This recipe is a crowd-pleaser and a delicious answer to the question, “What’s for dinner?” Note: A Microplane is perfect for grating the garlic and the ginger right over the mixing bowl for the marinade.
1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
Directions
Step 1
In a medium bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients; set aside.
Step 2
Cut each pepper into 1-inch squares and add to a large bowl. Peel and cut the onion into 8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half; add to the bowl with the bell peppers. Finally, cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes and add to the bowl. Pour on the marinade and toss to coat. Marinate for 1 hour (you can also marinate overnight in the fridge).
Step 3
While the chicken marinates, prepare the pineapple. Start by cutting off and discarding the top and bottom. Stand it up on your cutting board and use a serrated knife, working from top to bottom, to cut off the peel in strips. Next, use the knife to cut the pineapple in half, then into quarters. Make V-shaped cuts in each quarter to remove and discard the tough core. Cut each of the four sections into roughly 1-inch pieces. Transfer 4 cups to a bowl and set aside (enjoy any leftover pineapple at another meal).
Step 4
When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 400°F and line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to the sheet pan and roast for 15 minutes. Then carefully top with the pineapple and any juice in the bowl; roast for another 10 minutes.
Step 5
Set your oven to broil and place the sheet pan under your broiler for 3 minutes for a caramelized finish.
Hawaiian-Inspired Sheet Pan Chicken Recipe, Spotlight on Pineapple, Choosing a Rimmed Sheet Pan, Reversing Prediabetes, and Countering Joint Pain
Sheet pan dinners are still all the rage because they allow you to cook your meal in one pan with an easy clean-up as the capper. While this recipe didn’t originate in our 50th state, it’s inspired by one of Hawaii’s most iconic crops, juicy pineapples. Along with red onions and bell peppers, they create the sweet and tangy taste this dish is known for. I’m sharing health news about two of the most prevalent conditions affecting Americans: prediabetes and joint pain.
This recipe is a crowd-pleaser and a delicious answer to the question, “What’s for dinner?” Note: A Microplane is perfect for grating the garlic and the ginger right over the mixing bowl for the marinade.
1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
Directions
Step 1
In a medium bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients; set aside.
Step 2
Cut each pepper into 1-inch squares and add to a large bowl. Peel and cut the onion into 8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half; add to the bowl with the bell peppers. Finally, cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes and add to the bowl. Pour on the marinade and toss to coat. Marinate for 1 hour (you can also marinate overnight in the fridge).
Step 3
While the chicken marinates, prepare the pineapple. Start by cutting off and discarding the top and bottom. Stand it up on your cutting board and use a serrated knife, working from top to bottom, to cut off the peel in strips. Next, use the knife to cut the pineapple in half, then into quarters. Make V-shaped cuts in each quarter to remove and discard the tough core. Cut each of the four sections into roughly 1-inch pieces. Transfer 4 cups to a bowl and set aside (enjoy any leftover pineapple at another meal).
Step 4
When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 400°F and line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to the sheet pan and roast for 15 minutes. Then carefully top with the pineapple and any juice in the bowl; roast for another 10 minutes.
Step 5
Set your oven to broil and place the sheet pan under your broiler for 3 minutes for a caramelized finish.
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Pineapple
If you love pineapple for its sweet taste, you’ll love it even more for its potential health benefits. According to a comprehensive review published in the journal Food Research International, it’s a rich source of bioactive compounds, dietary fiber, and minerals. Research also suggests it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, supports heart health and digestion, and may even help lower diabetes risk.
Choosing a ripe pineapple takes a little detective work. Look for a vibrant golden-yellow color rising from its base and a crown of green leaves. It should have a tropical aroma, firm skin, a slight give when squeezed, and an underside free of any white splotches, which could be mold.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Choosing a Rimmed Sheet Pan
Sheet pans are great not only for roasting vegetables and sheet-pan dinners but also for baking cookies and certain cakes like genoise layers that are fairly thin. The sides hold in juices released during cooking and are also easy to grab with oven mitts.
