Healthy Cooking by design

When you think “healthy peanut butter”, be honest, do you think of a gritty, unappealing mass that will tear bread if you attempt to spread it?  You’re not alone.  Let me point you to a couple of really great tasting, healthy peanut butters so you don’t have to compromise the flavor or texture you love.

My first favorite is from Trader Joe’s (Think of them as the Aldi’s of Whole Foods - their own brands, lower prices, great tasting healthy food, with a helpful staff.).  Trader Joe’s Roasted, Salted Peanut Butter has the smooth creaminess and flavor of any kid-friendly “Jiff-type” peanut butter.  Its very delicious and only about $1.79 for the regular 16 oz. jar.  Another one that I just tried that has the same consistency, delicious taste, and a similar low price is Kroger’s Natural Creamy Peanut Butter.

My next favorite is a little more pricey, but I bring a jar home whenever I go to Trader Joe’s.  It is their Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeeds.  It is about $4.99 for the 16 oz. jar.  But, holy cow, I’ve never tasted anything like it.  I buy the crunchy, salted one.  They have all their varieties in unsalted, if you prefer.  I also splurge on their Almond Butter.  It is also about $4.99 for the 16 oz. jar.  I buy the raw, salted variety.  It does have a little texture, but is very soft and spreadable and really delicious.  Its really a great deal because most almond butter is $12.00-$15.00 a jar.  But, back to peanut butter.

My next favorite is available at Publix, Kroger, and Walmart.  Its Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter.  I buy the creamy, salted variety.  This one does have a little texture, but is still very spreadable (and its very far from gritty).  I have seen it as high at $3.16 and as low as $2.23, depending on the store.

All of these are appealing to me because when looking for a healthy peanut butter, I want:

• just peanuts (with the peanut oil) and salt (no hydrogenated oils added)
• flavorful peanut taste (not the taste of other oils and sugars)
• creamy and spreadable texture (not gritty and dry)
• reasonable price (I have a large family and live on a budget)

And to get all of those, I don’t mind the monthly trip to Trader Joe’s to stock up (on peanut butter and other things), or the minute or two it takes me to stir peanut butter to recombine the oil that first time before I stick it in the refrigerator (I think of it as exercise).  But if the stirring bothers you, go here to buy a lid with a built in crank and paddle (designed to screw onto natural peanut butter jars).  Then you could even have a child stir it without making a mess.

*Special photo thanks to Crystala at Stock.xchng

P.S. After putting up this post, a reader contacted me and suggested I try the Publix brand natural peanut butter.  So I tried their crunchy variety and thought it was delicious.  Its ingredients are simply peanuts and salt.  I’m sure there are many other natural peanut butters out there that are delicious and won’t break the bank, so get brave and try some.  Thanks for the suggestion!

Grapeseed oil definitely makes the list of healthy oils to have in your pantry.  As with any ingredient, a little information about how to best use it is helpful. Grapeseed oil is made from the grape seeds after they have been crushed for wine making.  (small rant inserted here - I wonder how much of this valuable oil we would naturally consume if people in laboratories hadn’t played with our grapes to remove the seeds.  It seems to me that whenever we genetically play with foods, the nutrition suffers and we introduce consequences we could not foresee. end of rant…)  Anyway…Here are some facts about this beautiful, pale green oil.

What it is:

• a poly unsaturated fat (more than one double bonded-carbon in the molecule, making it liquid at room temperature and also liquid when chilled)
• high in omega-6 fatty acid
• low in saturated fat
• high in vitamin E
• antibacterial

What it does:

• binds to free radicals (unstable oxygen molecules that can attack normal cells and destroy or mutate them)
• does not change at high temperatures and has a high smoke point (428 degrees)
• lowers bad cholesterol(LDL) and raises good cholesterol(HDL)
• lowers triglycerides* (used by the liver as fuel to make cholesterol)
• stays liquid and emulsified in mixtures

How it is best used:

• High temperature frying
• In a sauce or recipe that you do not want to impart any flavor from the oil
• To make salad dressing or mayonnaise that will not separate or cloud in the refrigerator
• Topically on skin - provides healing and moisture for skin, fights acne, absorbs quickly without feeling greasy.  Often used as a lip conditioner, night cream, hand lotion, or massage oil.

