Vegetarian Star

In an interview on The Leonard Lopate Show (the audio of which can be heard below), food author and flexitarian Mark Bittman shares a concern about getting sick from prepared, bagged produce that most of the public would naturally have after hearing of the outbreaks of illnesses over the years. Although he recommends a salad a day, he’s not so sure that salad should come from a bag.

“My only concern with the bagged stuff is whether or not it’s going to poison you or not. The convenience of cut up vegetables…what could be more convenient than that, as long as you’re not going to get salmonella from that. And I can’t answer that. I’d like to see our food safety system in a place where if people want to buy more conveniently prepared vegetables, they could do so without worrying about it.”

The convenience of bagged fruits and veggies have not come without consequence. There’s the occasional found frog leg in the frozen vegetables. The inedible glass pieces found in frozen peas. However, it’s usually contamination with e. coli or salmonella that leads to widespread sickness and fear of eating things good for you. Just when you thought it was okay to eat bagged spinach again, Consumer Reports recently conducted tests of 16 brands commonly found in stores and found, in the sanitation and contamination levels, there’s room for improvement.

(more…)

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro

“Whenever you see an item on sale in the produce department that your family enjoys, buy double of that. Bring it home, salt some water, put in the vegetable of choice, count to 30, take it out, cold-shock it, put it in a big plastic food storage bag and throw it in the freezer. You make your own homemade frozen veggies. They are even better than what you get in the store. You can tailor the cut or size when you are putting them away, and, especially if you’re shopping at farm stands, you’re never going to get that flavor of summertime corn unless you’re bringing it home and scraping it off the cob yourself.”

(more…)

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro

Conan O’Brien has recently took to Twitter to express his thoughts, vent his frustrations and introduce the world to one of his latest followers, the backyard squirrel.

One of Conan’s latest statuses has him Tweeting his love of frozen vegetables.

“If I had a show, I’d tweet about which Oscar winner is coming on tonight. Instead, here’s my favorite frozen vegetable: Peas!”

If you’re into peas like Conan, you might be interested in knowing some experts believe vegetables may be better for you frozen versus fresh.

Gene Lester, Ph.D., a plant physiologist at the USDA Agricultural Research Center in Weslaco, Texas, says that vegetables picked for freezing are chosen when they are most ripe, a time when they usually contain the highest amount of nutrients.

Fresh veggies forced to travel from the farm to the grocery shelves may also be subject to factors like light and temperature that affect their ability to retain nutrients.

So, if you’re giving peas a chance, which option do you pick?

The answer may be at your local Farmers Market.

“While it is true that different nutrients react differently to the storing, cooking and blanching processes, there is no conclusion across the board that frozen is better than fresh,” says Karen Kupinski, R.D., director of Nutrition at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. “The best recommendation is still to consume local produce.”

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro