As far as the perspective of using cheaper cut of pork is concerned then facts provide that loin chops are cheaper than steaks as they contain some bone.

However, the redux points out a justified cause in using steak in place of chops as the modern availability of the latter cut is thin and dry and therefore limits the mouthfeel of natural juice sought in a gourmet appetizer. More than anything else the redux intends to assert the capacity of cheaper pork cut in gourmet recipes, which the redux claims to have made its way to the diners at the Hearth in not more than half an hour.

A not so famous vegetable and usually understated vegetable, sweet potato is finally getting its due. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (of the US) ranks the sweet potato as the world’s most nutritious vegetable.

The humble sweet potato is actually a power vegetable - in more ways than one.

Here are some other appealing facts about sweet potatoes:

• One medium-sized sweet potato contains just 118 calories and is cholesterol-free and almost fat-free.

• They have more fiber than oatmeal: 4 grams in a medium-sized potato.

• One cup of cooked sweet potatoes provides 30 milligrams of the antioxidant beta carotene. You’d have to eat 23 cups of broccoli to get that much.

• The body converts beta carotene into vitamin A, and a serving of sweet potatoes contains twice the recommended daily allowance. Vitamin A helps maintain a healthy immune system and protects the body from strokes and heart disease.

• Sweet potatoes are naturally low in sodium but high in potassium, calcium, folate and vitamins E and C.

Serve some tonight and you’ll do yourself a tremendous favor.

Here is a an easy recipe:

SWEET POTATO SALAD Makes 8 servings
Cook’s note: This salad tastes even better a day after it’s made.

4 cooked sweet potatoes
4 green onions ( for about 2 / 3 cup sliced )
2 celery ribs ( for about ¾ cup diced )
¼ cup olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 orange
1 tablespoon reduced - sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon seasoning salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Place the pieces in a large bowl. Thinly slice the green onions, including enough of the tender green tops to make about 2 /3 of a cup. Add them to the bowl. Rinse and dice the celery, and add it to the bowl.

Mix the oil, lemon juice, orange juice, soy sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, seasoning salt and pepper in a measuring cup. Whisk well. Pour over the potato mixture and stir gently to coat, but avoid breaking up the potatoes. Serve at once, or refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

Leftovers keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

PER SERVING: 165 calories; 2 g protein; 25 g carbohydrates; 4 g fiber; 7 g fat (1 g saturated); 0 cholesterol; 139 mg sodium

Via : Columbus Dispatch

Most of us reach out for a cup of tea very often. Centuries of study have led us to the belief that tea can help boost health. At one stage, the product was sold in chemists - or apothecaries as they were known at the time.

But, the recent studies have discovered some new information which will dismay the tea lovers. Tea’s beneficial effects are completely wiped out by adding milk, the study concludes.

Much of tea’s goodness has been linked to its high content of antioxidants, which help protect the body against natural toxins known as free-radicals. The antioxidants protect against heart disease and stroke and may also have an anti-cancer effect.

But new research has found that if you are among the many who add milk to their cuppa, you are missing out on these benefits.

Researchers from Berlin looked at the effects of tea on 16 women, who drank either half a litre of freshly brewed black tea, black tea with 10 per cent skimmed milk, or just boiled water to act as a control.

The function of an artery in the forearm was measured using ultrasound scans before and two hours after the different drinks were consumed. The arteries in those who drank black tea were better at relaxing and expanding, boosting the flow of blood to the heart and around the body.

But this benefit appeared to have disappeared in those who drank the tea with added milk.

Dr Mario Lorenz, a molecular biologist, said: “The addition of milk completely prevents the biological effect.”

The effect is believed to be linked to caseins, proteins found in milk. The researchers, from Charite hospital in Berlin, said those proteins interacted with the tea to decrease the concentration of catechins - the flavonoids found in tea which protect against heart disease.

Dr Verena Stangl, professor of cardiology at the hospital, said: “The well-established benefits of tea have been described in many studies. Our results thus provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on the risk of heart disease in the UK, a country where milk is usually added.”

So, before you pick up that another cup of tea, try to avoid milk to get the maximum goodness that pure tea offers.

Via : WN Network