Now before you go and throw out all your other oils and exclusively use grapeseed oil, let me remind you that variety and moderation are keys to a healthy diet.  There is no one magic answer or one perfect oil.  I do not think we should try to compare oils to find the healthiest.  Instead, we can identify strengths and weaknesses of an oil and then use it in the applications best suited to its characteristics.  And as with any oil, at around 120 calories per tablespoon, use it sparingly.

*For a really facinating look at triglycerides and cholesterol visit ReduceTriglycerides.com.  You will notices from the listed causes of increased triglycerides that a healthy Mediterranean type diet will eliminate many of them.
Special thanks for the photo to Aurora Marrero on Flickr.

The other day, I was shopping with one of my daughters.  We saw a bottle of beautiful pale green colored Grapeseed Oil and I mused aloud, “I wonder what it smells like.”  The words had barely left my lips when I heard the seal breaking on the cap as my daughter excitedly exclaimed “Let’s see!”  Her excitement quickly faded as she realized we now needed to purchase that bottle because we had opened it.  So I thought it was a perfect opportunity to research as well as taste a new oil.

Here are some things I found online about grapeseed oil.  In Posh Gourmet’s article “Choosing Gourmet Oils” they say there are three oils no pantry should be without - olive, grapeseed, and canola.  The Gourmet Retailer says grapeseed oil has a higher smoke point (better for high temp cooking or frying), holds together well in sauces or mayonnaise, and has an unobtrusive taste.  The article at Suite 101.com, “Alternatives to Olive Oil” won big points with me by saying the three most commonly used fats in Italy are olive oil, butter, and grapeseed oil.  (I personally still think butter has a place in our diets.)  Grapeseed oil has antibacterial properties and fights free radicals.  A Yale-New Haven dietitian recommends that grapeseed oil be used in addition to olive oil as part heart healthy diet, but not to replace it.

Those things reinforce my belief that there is NO ONE MAGIC ANSWER.  Just because we discover some great properties in soybeans doesn’t mean that eating soy everything is beneficial.  Or because olive oil has proven health benefits that we should use it to the exclusion of all other oils.  Or when we see benefits to eating vegetables or raw foods, that we should only eat those foods.  I don’t believe that our bodies were designed to eat only from a few categories or use only a few cooking methods.  I think important keys to healthy eating are variety, moderation, and a basic understanding of the nutrition in foods.

As to the taste, I found it light and easy to combine with any flavor.  I fried quite a few chickpea and rosemary patties in a couple of tablespoons of it and never had any smoke or burning.  I will definitely use it for high temperature cooking or for recipes that don’t need an olive oil flavor. Yea!  One more healthy food in my pantry.  Try it, you might like it too - although you don’t have to open your bottle in the store.  Just some food (or oil) for thought…

If super-size meals are a concern, maybe super-size olive oil should be as well. Have you seen those cooking shows that begin a healthy recipe by pouring olive oil into a skillet while counting slowly to ten. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but not much. While I appreciate their heavy use of vegetables and lean meats, I cringe at beginning a recipe with unnecessary fat. Starting with ¼ cup of EVOO dishes out 477 calories (83% of your total daily value), obviously all from fat. Many people don’t consume that many calories in an entire meal. It would take a 200 pound person a little over 2 hours of walking at 2 miles per hour to burn those off.

Now before you throw stones, let me assure you I understand that the fat in olive oil is mostly monounsaturated and is good for you. I personally have replaced all of my trans fats and many of my saturated fats with monos and polys. I figure if something I eat will work for my “good cholesterol” and against my “bad cholesterol”, I’ll gladly take the help. I enjoyed Spinal Health’s graphic showing the types of dietary fat and their main sources.

The idea “if a little is good, a lot would be better” is not necessarily true. If you choose a ¼ cup of olive oil over a ¼ cup of hydrogenated vegetable oil, I say good choice. But if a drizzle can accomplish the ¼ cup purpose, I say moderation is the better choice.