Grand Canyon Salads

I was going to call these salads "6WP in a bowl" because they include everything Dr. Fuhrman recommends in his 6-week plan (from his book Eat to Live).   But they started turning into what I felt were masterpieces, because of my layered approach, and it reminds me of the geologic layers of the Grand Canyon, which I happen to be visiting this week.   So I call them Grand Canyon Salads.   I start by putting fruit in the bottom.  I bought 6 days worth of food at the Whole Foods in Albuquerque so I got fruit with staying power:  oranges, apples, and bananas.   So one orange, one apple, and 1 banana gets cut up and put into 3 large bowls (breakfast, lunch and dinner, yes I am boring).   I top that with a can of no-salt beans.  Then spinach, arugula, lettuce, and kale.  Then 1 Tbsp of fruit-infused vinegar in each bowl.  Then scallions, mushrooms, seed mixture, red cabbage, then 1 Tbsp of fruit-infused balsamic vinegar, then broccoli and cauliflower.  Then smash down and put the lids on.  Oh, on the first day I had a tomato and used strawberries and banana for the fruit.    Here's what one looks like:

First you eat the raw veggies with a nice slight vinegar taste.  Then the mushrooms and seeds and scallions and leafy greens with some more nice vinegar taste.  The romaine lettuce and kale stay crisp but the spinach and arugula get a little soggy which I like--sort of like they have been sauteed. The dessert is the fruit and beans with a little of everything else mixed in.  It reminds me of some desserts I got in Taiwan that were made with beans and fruit.

Here I am eating my lunch at the Desert Watch Tower

and dinner at Mather point:

I'm also eating a bunch of raw carrots.  

I can verify that being a nutritarian transforms your body.  I hardly notice the altitude or get out of breath walking up the canyon, partly because I'm slowing down for others.  

health halos

My favorite thing about Saturday morning (besides sleeping in, duh) is visiting the farmers’ market. I used to go to Soulard in St. Louis every weekend, I love my hometown’s market, and I’m slowly getting to know Ann Arbor’s market, too.

I was joined by about 60 billion other hipsters this morning. You will seriously not find a bigger conglomeration of skinny jeans, crossbody bags, and Tom’s shoes in one location (unless you live in Portland).

I have my favorite vendors in my hometown, and I’m glad the vendors here also don’t mind when I ask them questions like, “how are your chickens raised?” or “do you use pesticides on your plants?”

And there is just something fantastic about interacting with the people who grow the food you buy. Grocery stores are so intangible, and sometimes I just really enjoy the relational aspect of letting farmers know I appreciate them by buying their produce.

I really wish that a) I was good at growing plants and b) I had somewhere to grow them. I’d love to at least get a herb garden going, so I can have fresh basil and cilantro whenever this summer.

Roos Roast Coffee is really good. I tried the Cowboy Blend last time and picked up Lobster Butter Love at this visit. Plus, I think their artsy bags are pretty awesome.

I read a pretty interesting press release from the American Society of Nutrition recently talking about health halos or labels/characteristics of certain foods that cause people to think they are more healthful. A graduate student from Cornell found that people were more likely to perceive foods with an organic label as significantly lower in calories, lower in fat, and higher in fiber. Organically-labeled chips and cookies were considered to be more nutritious than their “non-organic” counterparts.

vs.

This seems to suggest that people are interested in organic products or know there is some potential benefit to them but don’t fully understand the labeling term. And then you have the whole debate of organic vs. local. The other day, I noticed my organic cucumber was from Mexico; I wonder how many nutrients were left by the time it got to the US (and also about the carbon footprint…yikes). It seems to me that more education is needed.

And even if it has less preservatives or additives, an organic cookie is still a cookie…thoughts?