No, this is not stock photography. My yogurt actually comes from here!

Since I first discovered Green Valley Organic lactose-free yogurts, two more national brands have launched their own versions of lactose-free yogurts–Lactaid® and La Yogurt®.  Initially, I was excited about this development… more choices for me and my lactose-intolerant comrades *had* to be a good thing, right?  A quick scan of these other yogurt labels deflated my high hopes.  Both were loaded with added sugar– with the La Yogurt fruit flavors containing 26g of total sugar!  (With all the additives their products contain, I estimate that no more than 10g–and possibly less– could actually be from naturally-occurring milk sugar… which suggests a full 4 teaspoons of added sugar per modest 6oz cup!)  Neither brand offered plain, no-added sugar flavors.  Neither brand used organic milk.  And both were loaded with highly-processed additives like corn starches and preservatives.  Thanks, but no thanks.  I wouldn’t eat these products myself, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend them to a patient.

Fast-forward a year and a half from my initial blog post: Green Valley Organics contacted me to see if I’d be interested in formally teaming up to spread the good word about their products.  Since  I was already buying their products on my own, and recommending the brand to my patients and friends, I figured that I might as well make this one-sided love affair an official courtship.

So there you have it: I’m going out with the country’s best dairy farm.

Can't wait to introduce my kids to these kids!

Related posts:

1. LACTAID (Finally!) Launching Lactose-Free Yogurts Nationwide
2. A New Lactose-Free Yogurt Hits the Market
3. MORE Yogurt Options for the Lactose-Challenged

It’s a particularly vexing question when one neglected to go grocery shopping over the weekend, so her fresh ingredient stock is limited to onions, baby carrots and a small handful of brussels sprouts.  A thorough inspection of the pantry yielded plenty of dry staples, though, and the back corners of the fridge were hiding the jetsam of our Thanksgiving cooking frenzy– a half jar of chestnuts, some leftover sage leaves– quickly on their way out.  Time to get creative.

I decided to compose a soup of Dried Wild Mushrooms, Lentils and Chestnuts, using roasted brussels sprouts and fried sage leaves as a garnish.  My hope was that this eclectic combination of earthy and sweet flavors would be harmonious rather than cacophonous, with crispy green garnishes offering a pop of welcome color and texture to the smooth, autumnal puree.  Since these flavors work so beautifully together in Thanksgiving stuffing, after all, why not a soup?  For seasoning, I chose thyme (a classic in stuffing, and one of my favorites), and a small hit of smoked paprika to add depth and richness of flavor in lieu of, say, bacon, which I don’t eat.  (You could use chipotle powder to similar effect if you prefer a spicier soup).  I didn’t bother using celery in my mirepoix, since I never have it around the house and doubt many of you do, either.

The results were fantastically tasty beyond my expectations.  This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian (and easily made vegan if you use Vegetable stock).  It is elegant enough to serve to company for a fall or winter dinner party, but easy enough to make for no particular reason on a weeknight.  It’s filling enough to be a one-dish meal, thanks to the hearty body that the lentils provide… just load it up with that brussels sprout garnish to get in some greens!

Recipe: Wild Mushroom Chestnut Soup with Autumn Garnishes

Serves 4-6

1 onion, chopped
2 TBSP olive oil
1 carrot, chopped (or equivalent chopped baby carrots to yield ~ 1/2 cup chopped)
1 oz dried wild mushrooms, soaked in enough boiling water to cover them for at least 30 minutes; reserve the water for the soup
1.5 cups dry lentils
1 cup of jarred whole chestnuts
1 quart (32 ounces) vegetable stock, chicken stock or plain water
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Kosher salt & pepper to taste

Smoked paprika is the secret ingredient that brings this soup to life

Garnishes (prepare while soup is simmering):

