Carbohydrates: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

Carbohydrates play a predominant role in human diets, comprising some 40-75% of energy intake. Carbohydrates are formed in plants when carbons are bonded with oxygen and hydrogen to form chains of varying complexity. The complexity of the chains determines the carbohydrate classification. Mono-and disaccharides are “simple” carbohydrates. Polysaccharides are classified as “complex.”

However, all carbohydrates are broken down into monosaccharides before being converted to glucose. Glucose is necessary for brain function, the maintenance of the central nervous system, and intense physical activity. Unfortunately, for most, carbohydrate consumption often exceeds daily needs; additionally, carbohydrate consumption is dominated by two sources that have undeniably negative health consequences: refined flours and sugars.

Refined flours, made from refined grains, do not contain the germ and bran of the seed and thus are absent in many important nutrients. They simply contain the endosperm, a source of carbohydrate, plant protein, and some B Vitamins. Refined sugar, like beet and cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup, have a well-documented negative, potentially toxic effect on human health. These carbohydrates are what may be called “bad” carbs.

Can one food be inherently “good” while another is “bad”? I think this attitude in itself is unhealthy. The point of dividing carbohydrates into these categories is to highlight the potential health impact of eating well-documented “good,” “bad,” and “ugly” foods. Armed with the knowledge, you can make decisions that positively influence your life.

The Good: Vegetables

Vegetables are our best source of carbohydrates. Not only do vegetables provide an easily absorbed form of carbohydrate, they provide important phytonutrients, or “plant nutrients,” the pigments and bitter tasting compounds found in plants. Once assumed to be of benefit to plants only (in terms of self-protection and growth), these nutrients have proved to be tremendously beneficial to humans, too. Under scientific scrutiny, phytonutrients have turned out to be potent antioxidants, which, in humans, can help prevent cancer, reduce inflammation, and protect your cells from the oxidizing stress of modern life.

Of course, vegetables vary in carbohydrate content; the healthiest vegetables, indeed the healthiest foods on the planet, also happen to be low-carbohydrate vegetables: green vegetables like kale, lettuce, spinach, and herbs; cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage; onions and garlic; and popular summer vegetables like cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers.
High-carbohydrate vegetables include potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, winter squash, and jicama. These higher-carbohydrate vegetables can also play an important role in the diet—to a point.

Last year, Dr. Mercola reported on a public debate between two nutritional experts, Dr. Paul Jaminet and Dr. Ron Rosedale. Dr. Rosedale, citing evidence on the negative, potentially toxic, consequences of glucose, stated that the notion of a “safe starch” does not exist, and that all starchy carbohydrates should be avoided. Dr. Jaminet, on the other hand, believed some people need a small amount of starchy vegetables  in their diets. The debate is fascinating, as it speaks directly to the role carbohydrates play in the maintenance of health. After all, as stated above, glucose is necessary. Those on ultra-low carbohydrate diets might experience symptoms similar to Dr. Mercola himself, a long-time advocate of ultra-low carbohydrate diets:

"When I eliminated…grains and starchy vegetables, I actually experienced…negative effects. My energy levels declined considerably, and my cholesterol…normally about 150, rose to over 200…I was suffering a glucose deficiency and this can trigger lipoprotein abnormalities. It also seemed to worsen my kidney function."

After evaluating Dr. Jaminet’s and Dr. Rosedale’s debate, Dr. Mercola now recommends the following:

"My conclusion is that there is a certain minimum carbohydrate threshold that you should not drop below. The sweet spot for most is 20 to 30 percent of your diet as carbs, but most likely 25 to 30 percent. Most of those calories can come from non-starchy vegetables, but you'll probably need some starchy carbs, such as white potatoes…carrots and squash."

Perhaps the primary benefit of high-carbohydrate vegetables is their ease of digestibility. Most people eat, enjoy, and fully digest, high-starch vegetables like potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Unfortunately, the same cannot necessarily be said of grains. For those who suffer sensitivity to grains, high-starch vegetables just might be a key to health.

Whole Grains

Many experts agree that whole grains are the healthiest carbohydrate choice. The usable part of a grain is called the kernel, and the kernel is comprised of three major parts—the germ, bran and starchy endosperm. For a grain to be considered “whole,” it must contain the germ, bran and starchy endosperm. Each part of the grain contributes different nutrients. The germ contains B Vitamins, Vitamin E, trace minerals, essential fatty acids, and phytochemicals. The bran contains fiber, B Vitamins, and trace minerals. The endosperm contains plant protein and some B Vitamins.

Despite the popularity of this view, convincing evidence exists to suggest grains, and whole grains, might not be the best choice for some people. Why? Anti-nutrients. To avoid insects, foraging animals, and humans,  plant species have evolved certain protective anti-nutrients. Mark’s Daily Apple has posted some intriguing reports on anti-nutrients. As the site states:

"A workable balance developed between plants that were able to safeguard their species’ survival and the “pest” patrons that were able to benefit from the plants’ nutrition but learned to partake more sensibly from their supply. Given that our primal forefolk foraged widely and ate a surprisingly diverse diet, the system worked."

