Iceberg to Arugula

More than 20 years ago, I fell in love with a cool, smooth Greek. Now, if you’re expecting a tale of sultry Hellenic interludes, I’m afraid I will disappoint here because I am referring to Greek yogurt. At that time, all my palate knew about yogurt was that it was sugar sweetened, gelatin stabilized and unnaturally colored. So where was I when I made this discovery? In London….of course. You see, at the time, I was a hungry, scrubby, just-off-the-boat, backpack wearing, Eurail jumping, youth hostel crashing, college student wandering around Europe for an undetermined amount of time. Short on money and long on taste buds, I’d happily eaten my way through France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland….and then I got to England. Now, before I continue, I have to say that my travels occurred well before the more recent (and welcome!) rise of the “Gastropub” and resurgence of quality regional cooking in England. I’d eaten my way through mushy Quiches, tasteless pasties and pallid produce. One evening, trawling the grocery for SOMETHING to eat, I came across a carton of “Ski Cool” Greek yogurt….and my love affair started. Once I got back to the U.S., I tried straining plain yogurt and adding fresh honey or fruit, but it just wasn’t the same. Nowadays, I’m finding it much easier to get the real stuff, and….while I’m not positive, I think my husband might be a tad bit jealous.

Try this for breakfast:
1 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 Tbsp honey- any variety you like
1/4c. each toasted walnuts and granola
2 chopped fresh apricots (though dried will do as well)

Drizzle the honey over the yogurt and add the nuts, granola and fruit on top. The honey and apricots add wonderful floral notes, the same effect can be achieved by adding fresh fig instead of the apricots.
Enjoy!

I’m aware that the name of my blog may suggest some lingering disapproval of iceberg’s place in the pantheon of vegetables. But the truth is, I love this pallid sister of the lettuces and I’m not afraid to say that…really. Even though in snobby foodie circles, admitting such a thing could be considered akin to confessing you pick your nose.

So how did this happen? How did iceberg become such a pariah? I can’t say for sure, but I have my own ideas.  I think iceberg has sort of an identity problem. It’s thought of as a food that has little or no nutrient value and one that people with immature or unsophisticated palates eat. This is the same label bestowed by highfalutin wine drinkers on those who dare to admit they like White Zinfandel.

I do not agree. First of all, I have an issue with food snobbery altogether, (though that is a post for another day). My argument is simply this: what iceberg does not bring to the table in flavor and color, it brings in pure crunchy texture. Like most whole, natural foods, when grown and prepared well, iceberg can really shine. Perhaps the highest culinary expression for iceberg is the fresh wedge salad dressed with good quality blue cheese.

This wedge is done with an herbed vinaigrette

The worst? The dried out, slightly brown around the edges, roughly chopped, prebagged variety with a few desiccated, scabbed up chips of carrot and radish thrown in for variety. Not my idea of a good time.           

Wouldn’t it be ironic to take this supposed low nutrient, pedestrian food and use it to improve the quality of your diet? Iceberg eaten alone doesn’t provide much culinary excitement, but pairing it with other higher nutrient foods (see tips below) can provide a great flavor and texture experience.  In his book, The Elements of Taste, Chef Gray Kunz states that crunch is to food as an explanation point is to the end of the sentence. It makes you stand up and take notice of what you are eating.

Huh?

 When was the last time you really, really took notice of what you were eating?  (No, that Hot Pocket doesn’t count). I’ve said it before (see the Meals That Make You Go Wow post) the more aware we are about what we are really eating, the better quality diet we tend to have.  There you go.

Now, for those of you ready to bravely step forward and declare your love for iceberg, here are a few tips for its care and handling.

• Use it quickly! Like all fruits and veggies, it shouldn’t be left to sit around until the edges begin to look like burnt parchment. When you buy it, know how and when you are going to use it. (Incidentally, that’s a good rule for all vegetables). As a general rule, I try not to buy or harvest fruits and veggies that I won’t be using within 3 days. Exceptions are things like onions and garlic which keep longer.
• Buy it in season. (Also a good rule for all fruits and vegetables). Salad greens tend to be at their peak flavor and nutrition during the late spring and early summer months.
• Buy it local. Iceberg lettuce got its name because it was originally bred to survive the long trip cross country to market in a refrigerated boxcar. However, that said, fruits and veggies tend to be much fresher, crisper and flavorful the more local they are. It also supports your local economy. Visit the Local Harvest link on the home page to find local markets and sources in your area.
•  Dress it appropriately, iceberg has a hearty, crisp texture. Because of this, it really needs a creamy or a thick, well emulsified dressing to stand up to it. A thinner oil and vinegar or fruit juice based dressing will just get lost and be wasted. Save the lighter dressings for lighter, softer and thinner greens such as mesclun or mache. Check the “Recipes” link (coming soon) on the home page for some homemade dressing and iceberg lettuce ideas. 
• When using it in salads, boost the color, flavor, nutrient content and interest by pairing it up with sturdy ingredients such as sugar pea pods, fresh shredded carrots, olives, red onions, broccoli florets, bell pepper strips and other sturdy darker greens such as Romaine.  Also good is to add copious amounts of chopped fresh herbs, a few handfuls of finely chopped parsley does wonders for an iceberg based salad.
• Beans add a creamy textured foil to the iceberg, try garbanzo or red kidney beans.
• Add iceberg to dishes where a crunchy or snappy texture is desirable: like on a hearty sandwich.
• In my humble opinion, it’s the best green to add to a burger because it beautifully retains its crisp texture so well in the face of the hot beef.
• Prep it well. Remove the tough core with an oddly satisfying two step process.  1. With the core facing down, lift the head with both hands about 6 inches off a solid surface (say the nearest counter) 2. Smartly thwack it down against the surface. If you did it correctly, the core will easily pull out. This is guaranteed to impress your kids! (At least the first time). Remove the first and/or second outer leaves as needed. Cut as desired (shreds, wedges, etc) drench with fresh water and spin dry, or in the case of the wedges, wash and then place cut ends downward in a colander to drain out.
• Enjoy!!!

