Are Trio bars nutritious?

Reader Stacy asks:

What are your thoughts on Trio bars?  The are certainly delicious…are they nutritious?

As most of you know by now, with any processed food, my rule is the fewer ingredients, the better. On top of that, I want to be able to recognize all of those ingredients. Luckily, Trio bars have a pretty solid ingredient list. The blueberry flavor contains:

Cashew, Almonds, Pistachios, Blueberries, Sesame Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Dates, Raisins, Rice Malt, Natural Flavors, Evaporated Cane Juice and Sea Salt.

Yes, they have added sugar, but there are certainly worse offenders out there. You can probably guess that I prefer Larabars because of their wildly short ingredient list (sometimes as few as TWO ingredients!) and their lack of added sugar. But I think Trio bars are a decent option. They also offer 5g of protein and 2g of fiber per bar, which isn’t too shabby (though with all the fruit and nuts, I’m surprised they don’t have more fiber).

Bottom line, Stacy: Trio bars are definitely a decent option for snacking on-the-go.

Reader Beth sent in this recipe for an Italian-style quinoa and veggie stew. She says:

So, I’m definitely not the creative cook type but I found myself craving Italian-ish dishes alot and not wanting to eat pasta everyday I improvised and came up with this dish that is a “one pot” dish and follows the 25/25/50 rule. It is also very versatile and can be made with lots of different proteins! I’ve used chicken sausage, tofu, and shrimp to make this so far. I prepare quina as instructed on the box. I usually half the the amounts though. When the quina is finished I turn the stove back up and add marinara sauce and chopped zuccini and eggplant. I let those cook a little then add a ton of spinach and sometimes some garlic. And that’s it! So easy! Here’s a not very good picture of it made with shrimp.

Thanks, Beth! Looks delish.

For those of you who’ve emailed in the past week or so with questions, I haven’t forgotten about you! I’ll get to them as soon as I can.

You’re Probably Not Eating Enough: Lentils

Lentils are not only one of the world’s healthiest foods, they’re also insanely cheap. A cup of lentils costs about $.80 (and a cup goes a looong way). For your $.80, you’ll get 63% of your daily recommended value of fiber, 90% folate, 35% protein, and 25% each of vitamin B1 and potassium (just to name a few).

Here are a few good lentil recipes:

Kale, Sausage & Lentil Skillet Supper
Cauliflower & Red Lentil Curry
Squash, Chickpea & Red Lentil Stew
Halibut with Lentils & Mustard Sauce
Lentil Stew with Oranges

Reader Arwen also sent in this recipe for Greek Lentils that she says is “DELICIOUS, hearty, and packed with things that are good for you.”

You’ll need:

• 8 ounces brown lentils
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 onions, minced
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 4 cups of water
• 1 pinch dried oregano
• 1 pinch crushed dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste
• vinegar to taste (I’ve used red wine, balsamic, pretty much anything works and you only need a dash. Plus, the vinegar will cut down on the need for salt since it packs such a punch)

Preparation:

1. Place lentils in a large saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; cook for 10 minutes, then drain lentils into a strainer.

2. Dry saucepan, pour in olive oil, and place over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and carrot; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in lentils, 1 quart water, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in tomato paste and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the lentils have softened, 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional water if the soup becomes too thick. Ladle into soup bowls, and drizzle vinegar to serve.

Make It: Raw* Cocoa Date Cookies

Lovelylinguist emailed to ask if I had any no-bake cookie recipes. I found this delicious-looking recipe on Conscious Kitchen. I’ll try to post some other raw recipes, as a lot of you have been asking for them. I love eating raw… I always feel so energized (and totally full and satisfied from all the fresh produce!).

*Cocoa isn’t technically raw, so feel free to omit this ingredient if you want to make them truly raw.

Reader Yelena writes:

I’m hoping you can explain soups to me.  I thought that vegetables lose their vitamins when they are heated, so why is soup considered healthy?

First of all, not all soup is considered healthy. For taste and health, I stick to soups that are brothy and chock full of veggies. Cream-based soups are certainly not a picture of nutrition.

Do vegetables lose their nutrients when heated? Well, it depends. According to this article:

For some vegetables, heat processing actually boosts antioxidant levels. A study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in September of 2000 reported that pureed, heat-processed carrots had 34.3 percent higher antioxidant levels than their raw counterparts. But for other veggies, no matter how you cook them - whether you microwave, boil or steam - you’re likely to lose some of the nutrients. A study published in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli cooked in the microwave lost up to 97 percent of its antioxidant content. However, in this study, the researchers used 10 tablespoons of water for cooking the broccoli. When the Spanish researchers tested broccoli after steaming, they found that it had lost only 11 percent of its antioxidant content. You don’t have to use a lot of water when cooking vegetables in the microwave - a couple tablespoons will do and you don’t have to add any water when microwaving frozen vegetables.

That answers our question in terms of microwaving veggies, but what about cooking them in broth/water for soup? As long as you cook the vegetables in the broth that you’ll later consume, you’ll actually be getting all the nutrients that may have leached out into the liquid. If you’re cooking veggies separately, use the following guidelines:

• Use fresh or frozen veggies whenever possible.
• Cook veggies soon after buying them.
• Wash veggies rather than soaking.
• Cook veggies with as little water as possible (I knew there was a good reason to roast EVERYTHING!).

The bottom line here is that vegetables are healthy and if some nutrients are lost in the cooking process, that doesn’t suddenly make them not worth eating! Here are some healthy soup recipes you can try out:

• Grandma Pilar’s Chickpea Soup
• Spicy Vegetable Soup
• Pasta E Fagioli
• Southeast Asian Soup