Lectins, an anit-nutrient, are widespread in the plant kingdom, but virtually unknown by consumers: the people eating the lectins. This is unfortunate. Dr. Mercola notes:

"Certain lectins, including those in wheat, bind to receptor sites on your intestinal mucosal cells and interfere with the absorption of nutrients across your intestinal wall and into your blood…Lectins can promote inflammation, stimulate a hyper-immune response, and increase blood viscosity."

Another pervasive anti-nutrient is gluten. “Gluten” from the Latin word for glue, is the substance that binds bread and baked goods together. Wheat, rye, and barley include gluten. If you are sensitive to gluten, it might interfere with the breakdown and absorption of nutrients, including nutrients from other foods in the same meal.

A Few Special Grains

Quinoa: A recently rediscovered ancient “grain” native to South America, quinoa is actually a seed. Once called “the gold of the Incas,” quinoa was known to increase the stamina of Incan warriors. Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. Quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair.

Buckwheat: Energizing and nutritious, buckwheat, a fruit, is available throughout the year and can be served as an alternative to rice or made into porridge. It has been shown to benefit blood sugar control as well as the cardiovascular system. It is also a potent anti-cancer food.

Spelt: A wonderfully nutritious and ancient grain with a deep nutlike flavor, spelt is a cousin to wheat that is recently receiving renewed recognition. Spelt is an ancient grain that traces its heritage back long before many wheat hybrids. Many of its benefits come from this fact: it offers a broader spectrum of nutrients compared to many of its more inbred cousins in the Triticum (wheat) family. Spelt features a host of different nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamin B2, a very good source of manganese, and a good source of niacin, thiamin, and copper.

Insulin & Carbohydrates

Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood. This glucose is then stored as glycogen or fat in the liver and muscles. Insulin's primary role, then, is not necessarily to lower sugar, but to take the extra energy and store it for future times of need. Your body produces insulin in response to carbohydrate consumption—the more carbohydrates (including the sugars in carbohydrates) you eat, the more insulin your body produces and the more glycogen and/or fat is stores in your liver and muscles.

Bad Carbohydrates

Since your body produces insulin in response to carbohydrate consumption, and since insulin is a storage hormone that stores glucose as fat in the liver and muscles, the “bad” carbohydrates might be considered those that stimulate the highest secretion of insulin. This means two things: any carbohydrate, if eaten in excess, can be considered bad; likewise, any carbohydrate that produces a correspondingly large production of insulin can be considered bad. As discussed above, these latter bad carbohydrates include refined grains and sugars, but they might also include fruit, eaten to excess.

The Ugly: Fructose

Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver. People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made the negative effects much more profound. Once again, Dr. Mercola:

"Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium…uses glucose for energy. If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates)…you’d consume about 15 grams per day—a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it’s mixed in with fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any negative metabolic effects. It isn’t that fructose itself is bad -- it is the MASSIVE DOSES you’re exposed to that make it dangerous."

Inner Joy: Discovering YOUR Perfect Diet

As Healthy Eating Specialist for Whole Foods Market, in North Wales, PA, I am hosting a 28-Day Healthy Eating & Fitness Challenge, beginning  Saturday, September 29. As part of the Challenge, I am offering lectures on Mondays (October 1, October 8, October 15, & October 22) at the Ambler YMCA. Below is an edited version of our first lecture, "Inner Joy: Discovering YOUR Perfect Diet."

If you have questions about the Challenge, please email me: seth.pollins@wholefoods.com. Or please feel free to leave a comment below.

***

Healthful eating is a daily commitment; and yet, the word “commitment” seems antithetical to a healthful lifestyle. “Commitment” implies obligation: something you must do. Of course, you must eat. But healthful eating is not an obligation; it’s a choice.

In his classic book, Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pritchford writes, “The enjoyment of good food…creates such an inner joy that it’s possible to taste the sweetest nectar in even the simplest food.” What is “good food?” What does Mr. Pritchford mean by “inner joy?” And how might we discover “inner joy?”

Food Can be About Discovery

If healthful eating is a choice ideally the foods we choose to eat will nourish our body and our emotions. After all, “inner joy” might imply a content belly, but it also implies mental or emotional well-being. Our engagement with food is not merely about fueling our bodies; it also about how we feel about what we’re eating. If the thought of eating kale depresses you—well, perhaps kale is not the best food for you.

An article about cupcakes in The New York Times posed the question “can emotional value, on occasion, legitimately outweigh nutritional value?” I believe emotional value must outweigh nutritional value—and not merely on occasion. Emotions guide our eating decisions—and in this way, we cultivate a unique relationship with food. Remember: food is not merely nutrition; it is a powerful FORCE that connect us our environment, heritage, and culture. And like all emotional entanglements, this relationship inspires varied feelings: joy, sadness, confusion, hilarity, and more.

A Variety of Opinions

In America, attitudes about healthful eating seem to fall on a spectrum defined by two opposing ideologies. On one side, people like Dr. Mercola, Sally Fallon (founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation) and Professor Loren Cordain (a prominent proponent of the “Paleo Diet”) recommend the consumption of high quality animal-based foods, such as grass-fed beef, wild salmon, or raw milk. This side also typically advocates raw vegetables and fermented foods. Excessive fruit consumption and grains, on the other hand, are typically discouraged. (The Weston A. Price foundation advocates soaked and cooked grains.)

