Sardines and Eggplant

What's in It:

1 medium eggplant, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
1 small finely chopped shallot
3 finely chopped garlic cloves
1/2 cup chicken stock 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon finely chopped roasted red pepper
2 teaspoons capers, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
12 fresh sardines, boned, heads and tails intact

How It's Made:
Preheat the oven to 375°. Brush the cut sides of the eggplant with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake the eggplant for about 45 minutes, until very soft. Let cool, then carefully scoop out the flesh and coarsely chop it. Transfer the eggplant to a medium bowl.
In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar with the water, 2 tablespoons of the tarragon, half of the shallot and two-thirds of the garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender. Add the chicken stock and one-fourth of the eggplant and puree until smooth. Stir the puree into the remaining chopped eggplant and season with salt and pepper. In a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over moderately high heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes; transfer to a plate. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add the remaining shallot and garlic and cook over low heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Transfer the shallot and garlic to a bowl and let cool. Whisk in the lemon zest, roasted red pepper, capers and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of tarragon and the pine nuts. Preheat a grill. Brush the sardines with olive oil and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Grill the sardines over high heat, turning them once, until lightly charred, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon the eggplant puree onto plates and top with the sardines. Spoon the tarragon dressing on top and serve.

Sardines with Sicilian Salad

What's in It:
zest and juice 1 lemon

bunch parsley , half the leaves kept whole, the other half finely chopped
1 small chopped garlic clove
1 fennel bulb , with fronds
10 toasted pine nuts
handful green olives , chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
4 large sardines , scaled and gutted

How to Make It:
Mix the lemon zest, chopped parsley and garlic together, then set aside. Pick the fronds from the fennel and set aside. Halve the fennel bulb and finely slice. Make the salad by mixing the sliced fennel and fronds with the pine nuts, olives, and whole parsley leaves. Dress with the olive oil and lemon juice. Heat the griddle pan or barbecue. Season the fish with rock salt (this stops them sticking). Griddle for 2-3 mins on each side until the eyes turn white. Sprinkle the fish with the parsley mix and lift onto plates. Drizzle with oil and serve with the salad.

Featured Food: Sardines

Could have included these in Mediterranean week, since they are named after the Italian island of Sardinia. These little fish pack a real nutritional punch, without some of the concerns facing other fish. We'll start with a big one- sardines are one of the most concentrated sources of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. This is great because these two lower cholesterol and triglyceride (culprits of most cardiovascular conditions) levels. One can contains over half of the daily values. More good news for the heart, sardines are an excellent source of vitamin B12 (check past post). It actually has the highest concentration, only behind calf's liver! What does B12 do (besides promoting heart health, of course)? It balances homocysteine, which if not balanced can damage artery walls and increases the risk for atherosclerosis. Bones? Osteoporosis? We've discussed

Osteoporosis

Back to another condition that tends to affect the elderly, osteoporosis. Osteoporsosis means "porous bones" and it makes your bones become weak and brittle. They're so weak that even mild stress like bending over or coughing can cause a fracture. Fractures are the most common result of osteoporosis, with spine, hip, and wrist being the most popular sites. Just look at our little lady here! This is what happens to most elderly; let's go back to that shuffling old person you see scuttling down the street afraid to pick their feet. Why do they shuffle and not pick their feet up? Because walk imitates falling and picking up their feet means they could fall, and if they fall they're likely to break one of their frail and brittle bones! What causes the bones to get this way? Low levels of calcium and other minerals is generally the cause, although hormone levels can affect bone density as well. It's a fact that women are more susceptible to osteoporosis than men. After menopause when estrogen levels drop, bone loss increases dramatically. In men low estrogen and testosterone levels can affect muscle mass as well. Risk factors for osteoporosis: low calcium intake, tobacco use, eating disorders, sedentary lifestyles, excessive alcohol consumption, corticosteroid (treatments for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus) medications,  and inadequate vitamin D. What can you do to prevent osteoporosis? First off you can eat calcium rich foods: almonds, cooked kale, canned salmon with the bones, and sardines. Here are some more great foods for bone health.