The most highly rated pans are made of aluminum, and the brand name that comes up in review after review is Nordic Ware, praised for even cooking and resistance to warping. When the pan is lined with parchment paper, clean-up is a breeze.
For Your Best Health
Reversing Prediabetes
People diagnosed with prediabetes, a condition that affects up to one in three adults, have traditionally been advised to eat healthier and shed pounds to reduce the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes. This message has remained largely unchanged for decades, yet the results have been mixed. Diabetes rates continue to rise worldwide, and many individuals with prediabetes struggle to meet weight-loss targets. As a result, they often feel discouraged while their risk remains high.
New findings published in Nature Medicine point to a different path. The research shows that prediabetes can go into remission — meaning blood sugar levels return to normal — even in the absence of weight loss. In fact, about one in four people participating in lifestyle programs were able to normalize their blood sugar without losing weight. Even more striking, this type of remission offers the same level of protection against future diabetes as remission achieved through weight loss.
How can blood sugar improve without a drop in body weight or even with weight gain? The study states that the answer appears to lie in where fat is stored in the body. Not all fat has the same effect on health. Visceral fat, which surrounds internal organs deep in the abdomen, is particularly harmful. It promotes chronic inflammation and disrupts insulin — the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar. When insulin does not function properly, blood glucose levels rise.
On the other hand, subcutaneous fat — the fat just beneath the skin — can actually support healthier metabolism. This type of fat releases hormones that help insulin work more efficiently. The study found that individuals who reversed prediabetes without losing weight tended to shift fat away from their abdominal organs and toward areas under the skin, even when their overall weight did not change.
The researchers also found that natural hormones, similar to those targeted by medications like Wegovy and Mounjaro, play an important role. These hormones, especially GLP-1, help pancreatic beta cells release insulin when blood sugar rises. People who achieved remission without weight loss appeared to boost this hormone system naturally, while reducing the influence of other hormones that raise glucose levels.
Instead of focusing only on the number on the scale, people with prediabetes may benefit from strategies that influence how fat is distributed in the body. Certain dietary patterns can help. Healthy fats — including the monounsaturated fats in olive oil and olives, and the polyunsaturated fats in fish, nuts, and seeds typical of a Mediterranean-style diet — may help reduce visceral fat. Regular endurance exercise can also lower abdominal fat, even when overall weight stays the same.
This does not mean weight loss should be ignored. Losing weight still supports overall health and reduces diabetes risk. However, the research suggests that normalizing blood sugar should be a primary goal, regardless of whether weight changes.
For many people who have struggled with traditional weight-loss programs, this opens the door to meaningful improvements through metabolic changes rather than a sole focus on weight.
Healthcare providers may also need to expand their approach. Tracking blood sugar improvements and encouraging fat redistribution through targeted nutrition and exercise could provide alternative strategies for patients who find weight loss difficult.
Fitness Flash
Countering Joint Pain
An article written by Dr. Clodagh Toomey, physiotherapist and associate professor at the School of Allied Health, University of Limerick in Ireland, and published in The Conversation, a nonprofit news organization that shares expert findings with the public, serves as a great reminder that the most powerful treatment to ease joint pain and the stiffness of osteoarthritis isn’t surgery or medication, but rather exercise: Movement nourishes cartilage, strengthens muscles, reduces inflammation, and even reshapes the biological processes driving joint damage.
Stiff knees, sore hips, and persistent joint pain are often brushed off as normal signs of aging. But osteoarthritis, the most common joint disease worldwide, is not being treated in line with what research shows, and in many countries and healthcare systems, people are rarely directed toward the one therapy proven to reduce pain and protect joints. Specifically, the article pointed out that in countries such as Ireland, the UK, Norway, and the US, fewer than half of people diagnosed with osteoarthritis are referred to exercise programs or physical therapy by their primary care provider. More than 60 percent receive treatments that clinical guidelines do not recommend, and about 40 percent are referred to a surgeon before nonsurgical options have been properly explored.
