A few years ago I read about a Russian woman who lived to the ripe old age of 117! I had to wonder what she ate. Could her diet have included plenty of beets? After all, beets are a favorite in Russian cuisine, and they are known to contain many important health benefits.

Beets date back as far as the second millennium BC where they were likely cultivated along the Mediterranean. They eventually spread to Babylonia, China and Europe. In 19^th century Germany, they became commercially important due to the discovery that sucrose (sugar) could be extracted from them.

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Every year, I look forward to the fall. Partly for my birthday celebrations, but mostly for the food! Ask anyone who knows me; they’ll tell you I am of the pumpkin persuasion. Simply meaning, come October I fall prey to many delicious pumpkin dishes, including pumpkin muffins, pumpkin soup, baked pumpkin, pumpkin pie and just about any other seasonal pumpkin dish you can think of.

Pumpkins are native to North America where they have been used as food for thousands of years. In the US, approximately 1½ billion pounds of pumpkins are grown each year. They can range in size from very small (less than a pound) to gargantuan (over one thousand pounds!). Available canned, frozen and fresh, pumpkin is harvested in time for the holidays but is available year-round. While frozen and canned pumpkin are certainly good choices, most folks don’t realize how simple it is to prepare fresh pumpkin. Here’s what I do:

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I remember the first time I ate authentic French food. I ordered a cassoulet and savored every bite of those flavorful little white beans, dozens of them, all perfectly nestled among chicken, sausages, vegetables, wine, tomatoes and herbs. If reincarnation was real, I wanted to come back French!

For this lifetime, though, I can at least cook all kinds of white beans myself, like navy beans, Cannellini beans (a relative of the kidney bean), lima beans, Great Northern beans and, of course, flageolets, the star of cassoulets.

Adding white beans to your menu plan adds good nutrition, versatility and ease. While cooking your own beans is always a noble option, for many people, time is of the essence! There are plenty of varieties of canned white beans available that don’t contain added preservatives and chemicals, Many are low in sodium and you’ll find organic varieties too. While popular in soups, white beans are just as delicious in spreads, dips, chili dishes, pasta and baked beans.

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In Louisiana, where I come from, there’s an unspoken law: Never be caught short on shrimp! I love shrimp just about any way you can cook it: poached, grilled, sautéed, broiled or breaded and fried. Shrimp pairs beautifully with herbs, spices and most sauces, making it a perfect accompaniment to grains and vegetables. It’s awesome in soups, salads and savory dishes. I even love shrimp on pizza and in quiche! But my first experience is always my favorite: Shrimp Etouffée — a specialty of my own great state.

And when you stock up on shrimp, it’s important to know what makes our farmed shrimp a great choice. We source from only three producers and have traceability back to their farms. And these are not your typical farms; our producers meet our standards for protecting the environment by avoiding mangrove areas to protect sensitive ecosystems and maintain good water quality. You’ll never find added phosphates or sulfates in our shrimp — we don’t want anything to take away from the sweet, delicate flavor of shrimp raised right. In fact, our shrimp are harvested to order and flash frozen within hours of harvest and you can taste the difference. Learn more about what sets our shrimp apart.

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Certain foods (like certain people) have unique and interesting reputations. Apples are a good example. Well-noted for “keeping the doctor away” and forever famed for causing temptation in the Garden of Eden, apples are rich in folklore and tradition. Remember Johnny Appleseed, the kind, yet eccentric humanitarian who wandered the frontier early in the 19^th century planting thousands of miles of apple orchards? Many are well-documented and still exist today!

Apples are harvested in autumn, in perfect time for cool-weather cooking and baking. Truth be told, apples create serious temptation when baked into crisps, stirred into pancake and muffin batter, roasted with fall vegetables, baked into casseroles, pureed into soups, or sautéed with aromatic spices. Far more than myth and lore, the ancient appeal of the tempting apple is downright reality!

Apples range in color, flavor and texture. Most can be eaten fresh and raw, but not all are good when it comes to cooking. These common varieties tend to hold up well in the kitchen: Gala, McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Winesap, Granny Smith, Pink Lady and Fuji.

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With the back-to-school and back-to-work grind of the fall, I’ve been focusing my blog posts on solutions for convenient, healthy meals. Last week, I took a look at building quick, smart sandwiches for busy weeknights. This week‘s post is all about pasta dinners — another smart, quick way to feed your family without falling prey to the fast food trap.

