Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (50 page)

Shoppers err in refusing to buy avocados because of their high fat content. Avocados contain from 5 to 22 percent fat, mostly monounsaturated oleic acid, in a form that is absolutely fresh, with its full complement of lipase and vitamin E. Avocados also contain carotenoids, B-complex and C vitamins and numerous minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium and phosphorus.

The name avocado comes from an Aztec word meaning "testicle tree" because the rounded fruits grow in pairs. There are many varieties. The best from the point of view of flavor and ripening characteristics are the dark-skinned Haas avocados. They should be stored at room temperature (no colder than 55 degrees) until they turn soft. They can then be stored in the refrigerator for a week or so. To prepare, cut in half, remove seed with the point of a knife, peel and slice. Immediately dribble on lemon or lime juice to prevent discoloration. SWF

CRAB DIP

Makes about 2 cups

½ pound crab meat

1 cup cream cheese
Whey and Cream Cheese

½ cup
piima cream
or
creme fraiche

juice of ½ lemon

2 tablespoons dry sherry

dash of cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped

Place all ingredients except crab in a container set in simmering water. When warmed, blend together with a whisk. Stir in crab and allow to warm through. Serve warm with
triangle croutons
.

Fats and oils to be avoided, in addition to partially hydrogenated vegetable fats, include any rancid or overheated fats and oils that contain breakdown products, such as oxidized fatty acids, oxidized sterols, peroxides, acrolein, hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds. These types of abused fats and oils are not safe. They range from immediately toxic to chronically toxic. Free radicals can form in polyunsaturated oils during industrial processing. These can interact with sulfhydryl groups in proteins as well as with unsaturated fatty acids and are very destructive of cell membranes. Mary G. Enig, PhD
Know Your Fats

CUCUMBER YOGHURT DIP

Makes 2 cups

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup plain whole yoghurt

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon fresh mint, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt chopped cucumber and let stand in a colander about 1 hour. Mix other ingredients together and stir in cucumber.

When we make chemicals like vitamin C and lactic acid in a laboratory, equal amounts of mirror-image left-handed and right-handed molecules are formed. While these isomers have identical chemical formulas, they don't react equally with other three-dimensional molecules. One isomer will fit and the other will not, just as a left-handed glove will not fit onto a right hand. Life systems are highly specific. Only one mirror image is used and the other has no biological activity. It may even be harmful. Natural lactic acid found in yoghurt and traditionally pickled foods, for example, consists entirely of right-handed molecules. The synthetic is a mixture of equal parts of right-handed and left-handed molecules. When synthetic lactic acid was added to baby formula, a number of babies died. Natural citric acid is a beneficial substance found in many foods, but synthetic citric acid added to manufactured foods can cause adverse reactions. Synthetic ascorbic acid is only half as effective as natural ascorbic acid and amino acids are also useless if not toxic when present in synthetic forms. Only left handed amino acids can be assimilated. SWF

ROASTED EGGPLANT DIP

(Baba Ganouj)
Makes about 2 cups

3 large eggplants

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 cloves garlic, mashed

juice of 4-5 lemons

1 cup tahini

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

dash of cayenne pepper

Puncture the eggplants in a few spots and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 1 hour or until skin is wrinkled and eggplant is tender. Let cool. Peel and chop into a fine dice, sprinkle with salt, mix well and let sit about an hour in a colander. Rinse well with water and squeeze out juices with a tea towel. Puree eggplant in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Place in a bowl and decorate with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Serve with pita bread or
pita chips
.

. . .the concept that fat is the best of foods has been universal with mankind in all lands and climates. When Christianity spread northward beyond the Mediterranean, the Biblical phrase "to live on the fat of the land" was readily understood in Greece, Italy and France; in Britain, Sweden and up among the Lapps. In English speech fat food was called rich food, which was the highest praise. The fattest was best among men and gods, in most religions and in all countries. Vilhjalmur Stefansson
The Fat of the Land

ROQUEFORT DIP

Makes 2 cups

1 cup crumbled Roquefort cheese

½ cup heavy cream, not ultrapasteurized

½ cup
piima cream
or
creme fraiche

1 tablespoon expeller-expressed flax oil

1 teaspoon fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
)

¼ teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with raw sugar snap peas or vegetable sticks.

CHEESE DIP

Makes 2 cups

¼ pound raw cheddar, grated

3 ounces Roquefort cheese, crumbled

1½ cup
piima cream
or
creme fraiche

1 tablespoon expeller-expressed flax oil

2 tablespoons chives, chopped

2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon naturally fermented soy sauce

¼ teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with raw vegetable sticks or raw sugar snap peas.