To understand why this matters, it helps to look at how joints function, wrote Dr. Toomey. Regular physical activity does more than ease symptoms. It can biologically and physically lower the risk of developing osteoarthritis and reduce its severity. Cartilage, the smooth tissue that cushions the ends of bones, does not have its own blood supply. It depends on movement to stay healthy. When you walk or put weight on a joint, cartilage is gently compressed, pushing fluid out. When the pressure is released, it draws fluid back in, bringing nutrients and natural lubricants with it. Each step helps nourish and maintain the joint.
This is why describing osteoarthritis as simple “wear and tear” is misleading. Joints are not like tires that inevitably break down over time. Instead, osteoarthritis is better understood as a long process of breakdown and repair. Regular movement plays a central role in supporting healing and maintaining the health of the entire joint.
Osteoarthritis affects not only cartilage but also the entire joint, including joint fluid, underlying bone, ligaments, surrounding muscles, and even the nerves that control movement. Targeted exercise addresses many of these components at once. Muscle weakness is one of the earliest warning signs of osteoarthritis, and resistance training can help reverse it. Research shows that weak muscles increase the risk of both developing osteoarthritis and experiencing faster progression.
Dr. Toomey pointed out that neuromuscular exercise programs designed specifically for people with hip and knee osteoarthritis and led by physical therapists can be especially beneficial. For instance, those participating in the Denmark-based program called GLA:D® (Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark) reported meaningful reductions in pain, better joint function, and improved quality of life lasting up to 12 months after finishing the program.
Talk to your doctor about a tailored workout with a physical therapist experienced with the needs of people with arthritis. Or contact the Arthritis Foundation, which organizes both exercise and aquatic fitness programs offered across the country.
Black-and-White Cookies Recipe, Spotlight on Vanilla Pods, Rotating Cookie Sheets, Coffee and Brain Health and A Surprising Way to Make Exercise Work Better
Vanilla or chocolate? You don’t have to decide when you indulge in a classic black-and-white cookie, the treat that’s more cake than biscuit with two luscious glazes. I’m also sharing two interesting food-related studies. According to the first, drinking coffee or tea could protect brain health. And according to the second, the keto diet could boost the effects of exercise for some people with high blood sugar.
Why choose between vanilla and chocolate when you can have both? The iconic black-and-white cookie settles the age-old debate once and for all — a pillowy, cake-like base topped with two luscious glazes that are as striking to look at as they are to eat.
Ingredients
For the cookies:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup golden or white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
For the glazes:
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted, more if needed
Place an oven rack in the center position and preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper; set aside. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
Step 2
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the olive oil, egg, and vanilla and mix until well blended. Turn off the machine and use a spatula to scrape up the bottom of the bowl to make sure no clumps of butter remain.
Step 3
On the lowest speed, add half the flour mixture, then the sour cream, then the rest of the flour. Again, use the spatula to incorporate any batter stuck on the bottom of the bowl. Turn back on the mixer if needed to fully incorporate the flour. The batter will be thick.
Step 4
Use a 2¼” (¼-cup) ice cream scoop to form and release each cookie onto the sheet pans, evenly spacing 6 per pan. For the most even results, bake one sheet pan at a time in the middle rack. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake another 10 minutes, just until the cookie edges are barely browned. Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Step 5
When the cookies are completely cooled, make the vanilla glaze. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, 5 tablespoons milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt until smooth; it should be thick enough to drop from the whisk in a ribbon. If too thin, whisk in more confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Step 6
Working one cookie at a time, use a thin offset spatula to glaze one half of each cookie, using about half of the vanilla glaze (reserve the rest for the chocolate glaze). Let the glaze set for about 15 minutes. Rinse and dry the spatula.
Step 7
In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk and a large spoonful of the vanilla glaze into the cocoa until smooth. Whisk in the melted chocolate, then scrape it into the bowl of reserved vanilla glaze. Whisk until smooth. Use the spatula to spread the chocolate glaze on the unglazed side of each cookie (don’t worry about being too exact with the dividing line).
Step 8
Let the glaze set for 30 minutes before eating. Allow the cookies to dry completely, an hour or more, before storing them in a single layer in cookie tins.