Perfect for busy weeknights, pasta is kid-friendly, easy to prepare, versatile, inexpensive and super satisfying. Remember to expand your horizons with pasta made from a range of grains — such as spelt, whole wheat and kamut, which are far more available these days than when I was a kid. And gluten-free pasta made from brown rice, buckwheat, corn and quinoa are easier to find and are gaining popularity fast, even among those for whom gluten is not a problem. These many varieties of pasta provide whole-grain nutrition with the added benefit of natural fiber.

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Convenience! It’s the number one, most important factor for many families when it comes to dinnertime. With all the after school and evening activities ramping up, preparing meals can be a real struggle. It’s no wonder many parents turn to fast food and junk food…it’s quick, it’s cheap and it’s convenient.

Sad to say, but good food choices often get thrown out the window when things get busy. That’s why I propose the ever-versatile sandwich as the quintessential “fast food” for dinner. Sandwiches are convenient, easy on the budget (if you nix the crab and caviar) and, best of all, cooking can be minimal or not required at all. What more can busy parents ask for?

While you might think of sandwiches as lunchtime fare, they are also the perfect answer for a quick dinner. Here are the basics:

• Choose good quality bread — preferably whole grain. Vary your choices with pita, a sprouted grain bun, an English muffin, a sandwich loaf, sourdough or whole grain rolls. Don’t forget tortillas — wraps count as sandwiches in my book too!
• Add a filling such as turkey, cheese, hummus, egg salad, tuna, sardines, tofu or avocado. Don’t go overboard on quantity, though. A “Dagwood” type sandwich may not be the most healthful choice.
• Pile on plenty of delicious, fresh veggies like grated carrots, sliced cucumbers and colorful bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions and sautéed mushrooms. Tip: Visit our salad bar and fill a container with toppings to go.
• Green it up! There’s a glorious gamut of gorgeous greens to give your sandwich color, flavor and a nutritional boost. Try baby spinach, arugula, watercress, fresh herbs, cabbage and a variety of lettuces.

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I love when food is fun! Growing up, I was lucky to have a mom who gave me free reign when it came to getting as creative as I could while packing my own school lunches. That’s when I learned the value of fabulous finger foods.

Although generally thought of as being kid-friendly, finger foods are just as much fun for grown-ups. Finger foods can be miniature versions of many popular dishes from appetizers and sandwiches to pizzas, gourmet foods and desserts. But when it comes to packing lunches and snacks, the cleaner and neater the better — requiring as few napkins as possible!

Here are my ideas for some no-fork, no-spoon, no-cooking–required finger foods. Combine several for a full lunch or pack one or two for snacks. Some of these can be served cold (pack with an ice pack) or warmed in the morning and placed in a thermos until lunchtime.

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I have to admit I love mayonnaise, especially when I make it myself, just like I plan to do this Labor Day. My sister and I share the picnic menu and, as always, my job includes making the potato salad with my homemade mayonnaise.

Just because I adore mayonnaise, though, doesn’t mean everyone else does. I remember the first time I saw a friend eat a hamburger without mayonnaise and all I could think was, “Why bother eating it at all?” I hate to admit it, but I have the same problem with potato salad. Just today, while asking advice from Paige, my Whole Foods Market friend and Team Leader, I was reminded that there is more to potato salad than just mayonnaise.

That sent me on a quest to discover the many possible variations such as tossing with vinaigrette, adding cheese, flavoring with mustard (like Paige does), and adding interesting additions of vegetables, proteins and fruit. Here’s a great assortment of potato salad ideas:
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This July, we had the hottest month on record! I’ve been staying indoors, drinking plenty of water and barely cooking, relying on salads and in particular, pasta salads. Being that I love a variety of natural whole grains, I’m thankful for pasta made from an alphabet of whole grains like amaranth, buckwheat, brown rice, corn, kamut, quinoa, spelt and whole wheat. These easy salads are portable, which makes them ideal for picnics, parties and barbeques.

In its basic form, pasta is dough from which a myriad of shapes and sizes are formed. Americans are most familiar with macaroni and cheese or spaghetti, an Italian favorite we love to smother in sauce. Yet pasta is so much more. It can be made with or without eggs and from an assortment of grains, including gluten-free grains. It can be stuffed, like tortellini or ravioli, or made with potatoes like gnocchi.

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