Health&Wellness Magazine October 2015 | Page 35

October 2015 & 35 FOOD BITES By Angela S. Hoover, Staff Writer Saving Spoiled Produce It happens to all of us at some time or another: Our produce starts to go bad before we can eat it all. But keep in mind produce is still nutritionally (and tastily) viable even after it shows signs of decay. It’s just a matter of how to prepare the items to taste good. Instead of trashing them, here are ways to save spoiled produce and still enjoy delicious its taste and nutrition. • Broccoli or potatoes: Roast them. The high, dry heat draws the sugars, which create the crisp edges and sweet flavors of roasted vegetables, to the surface. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and toss evenly cut vegetables with olive oil to coat. Roast until golden brown and tender, usually five to 20 minutes, depending upon size. Cooked this way, broccoli and potatoes will last another five days in the fridge and can also be used in soups, salads, omelets, pasta or eaten as is. • Leafy greens: Juice them. A blender is all you need. Blend them with an apple and some water and strain the pulp out afterward for an invigorating, healthy drink. You can also leave in the pulp for a heavier “shake” if you like. • Cucumbers and onions: Pickle them. Sprinkle them liberally with sugar and salt and let stand until the sugar and salt have dissolved and drawn some liquid out of the vegetable. Cover with a 50/50 mix of water and vinegar (use rice vinegar for a milder taste) and refrigerate. • Lemons, cucumber, hot chilies and ginger: Infuse them. Flavor vodka by steeping the peels of any vegetable in the bottle for two weeks. You can also infuse water the same way, only faster, in a couple of hours. Fruit is also great for infusing water. • Zucchini, carrots or other vegetables: Grate them and add them to salads. Or you can sauté them in a stir fry, fold them into a bread batter, use them in an omelet or mix them with egg and flour to make a batter to fry up crispy, tasty fritters. Meaty Matters This past September, horse DNA was found in the United States food supply chain. The discovery was made by researchers at Chapman University’s Food Science Program in two separate studies on meat mislabeling in consumer meat products sold in the United States. One study analyzed commercial ground meats from supermarkets and online specialty meat distributors. Of 48 samples, 10 were mislabeled. Of those 10, nine were found to contain additional meat species. Horse meat, which is illegal to sell in the United States commercial market, was found in two of the samples. The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Food Control, suggest the mislabeling was due to either intentional mixing of lower-cost meat species into higher-cost products or unintentional mixing of meat species due to crosscontamination during processing. The second study looked into the $39 billion game meat industry. Of 54 samples, 10 products (18.5 percent of the samples) were potentially mislabeled. Two products labeled as “bison” and one labeled as “yak” were actually domestic cattle. The distributor sold ground beef products for $22/kg, compared to $43.98/kg for yak burgers. Black bear-labeled products were found to actually be American beaver, and a product labeled pheasant was actually helmeted guinea fowl. Additionally, five products containing the DNA of near-threatened bison and vulnerable lion were correctly labeled and legally sold. MEDICAL CODING certification First, Oldest & Best 14 years - 800