USDA's "My Plate" is the New Hotness

Nutrition Pyramid is Old and Busted; USDA's "My Plate" is the New Hotness.

On June 2 2011,  USDA and Michelle Obama made good on a plan to ditch the familiar nutrition pyramid in favor of a simple plate symbol as an educational tool for American children and families. In use by the government since 1992, the pyramid has never done a great job of illustrating how much of each food group to eat. Nor has it conveyed a couple essential details, for example: That brown rice is healthier than white rice, and grilled fish is a smarter choice than, say, bacon.

Overall, it'a all about balancing calories.  This is not just about keeping away from obesity, but more on a new lifestyle to eat and live healthy.
   
Balancing Calories
      ●     Enjoy your food, but eat less.
      ●     Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase
      ●     Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
      ●     Make at least half your grains whole grains.
      ●     Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce
      ●     Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, & frozen meals, & choose the foods with lower numbers.
      ●     Drink water instead of sugary drinks.  

Here are some recommendation from nutritionist Marissa Lippert

Proteins:
    Grilled Halibut with Mango-Avocado Salsa
    Miso-Glazed Salmon Steaks
    Seared Tuna with Olive Tapenade Vinaigrette and Arugula
    Grass-Fed Strip Steak with Spicy Hoisin Sauce and Cucumber Relish
    Chicken Skewers with Tarragon-Pistachio Pesto
Veggies:
    Roasted Carrots with Dill
    Peas and Pea Tendrils with Lemon Dressing
    Shaved Summer Squash Salad
    Simple Summer Spinach
    Sauteed Kale with Smoked Paprika

Come over to Rosemary Bites and try out some of the recommended meals !

Smashin' Pumpkin Soup

They said the weather is unpredictable,  but somehow,  the weather has been quite consistently lately.  For the past 2 weeks,  it has been rainy cats and dogs in the afternoon till dinner time.  I'm not sure about you,  but when it comes to rainy days/evenings, i longed to have a hot bowl of soup.  A bowl of soup in a rainy day is like a bowl of love to comfort the soul (or at least the wet jeans :P)

A hot bowl of soup somehow will warm the stomach, the whole body and feel the energy return after suffer from the crawling traffic under the grey colored sky.

That's one of the main reason why we've been making batches and batches of soups lately.  We always serve the popular cream of wild mushroom soup and on top of that, we also prepared additional special soup for the week.

Aside from the Clam chowder, Tomatillo Soup and now, we have the Smashin' Pumpkin Soup.  We made all our soup from scratch,  there's no soup from the can or soup from powder in Rosemary Bites.  For any good quality soup, we always start with chicken stock that has been cooking for at least 3-5 hours.  In the case of pumpkin soup,  first we wash and cut out the pumpkin skins,  quartered and sliced the pumpkin into manageable size, then it goes into the oven, toasted for 30-45 mins until golden brown before it goes into the soup pot for the next process. At this time, you can already smell the smoky sweetness of the pumpkin ~ yum.

Roasted pumpkin in the soup pot

After all the pumpkin has been stewed for at least 30 mins,  it will all goes into the blender for all the flavor to combined.  Of course,  we sometimes does not blend till it became a paste because for any soup, it is always good to have some bigger pieces to munch. 

Blending in action

After all the blending, we will then seasoned with black pepper and salt,  then served with a slice of garlic bread.  There you go, Good comfy food for any rainy days.  Just how we liked it in Rosemary Bites and we hope you can your family enjoyed it as much as we do.

Rosemary Bites' Pumpkin Soup

What other rainy day must have do you like ?

Rosemary Bites Go Green !

While we are all into supporting all effort in a sustaining eco-systems,  but that's the the go-green effort that we are referring here.  We are going green with the 'classic pesto'.   I think first of all,  there are a lot of meals or side dishes that celebrates the wholesome, authentic goodness of fresh ingredients, and we believe the one that definitely stands out is Pesto.

Contrary to popular believe,  the green colored pesto does not taste like raw vegetables,  but it's a well blend of earthly nutty flavors, pungent parmesan's kick, with the tangy splash of lemon juice and well balanced with the all-rounded extra-virgin olive oil.   Just like all our specialty sauce,  it's the many layering of flavors that will wake up those taste buds in your mouth.

Pesto is actually a very versatile building blocks in the kitchen. We love to dress the strings of spaghetti with green pesto,  we also love to add in fresh Mint leaves and create a new Mint Pesto just for the lamb or serve your brushetta with pesto for your next entertaining party,  and see your guests in awe !
Finally,  in a whole go-green spirit, good things are meant to be shared ! Here's the Pesto Recipes for you :)

Ingredients
• ½ a clove of garlic, chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 good handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked and chopped
• a handful of pine nuts, walnuts and cashew nuts, very lightly toasted
• a good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• extra virgin olive oil
• a small squeeze of lemon juice

Enjoy and go-green !

Would You Eat This: Vegetarian Edamame Burger

Hello Burger Recipe Lovers. Cheeseburgers, lamb burgers, and turkey burgers are groovy but we've got a smoking green veggie burger for you...

...check out this Vegetarian Edamame Burger recipe and let us know -- Would You Eat This?

Vegetarian Edamame Burger

Instructions

1/4 cup millet
1/2 cup cold water
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
1 medium carrot
1 large red radish
2 tablespoons finely grated, peeled, fresh ginger
1/2 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons mirin (See Cook's Note.)
1/8 teaspoon Asian chili paste, such as Sri Racha sauce
1 pound frozen blanched, peeled edamame (soybeans), thawed
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
2 large egg whites, beaten
Vegetable oil, for brushing

Directions
Heat the millet in a small dry saucepan, with a tight-fitting lid, over medium-high heat, cook, shaking occasionally, until the millet begins to "pop". Continue toasting the millet until the popping subsides, about 2 minutes, until it smells like freshly popped popcorn. Set aside to cool slightly.

Add the water and the 1/4 teaspoon of the salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Wrap the pan's lid tightly with a small kitchen towel and cover the saucepan. (Make sure the towel's edges are folded up well away from the heat.) Lower the heat to low and simmer covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat (don't uncover) and set aside for 10 minutes. Fluff the millet with a fork and transfer to a large bowl.

Using a box grater, grate the carrot and radish into the bowl of millet. Add the ginger, garlic, lime juice, mirin, and chili paste and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add the edamame, cover, and return to a boil; cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain and immediately add to the bowl of millet mixture (to lightly warm the vegetables). Stir to combine and set aside to cool.

When cool, season the edamame mixture with the remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Transfer to a food processor and puree into a paste. Return the edamame to the bowl and stir in the panko and egg whites until incorporated.

Using your hands, form the edamame mixture into 8 patties about 3 inches in diameter. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until set.

Place a rack about 4 inches from the broiler element and preheat. Place the patties on a foil-lined baking sheet or broiler pan. Brush both sides of the patties lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt. Broil until the tops are lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip the patties with a spatula. Broil until lightly browned and hot, about 3 minutes more. Serve on grilled naan bread with sprouts, pickled ginger, and wasabi. (The burgers can also be grilled or Sauteed.)

Serving suggestions: Alfalfa sprouts, pickled ginger, wasabi paste, and grilled naan-style bread .