On the other side, people like T. Colin Campbell, the author of The China Study, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn argue that animal-based products create disease, that there are virtually no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better provided by plants, and that the best health-promoting diet is a low-fat, vegetable and grain-based diet--a vegan diet.

The diversity of information can be confusing. The popular “Atkin’s diet” suggests avoiding carbohydrates and consuming more fat and protein. “The South Beach Diet” urges eating only “good carbs” while avoiding “bad carbs.” We often hear terms like “Glycemic Index” and “Gluten Free.” Recently, too, the USDA introduced a new food pyramid, advocating more “Whole Grains.”

Most of these diets apply a blanket philosophy to a unique experience. A “whole grain” diet, for example, might be appropriate for some (say, those suffering from heart disease) and disastrous for others (a celiac, for example; or one who otherwise might have trouble digesting grains). Some of these ideologies do come somewhat closer to addressing the individual’s unique needs. Within the context of his somewhat limited view of healthful eating, for example, Dr. Mercola states that “one person’s food may be another person’s poison,” and advocates a personalized nutrition plan. The “Eat Right for Your Type” diet encourages people to eat certain foods and avoid others based on their blood type.

When faced with bewildering possibilities, I try to seek the first possibility—the source. In diet, the source might refer to your ancestry and culture, as well as your environment—both local and bacterial. The source might also refer, of course, to your own body or body type. What foods are best suited to your constitution? What foods will best fuel your unique lifestyle? More importantly, what foods do you enjoy? What foods do you digest easily? What foods make you feel powerful, or light, or healthy?

Discovering the answers to these questions can have a tremendously beneficial influence on your relationship with food. These answers will help you see past the confusion of “diets.” These answers might even help you discover your own perfect diet.

What Did Your Ancestors Eat and Why?

When I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, at twenty-six, I learned that those from an Ashkenazi background suffered an increased rate of the illness. Wikipedia states: “The prevalence of ulcerative colitis is greater among Ashkenazi Jews and decreases progressively in other persons of Jewish descent, non-Jewish Caucasians, Africans, Hispanics, and Asians.”

I wondered, then, if the Ashkenazi diet might have contributed to the disease; or, perhaps the diet had evolved to counteract digestive problems. A general survey offered no definitive answer. To discover the truth, I had to go to the actual source: my grandparents. What I discovered was that my ancestors, indeed, had suffered a history of digestive problems, and that to combat these problems they had learned to avoid certain foods, such as raw foods, and had naturally gravitated to easier-to-digest foods, such as chicken, chicken fat (schmaltz), white rice, sourdough bread, and kasha.

At the time of this discovery, I was a vegetarian who ate a predominantly raw-food diet. I, however, did not feel sufficiently motivated to adapt my diet—a terrible mistake, which led, I believe, to years of needless suffering, and eventually to a diagnosis of type-1 diabetes. I often wonder: how might me life had been different had I paid attention to the wisdom of my ancestor’s diet—to what my ancestors had to tell me about diet?

What is Your Local Food Culture?

The Bronx, Queens, or Long Island Sound,
Even other states come right and exact,
It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at.

~Erik B. & Rakim

Culture is an amalgam of influences, including ancestry, but our food culture is often defined more comprehensively by our local environment: the weather and the people, the soil and the preoccupations of the people, the landscape and the music, even the bacteria.

You might view your food culture as it relates to local food: the food grown, cooked, and enjoyed close to your home. But what does “local” mean? Food grown in your garden is the most local. Then, food grown in your community, then state, region, and country might be considered local. For certain parts of the year, or for products that thrive locally, it may be possible to buy close to home. At other times, or for less common products, an expanded reach may be required. During the winter, our best “local” fruit option (here in the Philadelphia region) is Florida’s citrus fruits.

The best way engage with your local food culture is to buy and cook local produce. Local produce offers an introduction to eating seasonally—and an excellent way to learn about local agriculture. You might also seek out local meat or dairy. In Pennsylvania, a great resource for local food is the website www.buylocalpa.org. In the Philadelphia region, we’re lucky to call Fair Food Philly our own. The Fair Food website (www.fairfoodphilly.org) describes their mission like this: “At Fair Food, we dedicate ourselves to bringing healthy local food to the marketplace and promoting a humane, sustainable agriculture system for the region.”

How Does Environment Influence Your Diet?

Across the world, various cultures have adapted idiosyncratic diets in response to environment. Traditionally, Inuits consume an average of 75% of their daily energy intake from fat. An article in Discover Magazine described the circumstances shaping this diet:

“Shaped by glacial temperatures, stark landscapes, and protracted winters, the traditional Eskimo diet had little in the way of plant food, no agricultural or dairy products, and was unusually low in carbohydrates.”

To the typical American view, this does not necessarily seem like the healthiest diet. Many studies have apparently linked high-fat diets with disease. (An important caveat in evaluating any food-related study: what was the food source?) And yet, traditionally, Inuits enjoyed great health. The Discover Magazine article calls this the “Inuit Paradox.”

"What the diet of the Far North illustrates, says Harold Draper, a biochemist and expert in Eskimo nutrition, is that there are no essential foods—only essential nutrients. And humans can get those nutrients from diverse and eye-opening sources.