Yields 12 cookies
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Vanilla Pods
One of the most tantalizing tastes in the world, vanilla comes from pods that grow on a specific orchid, Vanilla planifolia—the only orchid grown commercially for its fruit. Producing the coveted pods is labor-intensive. Following hand pollination, it takes nine months for the pods to ripen and another three months to cure. (The process to create vanilla extract and vanilla paste takes even more time.)
Within each vanilla pod are thousands of seeds that add rich flavor and visual appeal to baked goods, custards, and ice cream. To get at the seeds, use the tip of a sharp paring knife to score the length of the pod, then one side of the blade to scrape them out. Add the leftover pod to a jar of sugar to make your own vanilla sugar for other recipes.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Rotating Cookie Sheets
When baking cookies, rotating the sheet pan or cookie sheets halfway through the bake time is better for even rising and browning. This is true even when baking one sheet at a time. If a recipe suggests baking two sheets at one time, you want to not only rotate each one, but also switch their positions in the oven.
For Your Best Health
Coffee and Brain Health
Couples who intentionally pause to appreciate the enjoyable experiences they share tend to be more satisfied in their relationships, argue less, and feel more confident that their partnership will endure, according to researchers at the University oYour morning coffee or tea could be quietly supporting your brain health. A large prospective cohort study conducted by researchers from Mass General Brigham, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard examined data from 131,821 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). It found that moderate consumption of caffeinated coffee or tea was linked to an 18% lower risk of dementia, slower cognitive decline, and better preservation of cognitive abilities. The benefits appeared strongest at 2 to 3 cups of coffee or 1 to 2 cups of tea daily—and even held true for people genetically predisposed to dementia. The study was published in JAMA.
“When searching for possible dementia prevention tools, we thought something as prevalent as coffee may be a promising dietary intervention—and our unique access to high quality data through studies that have been going on for more than 40 years allowed us to follow through on that idea,” said senior author Daniel Wang, MD, ScD, associate scientist with the Channing Division of Network Medicine in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine, and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School. “While our results are encouraging, it’s important to remember that the effect size is small and there are lots of important ways to protect cognitive function as we age. Our study suggests that caffeinated coffee or tea consumption can be one piece of that puzzle.”
Preventing dementia early is especially important because current treatments are limited and generally provide only modest benefits after symptoms begin. As a result, scientists are increasingly focusing on lifestyle factors, including diet, that may influence the development of cognitive decline.
Coffee and tea contain compounds such as polyphenols and caffeine, which are thought to support brain health. These substances may help reduce inflammation and limit cellular damage, both of which are linked to cognitive decline. Previous research on coffee and dementia has produced mixed results, often due to shorter study periods or limited data on long-term consumption patterns and different types of beverages.
“We also compared people with different genetic predispositions to developing dementia and saw the same results, meaning coffee or caffeine is likely equally beneficial for people with high and low genetic risk of developing dementia,” said lead author Yu Zhang, MBBS, MS, a PhD student at Harvard Chan School and a research trainee at Mass General Brigham.f Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Soaking in their happy moments together—whether reminiscing about a favorite memory, enjoying a dinner together, or looking forward to something exciting—may be building a powerful shield for their relationship.
Fitness Flash
A Surprising Way to Make Exercise Work Better
Advice about staying healthy often centers on regular exercise and limiting fatty foods. Physical activity helps people shed excess weight, build muscle, and strengthen the heart. It also improves the body’s ability to absorb and use oxygen to produce energy, which is considered one of the most reliable indicators of long-term health and longevity.
However, people with high blood sugar frequently miss out on some of these benefits from exercise, particularly improvements in how efficiently their bodies use oxygen. Elevated blood sugar raises the risk of heart and kidney disease. It can also interfere with the ability of muscles to increase oxygen uptake during physical activity. For people facing this challenge, new research suggests an unexpected possibility. Instead of reducing fat intake, increasing it might help.
A study led by Sarah Lessard, PhD, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Center for Exercise Medicine Research and exercise medicine researcher, and published in Nature Communications examined how diet affects exercise response. The team found that mice fed a high-fat ketogenic diet experienced a drop in high blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia. Their bodies also became more responsive to exercise.
