Nina Planck on 'Real Food"

Author and food activist Nina Planck was raised on a family farm in Virginia, where she learned to appreciate "real," traditional foods. 

"...It’s about the traditional foods versus the industrial foods and therein lies the tale I put in real food because when I started to eat all these foods I wondered will I feel great and I’m thriving, but perhaps the nutritionists and the cardiologists are right and soon my arteries will be clogged like a drain and I’ll be dead at 32. So I wanted to do some homework on real food.  So I set out to find out whether it was true.  Is it true that these traditional foods, these meats and these fats are responsible for what they call the "diseases of civilization" – and those are generally the three diet-related diseases that are crippling Americans right now – and they are obesity, diabetes and heart disease.  They’re known as the "diseases of civilization," but I came to find that that was a misnomer.  They are truly the diseases on industrialization because the ancient Greeks and others were certainly civilized and they did not suffer from these diseases.  We began to suffer from these three diseases around the time we started to convert traditional foods into industrial foods, so one-by-one I looked at each food and once again I found that wherever you come from, whatever part of the world, whether it’s the tropics where coconut oil is the norm, or its northern climes where you’re eating a lot of reindeer meat or seal blubber, or it’s the Scottish Islands where you have hardly any access to fruits and vegetables – wherever you look at traditional diets you find a little list of traditional and what I came to call real foods and you do not find the diseases of industrialization.  All the foods are good, but I did look at each food and we can talk about them.  I looked at saturated fat in particular.  I looked at cholesterol in particular.  I looked at red meat, which is accused of causing cancer. And then I looked at the substitutes for these traditional foods that we’ve now added to our diet: the industrial foods, soybean oil, corn oil, refined flour, refined sugar, trans-fats, which are artificial man-made saturated fats and in each instance I found that these industrial foods were responsible for obesity, diabetes and heart disease. And other conditions too, but these are the three that people are most concerned with..."



Nina Planck.com
twitter: @ninaplanck

Bar Hayama Sushi

Sushi chefs at  Toshi Sugiura's Bar Hayama on Sawtelle are fun and friendly, this is a sushi bar you can easily go to alone for a few pieces of sushi or kosara (little plates at the sake bar, ) or for a full blown feast with friends in the fancier dining room. Hayama sushi is exceptional and inventive, and its traditional to ultra creative fusion style Japanese dishes make for a memorable dining experience. Outside fire pit dining and roof top fire pit are available as well as elegant seating inside, and for toddy lovers,  one sake bar as well as a full bar in the dining area. 

Hayama is most delicious for lunch or early dinner 

of kosara when it is less crowded, and

with better service and guaranteed flawless sushi.

Chilled duck breast


                                                 Mochi, perfect mini ice cream bites

Yelp reviews


Bar Hayama
310 235 2000
1803 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
1803  must be lucky number for sushi, it was once the home of Sasabune, now on Wilshire

Shrimp and Scallop Fajitas

Technically any 'fajita' dish not containing beef, specifically skirt steak, would more appropriately be called a stir fry. Fajita means skirt steak, but has come to mean any meat or seafood quickly sauteed, or grilled, and rolled in a tortilla. 

Ultra easy and very healthy, fajitas are authentic Mexican fare. No deep frying and no mountain of melted cheese, just fresh, assorted peppers, onions, and marinated seafood, meat or tofu quickly sauteed, or grilled  at high heat in an iron skillet with a splash of olive oil.

 Served with warm corn tortillas, black beans, avocado, and fresh salsa...what could be easier?

Above is shrimp and scallop fajita/stir fry with red and green peppers, passilla chili, Anaheim chili, Spanish onion, and fresh cilantro.  Marinade for seafood is a simple blend of 2 limes, shown above with juice of 3 key limes and 2 tangerines,  2 tsp ground cumin, 2 minced jalapeno, 1/2 minced serrano,  1/4 cp chopped cilantro, 1 TB fresh mexican oregano, pinch of sea salt. Seafood only needs 10 minutes in marinade before cooking. Beef fajita marinades are best with skirt steak and a 12-24 hour marinade.