Alzheimer's

We'll continue on with our aging week, by discussing a condition that many fear, Alzheimer's. What a terrible condition. People with advanced Alzheimer's need help bathing, dressing, using the bathroom, eating and other activities. Those in the final stages lose the ability to communicate, aren't able to recognize loved ones and become bed bound and reliant on 24/7 care, in addition, their inability to move makes them more susceptible to infections like pneumonia. Alzheimer's is ultimately fatal. Who wants to end their life (or have a loved one die) like this, or who wants to have someone take care of them in this condition. It is a very real problem and there is no treatment for it! There are an estimated 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease (with 1 in 8 people over 65 having the disease). Every second someone in America develops Alzheimer's and that is believed to drop to 33 seconds by mid-century. It is becoming a real issue in the country, so we need to start to look at what we can do now to decrease our risk. We'll look at the disease and some preventative measures you can take, because changing your lifestyle can decrease risk! Your brain has 100 billion nerve cells, connected at synapses that transfers information. With Alzheimer's transformations at the synapse start to fail, the number of synapses declines, and eventually cells die. The disease affects different people in different ways. It usually starts, though, having difficulty remembering new information (because disruption of brain cells usually starts in regions of involved in forming new memories). Damage spreads and more symptoms arise:

Foods and Aging

We've just discussed aging, so now we'll look at some foods that can help you age successfully (by preventing diseases and adding other healthful benefits; plus, most importantly, they fit into a fat-burner lifestyle:

*Almonds: magnesium, vitamin E, fiber and monounsaturated fat (heart health).

*Apples: lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels; catechins (cancer preventative), quercetin (inhibit prostate, lung, liver cancer).
*Avocados: monounsaturated fat, fiber, vitamin E, folic acid, and potassium than any other fruit; beta-sitosterol (lower cholesterol); lutein (antioxidant that protects eyes and macular degeneration, safe guard cardiovascular system from athersclerosis and prevents prostate cancer).
*Beets: folic acid (heart disease and cancer), betanin (cholesterol oxidation), slow growth of skin and lung tumors.
*Blueberries: anthocyanins (oxidative stress), help brain dopamine production

Aging

Wow, this week I was going to cover aging and all the ailments that generally tend to tag-a-long with it, but I wasn't quite prepared. It is such a broad topic, that has different views, and classifications. You can't just put a number on it, it's quite complex, so I had to figure out how I'd reel it in without writing a book and getting overly scientific. Two posts is what I determined. This blog will be dedicated to the logistics and the second will deal with lifestyle and nutrition solutions. Here in the vain Western world we aging with crinkled noses and fight tooth and nail to turn back the hands of time, and discover the fountain of youth. Procedures run amuck fixing any sign or crease of true age. Women (and men) are notorious for lying about their age, always seeking to be perceived younger. There is the old adage that 'aging is a part of life,' which isn't true because not all animals age. Age is generally identified as a degenerative process, with a decrease of physical and mental function over time. Yet there are some animals (lobster, alligators, Galapagos turtles,

Strenuous Exercise=Weight Loss?

Some food for thought based on the article in Time magazine. Many have the misperception that they will lose weight just by exercising, or by exercising more. It's the American idea that more is better. You know the type, they decide they want to lose weight so they go out and run for extended periods of time, but aren't changing other habits (kind of like ordering a diet pop when you go for fast food). I get it all the time, people will come in frustrated that they've been running miles a day without results. We spend $19 billion a year in gym memberships, 57% of people in 2000 said they exercised regularly (but how is this helping, if there are a larger percentage of people who are overweight and obese- 2/3 of the population?) The importance of exercise has been overrated in years past, and in some cases can make it harder to lose weight. For some it triggers hunger, which can cause over consumption and reverse the calorie deficit you create by exercising. A study was done by Dr. Timothy Church. They tested 464 women. The women were divided into 4 groups and assigned 72, 136, or 194 minutes of exercise a week and one group to maintain their usual routine. Most lost weight, but the ones beating themselves for hours most days of the week, didn't lose more weight then the other groups (and some even gained weight). Most ended up eating more (greater hunger after exercise or rewarding themselves). This is relevant because government and other 'health' organizations keep recommending more exercise. In 2007 the American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association made new guidelines of 60-90 minutes of physical activity for weight lose. We see it in pop-culture too, on shows like The Biggest Loser, where they are getting the crap beat out them for hours a day.