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Wednesday, November 30, 2005 Cancer Fighting Eggplant  Eggplant got its name from early varieties that were white with egg-shaped appearance. Today, we find them in much more shapes, sizes and colours – long and slender; short and stumpy; purple, green and striped. Eggplant benefits those suffering from high blood pressure and high cholestrol as it can help to keep blood pressure in balance and lowers cholestrol. Due to its richness in vitamin D, it also helps to strengthen our blood vessels and clear blood clots, thereby prevent stroke. Constipation is one problem which eggplant can also help to overcome. Scientists are even using eggplants to fight against colon cancers. Vegetarians and those on diets like its filling nature, meaty texture, contains very few calories and virtually no fat. But its shortcoming is it does not provide a high level of essential vitamins or minerals. You can create so many interesting ways of cooking eggplants - baked, boiled, broiled, sautéed, souffled, stuffed, and mashed. Then you can cooked it in soups, dips, appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, sauces, relishes, salads, and even desserts. It gets along well with other vegetables and on its own, it tastes equally delicious. A healthy eggplant should be well-rounded, symmetrical with satin-smooth, uniformly coloured skin, firm and heavy in relation to its size. It is so delicate that any undue pressure will bruise it which will cause the flesh underneath to decay. Do handle it with care. Here are some points to note when cooking eggplant:
As eggplant is easily cooked, we can prepared a simple dish using eggplant in less than 30 minutes. Try this recipe which is one of my favourite too. EGGPLANT AND MUSHROOM SAUTE Ingredients : Serves 4
Methods :
Sunday, November 27, 2005 Powerful Antioxidants : Strawberries
Strawberries are low in calories, high in fiber and vitamin C, folate, potassium and antioxidants. Compared to fruits like apples, oranges or bananas they score highest in most of the nutrients.
1 cup (8 to 10) fresh strawberries contains :
Wow, that’s a lot of nutritions packed in one tiny fruit ! A recent study by Dr. Gene Spiller, Nutrition and Health Research Center, has shown that eating one serving (about 8-10 strawberries) a day can significantly decrease blood pressure, which may then reduce the risk of heart disease. Other studies showed additional benefits: Strawberries are found to reduce risk of cancer, enhance memory function and rheumatoid arthritis Besides eating on their own, they are also used in a wide variety of salads, smoothies, bread, cakes, desserts etc and because of their bright, appealing appearance they are used as decorations to enhance the presentation of dishes, making them more appetizing to your guests. Here’s a thirst quenching juice great on a hot summer day, ideal for kids and elders alike : Squeeze two oranges per person and put the juice in a blender with strawberries and one or two ice-cubes. You may substitute oranges with apples or honeydew, but the more strawberries the better. All the goodness in one glass! You really should try this! I have tried another great method of preparing fresh strawberries which I would like to share with you. If it is simple enough for me (who doesn’t like fussing too much over food), it would work the same for you too. SUSSY STRAWBERRIES Ingredients - 2 cups fresh strawberries - 3 tablespoons sugar - 3 tablespoons lemon juice - 2 tablespoons orange liqueur Directions Cut the strawberries into quarters and sprinkle them with sugar. Leave for a couple of minutes before sprinkling with lemon juice and orange liqueur. Substitute the orange liqueur with orange juice for kids. For a special taste: add some fresh spearmint. The marinated strawberries will taste best at room temperature I enjoy those chocolate dipped strawberries very much but I always have to pull back my cravings as they are costly. Of course I can go for those buffets where I can have unlimited servings of those mouth-watering sweeties, but again price is the consideration. So I found another super-simple recipe which is great for everyone to use. CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES RECIPES Ingredients (Serves 12) - 12 fresh strawberries with stems- 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips Directions Only use the biggest and most flawless strawberries, otherwise your chocalote covered strawberries will not look perfect. Rinse and thoroughly drain strawberries. Leave the stem. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Put chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Put bowl into mircowave for 30 seconds, take out and stir. Repeat until the chocolate chips have completely melted. Alternatively, you may melt the chocolate chips in a pot held over a small stove fire. Beware not to overheat the pot and burnt the melted chocolate. After the chips had melted, remove from fire. Hold stem and carefully dip strawberries, one at a time, into melted chocolate to coat. Allow any excess chocolate to drain back into bowl, then place strawberry on baking sheet. Cool for at least 30 minutes and serve immediately. You may keep them in the refrigerater for a few days, but it's best to eat them right away.  One day, my sister asked me this question about strawberries: Why were the little strawberries upset? Are you able to guess the answer ? Well, it is…….Because they were in a JAM! |
