The folks at foodsafety.gov have come up with tips for produce safety. It is not anything new and the tips are basically what is dictated by sound common sense. As vegetarians, we do not need to worry about safety of meat, mercury in fish, egg safety and other issues that torment meat eaters :-)
For us to safely practice vegetarianism, we only need to mostly worry about vegetables and fruits and I decided to cover the tips preached by the food safety website on produce safety. The tips are divided into three categories:
1. Buying Tips
2. Storage Tips
3 Preparation Tips
Essentially one should buy produce that is not damaged, bruised, crushed, getting spoiled, or otherwise looks or feels like it is a goner :-) I never buy half-cut water melons that are wrapped in some plastic. Take care when you buy bananas, avocado, spinach, lettuce etc.
It is a good idea to refrigerate produce that is purchased pre-cut or peeled. Other than potatoes, onions, bananas and a handful of other items, I usually refrigerate most produce. Store perishable fresh fruits and vegetables (like strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms) at a temperature of 40° F or below.
The preparation tips from the food safety website really take the cake. It asks all wannabe cooks to begin food preparation with clean hands. Washing hands is defined as allowing for 20 seconds of rinsing with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce. I assume that most of us would wash our hands thoroughly before preparing food.
All produce should be thoroughly washed before eating. I typically spray vegetable wash and then wash fruits and vegetables under running water just before eating, cutting or cooking. I discard any produce that looks damaged or otherwise dicey to feed my family. While the food safety website does not recommend using produce washes, I use a mild organic kind that has no chemicals. Dry the produce and then cook, peel, do whatever you got to do to eat.
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Tips for Fresh Produce Safety
Eating is Risky Business
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit watchdog group, issued a warning on food items that it considered the riskiest. At the top of the list of 10 riskiest food items are leafy greens, eggs, and tuna.
CSPI rated the above food items based on the number of outbreaks associated with them since 1990 and also provided the number of recorded illnesses and other data. CSPI has been tracking data since 1990 from various sources including CDC - The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Here is an excerpt from the report
LEAFY GREENS: 363 outbreaks involving 13,568 reported cases of illness
EGGS: 352 outbreaks involving 11,163 reported cases of illness
TUNA: 268 outbreaks involving 2341 reported cases of illness
OYSTERS: 132 outbreaks involving 3409 reported cases of illness
POTATOES: 108 outbreaks involving 3659 reported cases of illness
CHEESE: 83 outbreaks involving 2761 reported cases of illness
ICE CREAM: 74 outbreaks involving 2594 reported cases of illness
TOMATOES: 31 outbreaks involving 3292 reported cases of illness
SPROUTS: 31 outbreaks involving 2022 reported cases of illness
BERRIES: 25 outbreaks involving 3397 reported cases of illness
The full report is available from the CSPI website and is linked here
Luckily for vegetarians and vegans, half the items in the above list are non factors :-) It is vital to check the packaging of food items for expiry dates, open containers or bags, and proper refrigeration and temperature. Just because a report came out does not mean we have to stop eating salads! Eggs, Tuna, Oysters - No thanks!! Never have and never will :-)
Incidentally, all these food items are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Food Producers, Fisherman's Associations, and Milk Producers have criticized the report.
The Vegetarian Pyramid
The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, an organization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was established in 1994 to improve the nutrition and well-being of Americans. One of the primary objectives of the Center is to advance and promote dietary guidance for all Americans.
In order to support its objectives, the Center (USDA) launched multiple products including the MyPyramid Food Guidance System in April 2005. This is supposed to replace the original Food Guide Pyramid that we have all been accustomed to seeing plastered everywhere and had been so out-dated. The MyPyramid Guidance System acknowledges that one size does not fit all. MyPyramid offers personalized eating plans and interactive tools to help one plan and assess ones food choices based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
I am happy to note that Vegetarians have been given acknowledgement as well as inclusion. They even have a "10 tips" for following a vegetarian diet. Here is the main link to MyPyramid. In a series of future articles, I will summarize, paraphrase and present in simple terms how vegetarians can adopt relevant guidelines from the MyPyramid system.
I am now "officially" a supporter by including their picture below :-) The things I do for the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion!!
South Indian Filter Coffee
If you are a coffee drinker, you must try the South Indian Filter Coffee. It beats any Latte or Cappuccino hands down.
The filter referred to here is typically a stainless steel cylidrical contraption that comes apart in two halves. The top half has a pierced bottom with several tiny holes. The coffee beans are ground and the ground powder is filed in the top half. The top half sits snugly on the bottom half which receives the coffee drips. There is a lid to cover the top half. A pierced disc with a stem is placed on the coffee powder inside the top half of the cylinder.
If all this sounds difficult to visualize, please google for some pictures. There are several on the web!!
The top half is loaded with the coffee powder, the pierced disc with stem placed on it and then hot water is added to it. The coffee slowly drips into the bottom half. One can also add some chicory powder to the coffee powder. This adds to the flavor and taste of the coffee. The resulting decoction is so strong that one cannot drink this coffee black. Add one-fourth to one-third decoction and three-fourth to two-third milk, depending on how strong the decoction is.
Add some sugar, milk, and decoction and then mix it by pouring it back and forth between two cups till you generate a lot of froth. The higher you pour the liquid from, the more the froth it generates. This action aerates the resulting liquid and that actually enhances the taste a lot
Parboiled Rice
Rice is a staple food for a lot of vegetarians. It is a really good source of complex carbohydrates and to a lesser extent, a source of protein. Combining rice with pulses will ensure that one gets an adequate amount of protein.
When one wants to incorporate rice into their diet, the options and varieties are mind boggling. Do you go with white rice, brown rice, wild rice, parboiled rice? Which specific named rice variety like basmati, jasmine, arborio, bhutanese red rice do you buy? Each variety of rice has its own unique taste and characteristics.
I am a big fan of parboiled rice. It tastes a lot better than the raw white rice. Parboiled rice is rice that has been boiled in the husk. Parboiling the rice preserves most of the nutrients and is almost comparable to brown rice in that regard.
As far as a specific variety of rice is concerned, I highly recommend the Ponni rice which originates from the state of Tamil Nadu in India, for its taste
Welcome to booaah!
If you are already here reading this blog, I am sure you must be wondering about the name "booaah". The word was coined by my daughter when she was 1.5 years old to denote something to drink. The word stuck and we use that word in my family even today to denote a drink. The word is pronounced boo'aah.
I wanted to share with everyone my experiences of being a life-long vegetarian, cuisines, exotic places, diets, cooking tips, health tips, recipes, and anything else that would make us all healthy, wealthy and wise. After all, Health is Wealth. I will poll the audiences from time to time on various topics. I am also open to suggestions on what the audience would like me to cover in a particular post.
In addition to being a life-long vegetarian, I have traveled extensively all over the United States as well as Europe and India. I have managed to stay vegetarian through all my travels and living in different countries. I have also managed to devise interesting recipes with a fusion of multi-ethnic cuisines. I wanted to share the information I possess through this blog.
Here's to Your Health!
Cheers,
- Venkat