Roasted brussels sprouts (see directions below)
Fried sage leaves (recipe follows; make LOTS of them.  You will want one in every bite of soup… they are so damn tasty.)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in soup pot or large 4 quart saucepan
2. Add chopped onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until sweating
3. Add the chopped carrots, mushrooms in their soaking water, lentils, chestnuts, stock or water, thyme, paprika, 2 generous pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (optional) to taste
4. Cover and bring soup to a boil.  When boil is reached, reduce heat and simmer, partly covered, for about 30 minutes or until lentils are soft/cooked well
5. While soup is simmering, prepare garnishes below
6. When soup is finished cooking, taste for seasoning and add additional salt/paprika as desired.  Turn off heat.
7. Using an immersion (stick) blender, puree soup in the cooking pot to desired texture.  (Alternatively, you can transfer soup to a blender and puree it in batches).
8. Serve with roasted brussels sprouts and fried sage leaves as garnishes

• To roast brussels: trim base off of desired quantity of brussels sprouts, and cut them down the middle.  Toss them in a bowl with just enough olive oil to kiss them all but not drown or drench… a good rule of thumb is 1-2 TBSP per pound.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.  Roast in 400-degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until outside starting to caramelize but the sprouts are not dried out or mushy.
• To fry sage leaves: set aside desired quantity of fresh sage leaves.  Trim larger leaves into 2-3 segments if necessary to ensure all leaves are roughly the same size.  Heat just enough olive oil in a pan to cover the bottom.  When oil is nice and hot, toss in a handful of sage leaves (you may need to do this in batches to prevent overcrowding the pan, which will result in soggy leaves).  Fry the sage leaves, stirring constantly, for 5-10 seconds only!  (The leaves will get crispy as they cool even though they still appear green).  Remove leaves from pan with a slotted spoon or spatula and place on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.  Sprinkle with a touch of kosher salt.

Related posts:

1. A Tearful Reunion with Mushroom “Barley” Soup
2. Pardon me, but is that Cauliflower soup in your lasagna?
3. Red Lentil Soup

First, kale is officially in season.  And soon it will be one of the only fresh veggies in season here in the Northeast.  So if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Second, packaged kale chips have started showing up in our local food co-op and health food stores… at exorbitantly expensive prices.  And this coming from a person who routinely–and not unhappily– overpays for food.  Everyone has their limit.  The righteous indignation that overpriced, healthy food evokes in me often inspires me to make a home-made version that I can then smugly blog about.

Third, my increasingly picky babies have developed a strong preference for all things crunchy–but still not too many teeth– which makes it very hard to get vegetables into them.  Since storebought ‘veggie puff’ snacks which contain green vegetables are really more corn puffs than anything else (based on the paltry Vitamin A content), I figured it would be far more nutritious to just make my own veggie snacks at home.  Kale chips have a perfect, fall-apart-into-crumbles-in-your-mouth quality that should work well for the toddling crowd.

Lacinato Kale

Lastly, I’m a nutritionist, for god’s sake.  Why don’t I eat more kale??!!?  It’s, like, the Holy Grail of health foods.  And while I view the term “superfood” with more than a healthy dose of skepticism (it’s more of a marketing term than a nutrition term)– I would be hard-pressed to come up with a food more deserving of the title.  It scores a perfect 1,000 on the ANDI scale, after all.  It’s a powerhouse of Vitamins K, A and C, and is a good source of both calcium and iron.   (Unlike spinach, kale lacks dietary compounds called oxalates, which interfere with iron absorption.  In this regard, kale is a much better source of iron than spinach is, though the latter still tends to enjoy a strong reputation for its iron content.)

If you’re looking for something different to put out for guests as you prepare to entertain this holiday season, why not make up some seasoned kale chips to in lieu of tortilla chips or potato chips?  They’re lower calorie, lower carb and far more nutritious.

Recipe: Kale Chips Three Ways

I decided to offer 3 versions of the kale chip recipe, which partly reflects the fact that I watch too much Top Chef– where anything worth cooking once is worth cooking three times, three different ways– and partly reflects the versatility of this healthy snack, one version of which is sure to please every palate in your family.  Feel free to experiment with seasonings to suit your own taste. The base recipe is the basic, salted version whose standard recipe is simple and ubiquitous, though cooking times and temperatures vary considerably.  You can use flat-leafed kale or curly kale as you wish, though I think curly works better to hold seasoning and flat may work better for babies.  Credit for the base recipe provided here belongs to Chef Jenny Gensterblum of Léman Preparatory School in Manhattan, where my husband teaches.  She is known for her fierce arsenal of healthy but kid-approved dishes, most cooked from scratch.