One might, for instance, imagine gross vitamin deficiencies arising from a diet with scarcely any fruits and vegetables. What furnishes vitamin A, vital for eyes and bones? We derive much of ours from colorful plant foods, constructing it from pigmented plant precursors called carotenoids (as in carrots). But vitamin A, which is oil soluble, is also plentiful in the oils of cold-water fishes and sea mammals, as well as in the animals’ livers, where fat is processed. These dietary staples also provide vitamin D, another oil-soluble vitamin needed for bones. Those of us living in temperate and tropical climates, on the other hand, usually make vitamin D indirectly by exposing skin to strong sun—hardly an option in the Arctic winter—and by consuming fortified cow’s milk, to which the indigenous northern groups had little access until recent decades and often don’t tolerate all that well."

Your Bacterial Ecosystem: The Most Local Environment Possible

The human body is saturated with microbes. As a recent New Yorker article stated, “Nearly all DNA in our bodies belongs to microorganisms: they outnumber our cells nine to one.” You might look at your body, inside and out, as a microbial ecosystem. This ecosystem is not dependent on genes, however: it is entirely dependent on environment. NPR recently reported:

"Whose genes matter most to you? Your mom's? Your dad's? Or genes inside the trillions of bacteria living in your intestine, your mouth, your nasal passages and a lot of places we'd rather not mention? The answer: Obviously, your parents' genes matter, but it turns out we humans have two sets of genes in us: the ones we inherited from our human ancestors and the ones that walk in through our mouths starting when we're just hours old…

Not surprisingly, a person who grows up in Argentina and another who grows up in northern Alaska tend to acquire different bacteria in their intestines and mouths — and, stunningly, these differences seem to matter."

This might account for why cultures not only eat different foods but their digestive systems use these foods in different ways. The Inuits eat more fat than most populations “but their gastrointestinal systems apparently are more capable of breaking fats down for use by their bodies.”

It is important to remember: Most bacteria are not harmful, although some bacteria can have negative influences. It is important that the balance of microbes be maintained to favor the beneficial bacteria over the potentially harmful ones. This is why probiotics can be so important. Probiotics increase the ratio of “good” bacteria in your gut.

The science supporting the use of probiotics is impressive. The gut is a prominent part of the immune system. Several fascinating recent studies (like this one) indicate that supplementation with probiotics can positively influence the immune system. This might be especially helpful for those suffering from auto-immune conditions, like type-1 diabetes, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, or rheumatoid arthritis. The gut also plays a prominent role in mood--a recent famous study suggests that the presence of absence of probiotics might even modulate mood (I’ve personally found this to be true). Probiotics might also have an effect on weight.

Eat The Season: Autumn

For some, the end of summer is a depressing time. If you’re like me, you associate summer with youth, with that unbearably exciting epoch of LIMITLESS PLAY. Even as an adult, the return of school in September often inspires within me a strange, sad mopiness. If I’m not careful, a mere errant wind, hauling the smell of scorched leaves, might crush me.

And yet, there is always that day, that inevitably gorgeous day on the nib of summer and fall, when, browsing the local market, I come upon the season’s first butternut squash; when, holding the squash in my hand, I recall the soulful thrill of butternut squash soup. And so, after days of thinking, “I can’t go on,” I look at this simple gourd as nothing less than a total cure, and I say to myself, “I’ll go on. Soup will save me.”

To me, a seasonal soup is the absolute best way to eat the season. A light Gazpacho or Carrot & Almond soup is well-suited for the spring and summer months, but the cooler months compel opulent, humble soups: Butternut Squash Soup (recipe below), Chickpea Soup with Saffron and Mushroom-Almond Garnish, or Sweet Potato and Fennel Soup with Saffron.

Soup offers a template for combining ingredients tailored for certain health conditions or body constitutions. A light miso soup offers refreshment to a sluggish constitution. Butternut squash soup, on the other hand, soothes a cool, "boy in the bubble" constitution like my own.

Soup recipes are often adaptable. With practice, you can easily tailor your soup to you and your family’s distinct emotional and nutritional needs. I add turmeric to my butternut squash soup, for example, because it lends an emotionally uplifting, vibrant color to the dish; awesomely, turmeric is also autoimmune supportive. Additionally, instead of olive oil, or ghastly canola oil, I add extra virgin coconut oil to my soup—not only for its fragrance, which reminds me of a certain surf shop in Stone Harbor, but because it is rich in antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral lauric acid.

Balancing the Body in Autumn

In the Philadelphia region, autumn is often dry, cool, and windy. After the warmth of the summer, your body might feel this new, cool weather as an imbalance. In Eastern medicine, doctors prescribe warming foods to settle this type of imbalance. Depending upon your constitution you might need more or less warming food, however most people benefit from including a majority of warming foods in the cool months.

As Paul Pritchford notes in his classic book Healing With Whole Foods, warming foods include moderate amounts of animal products; warming grains and seeds, such as oats, spelt, quinoa, sweet brown rice, sunflower seed, sesame seed, walnut, pine nut, and chestnut; and autumn’s root vegetables and winter squashes. As Pritchford states, “Plants that take longer to grow…are more warming then those that grow quickly.”