“After one week on the ketogenic diet, their blood sugar was completely normal, as though they didn’t have diabetes at all,” said Dr. Lessard. “Over time, the diet caused remodeling of the mice’s muscles, making them more oxidative and making them react better to aerobic exercise.”
The ketogenic diet gets its name from ketosis, a metabolic state in which the body switches from using sugar as its main fuel to burning fat. Because the diet relies on high-fat foods and severely limits carbohydrates, it contrasts with the low-fat diets traditionally recommended by many health experts.
The keto diet has been associated with health benefits for certain conditions, including epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Historically, it was also used to manage diabetes. Before insulin was discovered in the 1920s, doctors sometimes relied on this approach to help lower blood sugar.
Dr. Lessard’s earlier studies showed that people with elevated blood sugar often have reduced exercise capacity. This led her to explore whether a ketogenic diet could help restore the body’s ability to adapt to exercise. In the study, mice ate a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet and ran regularly on exercise wheels. Over time, their muscles developed more slow-twitch fibers, which are linked to greater endurance. “Their bodies were more efficiently using oxygen, which is a sign of higher aerobic capacity,” Dr. Lessard said.
According to Dr. Lessard, exercise benefits nearly every tissue in the body, including fat tissue. But growing evidence suggests that the greatest improvements in health occur when diet and exercise are combined rather than treated as separate strategies.
“What we’re really finding from this study and from our other studies is that diet and exercise aren’t simply working in isolation,” said Dr. Lessard. “There are a lot of combined effects, and so we can get the most benefits from exercise if we eat a healthy diet at the same time.”
She plans to expand the research to human participants to determine whether people experience the same improvements seen in mice. She also points out that following a ketogenic diet can be difficult. For many people, a less restrictive eating plan such as the Mediterranean diet may be easier to maintain while still supporting healthy blood sugar levels. This approach includes carbohydrates from whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains instead of eliminating carbohydrates entirely. “Our previous studies have shown that any strategy you and your doctor have arrived at to reduce your blood sugar could work,” she said.
Why choose between vanilla and chocolate when you can have both? The iconic black-and-white cookie settles the age-old debate once and for all — a pillowy, cake-like base topped with two luscious glazes that are as striking to look at as they are to eat.
Ingredients
For the cookies:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup golden or white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
For the glazes:
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted, more if needed
Place an oven rack in the center position and preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper; set aside. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
Step 2
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the olive oil, egg, and vanilla and mix until well blended. Turn off the machine and use a spatula to scrape up the bottom of the bowl to make sure no clumps of butter remain.
Step 3
On the lowest speed, add half the flour mixture, then the sour cream, then the rest of the flour. Again, use the spatula to incorporate any batter stuck on the bottom of the bowl. Turn back on the mixer if needed to fully incorporate the flour. The batter will be thick.
Step 4
Use a 2¼” (¼-cup) ice cream scoop to form and release each cookie onto the sheet pans, evenly spacing 6 per pan. For the most even results, bake one sheet pan at a time in the middle rack. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake another 10 minutes, just until the cookie edges are barely browned. Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Step 5
When the cookies are completely cooled, make the vanilla glaze. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, 5 tablespoons milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt until smooth; it should be thick enough to drop from the whisk in a ribbon. If too thin, whisk in more confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Step 6
Working one cookie at a time, use a thin offset spatula to glaze one half of each cookie, using about half of the vanilla glaze (reserve the rest for the chocolate glaze). Let the glaze set for about 15 minutes. Rinse and dry the spatula.
Step 7
In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk and a large spoonful of the vanilla glaze into the cocoa until smooth. Whisk in the melted chocolate, then scrape it into the bowl of reserved vanilla glaze. Whisk until smooth. Use the spatula to spread the chocolate glaze on the unglazed side of each cookie (don’t worry about being too exact with the dividing line).
Step 8
Let the glaze set for 30 minutes before eating. Allow the cookies to dry completely, an hour or more, before storing them in a single layer in cookie tins.
