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Olive Oil Hunter News #182

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Seafood and Avocado Salad Recipe, Spotlight on Dill and Herb Scissors, Could Your Diet Be Increasing Your Anxiety? And Knee Arthritis, Exercise, and Your Subconscious

Are you usually underwhelmed when you buy premade seafood salad? Making your own is not only tastier but also less expensive. And prepared with healthful ingredients, like extra virgin olive oil and avocado instead of questionable fillers, it’s also good for you. The distinction between healthy and unhealthy fats is made clear in the first study that I’m sharing—you’ll see why a diet of saturated fat is linked to anxiety. Turning to fitness, many people with knee arthritis don’t heed their doctor’s advice to exercise…here are the results of a study that found they may have a subconscious resistance to activity.

Seafood and Avocado Salad

  • Seafood Avocado Salad Seafood and Avocado Salad

    Pick your own culinary adventure with the seafood you choose for this dish—succulent lobster meat, crabmeat, shrimp, calamari rings, or any combination. I love to serve the seafood in avocado halves, but if you prefer a handheld meal, add avocado cubes to the mix and sandwich it between ciabatta slices that have been lightly toasted or grilled and drizzled with olive oil.

    Ingredients

    • 1 pound cooked shellfish
    • 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
    • 1 cucumber, diced
    • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, plus more to taste
    • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
    • Coarse sea salt to taste
    • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
    • 3 ripe avocados, halved and pitted 

    Directions

    In a large bowl, mix the shellfish, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, olive oil, vinegar, and dill. Taste and season as desired with salt and pepper. Divide the salad among the avocado halves, mounding it high (a large ice cream scoop works well).

    Yields 6 servings 

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Dill

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Dill

Fresh dill is a delicate yet delicious addition to many types of salads, including various versions of potato salad, and can be used for enhancing eggs, dishes with smoked or fresh salmon, and dressings. Because of its feathery shoots, dill makes a showy garnish. It’s best used in cold dishes; when using it during cooking, add it at the very last minute or right after you’ve removed the food from the heat. 

It’s easy to grow dill in your herb garden (it often reseeds itself) or plant it in a window box so you can regularly reach for it. If you buy a bunch from the store or farmers’ market, place the stems in a tall glass of water, cover the tops, and refrigerate to increase shelf life. As with other fresh herbs, it can be puréed with extra virgin olive oil and frozen in an ice cube tray for future use (bag the cubes as soon as they become solid). Dill is sold dried as dill weed, with a very mild flavor that actually improves when heated. 

Quick Kitchen Nugget: Herb Scissors

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Herb Scissors

Herb scissors


This nifty gadget makes mincing herbs nearly effortless. Rather than a single blade, herb scissors have multiple blades—up to 5—that chop your herbs for you as you snip. There are also single blade herb shears for cutting larger-leaf herbs and herb strippers that strip herbs from their stems.  

For Your Best Health: Could Your Diet Be Increasing Your Anxiety?

For Your Best Health

Could Your Diet Be Increasing Your Anxiety?

When stressed out, many of us turn to junk food for solace. But new University of Colorado Boulder research suggests this strategy may backfire. The study found that, in rats, a high-fat diet disrupts gut bacteria, alters behavior and, through the complex pathway that connects the gut to the brain, influences brain chemicals in ways that fuel anxiety. It’s important to note that the researchers are not talking about healthy fats like those found in fish, olive oil, nuts, and seeds—these are considered anti-inflammatory and good for the brain.

“Everyone knows that [high-fat junk foods] are not healthy foods, but we tend to think about them strictly in terms of a little weight gain,” said lead author Christopher Lowry, PhD, a professor of integrative physiology at CU Boulder. “If you understand that they also impact your brain in a way that can promote anxiety, that makes the stakes even higher.”

Dr. Lowry’s team divided adolescent rats into two groups: Half got a standard diet of about 11% fat for nine weeks while the others got a high-fat diet of 45% fat, consisting mostly of saturated fat from animal products. (The typical American diet is about 36% fat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) Throughout the study, the researchers collected fecal samples and assessed the animals’ microbiome, or gut bacteria. After nine weeks, the animals underwent behavioral tests.

