Carmine

What is Carmine? Carmine is noted under many names like Crimson Lake, Cochineal, and Natural Red Dye #4. Carmine is actually made from a scaled insect known as Cochineal Beetle or Polish Cochineal. Carmine is basically a pigment of red that is gathered by aluminum salt of carminic acids found in the scaled insect and the eggs the beetle lays.

Carmine is used in various different ways in the human society. I am going to point to many places you can find the ruby red dye.

• artificial flowers
• paints
• rouge
• cosmetics

Carmine can also be found in food such as yogurt, ice cream, candies, and juices. Carmine is for all intent and purpose a dye or coloring. Did you ever wonder how your red velvet cake is so red? Or how they get certain colors of ice cream or candy? It’s a dye that is produced by the Cochineal Beetle after being ground up. Carmine is also FDA approved by the United States and has been for a while. However, it is important if you have any allergies that you do not consume Carmine. Carmine could cause an allergic reaction in some people. Other than that we see it all the time in foods we eat and even the makeup some of us wear.

Source: Wikipedia
Photo: Web Exhibits

Chia, also known as Salvia Hispanica, is a plant that belongs to the mint family. It originated in Southern Mexico and Guatemala. The Chia is grown mainly for its seeds. The seeds are nutritionally great in many ways. We are going to discuss some of those ways.

• Chia seeds are great weight loss tools. They help with appetite reduction.
• Chia has been said to reduce blood pressure.
• Chia seeds are rich in Omega 3.
• They help control blood sugar, so they are wonderful for people with diabetes.

There are many benefits to Chia seeds. There are many different ways to eat Chia seeds, too. We will discuss some methods here as well:

• You can eat them raw.
• They can be soaked in different juices.
• They can be added to oatmeal or pudding.
• You can also add them to cakes and breads.

Want to try them? Here’s a recipe using Chia seeds.

Chia Rice Salad:

3 cups cooked brown rice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic
½ tsp of sea salt
½ tsp of rosemary
½ tsp of oregano
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
½ cup of chia seeds
1 zucchini, sliced thin
1 chopped tomato
½ tbsp of Parmesan

Prep:
Put the cooked rice into large bowl. In a separate bowl mix garlic, lemon juice, oil, salt, and herbs. Then pour the mixture over the rice and lightly toss. Then you can add any veggie and top it off with Parmesan.

Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Wikipedia

Recipe: Nuts Online

It’s almost summertime, which means it’s time to open the windows and start baking fresh fruit pies. (Seriously, open the windows first or you’ll faint from the heat in the kitchen.) If you want to keep your pies relatively healthy, use nutritionally dense fruits and raw sugar in your recipes.

Here are a few healthy fruits that work well in pies:

• Blueberries: It almost goes without saying that blueberries make a great pie. But these little fruits are rich in antioxidants, which have been linked to reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.
• Apples: An apple a day might not actually keep the doctor away, but it can reduce your risk of diabetes. Apples contain polyphenols, which help the body to keep blood sugar levels in check. And do I really have to tell you about the wonders of homemade apple pie?
• Pears: Pears are high in dietary fiber, which keeps your appetite at a reasonable level and helps to keep your (ahem) bodily functions operating regularly. Warm pear pie with whipped cream is an out-of-body experience, truly.

So if you want to make one of these pies, where do you start? Here’s a really easy recipe for apple pie you might like to try yourself.

2 prepared 9-inch pie crusts

1/2 cup butter

3 tbsp. flour

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup each brown sugar and white sugar

8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and then stir in the flour. Add the water and both sugars and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer. Put one pie crust in the pie plate and layer the apples on the crust in a mound. Cover with the second crust. (You might want to slice the second crust into strips and weave a lattice pattern over the top.) Remove the butter and sugar mixture from the stove and pour it slowly over the top of the crust. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 35-45 minutes. The pie will be done when the apples are soft.

Image c/o: andrewmalone

Most of use salt in our recipes regularly. Since salt is so common, it’s easy to believe that there’s only one or two kinds of salt for cooking. (I’ve been sprinkling from the same canister of table salt for about six months now.) But it turns out that there are several kinds of culinary salt that we can use in the kitchen.

• Sea salt – Sea salt has been widely lauded for its low sodium content. This salt is made from evaporated seawater and can be used in place of table salt in just about any recipe. Cooks on a budget should be aware that sea salt is generally more expensive than table salt.
• Kosher salt – Kosher salt is made without any preservatives. While table salt is retrieved from mines and sea salt is made from the water, kosher salt can be made from both sources and used in almost any cuisine. Professional cooks and chefs tend to prefer kosher salt since it consists of large grains which are easy to pinch.
• Hawaiian black lava salt – Yes, there is black salt. As the name implies, Hawaiian black lava salt is derived from volcano charcoal. Experienced chefs have found that black lava salt is especially good with seafood and meat.

