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FEBRUARY 2014
EVOO with Fresh Herbs
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HEALTHY RECIPES

Click here to find a collection of healthy recipes to make New Year, New You a reality!
FACES AT THE RANCH
Growers Lisa and Dan Kennedy
Please meet Lisa and Dan Kennedy: They're two of the wonderful growers we're teamed with who raise olives that we use to make our oil. 
RANCH UPDATE

Rancher Brian Mori recaps our fall harvest and brings us up to date on what our trees and ranchers are doing during the winter. 
FAN PHOTO

Facebook fan Julian Brunt shared yet another delicious photo of his latest culinary creation: "Brussels sprouts roasted with California Olive Ranch EVOO, Benton's smoky bacon, and good, rich balsamic vinegar." We highlight one fan a month. Please send your photo to [email protected] or post on Facebook.
HEALTHY FOODS FOR 2014
Ottolenghi Roasted Parsnips Vegetablese
Greetings!

Now that's it winter,  we're in the kitchen sticking with our New Year's resolution of eating healthy foods, particularly plant-based foods: vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Our featured nutritionist, Ed Blonz, who's a syndicated columnist, advises everyone to "take a lesson from the plant world."

"Plants have it all figured out," notes Blonz, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco. "Over the millennia they have evolved to contain the right combination of nutrients and phytochemicals to maximize their chances for survival."

Below you'll find several healthy recipes showcasing plant-based foods, including whole grains, legumes, and vegetables. All the dishes use another important plant-based food: extra virgin olive oil.

Happy and Healthy Eating!  
New Year, New You Recipes
Cannellini Beans with Braised Kale & Garlic Breadcrumbs
 
Cannellini Beans with Braised Kale and Garlic Breadcrumbs This lovely dish marries two foods that are good for you and taste good, too: legumes and kale. "This dish is incredibly hearty and bursting with goodness; but its deep, earthy taste is what's most enticing, Viviane Bauquet Farre of food & style, who created the recipe, says. Give it a finishing drizzle of our medium-robust Arbosana

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Saffron Farro with Apricots and Pine Nuts 
Saffron Farro with Apricots and Pine Nuts Farro is the Italian name for an ancient strain of hard wheat from western Asia. Its roasted, nutty flavor and distinctive chewy texture make it popular. It also has a higher fiber and protein content than common wheat.  Blogger Rachel Hutchings - who created this flavor-packed dish - recommends making it with our medium-robust  Arbosana.  

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Moroccan Vegetable Stew 
Moroccan Vegetable Stew This meatless, aromatic stew is loaded with good-for-you foods: sweet potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers and chickpeas. Currants (or raisins) add a sweet note. The recipe appears in the new cookbook from the famed Moosewood Restaurant: Moosewood Restaurant Favorites. Make it with our Everyday Fresh.   

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Winter Lettuces with Pomegranate Seeds
Winter Lettuces with Pomegranate Seeds Pomegranate seeds are high in antioxidants, and research suggests they may play an effective role in preventing heart disease and cancer. Combine them with the likes of escarole, endive, and radicchio, and you've got a lovely, healthful salad. Top it with a shallot vinaigrette made with our fruity  Arbequina. The recipe appears in Ali Lartner's Kitchen Revelry.  

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Chicken and Cannellini Bean Chili 
 Chicken and Cannellini Bean Chili Chili is classic comfort food for this time of year - not to mention the fact that this version contains legumes, veggies and tomatoes. The recipe comes courtesy of Muir Glen Organic. Prepare it with our Everyday Fresh.

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Whole Grain Jambalaya

Grande' Grains Jambalaya Jambalaya - a specialty of New Orleans - is one of those special dishes that stick in your memory. This version - courtesy of 30AEats and Bob's Red Mill - proves food can be tasty and healthful. It combines smoked sausage (like andouille), white chicken meat, and whole grains. Make it with our robust Miller's Blend.
Health and Food Guru
Ed Blonz
Ed Blonz is a busy man. He's a nutritionist, a consultant, an award-winning writer, and a professor. His syndicated column, "On Nutrition," runs weekly in newspapers around the country and internationally (follow on Twitter @blonz). He's published eight books on food, nutrition and health, and has won the James Beard Foundation Award for his writing. Blonz serves as an expert consultant on health claims issues, works on the editorial board of the Berkeley Wellness Letter, and is an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco - all while running his own website, The Blonz Guide.
 
What's your advice for people who want to prepare and enjoy healthier meals?

When it comes to mealtime, I encourage all to slow down and savor your foods, especially people who are battling a weight problem.  Our body doesn't provide instant feedback about when it has had enough food.  Pace your meals to a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes in length, keeping in mind that if you routinely eat rapidly until you're stuffed it means you've had too much. 

Consider also shifting the salad to the end of the meal. I love the flavor of fresh greens and salads. In the dinner meal I have a portion of the main course and any side dishes, and then I "fill up" on the salad as my final course. Moving salads to the end of the meal, similar to what is done in Europe, has served me well over the years.

You've said extra virgin olive oil - versus other oils like corn oil - is "the way to go." Why so?

I put extra virgin olive oil in a special class.  Consider that corn oil and other refined oils tend to be solvent extracted; this means a food-source mash gets mixed with a solvent that separates the oil from the rest of the material.  The solvent is then removed and you're left with a pure oil, free of unwanted components or of flavors that can affect performance.  Refined oils include typical "vegetable oils," such as soy, corn, canola, and safflower.

By contrast, we can think of extra virgin olive oil as fruit juice, the olive being the fruit of the olive tree.  I consider it the "way to go" because rather than being the result of solvent extraction, extra virgin olive oil is pressed out of the olive and it contains the full complement of the olive's naturally occurring flavors and colors, together with its nutrients and phytochemical protectants.  Other oil seeds and sources do not lend themselves to this approach.  From a health and culinary standpoint there is nothing like extra virgin olive oil.
 
What other healthy pantry items you consider essential?

In no particular order (and certainly not a complete list): onions, garlic, garbanzo beans, black beans, canned tomatoes, whole grain cereals, nuts and seeds, nut butters, Better than Bouillon, fresh spices and seasonings, including peppercorn for fresh-ground pepper.  We have an herb garden so there is always a supply for the kitchen.  I also make trips to the market several times a week to purchase fresh produce as well as fish, poultry, or meat for the evening meal.    

How do you like to use extra virgin olive oil in your cooking? Fresh extra virgin olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is nearby whenever I cook.   It can be used to caramelize onions, saut� vegetables, mix with seasonings to coat the food being prepared, or brown meats prior to roasting or braising.  For me, most anything that involves the addition of an oil means extra virgin olive oil.   There are many different tastes among extra virgin olive oils, from smooth and buttery to intense and herbal.  

Can you suggest a simple, healthy dish using extra virgin olive oil?   

Here is an excellent side dish made from butternut squash: Peel a large butternut squash, cut in half and scrape out all the seeds, then cut in to 1-�-inch cubes and put into a roasting pan large enough to hold the squash on a single layer.  Drizzle on extra virgin olive oil and toss, so that there is a light coat on all the squash.  Season with salt, fresh-ground pepper, and 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme that's been chopped finely.  Put in a 425 F. degree oven and roast, stirring or shaking every 10 to 15 minutes. Depending on the size of the squash cubes, it should take 45 to 50 minutes to cook.