Importantly, the researchers stressed that not all fats are bad, and that healthy fats like those found in fish, olive oil, nuts, and seeds can be anti-inflammatory and good for the brain.

When compared to the control group, the group eating a high-fat diet, not surprisingly, gained weight. But the animals also showed significantly lower diversity of gut bacteria. Generally speaking, more bacterial diversity is associated with better health, Dr. Lowry explained. These mice hosted far more of a category of bacteria called firmicutes and less of a category called bacteroidetes. A higher firmicutes-to-bacteroidetes ratio has been associated with the typical industrialized diet and obesity.

The high-fat diet group also showed higher expression of three genes—tph2, htr1a, and slc6a4—involved in the production and signaling of the neurotransmitter serotonin, particularly in a region of the brainstem called cDRD and associated with stress and anxiety.

While serotonin is often billed as a feel-good brain chemical, Dr. Lowry pointed out that certain subsets of serotonin neurons can, when activated, prompt anxiety-like responses in animals. In fact, heightened expression of tph2, or tryptophan hydroxylase, in the cDRD has been linked to mood disorders and suicide risk in people.

“To think that just a high-fat diet could alter expression of these genes in the brain is extraordinary,” said Dr. Lowry. “The high-fat group essentially had the molecular signature of a high anxiety state in their brain.” He suspects that an unhealthy microbiome compromises the gut lining, enabling bacteria to slip into the body’s circulation and communicate with the brain via the vagus nerve, an important pathway from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain.

“If you think about human evolution, it makes sense,” Dr. Lowry explained. “We are hardwired to really notice things that make us sick so we can avoid those things in the future.” 

His advice: Eat as many different kinds of fruits and vegetables as possible, add fermented foods to your diet to support a healthy microbiome, and lay off the pizza and fries. Also, if you do have a hamburger, add a slice of avocado. Some research shows that good fats can counteract some of the effects of bad fats.

Fitness Flash: Knee Arthritis, Exercise, and Your Subconscious

Fitness Flash

Knee Arthritis, Exercise, and Your Subconscious

Yoga poses for knee exercise

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of pain and joint stiffness. And while physical activity is known to ease symptoms, only one in 10 people regularly exercises. Understanding what contributes to this inactivity is the focus of a study from the University of South Australia (UniSA) in Adelaide, where researchers found that people with knee OA unconsciously believe that activity may be dangerous to their condition, despite medical advice telling them otherwise.

The study found that of those surveyed, 69% of people with knee pain had stronger implicit (or unconscious) beliefs that exercise was dangerous than did the average person without pain. This highlights not only the conflicted nature of pain and exercise but also the fact that what people say and what people think, deep down, may be entirely different things.

Lead researcher and UniSA PhD candidate Brian Pulling said the research provides valuable insights for helping people with knee arthritis. “Research shows that physical activity is good for people with knee OA, but most people with this condition do not move enough to support joint or general health,” Pulling said. “To understand why people with OA might not be active, research studies typically use questionnaires to assess fear of moving. But unfortunately, questionnaires are limited—what we feel deep down (and how our system naturally reacts to something that is threatening) may be different than what we report. And we still know that many people are avoiding exercise, so we wanted to know why.”

To do so, the researchers developed a tool called the Implicit Association Test that can detect and evaluate people’s implicit beliefs about exercise, meaning whether they unconsciously think activity is dangerous for their condition. The test presents a series of words and images which a participant must quickly associate with being either safe or dangerous. It intentionally promotes instant responses to avoid deliberation and other influencing factors (such as responding how they think they should respond).

“We found that even among those who said they were not fearful about exercise, they held unconscious beliefs that movement was dangerous,” Pulling said. “Our research shows that people have complicated beliefs about exercise, and that they sometimes say one thing if asked directly yet hold a completely different implicit belief. This research suggests that to fully understand how someone feels about an activity, we must go beyond just asking directly, because their implicit beliefs can sometimes be a better predictor of actual behavior than what people report. That’s where our tool is useful.”