Image c/o: L. Marie

In light of celebrating days in the lives of the people you love, a good idea is to make an arrangement from edible fruit. It would be a beautiful and healthy alternative and can be made for male or female.

Start off with finding a perfectly sized platter for the arrangement. Silver, glass or bamboo will help keep the arrangement fresh for longer.

Layering the display of fruits is the best way to make it work. Some design principles would also be helpful for its success, for example balance, symmetry, colour and so forth. If you have the skills you may want to cut the fruits into flowers as well, making it a fruity flower arrangement. This would look great if you place them on skewers for easy munching.

For the bouquet arrangement you could start by placing half a watermelon at the bottom, preferably peeled. The skewers will be stuck into it. Watermelons are good source of water, contain virtually no fat and have a healthy dose of vitamins A, C, and B6.

Your next layer will be blueberries. They provide a beautiful deep blue, reddish color to your arrangement. These would be placed on your skewers one at a time and then inserted into four corners of the watermelon. Blueberries are excellent antioxidants.

Before you add any more fruit you may want to add some flowers. The greatest tasting flowers to add to your arrangement would be to add some nasturtiums on your skewer and arrange it about half the height of the blueberries. These flowers can be your color code, as you get them in different colors each year as they cross pollinate. It would be a great additive for a healthy urinary tract and also as an antiseptic for the lymphatic system.

This layering of your arrangement can continue as you place them in the unique pattern you want for your center piece. Here are a number of other fruits to complete your arrangement:

Pineapple: This can be cut into triangles or little squares to add some dimension. Pineapple is good as a diuretic. It contains a myriad of vitamins and has great nutritional value.

Cantaloupe: Make little balls to insert into the skewer. This fruit has great properties for dietary fiber, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium.

Strawberries: This is again a great source of dietary fiber as well as vitamin C and manganese.

Grapes: This is another excellent source for potassium, with added calcium.

Don’t forget banana which is great for potassium as well.

You do not need to make an elaborate decoration, especially if it is going to serve as your dessert. You may also want to mix your colors on one skewer for a different appearance.

Image: ediblecraftsonline.com
medcompro.co.cc

There are lots of vegetables out there, but do we know their benefits? We often know a lot of the benefits of the most popular vegetables, but what about the vegetables that tend to get overlooked, like asparagus? Asparagus is a great vegetable that literally can make a difference in your health.

Did you know asparagus can be used as a detoxifier, anti-aging agent, and aphrodisiac (who knew?)? It is also good for pain, and can even protect against cancer. It can do battle against osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, reduces your chances of getting heart disease, and can help against birth defects. So what doesn’t asparagus do? It seems like the vegetable of all vegetables.

Not sure what to do with asparagus once you buy it? I am including a tasty recipe for asparagus stir fry.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ½ cups sliced mushrooms
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Heat a wok or skillet on medium heat. Drop in your asparagus, mushrooms, salt, and pepper flakes. Let the mixture cook for two minutes. While that is going, whisk stock and cornstarch in a bowl. Add it to what is already cooking and let it come to a boil over high heat. Cook until it thickens and serve. It’s that simple.

You can eat a great tasting meal as well as get all the benefits that asparagus has to offer.

Content ℅: http://hubpages.com/
Photo ℅: http://hubpages.com
Recipe ℅: http://www.asparagusrecipes.net

When I was growing up up my parents used to have to practically chain me to a chair to get me to eat okra. I just never liked it. As I grew older and my taste buds changed, I learned that I actually like okra – and there are great things you can do with it. My parents just put it in pan and cooked it. But if you take some time and experiment there are many other possibilities.

I have friend who is Indian. She makes an awesome Indian okra dish. It is a quick dish to make; it takes 35 minutes total. And it tastes delicious. I am going to share the recipe with you now.

3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound sliced fresh okra
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
salt to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Stir in the okra, and season with cumin, ginger, coriander, pepper and salt. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover the pan. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until okra is tender.

Another one of my favorite recipes is stewed okra and peppers. We ate this a lot in the south. Once again this is a quick, easy recipe that can be served on its on or with something.

1 pound fresh okra, washed, trimmed, sliced
1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
salt to taste

Place sliced okra in pan; cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Drain water and add remaining ingredients. Simmer mixture for 15 to 20 minutes longer, until okra is tender. Add salt, if desired, to taste.

Try these to make okra mouthwatering!

Sources:
AllRecipes.com
About.com

Photo: FatFreeVegan.com

An ancient grain recently came back into use again. This grain, called quinoa, was used by the Incas as a staple diet for strength and energy.