An excellent dish, and cooking technique for good health and perfect weight

Herb Roasted Japanese Eggplant, Fennel, and Carrot

 

Vegetables love to be roasted!

All that fabulously fresh farmers market produce can be simply dressed in olive oil, whole garlic cloves, plenty of fresh herbs and roasted in a hot oven (450) for an awesome dinner tonight, and two or three more meals over the next several days.

After roasting, cool and refrigerate in sealed containers, ideally glass. 

Roasted veggies turn simple mixed leaf lettuce in to a gourmet salad, sandwiched between artisan slices of bread with a few slices of chesses and grilled creates a superior hot sandwich,  or  gently rewarm the veggies and serve with a cooked whole grain such as kasha (buckwheat), brown rice or quinoa

Veggies shown here are from the 7th and Fig Farmers Market in downtown Los Angeles. Thursdays from 10-3

Sea Scallops on bed of Lentils and Spinach

Quick and easy one saute pan/ one saucepan meal!

half a cup lentils, two cups of water, garlic, half a spanish onion, simmer 30 minutes, or until tender.  Avoid boiling to retain lentils shape.

Cook 2 strips of tofu, pork or beef bacon (depending on your desired level of enlightenment ;0) until crisp, set aside.

Using same saute pan, sear one pound of scallops (in two batches-never crowd a pan!) in a teaspoon of butter...allow scallops to cook for one minute over medium to high heat, turn (only once to allow browning/carmelizing)) and cook additional one minute, remove from pan.

Toss a generous handfull of clean and dry baby spinach in to hot sautee pan, spinach will cook very rapidly, under one minute, remove spinach as soon as it wilts,

add one tablespoon apple cider vinagar to hot sautee pan, deglaze aprox one minute..

.place lentils and spinach on serving plate,  sprinkle with chopped crisp bacon, top with seared scallops and drizzle with apple cider reduction....serve with lemon, and a nice salad

Peruvian Style Ceviche

Classic Peruvian Style Ceviche:
Sea bass, key lime, sea salt, bitter orange, serrano chili, purple onion, and red pepper. Marinate several hours. Served with sweet potato, roasted corn, and red or purple potato

Protien and Healthy Fats in the Morning and Cereal Grains at Night?

 Yes! Save the cereal grains, granola, jam and toast for a sleep inducing late night snack. 
Breakfast is the time to break the fast, and let your body know it's not going to be starved for the day.
The key is to watch your serving sizes, practice mindfulness while you eat, don't gobble and eat slowely...stop when you are 80% full

Hearty and delicious breakfast suggestions from around the globe: 
•Eggs Benedict  •veggie and cheese omelet  •broiled fish and the slightly sweet Japanese omelet Tamagoyaki  •Chinese dim sum dumplings of delectable seafood's  •Vietnamese seafood or poultry Pho  •Indian curry, dal or sag paneer  •Mexican breakfast burrito with regular or soy chorizo • Quiche, Strata or Italian Fritata


Los Angeles Times 
April 2, 2010 
 A new study suggests our bodies are primed to eat high-fat meals upon waking, and that high-carbohydrate breakfasts (mmm, pancakes) set us up to be unable to process high-fat meals later in the day.....
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Baylor College of Medicine kept two groups of mice. One group got a high-fat meal upon waking and a low-fat meal before bedtime; the other had the low-fat meal first and the high-fat meal for dinner. Both groups of mice consumed “identical” amounts of total calories and calories from fat.  But the mice with high-fat breakfasts had “significantly lower body weights and body fat composition” than their counterparts who ate high-fat dinners, according to their study published this week in the International Journal of Obesity.
Those weren’t the only differences. The mice that began the day with more carbs developed insulin resistance, a condition that increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They also wound up with more insulin, leptin and triglycerides circulating in their blood, which are also associated with diabetes and heart disease....more from Los Angeles Times

Time-of-day-dependent dietary fat consumption influences multiple cardiometabolic syndrome parameters in mice.....full article from Pub Med

Seafood Markets Downtown

Whole fish is not only a better value, it's much easier to see the level of freshness in whole fish than in a small fillet. Whole fish shrinks less during cooking, and bones and trimmings are the beginning of an excellent fish stock.
All three of the fish shown are a mere $2.99 per pound at several of the markets in Chinatown.