The tool has the potential to identify a group of people who may have challenges to increasing their activity levels and undertaking exercise. Added Tasha Stanton, PhD, Associate Professor in clinical pain neuroscience and co-Director and Osteoarthritis Research Theme Lead at IIMPACT in Health at UniSA, “Having access to more accurate and insightful information will help health professionals better support their patients to engage with activity and exercise. It may also open opportunities for pain science education, exposure-based therapy, or cognitive functional therapy…things that would not usually be considered for someone who said that they were not scared to exercise.” 

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #113

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe, Spotlight on Broccoli, Immersion Blender 101, How to Overcome Excuses for Not Exercising and Mastering Functional Fitness

Winter is a time of year when a thick and hearty broccoli soup can easily be dinner. Make a large batch, and you’ll have enough for a lunch or two as well. Winter is also when most of us need a little extra motivation to exercise. I’m sharing ideas as well as one aspect of fitness that may be new to you.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

  • Brocoli Cheddar Soup Broccoli Cheddar Soup

    This is a popular item at restaurants and the soup station at supermarkets, yet so often tastes gummy. My recipe is chunky and creamy at the same time, thanks to a simple roux technique and not over-blending.  

    Ingredients

    • 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
    • 1 large sweet onion, about 12 ounces, finely chopped
    • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    • Coarse salt 
    • 2 pounds broccoli, trimmed and cut into small florets (slice stems into discs)
    • 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
    • 3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
    • 2 cups milk
    • 10 ounces sharp or very sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
    • Freshly ground black pepper to taste

    Directions

    Step 1

    Heat a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the onions, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt to help the onions sweat. Sauté until soft, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook until it turns a brighter green, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Use a large slotted spoon to transfer all the veggies to a large bowl next to your cooktop.  

    Step 2

    Add the rest of the olive oil to the pot along with the flour and stir vigorously for 2 minutes to make a roux and cook the flour. Whisk in the broth, a half-cup at a time, letting the mixture come to a boil before adding the next half-cup. Repeat the technique with the milk and then stir in 8 ounces of the cheese. When smooth, add back in the vegetables. Continue to cook, partly covered, at a low simmer for 30 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Stir occasionally to make sure all the broccoli gets submerged.

    Step 3

    Using an immersion blender or working in batches with a standard blender, blend the soup, stopping short of a full purée. Taste and season as desired with salt and pepper. Garnish servings with the rest of the grated cheddar and a drizzle of olive oil.

    Yields 8 to 10 servings

Food Pairings: The Power of Purple Potatoes

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Broccoli’s Bounty

Broccoli is on nearly every top 10 list of healthy foods, and science is still uncovering more of its benefits. Beyond its impressive list of vitamins and minerals, broccoli, like other cruciferous vegetables, has a phytochemical—or plant-based compound—called sulforaphane. Since the early 1990s, over 3,000 lab studies and over 50 clinical trials have looked at sulforaphane’s role in cancer prevention and even in cancer treatment. According to a review of research on broccoli and broccoli sprouts published in the journal Molecules, sulforaphane’s anti-inflammatory properties also show promise for easing arthritis and asthma, managing diabetes more effectively, and improving fatty liver disease. 

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Sweet spices for savory dishes

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Immersion Blender 101

I love a handheld cordless immersion blender for puréeing foods without having to transfer them to a standing blender or food processor. But not all models have the same power as those countertop workhorses. To make yours more effective, try these tips:

  • Precut any solid foods you’ll be blending into 2″ pieces or smaller.

  • Be sure any cooked foods are tender before blending.

  • The food to be blended should come at least an inch above the blade, and the blade should always be submerged, even when working it up and down. 

  • When using the immersion blender to homogenize small amounts of liquids for salad dressings or sauces, use a tall measuring cup if your appliance didn’t come with a special container.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Truth About Nondairy Milks

For Your Best Health

How to Overcome Excuses for Not Exercising 

As many benefits as exercise has, people find even more excuses for not working out. Here’s some motivation from NIH’s National Institute on Aging:

No time? Get up a few minutes earlier and exercise first thing or combine physical activity with a task that’s already part of your day, like starting to walk to work.