HUMMUS

Makes 2 cups

2 cups
basic chickpeas
, cooked

3 cloves garlic, mashed

¼ cup tahini

1 tablespoon expeller-expressed flax oil

½ cup fresh lemon juice

pinch of cayenne pepper

Using a slotted spoon, place cooked chickpeas in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. The hummus should be creamy and not too thick. Add some of the cooking liquid if it needs thinning. Serve with vegetable sticks and
pita chips
.

As a small boy I used to spend my school vacation on a farm where the animals received no food except that which they could find in the pasture and woods. These were not heavy milk producers with enormous udders. The cows were never ill; the need for a veterinarian was negligible. Contrast this with championship milkers with their large udders which are usually afflicted with mastitis and its associated discharge of pus. This unsavory condition usually requires almost continuous use of penicillin to keep the milk flowing. These champions are fed objectionable concentrates and other materials at odds with Enzyme Nutrition. What will you have, less good milk or an abundance of milk incriminated as a cause of heart and artery disease? Edward Howell, MD
Enzyme Nutrition

When we lament the problems of the modern machine age, we sometimes lose sight of the many benefits industrialization confers. One of those blessings is the availability of a variety of fresh vegetables at all seasons of the year. Take advantage of this wonderful state of affairs—as unique in the history of mankind as the ubiquitous availability of junk food.

The key to a good salad is vegetables at the peak of freshness, cut up into small pieces, then dressed with a high enzyme dressing composed of raw ingredients—high quality oils, vinegar, lemon juice, whey, avocado and raw or cultured cream. Chopping or grating vegetables is the first step in the process of thorough digestion, leaving less for the teeth and digestive juices to do, and allowing more surface area of the vegetables to be coated with healthful dressing.

We encourage you to mix vegetables of several colors in your salads. Different colors in vegetables denote the presence of vitamins and minerals in different proportions. A salad that mixes green, white, orange, red and maroon vegetables ensures a full complement of nutrients.

Most vegetables in the salads we present here are raw, but we also include some that are steamed or blanched (cooked in boiling water). Light cooking actually makes the nutrients in some vegetables, such as asparagus and French beans, more available. And raw vegetables are not for everybody, especially those with delicate intestinal tracts. If salads give you problems, turn to soups as a way to consume a variety of fresh vegetables.

For those who tolerate cheese, we submit that the mixture of raw cheese with salad dressing containing flax oil is a synergistic one. According to some researchers, sulphur-containing proteins in cheese combined with omega-3 fatty acids in flax oil make an excellent combination for supporting a host of metabolic processes. Many imported cheeses, such as Roquefort and Parmesan, are made from raw milk. We especially recommend Roquefort cheese, made of sheep milk, as a good source of antimicrobial lauric acid.

Your salad should be a delight to the eye as well as to the taste buds. Take care to make an attractive presentation and use your imagination to create beautiful arrangements on the plate. Don't hesitate to use large plates for your salad course—the way the Europeans do—for a more elegant display. With the right presentation and the right ingredients, even inveterate salad haters will tuck into your offerings of raw vegetables.

ITALIAN SALAD

Serves 6

1 head romaine lettuce

1 bunch watercress, stems removed

1 red pepper, seeded and cut into a julienne

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, quartered lengthwise and finely sliced

1 heart of celery with leaves, finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely sliced

½ cup
small seed sprouts

2 carrots, peeled and grated

1 cup red cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup
basic chickpeas
, cooked

¾ cup basic or
garlic dressing

This is a good, basic salad. Children love it. The secret is to cut everything up small. Remove the outer leaves of the romaine, slice off the end and open up to rinse out any dirt or impurities, while keeping the head intact. Pat dry. Slice across at ½-inch intervals. Place romaine in a salad bowl and top with watercress and chopped vegetables in different piles. Finally strew the sprouts and garbanzo beans over the top for an attractive presentation. Bring to the table to show off your creation before tossing with dressing. May be served with grated Parmesan cheese.

Variation: Mexican Salad

Use
Mexican dressing
rather than basic or garlic dressing. Omit chickpeas. Top with a
sprinkle of
pepitas
, or
thin strips of sprouted wheat tortillas, sauteed in olive oil or lard until crisp.