Pictured: pacific sierra aka spanish mackerel, white bass, and red tilapia. Their small size insures minimal Mercury, and low environmental impact.

When fish is less than fresh look for "Frozen-at-Sea" (FAS) When thawed, sea-frozen fish are almost indistinguishable from fresh fish, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. In reality FAS is almost always your safest choice. 'Fresh' may mean 5 or 6 six days on ice, and that is way less than fresh if not downright gross...

BLT & Avocado on Whole Wheat, is it Healthy?

Is a BLT healthy? Not so much,  but make it with high quality, fresh ingredients, don't indulge every day or even every week, and you will be fine. And remember, bacon can be made from pork, beef or tofu.

No need to be a health fanatic!

An apple and trail mix, or falafel from 7-11, breakfast burrito or grilled chicken sandwich from Carl's Jr, not the end of the world, and reasonably healthy. Have them hold the mayo, and special sauce, skip the bun and ask for extra lettuce, stay away from the high fat, and high sodium,  fried dishes. 

Perfect is the enemy of good, and healthy eating is not about fanatical perfectionism. Most of us will be faced with eating away from home, the trick is to make healthy choices, and this really can be done almost anywhere you go. Fast food restaurants all have healthy selection areas on their menus, it's up to you to order with your head and not your belly. Many Los Angeles 7-11's actually carry fresh apples, bananas, fresh normal (not the absurd oversized 'gourmet' meal and a half sandwiches so popular now) sized sandwiches, and my fave, 'Got Kosher's locally made, fresh falafel with awesome hummus, veggie burgers, and all at very reasonable prices. 

Fancy and expensive does not always equal healthy. Don't be a food snob! That $40.00 fat drenched, oversized duck breast at the fancy restaurant is much worse for your health and bank balance than the simple single serving sized, $2.50 tuna on whole wheat- made this morning- sandwich from 7-11. 

What is bad all the time? Daily bad habits. Candy bars, yes, even the mini candy bars, and even if no one sees you eat them, the stale butter cookies in the break room, the sugar and 1/4 cup of half and half in your morning coffee, if it's a daily habit it is undermining your health. Remember, granola bar is really just another word for candy bar. Nutrient depleted foods are always a poor choice, or as one of former, and very brief,  Om patron insisted on doing, eating rotting food, yes, you read that correctly, rotting, decomposing food! As I tried to explain, ever so gently,  fresh salad greens are not fresh if they have turned black and are slimy, cooked beef or chicken refrigerated for 7-10 days or more is no longer fresh or edible!  Food stored to this point is lacking its original nutritional value, disgusting, and very possibly dangerous, and is anything but fresh. Penny wise, but health foolish 

Got Kosher

Fresh and fab cafe at Pico and Roberstson

Shabbat Meals

 Take-Out and Holiday Meals

Hollywood Bowl Basket

Got Kosher also available at 

select Los Angeles 7-11's

LAX

Burbank Airport

Ceviche in NoHo

The foundation of any Ceviche is seafood, chilies, and citrus juice.

Lime, and lemon are the most commonly used citrus juice, but grapefruit juice, and bitter orange juice are also popular. Jalapenos, seranos or habenero chilies are the universal favorites. Tomatoes, mango, bell peppers, carrot, onion, garlic are all optional

Pictured: Baja Ceviche

Tilapia, squid, mussels, crab, scalop, tomato, red onion, lime, cilantro, jalapeno, habenero, and garlic....garnished with carrot and radish

Jon's Market

 Cactus pads, to banana leaves, fresh yoghurts, extensive produce, and great prices make Jon's a foodie paradise. Independent grocers, such as Jon's, are a great way to shop while supporting your community

Jons Marketplace.com

Independent Grocers Network