A Righteous Cookie? All Right!

I have succumbed to Trader Joe’s cutesy advertising...yet again. A new product called "Righteous Rounds" packed in cheerful orange retro-fashioned bags promises a chocolate chip cookie with a “healthy dose of good-for-you ingredients.” Packed with vitamins and fiber and tastes good? I was hooked and grabbed two bags. These mini cookies are made with fruit and vegetable extracts like broccoli, apple, carrot, and tomato and are dried instead of baked so that more vitamins are retained in each cookie. It contains about half the daily RDA of vitamin A and a third of daily vitamin C recommendations. I like that the nutrients are not added (fortified) into the cookies but are from the natural extracts.

The taste: crunchy, chocolately, entirely satisfying! The only hint of "healthy" was the slightly fermented fruity odor, like the smell that exudes from a fresh box of raisins or dried apricots.

The downfall: HSS, or what I call "healthy snack syndrome.” Each cookie is about the size of two thumb nails. Therefore, I effortlessly munched through 4 servings (half the bag) in under 4 minutes. Yikes! There goes 500 calories. I kept chomping because subconsciously I thought, "It's not a regular chocolate chip cookie; it's a healthy chocolate chip cookie!" So, yes, these are definitely a must-try but try you must to put 1 or 2 servings onto a plate and put away the bag, lest all those extra calories outweigh the benefits of the nutrients.

Copyright 2009 Nancy Oliveira, FitMamaEats. All Rights Reserved.

Spring into Seasonal Eating

Do you know what are the best fresh edibles in your area this spring? Taking the time to seek out local fare from farms and farmers markets reaps the following benefits.

• Fresher food that tastes better. Most produce in the grocery store is up to 2 weeks old by the time you toss it into your cart. Locally grown produce is allowed to fully ripen for the best flavor; you have to eat it soon after buying but it’s worth it―ever savored a fresh picked strawberry or tomato?
• Help the environment. Most produce travels an average of 1500 miles from farm to table―the carbon dioxide emissions and fuel costs from over-the-road transportation add up.
• Support farms. When you buy from farms in your community it supports the local economy and can help to preserve land for the future.
• Be in tune with the seasons. You will enjoy foods at their peak flavor when they are the least expensive. Visiting farms with your kids and allowing them to choose their own produce creates positive food memories and teaches them where food comes from (they’re also more likely to try the foods they hand-pick!).

Sample these seasonal spring fruits and vegetables, available starting April to late June in the New England area:

Asparagus―May-Jun

Beets―Jun-Dec

Broccoli―Jun-Nov

Cabbage―Jun-Nov

Carrots―Jun-Nov

Green Onions/Scallions―May-Sep

Greens (e.g., salad greens, Swiss chard)―Apr-Nov

Herbs―Jun-Oct

Parsnips―Apr-May (for spring parsnips)

Radishes―May-Sep

Rhubarb―May-Jul

Strawberries―Jun-Jul

For more info and to find farms in your area, see the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service

Rhubarb Cream Cheese

Rhubarb is a wallflower of a vegetable as most of us simply don’t know how to prepare it. It’s vitamin-packed, containing calcium, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber, with only 20 calories per cup. Change up your usual bagel and cream cheese routine with this recipe:

Wash 4 rhubarb stalks and slice into 1/2-inch chunks. Place in a saucepan with 1/3 cup sugar, 1 T water, and a dash of cinnamon. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. In a food processor combine 4 oz cream cheese with rhubarb mixture. Serve with crackers or mini bagels, or on apple wedges.

Author: Melanie Plesko

Spasso: A Genuine Gelateria

Maybe it’s my desperation for warmer weather or maybe it’s simply because the stuff is so good that I’ve developed an addiction to the gelato at Spasso Caffè & Gelateria in Needham Center. This isn’t a valid review since I’m completely biased: I buy a quart every week and love Spasso’s friendly staff. I’m Spasso's irresistible gelatonot a big ice cream eater, except maybe on the most sweltering August days, but gelato is different. The sugar in some ice creams can overwhelm the advertised flavor. I find gelato finer in texture, intense in flavor, and full-bodied without being brick-heavy on the stomach. Gelato, compared with ice cream, contains more milk than cream and has less butterfat (5-8% vs. 10-20%). Less air is churned during the freezing process, so it retains a dense richness. You end up with more bang for your buck, or in this case, your calorie.

Curtis Grace, the owner of Spasso, is a second generation gelato maker. His mom, an adventurous home cook, experimented with hand-cranked ice cream and then gelato, learning the real deal in Italy. Her first gelato sales came from an ice cream cart, and with that success opened a restaurant. Grace extends the tradition with a menu of over 40 flavors. His gelato contains 7-8% butterfat with natural ingredients like skim milk, some cream, sugar, purees, and concentrates. Grace explains, “The low butterfat content intensifies the flavors, which therefore have to be the best quality.” Sticking with the Italian theme, Spasso also serves paninis, expresso, and very soon, crepes or crespella in Italian.

My current addiction is stracciatella, similar to chocolate chip, with a smooth vanilla base and evenly blended dark chocolate flecks. The other flavors vary from fruit (mango, key lime, banana) to classic (coffee chocolate chip, mint oreo, pistachio) to unusual (rose petal, Dulce de Leche)—enough choices for everyone in the family.

Gelato isn’t quite health food of course, but that may be a good thing. A small colorful 4 oz. cup lets you choose the flavor you really want without the guilt, yet feel entirely satisfied knowing it’s not “diet” food. I also love the idea of strolling out for dessert, particularly to a super-cute, cheery café like Spasso, where you can sit down and savor such a lovely treat.

Spasso: A Genuine Gelateria