The scourge of Asian countries is high rates of cancer of the stomach, oesophagus, pancreas and liver. Asians in their homelands suffer from these virtually untreatable cancers at twice the rate as Westerners. Large quantities of salt is one explanation put forward; another is the use of talc as an additive in rice. The National Cancer Institute studied eating habits in Shandong Province, a region of China with particularly high rates of stomach cancer. They found that those who eat about three ounces a day of garlic, onions, scallions and leeks are only 40 percent as likely to develop stomach cancer as those who eat only one ounce of the allium vegetables daily. SWF

It is a commonly held belief today that we have had a large increase in our fat intake over this century. What we have had, in fact, is a large increase in our intake of fats from vegetable sources, along with a substantial decrease in our fats from animal sources. At the same time, the amount of fat in our diets as a percent of calories has not changed that radically. Fat in the diets of Americans ranges from 30% to 43% of the calories depending on which survey you look at, and even in the 1890's the amount of fat in diets seems to have been this amount. The article on diets in the 1922
Encyclopaedia Britannica
included information on 339 dietary surveys, of which 238 were done in the US. The highest level of fat intake reported was for American lumbermen at 43.6% of calories, closely followed by Danish physicians at 42.9% of calories. Except for inmates in "insane hospitals" in the US, who averaged 29.9% of the calories as fat, the average American family/adult ranged from 32.4% to 36.5% of calories as fat. Mary G. Enig, PhD
Know Your Fats

CAESAR SALAD

Serves 6

2 large heads romaine lettuce

2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup
salad croutons

¾ cup
garlic
,
anchovy
or
Caesar dressing

The secret of this recipe is the quality of the Parmesan cheese. Reggiano is best; Gran Padrino is also very good. For a much better taste than store-bought powdered Parmesan, buy it whole and grate it fresh when needed.

Remove outer leaves of the lettuce, slice off the end and open up to rinse out any dirt or impurities, while keeping the head intact. Pat dry and slice across at 1-inch intervals. Grate cheese using the large-holed side of the grater. Toss romaine and cheese with dressing of your choice. Add the croutons after tossing with the dressing—otherwise they absorb too much oil.

Some researchers believe a higher level of raw food in our diet is very advantageous. In one study, Douglass asked a group of persons with high blood pressure to add as much raw food to their diet as they conveniently could. After six and one-half months, raw food was providing approximately 62% of their daily caloric intake. He reported a statistically significant reduction in both high blood pressure and weight in those consuming much of their food raw. Eighty percent of those persons on the raw food diet also gave up smoking and alcohol spontaneously. Douglass cautioned against trying to consume an exclusively raw food diet, because fruitarians have died from various disease conditions including destruction of the heart muscle and total body edema. Chris Mudd
Cholesterol and Your Health

FRENCH STYLE CAESAR SALAD

(Salade D'Auvergne)
Serves 4

1 large head romaine lettuce

1 ounce freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup
salad croutons

¼ cup warmed crumpled
duck cracklings

1 cup
creamy dressing

This is the traditional salad of the Auvergne region of France. It resembles a Caesar salad—and, in fact, it almost certainly is the precursor of the Caesar salad—differing in only the type of dressing used. Prepare as Caesar salad in the preceding recipe.

Lettuce comes from the plant family that includes daisies and thistles. Romaine lettuce or
Cos
is derived from the word Roman. One of the most popular of numerous varieties of lettuce, it has been grown for thousands of years and was popular during Roman times—so the designation "Caesar salad" for a salad composed of Romaine lettuce is apt. American per capita consumption of lettuce of all types doubled from the 1940's to the 1970's.

Unfortunately, the most popular variety of lettuce—iceberg—is not one that we can recommend. Iceberg lettuce accumulates cadmium, a toxic metal, and rates poorly in nutrient content. But other lettuces provide carotene, B-complex vitamins, potassium, phosphorus and all-important silicon. Oriental medicine uses romaine lettuce in the treatment of alcoholism. SWF

ANY LETTUCE SALAD

Serves 4

1 large head or 2 small heads of any lettuce such as Boston lettuce or red lettuce

½ cup
walnut dressing

2 tablespoons crispy walnuts (
Crispy Pecans
, chopped

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Wash and dry lettuce. (See
Kitchen Tips and Hints
.) Toss with dressing and divide between four plates. Sprinkle on walnuts and cheese.

Many thousands of words have been written about the value of raw versus cooked vegetables in the diet. The simplest rules to remember are that man and herbivorous animals must cook their vegetables in order to break down the cellulose (wood) box in which the vegetable cell is stored. Man uses heat; herbivorous animals use fermentation, for which they have separate stomachs. But to man, raw vegetables are also of great value, mainly for bulk and roughage as well as to keep the intestinal content from becoming too dry. The human intestinal tract is so constructed that roughage is needed for rapid elimination of waste products and, equally important, for keeping the muscles strong. It must be remembered, of course, that when the intestinal lining is catarrhal or inflamed, rough textured food often irritates or may even cause bleeding; hence, great discretion must be used with raw vegetables and fruits. Henry Bieler, MD
Food is Your Best Medicine