Pritchford continues, “Cooking methods that involve more cooking time, higher temperatures, greater pressure, dryness, and/or air circulation…impart more warming qualities to food.”

Warming cooking methods, then, might include nourishing long-cooked soups like those mentioned above, stews, hearty gratins like Kripalu’s absolutely delicious Squash-A-Roni (recipe below), or a rich long-simmered dessert like Coconut Rice Pudding.

Perhaps the easiest way to add warmth to your food is the addition of high-quality herbs or spices. Herbs and spices are among the healthiest foods on the planet; dense in vitamins and minerals, herbs and spices act as thermogenic foods, increasing your metabolism and stimulating warmth in the body.

Many herbs and spices rate ridiculously high on the ORAC scale, the standardized method for measuring the antioxidant capacity of foods. As such, herbs and spices may combat some of harmful products initiated by the cooking process. Check out my recipe for Cinnamon, Paprika and Thyme Rubbed Chicken (recipe below).

Herbs and spices can be added to any number of dishes for flavor, warmth, and astonishing health benefits. Healthy, warming herbs include oregano, thyme, and sage; the most potently healthy spices include turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg—all suitable for autumn recipes.

If you cook with these thoughts in mind, you’ll learn to tailor your meal to the prevailing weather, as well as the moods and dispositions of the people you’re cooking for. However, remember what I consider to be a golden rule of cooking: culture and joy must reign. Any addition to any recipe should make cultural and culinary sense; additional ingredients should not compromise the joy of eating. Turmeric, for example, would be an atrocious addition to Gazpacho. And I would never use extra virgin coconut oil for my Tuscan Bean Soup. Recipes that call for misguided “substitutions” miss a major point of cooking: food is not merely nutrition; it is a powerful FORCE that connect us our environment, heritage, and culture.

Butternut Squash Soup

When I make this soup, I add the seeds from the butternut squash to a  cheesecloth bundle, with a cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and three whole cloves.


2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut or olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves peeled, and crushed
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 medium butternut squash (approximately 3 pounds) peeled, de-seeded, and cubed
4 ½ cups vegetable stock or water
1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 cup full-fat coconut milk (optional)
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and stew gently for 10-12 minutes.

Add turmeric, raise heat to medium, and cook for 1 minute. Add butternut squash and stock; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 25-30 minutes, until squash is soft.

When cool, blend the soup in batches. Add maple syrup, and coconut milk, if desired, warm, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Squash-A-Roni
¾ pound whole wheat elbow pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
½ cup water
1⁄3 cup tahini
2 tablespoons white miso
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon tamari
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon dried thyme
¾ cup dried whole-grain bread crumbs
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper

In a large, ovenproof skillet, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring frequently, until translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the squash, ½ cup water, and ½ teaspoon sea salt. Cover and cook for until squash is soft, 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook the pasta in boiling water until tender, but still firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the tahini, miso, vinegar, and tamari. Add this mixture to the squash and mix until creamy. Add the reserved pasta, remaining oil, pecans, and thyme. Top with bread crumbs and bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Cinnamon, Paprika, and Thyme Rubbed Chicken
4 cups water
6 tablespoons kosher salt
4 center cut bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or legs
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoons cinnamon

Dissolve the salt and water in a gallon plastic bag. Place the chicken in the bag and brine for 1-2 hours. Meanwhile combine paprika, thyme, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Adjust oven rack to bottom position. Rinse and dry the chicken thoroughly. Rub the spice picture over brined and dried chicken parts. (At this point chicken can be left to dry on a wire rack in the refrigerator for up to two days.)

Place chicken skin side down on a heavy-bottomed, oven-proof skillet. Place pan on bottom rack and roast for 18 minutes. Flip chicken breasts skin side up and continue to cook until a thermometer inserted into the chicken reads 165°F, 6-10 minutes. Serve.

Dinner Lovesong

Tonight, as every night, Karen and I will share a home-cooked dinner.

Tonight, I will eat chicken. Of 365 dinners a year, I eat chicken about 350 times. Roast whole chicken. Grilled chicken legs. Roast chicken breast. Tonight, I eat roast half chicken.

On any given night, Karen might eat chicken for dinner, yet she might eat something else. Macadamia-crusted tilapia. White beans simmered with a Parmigiana rind. Pan-seared Chilean sea bass. Spaghetti. The "Florence" pizza from Arpeggios. Tonight, though, Karen will eat braised chickpeas.

Tonight, we will share mashed potatoes. Of 365 dinners, I eat potatoes about 180 times. Roasted red potatoes. Boiled fingerlings with herbs and olive oil. Mashed potatoes. Karen shares the potato habit, adding her own flourishes: she adorns roasted potatoes with thin slices of butter; to mashed potatoes, she adds a pat of butter.

On alternate nights, we eat sweet potatoes. Baked sweets. Mashed sweets. Roasted sweets.

Karen might eat rice. As I said, she might eat pasta, or pizza.

But for me, that's it--potatoes or sweet potatoes, every single night of my life. I enjoy eating the same things day after day, with small variances, and that's what vegetables and wine are for.