Too boring? The only way to stick with a plan is to do activities you really enjoy. Also, try new types of exercise to keep it interesting.

Too expensive? All you need is a pair of comfortable, nonskid shoes to start walking and, for upper body strength training, your own body weight for moves like pushups or a pair of filled water bottles.

Too tired? That’s another reason to exercise early in the day when you have more energy. Plus, regular, moderate physical activity can help reduce fatigue.

Not convinced? Take a few seconds to read this list of exercise benefits whenever you need a little impetus to get going:

  • A lower risk of chronic conditions, like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers

  • Easier weight control

  • Better cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness

  • A lower risk of falling and better bone density

  • A lower risk of depression

  • Improved cognitive function and sleep quality

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: The Value of Variety

Fitness Flash

Mastering Functional Fitness

Your fitness and mobility levels are important signs of independence. They’re often assessed by what’s called functional fitness, the ability to carry out activities of daily living, or ADLs—being able to care for yourself, go shopping, get on and off the sofa with ease, and so on. Building and maintaining functional fitness is key to moving with ease now and staying mobile as you age. 

There are seven important movements we all draw on for those ADLs: pushing, pulling, squatting, lunging, hinging, rotating, and balancing. Doing exercises that use those movements will make it easier to handle all your daily tasks. Many common strength training moves, like pushups and chest presses, pullups and rows, squats, wall sits, and lunges, replicate them exactly. Kettlebell swings and twists mimic hinging. Some core exercises, like the woodchopper and working with a medicine ball, help with rotation. And there are many moves to improve balance, like sidestepping and heel-to-toe walking. If you’re new to any of these exercises or want tailored guidance, consider scheduling a session with a personal trainer.

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #91

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Herb-Marinated Beef Tenderloin Recipe, How to Store Fresh Herbs, No-mess Marinating, The Link Between Diet and Eye Health, Plus the Benefits of Walking to Manage Osteoarthritis

Looking for a showstopper for your dinner party? Beef tenderloin fits the bill, especially when cooked to perfection with the reverse searing method. I’m also sharing a tip to keep fresh herbs fresh longer. Plus, find out why eye health could play a role in overall health and longevity. 

Herb-Marinated Beef Tenderloin

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #98 Herb-Marinated Beef Tenderloin

    Tenderloin is one of the most elegant cuts of meat, wonderful for romantic dinners and other festive occasions. This recipe features the two-step process called “reverse searing.” It yields meat that is uniformly pink from edge to edge. You can make it an hour ahead of time and serve it at room temperature—it’s perfect as the centerpiece of a buffet.

    Ingredients

    • 2 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
    • 1 sprig fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish 
    • 1 sprig fresh basil, stems and leaves
    • 1 sprig fresh sage, stems and leaves
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • 1-1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt, plus more for seasoning
    • 1-1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning 
    • 1/4 cup red wine, such as a Shiraz 
    • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for serving 
    • 2-pound center-cut beef tenderloin, trimmed 

    Directions

    Step 1

    Strip the thyme and rosemary sprigs, placing the leaves/needles on a cutting board along with the basil, sage, garlic, and 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt; coarsely chop everything together. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the black pepper and the wine. Slowly whisk in 4 tablespoons of olive oil.  

    Step 2

    Place the tenderloin in a large resealable plastic bag, pour in the marinade, and seal the bag. Refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours (or overnight), turning the bag occasionally to redistribute the marinade.  

    Step 3

    When ready to cook, drain the meat and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper, place on a rack in a roasting pan, and let it come to room temperature for up to an hour. Preheat your oven to 250°F. If you have one, insert a remote temperature probe in the thickest part of the meat. Roast the meat until the internal temperature reaches 110°F. If you don’t have a probe, use an instant-read meat thermometer and start checking after an hour. Remove the meat from the oven and tent with foil. Let rest for 15 minutes. 

