Chef In The Cafeteria

School cafeteria food has always had a bad rap. The food was always borderline nutritional along with being questionable - mystery meat anyone? However one chef is changing that. Will there be healthy A worthy meals? Yes!

Amy Thomas, a well known food writer and author of Brooklyn In Love : A Delicious Memoir of Food Family, and Finding Yourself and Paris, My Sweet: A Year In The City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) interviewed Dan Giusti, the head chef of the internationally known and acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. Now his audience isn't the international glam crowd, but high school students in the Bronx. He felt a growing need to make an impact on people's lives rather than their palates. He started a company Brigaid which aims to overhaul school meals by putting professional chefs in cafeterias and replacing processed foods with wholesome cooking. Before landing in one of the city's busiest boroughs, Chef Giusti changed the way New London Connecticut students ate. He introduced them to kale Caesar salad and homemade hummus. Even though it was popular ,peanut butter and jelly was taken off the menu.This was done in order for the kids to try different dishes.It was added back on with sunflower seed butter instead.


Now he's cooking and expanding the palate of Bronx students. There have been small victories, namely in getting the kids to eat fresh fruit.The apples that were given out to meet the US Department of Agriculture were routinely tossed. Now the cafeteria staff dices up strawberries, watermelon and pineapples along with other fruits every morning. It may cost a little more to serve these but they're  worth it . Chef Giusto had to beg the federal government for the extra. Each lunch costs $3.44 where the fruit is an added cost. With the addition of staff and food, the prices is a little more than a dollar. There are streamlined models in which cafeteria staff can have a fifty-five day training program where schools are taught how to set up their own kitchens and handle food safely. They also are taught a repertoire of scratch recipes that have to pass muster with The National School Lunch Program. Chef Giusti hopes that the next generation of school chefs come from culinary schools and not just from the restaurant and food service industries.

Will this new wave in cafeteria food catch on? Hopefully it will. There 's a generation of kids who do want to try something new and something healthy. A school cafeteria might just provide them with those.

Time For Those Bumper Crops

It's getting close to late August and we all know what that means - bumper crop! We'll be inundated with extra tomatoes, zucchinis  and peppers thanks s to our gardens or ones that belong to neighbors friends and family.  What to do with them? There are dozens of recipes that can be used.

New York Times Food writer Julia Moskin had an excellent idea for vegetables gratins in her column in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. Fresh grown veggies are their tastiest  in this layered dish. It's similar to the winter dish potatoes au gratin in the sense it's layers cooked in a skillet. The summer one has a base layer of onions and peppers.A second layer has zucchini and squash along with Parmesan cheese and pieces of fresh  French or Italian bread.(stale just won't  do). Also cook the veggies either by grilling or broiling before hand  otherwise you'll ind up with a watery half cooked pan of veggies. Another great idea is getting a spiralizer if you don't have one already . You can turn all those zucchini into healthy "green" pasta, whether making it with a pomodoro sauce or a healthier version of pad Thai. The zucchini noodles are just good sauteed with only garlic, olive oil and some butter or margarine. Stuffed zucchini is another great meal and treat. These can be filled with chopped meat, a mix of bread crumbs and tomatoes or a spiced rice mixture. Another idea that's sure to be a classic is zucchini crust pizza. This is when shredded zucchini is mixed with egg or egg whites to create a kind of crispy omelet and a base for tomato sauce and cheese.

Tomatoes are also abounding right now. What to do when the farmer in your life drops off  more than a few? Think sauces for the fall and winter. You can make it for anything , from pizza to pasta. Cooking the sauce is probably the most labor intensive which usually takes anywhere from half an hour to ninety minutes.Keep in mind that the shorter the cooking time the thinner the sauce but with a fresher tomato flavor.The longer the cooking time, the thicker the sauce and the flavor is more of a cooked taste. Tomatoes can be served in an easy crudo sauce for now. It just cutting up tomatoes, letting them marinate in olive oil and garlic as the pasta is being cooked. Orange zest, capers and hot pepper flakes can be added too for extra flavor. Extra tomatoes and peppers can also be turned in a fresh salsa, perfect for pool parties and barbecues. Toss in some chopped jalapenos for fire  or if you want a milder one, add some pineapple chunks or a dollop of honey. Those extra peppers can also be stuffed too with beef, chicken or even turkey.Mix the meat with wild rice  and herbs for extra flavor. Peppers can be charred and served with an anchovy or bagna calda sauce for a Piedmontese summer favorite.

Don't freak out at getting a bumper crop of fresh veggies. There's a million good recipes out there that can be made with them. Enjoy the bounty and the good food that comes from them.

Pistahcio Chewy Bites A Healthy Stocking Stuffer

Want a healthy bite to put into everyone''s X-Mas stockings? Then try Setton Farms' Chewy Pistachio Bites. These are a better treat than all those Christmas candies and cookies. They're also a great respite from the rich holiday bites we're all indulging in right now.

Setton Farms is a California based pistachio farm located in the lush farming area northeast of Los Angeles. It is unusual in the sense that it is a Kosher farm where it is not only checked by an onsite rabbi but also must follow the strictest food regulations. The company is known primarily for its' dried fruits and nuts.such as pears, pineapple, almonds and walnuts. Setton also produces several different types of plain and flavored pistachios from unsalted to salted to jalapeno, garlic and chili lemon.Now there;s a brand new treat, pistachio chewy bites. These are a tasty respite from the heavy, sugary holiday fare.They're a mix of heart healthy mix of pistachios and dried cranberries held together with agave syrup.They're gluten and dairy free. Each chew is 105 calories with 60 fat calories and th best part is they're loaded with nuts!.