Tonight, we share coconut braised greens. Living seasonally, we experience variety in vegetables. Still, we eat coconut braised greens about 3 times a week. We eat steamed broccoli 3 times a week. Of course, I feel obliged to hand toss the warm broccoli with salt, fresh ground pepper, and olive oil. This is how you treat broccoli--with love. Summertime, I might pan-sear zucchini. Springtime, I might steam peas or asparagus. Autumn, I might split one acorn squash in half, dab the flesh with oil, and roast. Perhaps, feeling nostalgic for July, I'll pan-sear zucchini.

Most nights, we drink wine. Of 365 dinners, we drink wine 335 times. Weekdays call for something like Coppola Rosso. Weekends call for Coppola Claret or Rosenblum Syrah.

I'm finicky about food, refusing to eat what I deem to be lowly ingredients, but I remain a willfully oblivious wine-drinker. I simply cannot afford a refined wine palate.

As it is, I find most cheap red wines benefit from a jaunt in the fridge. I like wine nearly chilled. Karen likes wine room temperature. Nightly, we play the same game: I put the wine in the fridge, she takes it out. I put it in, she takes it out.

Each week, once a week, my wife jubilantly orders a small Florence pizza from Arpeggios. Sharing the festive mood, I'll make myself something special: chicken, maybe, and potatoes.

We've shared this small, strange life for 15 years. To me, marriage is not about growing old together. Marriage is about growing weird together.

The view from my seat: Karen and her pizza.

We invite others to share our weirdness. Friends and family come over all the time. Cogan, fresh from traffic, full of anxiety on a Tuesday. Charlie, cool and early, with a bottle, on a Friday. JJ, stoned and feast-ready, on a Saturday. My mom, decked in one of her immaculate coats, inquisitive and calm on a Sunday.

I place the wine, red or white in the fridge. I assign small tasks. I toss what seems like an excessive plume of salt into the greens. Then I'll throw open the oven, squint into the bellowing smoke, and jab a thermometer into the chicken. Friends have just come to accept: an invitation to my place means chicken.

I eat the same thing every night, and yet I look forward to dinner all day. To me, dinner is the point. Dinner absolves the day's hassles. Dinner redeems the day's failures. Without dinner, the day has no structure, no purpose. Dinner is not only food--it is communion, with others, with ourselves. Immersed in our daytime ambitions and jobs and twitter accounts, we might lose sight of those we love; we might lose sight of ourselves. Dinner saves us. When we sit down to dinner, we settle back into ourselves; we become human again.

Roast Half Chicken for One

My wife refuses to eat chicken every night, so often I enjoy roasting a half chicken for myself. This recipe accounts for two successive nights of half roast chicken.

6 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons pure cane sugar
One 3-4 pound organic or free-range chicken
2 teaspoons olive oil
Fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme

To make the brine: dissolve the kosher salt, sugar, and 4 cups water in a gallon bag. Place the chicken in the bag and brine for 2 hours (can be brined up to 8 hours).

Take the bird out of the brine, rinse, and pat dry. For crispier skin, allow the bird to air-dry after brining for at least 4-8 hours and up to two days.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place one of your oven racks one the bottom rung.

Working with kitchen shears, split the chicken in half. (Here's a nice tutorial). Save the other half for a successive dinner.

Rub the chicken skin with the olive oil. Sprinkle fresh ground pepper and dried thyme over the skin.

Place the chicken skin-side down in a grill pan and roast on the bottom rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue roasting, skin-side up for 8-10 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the breast registers 160 degrees.

Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes on a cutting board.

Cut it up, into pieces: legs, wings, breasts.

Serves 1.


Pan-Seared Summer Squash with Basil and Lemon Vinaigrette

I originally developed this recipe for Whole Foods Market. Thick rounds of summer squash seared in a piping hot pan — cast iron is best — until just blackened, then tossed with a fragrant fresh basil and lemon vinaigrette. This is a summer recipe that adapts easily to most seasons. In Philly, we get local zukes (hothouse) throughout the fall, even into the winter. 

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 large green zucchini

For the vinaigrette, in a small bowl, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, fresh basil and salt.

For the zucchini, slice zucchini into large rounds. Warm a 10-inch skillet (cast iron is best) until very hot. Place zucchini in pan and sear over high heat, until blackened, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip onto other side and sear additional 2 to 3 minutes, until both sides are blackened.

Place zucchini on a large platter. Spoon vinaigrette over zucchini. Serve warm.

Serves 4.

"Well-Done" Steak? Please.

How do you like your steak? The answer is medium-rare. Maybe rare. There is no other answer. A well-done steak is a misnomer: there is nothing "well-done" about it; there is nothing steak-like about it. A well-done steak is no longer a steak. It's an "edible substance." Don't get me wrong. I do not consider a well-done steak edible. Some do, though. Dogs, for example.

Do you "prefer" your steak well-done? If so, you should know: cooks hate you. And happily, science justifies this hatred in several ways. First, steak is prized, above all else, for its juiciness. Harold McGee writes in On Food and Cooking:

"Food Scientists who have studied the subjective sensation of juiciness find that it consists of two phases: the initial impression of moisture as you bite into a food, and the continued release of moisture as you chew. Juiciness at first bite comes from the meat's own free water, while continued juiciness comes from the meat's fat and flavor, both of which stimulate the flow of our own saliva."