I’m really picky about my ice. Now for me this is saying a lot, because generally I try hard not to be labeled as a high maintenance person as I go through my life. My husband always looks a bit puzzled as I routinely dump our ice bucket from the freezer every 4-5 days. He doesn’t say anything, but I know he thinks it’s probably some kind of dietitian sanitation ritual.

But no….that’s not it at all. I’m trying to avoid funky ice. Specifically, I’m trying to avoid the subpar experience of garnishing my post workout glass of water with funktacular, partially dehydrated, beef stew laced ice cubes.  In my mind there is really nothing worse (though processed cheese food comes to mind) than being horridly thirsty after working out, practically dying for something cool to drink and have no choice but to use the mutant ice.

Beef stew flavored ice???? Allow me to explain. Ice is really good at picking up other flavors in the refrigerator and freezer. The result is generally not terribly pleasant. Since I tend to cook with copious amounts of garlic, my refrigerator usually smells that way and alas…so does my ice unless I care enough to change it regularly. So since I am not lucky enough at this juncture to have a refrigerator that spits out ice on demand (which I think probably makes the issue less of an issue), I will continue with my dumping ritual.

So I guess what I’m, really trying to say in this post is that I really think ice quality is important. Most of us need to drink more water anyway, so perhaps caring more about the ice that goes in that water will help us drink more.

P.S. Incidentally ice cream also absorbs off flavors and should be consumed quickly to avoid this problem as well. Though truth be told, that’s not really the reason ice cream doesn’t last very long in my freezer. J

When I was a teenager, my mom began taking me out to eat at some of the fancier restaurants in town. She felt it was important to introduce me to a style of eating that was beyond the macaroni and cheese and meatloaf type meals I was used to. One of these first outings was at a fine restaurant at an upscale local hotel. Looking at the menu I found several dishes I’d never heard of or was horrified at the thought of eating (snails, brains). Looking for something vaguely familiar I settled on a Filet Mignon with Lingonberry Sauce. I remember thinking the fruit/meat combination was weird but I figured I would just scrape the sauce off. But when the meal arrived I was just shocked. I’d never seen a plate of food look so gorgeous. The steak was beautifully grilled and juicy nestled in a pool of the deep reddish purple berry sauce. Tucked in around the steak were a variety of vibrant crisp-tender seasonal vegetables and baby red potatoes. The first bite didn’t disappoint either. The steak was extraordinarily tender, rich, beefy with hints of caramel resulting from the perfect grill job. The lingonberries further enhanced the dish by contributing sweetness that rounded out the other flavors. It was a drastic departure from what I was used to in a dining experience. It was my first “Wow” meal.

Just about everyone can think back to a meal they’ve eaten at some point in their life as a wow experience. The wow meal is one that sticks in your head years after you’ve eaten it because it made you stop and take notice. The experience is different for everyone and it doesn’t need to be related to a fancy meal. It can be as simple as a perfectly roasted chicken or an exquisitely ripe, sweet orange at the peak of the season.

I believe wow meals serve a purpose besides holding a distinctive place in our memories; they may help us eat more healthfully by helping us discern what is worth eating and what is not. I can eat buckets of pizza rolls and never have a wow moment for all the calories I consumed. Given a choice, I would much rather eat a small wedge of lasagna bursting with tomatoes, pungent cheese and spicy basil than a weight loss shake. I’ve yet to hear anyone who’s had a wow moment with a weight loss shake. This flies in the face of the “if it tastes good, it’s not good for you” idea but we all know how easy it is to eat large quantities of mediocre food without noticing. Wow foods slap you in the face and force you to notice. Well prepared and intelligently selected food remind us that cuisine is a form of art. This is easy to forget when we are so rushed that we settle for mediocre meals that fill the belly but not the soul. Wow foods encourage to eat more slowly, (which usually means you eat less) and leave you feeling more satisfied.

There is no shortage of mediocre food in this country, but for those willing to try to cultivate a better way of eating, here are some ideas. There are a few great food combinations that always go well together, sampling these combinations can help educate your palate to the synergy that occurs between certain ingredients to produce the wow experience. A few of my favorites include beef and red wine stewed or braised together or fresh basil pesto sauce made with garlic, toasted pine nuts and freshly grated Parmesano Reggiano cheese. Learning to select excellent produce is also a key consideration. There is nothing that can beat a perfectly ripe fruit or vegetable. A good place to learn is from a knowledgeable produce manager at the grocery store or from the farmer who grew it as in the local Farmers Market. For the ultimate experience in educating your palate, try a class in French cookery. The French have mastered the art of the Wow experience focusing on simple but very well prepared foods rather than relying on exotic ingredients or recipes. The next best thing to taking a class is to consult Julia Child, her “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” which focuses on teaching techniques rather than recipes.

I have yet to work up the nerve to try snails or brains, but I have come a long way from my humble meatloaf beginnings and my palate is much happier for it.