Nutrient-dense spotlights from this week’s menu

Braised lamb with grilled salad turnips and broccolini

According to the USDA, Americans consume around .7lbs of lamb meat each year. What a shame that this delicious and nutritious red meat is under appreciated in the United States! Lamb, the meat of a <1-year-old sheep, is a powerhouse of nutrients including high amounts of vitamins B12, zinc, niacin, riboflavin, B6, phosphorous, and selenium. In addition, grass-fed lamb is a good source of omega 3 fatty acids. Affectionately known as “land salmon”, grass fed lamb contains 25% more omega 3 fatty acids than its conventional counterpart due to the grass-based diets of both the lamb and its mother. Grass-fed lamb is also a good source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is a naturally occurring trans-fat (stay with me…) that we can only get from meat and dairy products from ruminants such as cows and sheep. This is because CLA is created from linoleic acid (an omega 6 fat found in plant foods) by the bacteria in the stomachs of these herbivorous animals. CLA provides a host of beneficial and diverse actions in the body such as reducing the risk of obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Specifically, CLA improves body composition by increasing fat metabolism, reducing fat storage, and increasing muscle mass. CLA can help prevent heart disease by activating a group of proteins that regulate genes involved in lipid (fat) metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, vascular health, and inflammation. CLA also improves bone formation by enhancing the absorption of dietary calcium and simulating the maturation of osteoblasts, bone-forming cells. Adding more grass-fed lamb to your diet is a great food-first way to provide your body many of the important building blocks it needs to support your optimal health.

Though it may look like baby broccoli, broccolini is a hybrid (cross) between broccoli and Chinese broccoli. Developed in 1993 in Yokohama, Japan, broccolini was hybridized out of the desire to create a more flavorful brassica. Broccolini has small florets, long stalks, and a few small edible leaves. The taste of broccolini buds and stalks is a bit sweeter than broccoli and contains a faint hint of mustard. When cooked, any heat goes away and is replaced with more inherent sweetness. Compared to regular broccoli, broccolini is milder, with a sweet and earthy taste. Broccolini is considered a superfood as it is rich in vitamin C, providing 100% of the RDA. It also contains calcium, vitamins A and E, potassium, folate, and non-heme iron.

Roasted spring beet Panzanella salad with pickled garlic scapes

Chervil is a subtle, aromatic herb providing a mild, slightly sweet, tender flavor reminiscent of anise, tarragon, and parsley. Chervil can act as a natural digestive aid, helping to settle the stomach, reduce fluid retention, and act as a natural diuretic. It has also been shown to help with lowering high blood pressure, relieving coughs, managing gout, supporting joint health, supporting liver function, decreasing skin inflammation, and relieving eye irritation.

Garlic scapes are the stalks/stems that grow from the bulbs of hard-neck garlic plants. If left unharvested, the scapes will eventually bloom around the time the garlic plant fully matures. Garlic scapes are only available for a short time in mid to late-June. Farmer’s harvest these scapes before they flower so that the garlic plant can channel all of its energy into growing its bulb. Garlic scapes taste mild and sweet, similar to chives or scallions, but with an unmistakable, mild garlicky flavor. They are a good source of provitamin A and vitamin C, as well as fiber. In addition, garlic scapes boast many of the nutritional benefits of garlic cloves, including being high in antioxidants. Dietary antioxidants are important for helping cellular defense systems cope with stress. Oxidative stress is a result of normal cellular metabolism, yet our environments, lifestyle, toxins, and poor food quality can contribute to the formation of excessive free radicals and oxidative stress that our bodies are not equipped to handle. Oxidative stress and excessive free radical formation has been related to many chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, as well as aging. Nutritional antioxidants such as those found in many of the True Food menu items, impose their positive effects by scavenging these reactive oxygen species/free radicals, thus stabilizing oxidation processes and lowering the damage to cellular structures. The ingestion of functional foods with antioxidant activity is important in the prevention and of oxidative stress, and as a result, the prevention of many of the health disorders we face today.