Well-done steak is almost completely devoid of what McGee calls "free-water" or juices. As McGee writes elsewhere: Well-done steak has "nearly all of its proteins denatured, is frankly stiff to the touch, little juice is apparent, and both juice and interior are a dull tan or gray."

Little juice is apparent. Quite simply, a well-done steak has no "initial impression of moisture" and "no continued release of moisture."

Second, steak is prized for its flavor. Cooking, of course, intensifies the flavor and aroma of food. Specifically, in steak, what is called the Maillard Reaction or "browning reaction" (the crust on a steak) might account for as many as six hundred flavor components. These components are present in well-done steak and certainly contribute to the "taste" of a well-done steak. And, in theory, because it is cooked longer, a well-done steak might have a deeper Maillard Reaction than a rare or medium-rare steak.

However, taste is very complex. The deliciousness of a steak comes from its variety of aromas and flavors, from the crust to the middle. Juiciness and tenderness are very important. Well done meat might have a deeper Maillard Reaction, but it misses many other flavor components. The ideal steak boasts tremendous flavor from a browned crust and a tender, juicy interior. This is why people who like the taste of food like medium-rare steak.

Third, it's a well-known fact that cooking meat at high temperatures creates unhealthy chemicals such as HCAs and PAHs. The longer you cook a steak the more unhealthy chemicals are produced. A recent study even showed that those who eat well-done steak are 60-70% more likely to develop pancreatic cancer then those who eat medium-rare steak.

The notion that "undercooked" meat is somehow unhealthy is nonsense. Yes, most meats must be cooked to 160 degrees or higher to guarantee the rapid destruction of bacteria, but bacteria do not exist inside intact steaks or chops. Bacteria exist on the outside of meat, and these bacteria are easily killed in searing. (Incidentally, ground beef is more risky because the interior and exterior have been commingled).

Of course, there are other, very important factors that determine the health value of steak, even beyond how it’s cooked. For example, conventional meat is loaded with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals. A far better choice is natural beef; better yet, grassfed beef.

As a human, I know I should not condemn a person for a simple preference. But I will say, as a cook, I have a very hard time not strongly disliking the person who orders a well-done steak. Perhaps "hate" is a strong word. But if you "prefer" your steak well-done you really should know: some cooks really do hate you. Or maybe not. Anthony Bourdain puts it this way in Kitchen Confidential:

"So what happens when the chef finds a tough, slightly skanky end-cut of sirloin that's been repeatedly pushed to the back of the pile? He can throw it out, but that's a total loss. He can feed it to the family, which is the same as throwing it out. Or he can "save for well-done"—serve it to some rube who prefers his meat or fish incinerated into a flavorless, leathery hunk of carbon, who won't be able to tell if what he's eating is food or flotsam. Ordinarily, a proud chef would hate this customer, hold him in contempt for destroying his fine food. But not in this case. The dumb bastard is paying for the privilege of eating his garbage! What's not to like?"

The Perfect Pan-Seared Steak

This recipe combines time-tested methodology with intuitive logic. The result: a perfectly seared steak, cooked to medium-rare. I wait until after cooking to add salt and pepper; salting brings moisture to the surface of the meat and might interfere with browning.

2 boneless grassfed strip or rib-eye steaks (1 to 1 1/4 inch thick; about 8 ounces)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, for finishing
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter, for finishing

Remove your steaks from the refrigerator 30-60 minutes before cooking.

Heat a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over high heat until hot. Gently place the steaks in the pan, leaving a 1/2 space between the steaks. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook until steak is well-browned, 4 minutes. Using tongs, flip the steaks and continue to cook for 4 minutes until steak is medium-rare.

Transfer the steaks to a cutting board. Spread 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter over each steak. Let rest for five minutes. Before serving, season liberally with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Three Kickass Chickpea Recipes

When we lived in Barcelona, Karen and I visited the market every day. Our favorite destination, La Boqueria, was the pride of local Catalans. We loved to browse the stalls, to smell the imported fruits and vegetables, stopping at pleasure to sample a slice of carambola, a handful of plump red grapes, or a small piece of bacalao (salted codfish).

So Many Mushrooms

Karen and I, however, opted to do our real shopping elsewhere. For produce we stopped at the modest open air stalls just outside La Boqueria on the Placa de Sant Galdric, where each morning local farmers pulled their trucks right up to the curb and unloaded boxes of fruits and vegetables onto the pavement. At noon, when most of the food was eaten on the spot or bought by loyal customers, the farmers swept the refuse lettuce greens, onion peels, and fruit rinds into a big pile in the middle of the square. They left the green mountain for the birds and a set of healthy bums who seemingly subsisted on nothing but scraps.

For everything else we shopped at the market right across the street from our flat in Sant Antoni, the Sant Antoni market. Here we'd buy a pound of wild salmon, I remember fondly, for two dollars. At Sant Antoni, too, we found the world's absolute greatest chickpeas.

Walk into the market right off our street, Tamarit, and turn left: there you'll find the world's greatest chickpeas. I'd often buy a pound or more and eat them, simply dressed with olive oil and sea salt, for lunch. The chickpeas were cooked to perfection in giant pressure cookers: they were astonishingly creamy and every single chickpea tasted luxurious, as if each was lovingly enrobed in butter.