Version #2 is a “cheesy” flavored one that uses nutritional yeast for seasoning instead of actual cheese.  This keeps it vegan/dairy free, and also bumps up the nutritional value by heaping sprinkles of B-vitamins on top of already Vitamin A-rich kale.  Vegan, baked kale topped with nutritional yeast?  A perfect, self-righteous antidote to the seasonal overindulgence going on this time of year, but delicious enough to keep you from feeling deprived like you would with, say, a rice cake .

Version #3 has got a little bit of a smoky/garlicky kick to it, a seasoning whose credit goes to Shauna James Ahern, the self-designated “Gluten Free Girl,” who suggests sprinkling on a combo of garlic powder and smoked paprika on just-out-of-the-oven kale chips.  Don’t mind if I do, Shauna!

Basic Version

• 2 bunches of green kale (I used Lacinato, aka., Tuscan kale/Dinosaur kale.  Other varieties work fine, too)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

Directions: Preheat the oven to 500°F.  Separate kale leaves and thoroughly rinse and dry. Stack some leaves on top of each other. Cut out the tough center rib by cutting in a v-shape, or tear out the center rib with your fingers. Slice across into strips.  (Careful not to cut pieces too small, or they may burn.) Place kale in a large bowl. Toss with olive oil and a good amount of salt. Spread thinly onto one or two cookie sheets, depending on the size. Bake for 3 minutes, remove from oven briefly, toss (tongs work well for this), and bake for an additional minute or two, until starting to brown and crispy. Watch closely as kale burns rather quickly.

Dairy-free Cheesy Version: As soon as chips come out of the oven, sprinkle a generous handful of nutritional yeast on top of them.  Toss to coat.

Smoky/Garlicky Version: Combine 1/4 tsp garlic powder with 1/4 tsp smoked paprika and sprinkle atop kale chips just out of the oven.

Related posts:

1. For Those Drowning in a Sea of Potatoes and Kale, a Life Vest

I’m not sure what took them so long, but Lactaid® has finally launched a lactose-free, fat-free dairy yogurt.  The yogurts are sold in individual 6oz containers or 4oz multipacks, and come in Vanilla, Blueberry, Strawberry and Peach.  I called the company and confirmed that they are gluten-free as well; the modified food starch listed on the label derives from corn, not wheat.

I am very pleased to see a nationally-distributed lactose-free yogurt made from real milk, as I suspect many of you may still be having a hard time finding the other, smaller brands who offer such a  product, namely Green Valley Organics (my fave, and who incidentally just launched a lactose-free Sour Cream) and Yami yogurt.  This is sure to be a convenient and welcome addition to mainstream supermarkets across the country–and those of you intestinally-challenged yogurt-seekers who shop at them!

At the risk of raining on our lactose-free parade, however, I can’t give the Lactaid products an unequivocal endorsement; nutritionally, I’d grade them a B-.  Here’s where they lost points:

• Too much added sugar! The second ingredient, after milk, is sugar; and even the Vanilla variety has 21g per 6oz serving.  The fruit flavors have between 22-23g of sugar.  I estimate that less than 11g of this total sugar would be naturally-occuring from the milk itself, which means the additional 3 teaspoons are added.
• So far, no “plain” variety for those looking to avoid added sugar in their diets.
• Long ingredient list, including several food additives for texture, presumably, and potassium sorbate as a preservative.  Nothing I’d classify as harmful per se, but I’m not sure why you need to put so much processed “stuff” in a food like yogurt.
• Not made from organic milk

If you’re still in the market for some other lactose-free and lower-lactose yogurt options, check out my previous posts on:

• Green Valley Organics
• Greek and European Style yogurts
• Coconut Milk yogurt
• Almond Milk yogurt

Related posts:

1. New yogurts for the lactose-and-soy-challenged
2. A New Lactose-Free Yogurt Hits the Market
3. MORE Yogurt Options for the Lactose-Challenged

For starters, the simple dough is extruded and plopped right into boiling water–no messy rolling pin action or complicated pasta machines to contend with.  In addition to the ease of preparation, this method reminds me of how funnel cake is made, which–let’s face it– is appealing in its own right.