    Step 4

    Meanwhile, preheat a cast-iron grill pan or large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. (You can also finish the tenderloin on a grill.) Rub the tenderloin with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then sear on all sides until the outside is deeply browned and caramelized and the internal temperature is 125°F for rare or 135°F for medium rare. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and loosely tent with foil again. Let rest for 5 minutes. 

    Step 5

    Carve into 1/2-inch-thick slices, reserving the juices. Shingle the slices on a warmed platter. Drizzle with the juices and additional olive oil and garnish with thyme and rosemary sprigs. 

    Yields 6 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: How to Store Fresh Herbs

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

How to Store Fresh Herbs

When you buy herbs from the store or farmers’ market for a recipe, how you store them matters so that leftovers don’t go to waste. 

Start by rinsing the herbs under cool water to wash away any dirt and debris. Shake off excess water and place the herbs on paper towels or a dish cloth. Remove any questionable leaves and stems and blot the herbs dry with more paper towels. 

To store in the fridge, stand them up in a tall glass filled with a scant inch of water. Change the water every two days.

For longer storage, freezing is a great option. Spread out the herbs on a rimmed baking sheet, pop into the freezer, and once frozen, transfer the herbs to a freezer-safe resealable bag labeled with the name of the herb. When thawed, the herbs can be used in recipes, but because they’ll be limp, they won’t work as a garnish.

Another freezing technique that’s great when a recipe calls for minced or finely chopped herbs is to puree the fresh herb in a small amount of olive oil and freeze in the compartments of an ice cube tray. Once frozen, transfer the cubes to a freezer-safe resealable bag labeled with the name of the herb and put the bag back in the freezer to use as needed. 

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: No-mess Marinating

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

No-mess Marinating

When marinating a large cut of meat or brining a turkey, using oversized resealable food-safe plastic bags makes the job easier and cleaner—when you take the meat out of its marinade, just seal the bag again and toss it. A useful size is 5 gallons with a 2-mil thickness. If your local stores don’t carry them, you’ll find many options to choose from on Amazon.

For Your Best Health: Eye Health

For Your Best Health

The Eyes Have It

Researchers from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California have demonstrated for the first time a link between diet, circadian rhythms, eye health, and life span in the fruit fly. The fruit fly has been used for research purposes for over 100 years, even more so after it was discovered that many of its genes are homologous to those involved in human development and disease. The study, published on June 7, 2022, in Nature Communications, also found, quite unexpectedly, that processes in the fly eye are actually driving the aging process. 

It’s already known that, for people, there’s an association between eye disorders and poor health. “Our study argues that it is more than correlation: dysfunction of the eye can actually drive problems in other tissues,” said senior author and Buck Institute Professor Pankaj Kapahi, PhD, whose lab has demonstrated for years that fasting and caloric restriction can improve many functions of the body. “We are now showing that not only does fasting improve eyesight, but the eye actually plays a role in influencing life span.”

According to lead author Brian Hodge, PhD, the explanation for this connection lies in circadian clocks, the molecular machinery within every cell of every organism, which have evolved to adapt to daily stresses, such as changes in light and temperature caused by the rising and setting of the sun. These 24-hour oscillations, or circadian rhythms, affect complex animal behaviors, such as predator-prey interactions and sleep-wake cycles.

Dr. Hodge noticed numerous fruit-fly genes that were diet-responsive and exhibited rhythmic ups and downs at different time points. He then discovered that the rhythmic genes that were activated the most with dietary restriction all seemed to be coming from the eye, specifically from photoreceptors, specialized neurons in the retina that respond to light.

“We always think of the eye as something that serves us, to provide vision. We don’t think of it as something that must be protected to protect the whole organism,” says Dr. Kapahi. Since the eyes are exposed to the outside world, he explains, the immune defenses there are critically active. This can lead to inflammation, which, when present for long periods of time, can cause or worsen a variety of common chronic diseases. Additionally, light in itself can cause photoreceptor degeneration, which can cause inflammation.

“Staring at computer and phone screens, and being exposed to light pollution well into the night, are conditions very disturbing for circadian clocks,” Kapahi says. “It messes up protection for the eye and that could have consequences beyond just the vision, damaging the rest of the body and the brain.”

