Today I picked up the library's copy of The Longevity Kitchen : Satisfying, Big-Flavor Recipes Featuring the Top 16 Age-Busting Power Foods by Rebecca Katz because the cover looked delicious and the book intriguing. I figured the top 16 foods would be more of the same foods I've been trying to learn to use - grains and soy-based products or non-dairy ones. It's true that the list doesn't include cheeses, but I was surprised at the list of foods that offer ' the highest levels of antioxidants, those invaluable nutrients that help sweep the dangerous metabolic by-products known as free radicals out of the body." (p. 2, Katz):
Asparagus, avocado, basil (and mint), blueberries and other dark berries, coffee, dark chocolate, garlic, green tea, kale, olive oil, pomegranates, sweet potatoes, thyme, walnuts, wild salmon and yogurt.
Hallelujah! With the exception of kale (I'm sure I could learn to enjoy and use it), we are wild about all the others on the list. Other foods are allspice, almonds, apples, apricots, artichokes, bell peppers, black cod, broccoli, buckwheat, cabbage, cardamom, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cherries, chicken, chickpeas, chile peppers, chives, cilantro and coriander, cinnamon, coconut milk and oil, corn, cranberries, cumin, edamame, eggs, fennel, ginger, halibut, hibiscus, honey (yes!), kombu, leeks, legumes, lemons, lemongrass, limes, maple syrup (yes again!), miso, mustard seeds, onions oranges, oregano, parsley, peas, pistachios, potatoes, quinoa, grass-fed red meat, brown rice, saffron, sage, sardines, scallops, shitake mushrooms, shrimp, sesame seeds and tahini, spinach, winter squash, strawberries, swiss chard, tomatoes, turkey, turmeric and wasabi.
What a list of delicious stuff. The chard, kombu and miso are the only foods I don't use regularly.
I was surprised at the recipes in the book because they are very similar to the 'recipes' I use all the time when I am putting ingredients together in a weekday rush or a on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I keep most of them on hand all the time.
Here's one using Kale in a way that I might enjoy:
Farro with Kale-Basil Pesto
To make the pesto, add 4 cups stemmed and chopped lacinato kale to rapidly boiling water over high heat. Cook 30 seconds and then drain and rinse under cold water. Squeeze the kale to remove water from it. Place the kale, 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, 1/2 cut olive oil, 1/4 cup vegetable broth, 2 tsp. finely chopped garlic, 1 T. fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. grated lemon zest and 1/4 tsp. salt in a food processor and process until well blended. Taste to see if you need to add more lemon juice, zest or salt.
Cook the farro by placing 1 cup soaked, rinsed and drained farro in 3 cups boiling water with 1/2 tsp. sea salt, stirring well. Decrease the heat from boiling to medium and cook for 20 minutes. Drain the farro and return it to the pot. Add 1 cup of the pesto and 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino-Romano cheese, 1 cup cooked white beans, drained and spritzed with lemon juice and salt, and 1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