Secondly, the small, soft pasta ‘dumplings’ it produces are the perfect size and texture to share with the youngest members of our family who are flirting with finger foods.  (Spaetzle is a German/Austrian egg noodle, typically wheat-based–though the recipe below is actually eggless.)  If you want to share the spaetzle with your kids, treat it as you would any other fresh pasta or orzo and add a favorite sauce.  You may also want to leave out the cayenne pepper from the dough.

Lastly, eating a bowlful of chickpea-flour based pasta is a much lower carb, higher fiber and higher protein affair than eating a bowlful of conventional pasta (or GF brown rice pasta), which is welcome news to those waist-watching, blood-sugar monitoring, pasta-fiends I count among my friends.  (For a review of the nutritional merits of chickpea flour, check out my previous post on the topic.)

We had to make a few adjustments to JG’s recipe (the hubris!).  The original called for 1/4 cup milk, when, in reality, our batter needed closer to 1/2 cup (plus 1-2 TBSP) to be anything resembling a functional pasta dough based on the coarseness of the flour brand we used (Bob’s Red Mill).  We also chose to extrude the dough through a potato ricer rather than a coarse colander or a “spaetzle maker” (umm… guess we forgot to register for one of those when we got married) as the original recipe suggested.  If you do use the potato ricer as we did, be forewarned you’ll need to use a bit of elbow grease to press the thick dough through… but the result was magical … soft but firm and almost orzo or risotto-like in texture.  (The long strands will break apart when cooking to produce the spaetzle’s characteristic texture.)

Plus, watching the hairlike spaetzle dough get squeezed out of the potato ricer and then cutting it off to fall into the boiling water reminded me of the Play Doh Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop I had as a kid, which was a fun little trip down memory lane.  If you have neither a coarse colander nor a potato ricer, based on the photos of what a spaetzle maker looks like, I’d bet a cheese grater would work well, too.

Extruding the dough through a potato ricer

Cooked spaetzle is almost orzo-like in texture

Recipe: Chickpea Spaetzle with Eggplant (adapted from a recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman)

Serves 2 as a light entree; 4 as an appetizer

Salt

2 cups Bob’s Red Mill garbanzo bean flour (aka gram flour, besan flour, chickpea bean flour)

1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP milk (lactose-free works fine)

5 TBSP olive oil

Cayenne pepper

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 cup 1/2″ cubes eggplant (peeled if skin is thick)

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup pitted black olives, chopped (canned is fine)

Minced cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Bring large pot of water to boil and salt it.
2. Pour milk and 1 TBSP of the olive oil into a bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix chickpea flour with salt and cayenne.  Add chickpea flour mixture to wet ingredients, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing as you go, until the whole amount is added and dough is a coherent, pasta dough texture.  Add a large pinch of salt and a small pinch of cayenne and mix well, using hands to knead if necessary. Note: if you use a different brand of flour, the coarseness of its grind may require more or less milk.  Adjust flour/milk quantities as necessary to produce a thick but coherent dough that is tacky but not overly sticky.
3. Strain the batter through a coarse colander or potato ricer (assuming you don’t have a spaetzle maker) into the boiling water and cook until the noodles rise to the top, just a couple of minutes.  Drain in a strainer or colander and run  under cold water to stop the cooking; drain again.  (Note: you can prepare the noodles a day in advance up until this point; refrigerate, covered, until you’re ready to cook the rest of the dish.)
4. Put the cumin seeds into a small skillet and turn the heat to medium.  Toast, shaking the pan occasionally, until cumin is fragrant, just a minute or two.  Set aside.
5. Put the remaining 4 TBSP oil in a large skillet and turn the heat to medium.  A minute later, add the eggplant and turn the heat to high.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant turns tender and begins to brown.  Add garlic and cook another minute.
6. Add the spaetzle, cumin, olives, salt and cayenne to taste and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes.
7. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Approximate nutrition info per serving: Spaetzle only (assumes recipe above uses 1% milk and makes 4 appetizer servings): 270 calories, 38g carbohydrate (of which 10 grams are fiber, for a total of 28g net carbohydrate), 14g protein, 8g fat, 3.6mg iron (20% daily value for adults).