Of course, there’s a lot more to be learned when it comes to people than what was seen with the fruit fly. Says Dr. Hodge, “The stronger link I would argue is the role that circadian function plays in neurons in general, especially with dietary restrictions, and how these can be harnessed to maintain neuronal function throughout aging.”

Once researchers understand how these processes are working, they can begin to target the molecular clock to decelerate aging, says Dr. Hodge, adding that we could possibly help maintain our vision by activating the clocks within our eyes.

Fitness Flash: Walking to Manage Osteoarthritis

Fitness Flash

Walk This Way

It’s a Catch-22—exercise can help arthritis, but arthritis can make it harder to exercise once pain sets in. A study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology and led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found an effective form of prevention: walking.

For this study, the researchers examined the results of the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a multiyear observational study in which participants self-reported the amount of time and frequency they walked for exercise. Participants who reported 10 or more instances of exercise from the age of 50 years or later were classified as “walkers” and those who reported less were classified as “non-walkers.” Those who reported walking for exercise had 40 percent decreased odds of new frequent knee pain compared to non-walkers.

“Until this finding, there has been a lack of credible treatments that provide benefit for both limiting damage and pain in osteoarthritis,” says Grace Hsiao-Wei Lo, MD, assistant professor of immunology, allergy, and rheumatology at Baylor, chief of rheumatology at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, and first author of the paper.

“These findings are particularly useful for people who have radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis but don’t have pain every day in their knees,” says Dr. Lo. “This study supports the possibility that walking for exercise can help to prevent the onset of daily knee pain. It might also slow down the worsening of damage inside the joint from osteoarthritis…If you already have daily knee pain, there still might be a benefit, especially if you have the kind of arthritis where your knees are bow-legged.”

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The Olive Oil Hunter News #86

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Endive with Pears and Gorgonzola Recipe, Spotlight on Endive, How to Vet Vinegar, Improving Your Emotional Outlook and Exercise and Knee Arthritis

I love creating dishes that have distinctive flavors yet are easy and quick to assemble. Pairing endive and mild Gorgonzola with pears is just that. I’m also sharing important news about exercise—often called “free medicine”—which studies show has even more wide-ranging benefits than we thought!

Endive with Pears and Gorgonzola

  • The Olive Oil Hunter News #91 Endive with Pears and Gorgonzola

    If you’ve shied away from strong blue cheeses in the past, Gorgonzola dolce, sweeter than regular Gorgonzola, is a great introduction! The walnuts and pears add to the sweetness, a great counterbalance to the endive

    Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup walnut halves
    • 2 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 
    • 6 ripe Seckel pears or another small variety, halved through the stem ends 
    • 1/2 cup pear nectar
    • 1/4 cup pear balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
    • 2 teaspoons honey, or more to taste
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • 6 heads endive or radicchio di Treviso, or 3 of each
    • Six 1-ounce wedges of Gorgonzola dolce or your favorite blue cheese

    Directions

    Step 1

    Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat, toast the walnuts until fragrant, and then transfer them to a small bowl. Add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and heat the oil. Use a small melon baller to remove any seeds from the pears and then place them, cut sides down, in the oil and cook until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate and reserve. 

    Step 2

    To make the vinaigrette for the salad, use the same pan, increasing the heat to medium high. Add the pear nectar and vinegar and bring to a boil. Boil until the mixture is reduced by half, then whisk in the honey. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let cool slightly, then whisk in the 1/3 cup of olive oil. Taste, adding more vinegar, honey, salt, and/or pepper as needed. 

    Step 3

    Trim the endive and remove the leaves from two of the heads; arrange them on 6 salad plates. Slice the 4 remaining heads crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces and divide among the plates. On each plate, arrange 2 pear halves, a wedge of Gorgonzola, and a few of the walnuts. Lightly drizzle each dish with the vinaigrette. 

    Yields 6 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight: Endive

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Excellent Endive

Native to Belgium and typically referred to as Belgian endive, this slightly bitter green is now cultivated in the US, notably in California. Its unique growing process makes it available almost year round. 