Sometimes I'd make a chickpea stew, with wild salmon or cod--still a staple of my wife's diet. Actually, the recipes below have been staples of me and my wife's diets for years. I use canned chickpeas. Home-cooked chickpeas are frustratingly hard to make. They can take hours to cook and sometimes they seem to never, ever cook through. A good pressure cooker is the best, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass. The best chickpeas I've found, besides Sant Antoni's, are Eden Food's. I use Eden's beans whenever I cook with any beans--they are FAR superior to any other brand. (Don't give me some stupid shit about Goya: Goya adds unnecessary additives to its products; Goya sucks).

Moroccan Braised Chickpeas and Chard

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon preserved lemon, chopped
1/2 teaspoon saffron, soaked in 1 tablespoon hot water
1 Parmigiano Reggiano rind, optional
2 15 ounce cans cooked chickpeas (do not drain)
1 cup water
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs removed, and leaves coarsely chopped
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion and a pinch of sea salt; sauté until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and sauté one minute. Add cumin and paprika and sauté one minute. Add preserved lemon, saffron, Parmigiano rind, and chickpeas with reserved liquid from the chickpea can, and water. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes, until luxuriously fragrant. Add the Swiss chard leaves and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.

Season to taste with extra sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Serve warm with crusty bread, roasted potatoes, or rice.

*

Chickpea Soup with Saffron and Mushroom-Almond Garnish

I originally published this recipe here.

For Soup:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
½ pound Fingerling Potatoes, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups vegetable broth
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2 15 ounce cans cooked chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

For Garnish:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 cups crimini or white-button mushrooms, quartered
½ cup toasted almonds, chopped
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add saffron and stir one minute. Add potatoes, increase heat to medium-high and sauté for 4-6 minutes, until potatoes are browned. Add wine and scrape any brown bits that have accumulated at the bottom of the pan.

Add vegetable broth, chickpeas, and parsley and bring to boil.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Allow soup to cool. In a blender puree two cups soup. Add puree back into soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for five minutes to warm.

Meanwhile, make garnish: Warm oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and lemon juice and sauté until mushrooms release their juices, 4-6 minutes. Toss with almonds and parsley, sauté for one minute, and set aside.

To serve soup: ladle a cup into each bowl and spoon a few tablespoons mushroom-almond garnish on top.

*

Cod and Chickpea Stew

I originally published this recipe here. I make this dish for my wife almost every week.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 large yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 teaspoon saffron, soaked in 1 tablespoon hot water
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 pound cod, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup vegetable broth or water

In a wide, heavy sauté pan, warm oil over medium heat. Add onion and pepper and sauté until onions are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add paprika and cumin and sauté for 1 minute. Add wine and saffron. Stir well. Add chickpeas, cod and vegetable broth. Simmer until fish is just cooked through and just flakes with a fork, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Cupcakes: A Little Bit of Naughtiness

Can cupcakes possibly be healthy? I think this question is important. To me, this question strikes at the very root of our food culture.

I think cupcakes are adorable little confections. A New York Times article calls them "happy-food." I think of a cupcake and I envision the joy of frosting, the pleasure of licking something sweet, the smile on my little niece's face when I hand her a mini-cupcake.

Of course, I do not eat cupcakes. I am much too fanatical, too wildly opposed to eating a food that lacks any nutritional value whatsoever. And cupcakes, decidedly and obviously, lack nutrition.

Perhaps this is why, as the Times article suggests, cupcakes get such a bad rap.

"Cupcakes," the article states, "have recently been marched to the front lines of the fat wars, banned from a growing number of classroom birthday parties because of their sugar, fat and empty calories, a poster food of the child obesity crisis."

And yet, I have to admit, this trend disturbs me. Have we lost all sense of perspective? Have we so messed up our relationship with food that we now consider even cupcakes utterly unhealthy?

What makes a food healthy after all? Isn't this question at least as much psychological as physiological? When we eat, do we not nourish body and soul?

A cupcake is a small indiscretion. (I love how cupcakes have become sex-symbols for some bakers, how the idea of eating a cupcake in the middle of the afternoon equates so perfectly to the idea of a mid-afternoon quickie...a little bit of naughtiness!)

A little bit of naughtiness...

So is it really so bad to eat a cupcake? (A cupcake, after all, lovingly prepared, is not FoodCrack.)

The time article states the question this way: "can emotional value, on occasion, legitimately outweigh nutritional value?"

I think so, on occasion. (I'm not writing an article in defense of cupcake gluttony. I'm merely saying, Hey a cupcake ain't so bad!) I take my cue from an unlikely source, Paul Pritchford, the author of Healing with Whole Foods.

Pritchford writes:

"Do not be so rigid or self-righteous about your diet as to annoy anyone. A bad relationship is more poisonous than one of Grandma's sugar cookies. If you desire such a treat, it is better to have it than stuff yourself with rice to suppress the desire. This causes mental anguish and arrogance."

This, coming form a guy who suggests, as an optimum practice, eating a small dessert only after a "meal" of a "celery and lettuce-based salad."