You'd expect something this good for you to be not so tasty. Wrong ! These are the best tasting chews  I've had in a long time! The pistachio's mild nutty flavor is the perfect foil for the cranberries' tartness and the agave's sweet syrup flavor. The texture is a fun chew too and a quick bite. It'll make a great stocking stuffer , giving those Santa pops and chocolate coins a run for their money. After the holidays  they'd be perfect in gym bags and lunch boxes. The chews are a better alternative  to that three o'clock candy bar or doughnut too. They're also a nice dessert too or a great nibble when you're craving something sweet.Surprisingly they can be turned into savory and sweet recipes, from a spicy Mediterranean couscous to popcorn balls. If you really want decadent party treats then dip them in semisweet chocolate and let them harden. The Chewy Pistachio Bites can be bought at A&Ps ,Shop Rite, King Kullen, Wegman, Lucky's and a few other supermarkets. 

This holiday season give your body a healthy gift of Setton Farms Chewy Pistachio Bites. These are super yummy and super good.Try them now as an alternative to all those sugary cookies and candies.

The Columbian Food Exchange

Today is Columbus Day , celebrating Columbus' voyages to the New World. Whether he consciously knew it or not he changed the way the wold ate .Foods were exchanged and introduced to the Native Caribs and the Europeans.. Thanks to him, diets were forever improved and mostly in a good way.

Thanks to this intrepid explorer European diets have become as varied as possible. The  Northern Italians acquired corn for polenta, formerly made with barley. Tomatoes were introduced and became a vital ingredient in southern Italian cooking. No one can imagine the two cuisines without these. Ireland got potatoes, which also became a staple in other diets like the Scandinavian,. German Polish and again the Northern Pineapples also entered European society and has become a staple ever since.Without cacao, there would be no Swish chocolate. The New World also gave the Old World turkeys and peanuts too.

The Old World, however, also had its' contributions. Both the continents of Europe and Africa gave the new frontier fruits such as peaches and pears which grace many an American orchard. They also gave us coffee from Africa and olives from the Mediterranean along with turnips from Northern Europe.American farms welcomes bananas and grapes too . Most of America's bread basket originated in the wheat and barley fields over there as well Europeans also brought pork, lamb and beef to the indigenous population as well as horse to work the fields.

Christopher Columbus  did not just settle new lands. He also created a culinary tornado with effects that we still feel today. More than any chef or nutritionist, he changed the way the wolrd ate

A Healthier Party Time

The school year has been in full swing for a month now and that means one thing: parties. Every little kids wants a party to outdo their class mates. The question is can you give your little darling something that' s not only tasty and fun but also healthy too? The answer is yes!

Kids can be fussy eaters, especially when you try to push something nutritious on them. If it's green its obscene is usually their rule.. However you can actually make your birthday honoree and guests like veggies. Cut up broccoli and cauliflowers into dippable pieces and also have pitted black olives along with grape tomatoes and carrot sticks. You can serve them with a fun ranch dressing or even an onion dip made from onion soup and plain Greek yogurt. Another idea is whipping up healthy sliders. Try quartering veggie or turkey burgers and serving them on whole wheat slider rolls. Slice up sweet potatoes julienne style and bake in your oven with some olive oil and sea salt for a great and crunchy side.

All birthday parties call for cake or cupcakes of some sort. What you can do to make the treats healthier is bake your own cakes using unbleached flour . Use the King Arthur brand which also has gluten free flour as well. You can create a variety of healthier sweets with them, including cookies, brownies and even candies.. As for icing, you'll still have to make one using confectioner's sugar . However the frosting becomes healthier with subbing in Greek yogurt for cream or butter.You can decorate not with sprinkles and chocolate chips but with raisins along with dried cranberries and blue berries.Another fun idea for the tween set are fruit kabobs, where you can alternate pineapple chunks with strawberries and bananas slices.

Your little one's birthday party can be both fun and nutritious. Ditch the salty, greasy stuff and bring in fresh veggies. End with a healthy cake with even healthier icing.It's a great way of celebrating not just another year but a year of eating right!

Flowering Fruit

There’s a new trend right now with fruit. Baskets. Gone are the traditional towers full of apples, pears and oranges. In their stead are new fruit “bouquets’, strawberries, pineapples and apples cut to look like daisies and roses. It’s an interesting idea and let’s face it a real money maker too. A bouquet can cost as much as three hundred dollars. That’s quadruple of what you would pay for a bouquet of actual flowers. The good news is that you can recreate these at home.

It doesn’t take brains to turn a pineapple slice into a daisy. It just involves a good knife (preferably one of Cutco quality) and some chocolate for dipping the petals into. As far as making strawberry rosebuds,, again a no brainer. Make two diagonal slits around the bottom of the strawberry so that it looks like a tight bud, then insert a toothpick where the hull is. These are also easy to dip and you can dip them into white chocolate dyed pink for added beauty. If you want you can also put in fresh picked mint leaves (if you have them growing in your garden) for bouquet greenery.

Fruit bouquets are actually easy to make if you have the time and creativity. There a new spin on the old fruit basket idea. It’s a fresh way to celebrate or comfort a person however you can make the bouquet yourself for only a few dollars.