Endive is part of the chicory family of greens and actually starts from chicory seeds under typical field conditions. But once it grows into a plant, the leafy part is cut off and the deep roots are dug up and put in cold storage for a dormant period. Those roots then undergo forcing in a dark environment, somewhat like mushrooms, during which the oval-shaped heads with yellow-tipped leaves are formed.

Other relatives in the chicory group include red-purple radicchio, which can either be a small cabbage-shaped head or the endive-shaped radicchio di Treviso with distinctive color striations along the leaves; escarole, which has broad leaves with wavy edges; and curly endive or frisée.

When you’re selecting endive, the heads should be tight and feel heavy in your hand for their size. The leaves should be crisp and white at the base, with pale yellow edges and tips. Store them in your fridge’s crisper drawer for up to a week. 

When lightly brushed with extra virgin olive oil and grilled, whole endive make a great accompaniment to any protein. Besides using the leaves raw in salads, you can gently separate them and use them instead of chips to scoop up dips. The leaves also make a healthy alternative to crackers and bread slices when you’re making canapés—just pipe or spoon your favorite fillings down the center of each leaf. 

Tons of research has done little to settle the debate over whether it’s better to reach for full-fat, fat-free, or something in between when it comes to dairy. What we do know is that dairy has many important nutrients and that yogurt is especially good for you, thanks to its beneficial bacteria. 

Healthy Kitchen Nugget: How to Vet Vinegar

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

How to Vet Vinegar 

As with extra virgin olive oil, you have to do your due diligence before buying vinegar, especially flavored types. You want to avoid commercial brands that have been produced on a mass scale. They’re likely to be nothing more than artificially flavored distilled vinegar and contain a host of ingredients that you’d never find in finely made and often well-aged varieties. 

Fruit vinegars in particular should have as their base the actual fruit in their name, fruit that has been allowed to ferment and turn into alcohol before special bacteria are added to turn it into vinegar. Such artisanal vinegars typically cost more, but to be sure you’re getting what you’re paying for, always read the fine print to know exactly what’s in the bottle. (The first vinegar selection from the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club was so well received that we’ll be announcing the second one in late summer!)

I love using vinegar to enhance a primary ingredient in a recipe, which is why I suggest pear balsamic for the endive and pear salad above. 

For Your Best Health: Improving Your Emotional Outlook

For Your Best Health

Improving Your Emotional Outlook

It’s no secret that depression rates soared during the pandemic. Among Americans adults, they tripled from 8.5 percent before the pandemic to a staggering 27.8 percent in 2020. Research done at the Boston University School of Public Health showed that this high rate not only persisted into 2021, but even worsened, climbing to 32.8 percent. The truth is that depression can affect people for any number of reasons and at any time, and it’s a challenge to treat. That’s why taking lifestyle steps that help prevent it is so important. 

Research has already shown that exercise reduces depression risk, one of the many reasons it’s called free medicine. Recently, an international team of scientists sought to identify the right dose to get the strongest protection. They reviewed 15 different studies and found that the greatest preventive effect was seen in people who get the recommended 2.5 hours of exercise every week—they lowered their depression risk by 25 percent. Their analysis, published in JAMA Psychiatry, also found thatthere are benefits even for people who exercise less. For instance, those who got half the recommended amount of exercise had an 18 percent lower risk of depression. The researchers deemed these results as significant mental health benefits and concluded that “health practitioners should therefore encourage any increase in physical activity to improve mental health.”

Fitness Flash: Exercise and Knee Arthritis

Fitness Flash

Exercise and Knee Arthritis

Researchers in Denmark have added to what we know about the benefits of exercising to improve the symptoms of arthritis. Their study, published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, looked at knee osteoarthritis in particular and the advantages of following an 8-week program of exercises and education. Program participants reported less pain on the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score questionnaire compared to a group of participants who had a placebo treatment. 

According to the American College of Rheumatology, exercise is an important part of osteoarthritis treatment because it can ease joint pain and improve function. If you’re in pain and unsure how to get started, or have let an exercise program lapse, work with your doctor to get moving again.

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