One color in foods that is plentiful and chock-full of nutrition and flavor is orange. This time of year the leaves, the holiday and the fruits and vegetables of the harvest nearly shout this color family which includes tomato red, rust, bronze, deep orange, bright orange, gold and yellow. The number of fruits and vegetables sporting these hues is large, but the most common ones are: tomatoes, yams and sweet potatoes, winter squashes, cantaloupe, carrots, mango, papaya, and peppers.
Beta-carotene, a red-yellow food pigment that turns to vitamin A in the body, is the common element in all of the red-orange range of foods.
Recent findings note that while it was once thought that beta-carotene, the ingredient in these foods that make them colorful, could be useful taken in supplement form, we now know that nature actually does know best. It seems that beta-carotene has many cousins called carotonoids that when acting together with beta-carotene are the powerful punch that helps prevent and even cure. Taking beta-carotene supplements has actually been found to increase the risk for some of the diseases that it was thought to prevent, such as cancer. Well, it does decrease the risk of cancer, but only when eaten together with the other properties found in the whole food. Tomatoes, for instance, are a good source of beta-carotene, but also of lycopene, another carotonoid. In conjunction with beta-carotene, lycopene is a fierce battler of disease; either alone is less so.
Fortunately, these foods are easy to incorporate in our diets, because they are not only beautiful and healthful, but they’re readily available, inexpensive and delicious. What’s not to like? The days of “Eat your carrots”, are gone, since there are so many delicious ways to serve them—even in dessert. Pumpkin, squash or sweet potato pie, and carrot halvah are favorites of mine. Carrots can be sneaked into almost anything: spaghetti sauce, soups, stews—even in juice form (such as V-8) added to provide color and nutrition. Carrot Couscous with Fresh Chives (Cooking Light, Jan/Feb 2006) is such a dish.
2/3 cup carrot juice
1 ½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ cup uncooked couscous
2 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
Bring first 4 ingredients to a simmer over medium-high heat; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Drizzle with oil; fluff with a fork. Sprinkle with chives; toss to combine. Yield: 2 servings of about ¾ cup each. 236 calories.
Here’s a new combination that’s sure to look wonderful and taste good! (from Bon Appetit Nov. 2007)
Sautéed Parsnips and Carrots with Honey and Rosemary
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 pound carrots (about 4 large), peeled, cut into 3x ¼ x ¼ -inch sticks
1 pound large parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored, cut into 3x ¼ x ¼ -inch sticks
Coarse kosher salt
2 Tbsps. Butter
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 ½ Tbsp honey
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots and parsnips. Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to brown at edges, about 12 minutes. Note: Carrots can take a bit longer to cook than parsnips, so if the carrots are large and mature, sauté them for a minute or two to soften slightly before adding the parsnips.
Here’s a recipe from Bon Appetit (Nov. ’07) that has convenience and/or processed foods. That’s really rare. However, this pie is worth doing—for it’s truly delicious and beautiful and you can add to its virtues that it is easy.
Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue
Crust
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (made from about 7 ½ ounces graham crackers, finely ground in processor) or you can use already ground crumbs in package.
3 Tbsp. sugar
6 to 7 Tbsp. melted butter
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add 6 Tbsp. melted butter and stir until crumbs feel moist when pressed together with fingertips, adding 1 Tbsp. melted butter if crumb mixture is dry. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish, building up sides ¼ inch above rim of dish. Bake crust until set and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on rack.
Filling
3 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams)
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350F. Pierce sweet potatoes all over with fork; place potatoes on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until potatoes are very tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes open and scoop out pulp. Transfer pulp to processor and puree until smooth. Set aside 2 cups sweet potato puree for filling; cool completely (reserve any remaining puree for another use). Combine 2 cups sweet potato puree, sweetened condensed milk and all remaining ingredients in large bowl; whisk until well blended and smooth. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie until puffed around edges and set in center, about 50 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool. Refrigerate pie at least 4 hours or overnight.
Marshmallow Meringue
1 7-ounce jar Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Crème
3 large egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
¼ cup sugar
Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 400 F. Using rubber spatula, scrape marshmallow crème into large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl until foamy. Add sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time and beat until stiff and glossy peaks form. Add ½ cup beaten egg whites to marshmallow crème and stir with rubber spatula or spoon just until incorporated to lighten (marshmallow crème is very sticky and will be difficult to blend at first, but blending will become easier as remaining whites are folded in). Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions just until incorporated. Spread meringue over top of cold pie, mounding slightly in center and swirling with knife to create peaks. Bake pie just until peaks and ridges of marshmallow meringue are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Let stand at room temperature until meringue is cool.
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