Roasted red pepper soup with leeks, potatoes, sorrel, and homemade crème fraiche

Leeks, a member of the allium genus, are a sister plant to onion and garlic. Similar to onion and garlic, leeks offer a host of health promoting benefits. Unlike onions and garlic, the edible section of the leek is a bundle of leaf sheaths and modified leaves, bleached white by spreading soil around them. Leeks have a mild taste reminiscent of onions. They are a great source of pro-vitamin A, vitamin K1, and vitamin C. Leeks also contains manganese, folate, vitamin B5, iron, magnesium, and smaller amounts of calcium, copper, potassium, and vitamin E. Leeks also contain a flavanol called kaempferol which is an antioxidant, relieving oxidative stress on the body. Kaempferol has also shown to be anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-osteoporotic, and anti-allergenic. Leeks are also rich in prebiotics, a type of fiber that feeds the beneficial bacteria in the gut. Prebiotics have been shown to enhance nutrient absorption, eliminate noxious waste matter, stimulate peristalsis (contractions and movement of the digestive tract), and secrete digestive fluids. Caramelizing leeks brings out their inherent sweetness and adds a depth of flavor to any dish.

What has twice as much potassium as a banana and more calcium than 3 cups of spinach? A potato! Potatoes can have a reputation as an “empty calorie”, high glycemic food, resulting in people limiting or avoiding this starchy vegetable entirely. This claim couldn’t be further from the truth! Potatoes are chock full of a huge array of micronutrients not limited to vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin B3, vitamin B9, copper, and iron. Concerns about the glycemic index of potatoes can be legitimate depending on the circumstance, but as with every food, having some background information about the food and how it works in your individual body helps determine how it is best incorporated into your diet for optimal health. A little background information…the glycemic index is a measure of how quickly the carbohydrates from a specific food impacts blood sugar levels. The higher the glycemic index a food has, the higher and faster blood sugar will rise after that food is eaten. The nuance here is that the glycemic index is based on eating that food in isolation of other macro and micronutrients. Consuming carbohydrates, regardless of their glycemic index, along with protein and/or fat help to slow down digestion and gastric emptying, therefore slowing down and moderating how quickly the glucose in the carbohydrates hits your bloodstream. That being said, it is important to respect your bio-individual (unique) nutritional requirements and select foods and quantities of foods that are appropriate for your body in ever-changing situations and energetic demands. Eating this soup with the braised lamb would provide the protein and fat to moderate the blood sugar response from the potatoes in this soup.

Sorrel is a perennial and edible herb in the Polygonaceae (knotweed) family along with buckwheat and rhubarb. This herb has a bright and tart flavor, with a slightly bitter and spinach-like taste. Sorrel is a great source of vitamin C, as well as magnesium, provitamin A, manganese, copper, iron, and potassium. Sorrel has a drying effect on the body, making its consumption an excellent way to reduce excessive mucus production if you have a cold or seasonal allergy. Sorrel’s high vitamin A and C content makes it an excellent support for the immune system. Because it is so high in antioxidants, sorrel is commonly used to help reduce inflammation and pain that accompanies sinus infections, reducing swelling and providing pain relief. Sorrel enlivens dishes with its refreshing taste and is best eaten raw to maintain the high vitamin C content that provides many of the antioxidant benefits of this herb. Note: If you are following a therapeutic low-oxalate diet you’ll want to avoid sorrel as it is high in oxalic acid.

Please note: This information is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat any health condition.

Resources

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• Foster, K. (2019, May 1). What’s the difference between broccoli, broccolini, broccoli rabe, and Chinese broccoli? Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-broccoli-broccolini-broccoli-rabe-and-chinese-broccoli-227025 

• Hätönen, K. A., Virtamo, J., Eriksson, J. G., Sinkko, H. K., Sundvall, J. E., & Valsta, L. M. (2011). Protein and fat modify the glycemic and insulinemic responses to a mashed potato-based meal. The British journal of nutrition, 106(2), 248–253. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114511000080

• Levy, J. (2019, December 3). The medicinal herb you may not know about. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://draxe.com/nutrition/what-is-chervil/

• Link, R. (2019, October 7). Heart-healthy, cancer-fighting leeks. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://draxe.com/nutrition/leeks

• Link, R. (2020, January 7). What Is Sorrel? Retrieved from https://draxe.com/nutrition/sorrel/

• Mateljan, G. (2015). The worlds healthiest foods: the force for change to optimal with health-promoting foods and nutrient-rich cooking. Seattle: GMF Publishing.

• Rattray, D. (2019, July 29). Do you know your broccolini or Broccolette? Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-broccolini-or-broccolette-3057608.