Approximate nutrition info per serving: Spaetzle with Eggplant per recipe above: (assumes recipe above uses 1% milk and makes 4 appetizer servings): ~400 calories, 40g carbohydrate (of which 11g are fiber, for a total of 29 net grams of carbohydrate), 14g protein, 23g  fat, 3.6mg iron (20% of the daily value for adults).

Note that this is a classic Mediterranean diet style recipe, whose complex carbohydrate, high fiber, fat and protein content make it a low-glycemic dish.

*If you’re concerned about feeding chickpea spaetzle to babies under 1 year old because of the milk content, be aware that the concern about cow’s milk before 12 months refers to drinking it in place of breastmilk or formula.  A bit of cow’s milk as an ingredient in a cooked mixed dish after 6 months of age is really no different than giving your baby yogurt with regards to the allergenic potential of the milk protein itself.  If however, you’ve decided you want to avoid milk protein altogether in your baby’s first year, then this isn’t a recipe for you.

Related posts:

1. Fun with Chickpea Flour

The legacy of “conventional wisdom” that advocates avoiding introducing peanuts to babies and children–even up to ages 1 through 3– continues to this day, despite the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has retracted previous endorsements of this practice due to lack of scientific evidence.  Indeed, evidence is trickling out to the contrary, suggesting that perhaps delaying introduction of peanuts beyond year one may unwittingly *increase* the risk of childhood peanut allergy.  More evidence is needed to clarify the relationship between timing of peanut introduction with risk of peanut allergy for certain, though.

And yet, among those families who choose to introduce peanuts in early childhood, the sticky issue (no pun intended) of how to do so technically remains.  Peanut butter is often considered a choking hazard for young children (though a supremely thin layer spread on an appropriate delivery mechanism can be safe for many babies in their final few month stretch toward turning one).  And peanuts themselves–whole or chopped–are also a choking hazard.

The buzz on the NYC mommy listservs is that pediatricians-in-the-know have a workaround for these issues that’s appropriate for babies ready for finger foods (~8-10 months, roughly): they’re recommending Bamba.

Bamba is a beloved Israeli snack food that’s essentially a puffed corn doodle lightly coated in peanutty powder (rather than, say, cheese powder as in a Cheez Doodle.)  Similar to ‘toddler puffs’ snacks marketed by a variety of companies, Bamba easily melts in the mouth, making it a safer delivery system for peanut protein than thick, sticky peanut butter itself.

And although it comes in a brightly-colored, crinkly bag, Bamba is surprisingly benign, nutritionally speaking.   It’s very low in sugar, relatively low in sodium (5% of the daily value) and is vitamin and iron-fortified, though I’d stop short of calling it a “healthy” food, per se.  Each 1 ounce serving has 160 calories, 4g of protein and 1g of sugar; it also has 4.5 mg of iron (25% of the daily value for adults, but 64% of the recommended intake for children aged 1-3 years and 45% of the recommended intake for kids aged 4-8).  The product is also Vitamin C fortified, which should help with the iron absorption.

Bamba is vegan, making it appropriate for kids/families who avoid dairy.  And Bamba is also gluten-free, in case any of you Celiac parents accidentally lick your fingers after serving Bamba to your little ones.

While some people are quick to point out that the incidence of peanut allergy in Israel is significantly lower than it is in the US– experts rightfully point out that the unscientific observation that Israeli babies and kids coincidentally also eat lots of  Bamba cannot be mistaken for proof that early introduction of peanut protein causes lower allergy risk.

Still, if you and your pediatrician agree that there’s no medical reason to delay peanut introduction in your young child but are concerned that your little one can’t handle the texture of peanut butter yet, Bamba may be a good solution for you.  I think we’ll probably try it out in our house as soon as Max & Stella master the pincer grasp in another month or so, though I view it as a stopgap measure until they’re ready for real peanut butter rather than a staple snack for the long haul.

Unless you live in a community with a large Israeli population, your best bet to finding Bamba would be to order it online.  Amazon sells large-sized bags of it by the case (go in with a few other families in your area; no one family needs 84 ounces of snack food laying around in the pantry just for the sake of introducing junior to peanut protein!)

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