They called it “gold” because it was so good, and therefore precious in their eyes. It gives great strength and stamina. When analysing this grain it is obvious why there are so many benefits, as it is packed with good quality protein.

The protein is a complete protein, which means it has all of the nine essential amino acids that make up a protein. On closer examination it has higher quantities of essential nutrients than most foods. For example, it has an abundance of an amino acid called lysine which is used in your body all the time for tissue repair and building.

This “new” grain is so high in manganese as well as magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous that it will be perfect for anyone who suffers from migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis. Quinoa also has an abundance of a vital vitamin called riboflavin, or vitamin B2, shown to help migraine sufferers. Most importantly, though, it improves energy metabolism in the brain and muscle cells.

The list of benefits for high blood pressure, diabetes, gallstones, and general prevention is long and complicated; you will need to do more research to find out the specifics. The amazing thing is that this “new” grain can now be purchased at your local health store.

You should purchase quinoa without any moisture. You can see this through the packaging. This will affect how long it will last. The manufacturer usually washes the saponin off the seeds, but a good wash will ensure that there is no excess saponin residue left before you start cooking.

Simply put it in a pot with one part grain and two parts water and you will see how it swells and changes in less than fifteen minutes, which is enough time for it to be cooked. Here are a few ideas for how to serve it. Once you have cooked your quinoa, you can eat it chilled with additional ingredients of your choice to make a salad. This lovely salad you can also season to your own taste. You can also cooked quinoa as a porridge for breakfast. For a twist on your favourite pasta recipe, use noodles made from quinoa. Sprouted quinoa can be used in salads and sandwiches just like you do with alfalfa sprouts. Add quinoa to your favourite vegetable soups. Ground quinoa flour can be added to cookie or muffin recipes as well.

Source: WHFoods.com

Images: Biodiversityexplorer.org

Durian fruit is known all over Asia. If you can handle the smell, it comes with a taste that is extremely unusual and has been described with anything from deep appreciation to intense disgust. It belongs to the genus Durio and the family of Malvaceae, revered in southeast Asia as the “king of fruits”. It is a very large fruit, has an aroma like no other fruit and has a very thick outer husk which has spikes, making it very difficult to pick.

Depending on the species, the fruit inside could be yellow or red and the outside spiky husk is a greenish brown colour. The edible flesh emits a very distinctive odour which to some is highly offensive, while to others it smells delicious and described as anything from almonds, turpentine and even old gym socks. However the odour is so rank that it has even been banned in some hotels and public transportation in southeast Asia. Scientists are still not in agreement about the reason it smells so bad.

The cells inside make up the edible part and consist of rich glutinous pulp that has been described as having a flavor as rich custard, flavoured with almonds. This flavor has been well explored by the Asian culture and they present Durian in a variety of forms. They make Malay candy, ice cream and they even have there own Pulut Durian rice, which is the glutinous pulp cooked in coconut milk.

There are many different types of presentations of Durian. The red Durian is fried with onions and chillies and presented as a side dish. Even the unripe Durian may be cooked as a vegetable and can also be seen used as a preserve with sugar or salt. When the durian is minced with salt, onions and vinegar it is called a boder.

Durian seeds, which are the size of chestnuts, can be boiled, roasted or fried in coconut oil, but uncooked durian seeds can be toxic. The Javanese slice the seeds in thin slithers and cook them in sugar as a confectionery. Some of the many types of presentations of Durian are even therapeutic and recommended as an anti-pyretic.

Source: Wikipedia

Image: Wikipedia

In Africa indigenous people eat anything from live mopane worms to crocodile meat. I had never eaten snake meat before I went on a camping trip with some friends. We were travelling with a guide who was trying to show us where hives were kept as one of my friends was an expert bee-keeper and he knew how to extract honey from a wild hive. Before we arrived at the hive, we came across a very large adult puff adder, a very poisonous snake found in our area.

Our guide, who was walking ahead of the group, suddenly stopped and pointed at the largest puff adder I had ever seen. He bent down and picked the snake up by its tail. He started swinging the snake around his head and hit the snake’s head against a tree and continued swinging. He did this for about two minutes (this is apparently how you kill a snake).

When the snake was lifeless, he took his pocket knife and cut off the head. At his home he gave the snake to his wife to prepare for the evening meal. She showed us how to cut the meat away from the skeleton.

She added tomato, onions, a lot of chillies and cumin and the bits of snake meat we had seen her cut earlier in the day. The snake is first cooked and then fried in oil and added to the stew.

It was surprisingly tasty even though it had a peculiar wild taste.

Image: Squidoo