Ugly ducklings
They might have been yucky when you were young, but these foods are worth a second taste
By Julie Deardorff Tribune Newspapers
As a kid, Milwaukee's Kristine Hinrichs routinely choked down boiled cabbage so she'd be allowed to leave the dinner table. It wasn't until Hinrichs grew up and left home that she made a startling discovery: Cabbage was nutritious -- and could also be delicious.
It's not easy giving certain foods a second chance. But if you're looking to add some nutritional powerhouses into your diet, as Hinrichs was, food experts say it might be worth revisiting dishes you might previously have despised.
"Our taste sensations, interpretation and appreciation can change over time," said Mayo Clinic weight management specialist Dr. Donald Hensrud. "There's also some conditioning that goes on; we learn to like certain foods and we get used to them over time."
Take milk. Years ago we typically drank it whole and complained that skim milk tasted like water. But skim grew on us. "Now when you go back to whole milk, it tastes like cream," said Hensrud, author of The Mayo Clinic Diet.
You may also have an aversion to foods that weren't prepared right or, like cabbage, have a sulfureous odor. But "it's possible that if you don't get that smell, you find something like broccoli more pleasant," said Marci Pelchat of the Monell Center, a Philadelphia-based taste and smell research institute.
Hensrud doesn't recommend forcing anything down; eating should be enjoyable. But he does think most of us underestimate our ability to change. Unless you're a supertaster -- or someone born with a sensitive sense of taste -- consider experimenting with some of the following polarizing foods:
1. Sardines Turn offs: Strong fishy taste. Tiny bones. Can be packed in tomato sauce. Reputation as a frugality food. Turn ons: High in vitamin D and loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which protect your heart and brain. Lots of protein, calcium and selenium. Low on the marine food chain so toxins such as like mercury don't accumulate. Inexpensive. Portable when canned.
How to eat them: Avoid sardines packed in vegetable oil, which are high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. Try "a squeeze of lemon, toasted red chile, extra virgin olive oil and mixed green herbs over garlicky al dente whole wheat fettucine," said Dr. John LaPuma, a chef and the medical director for the Santa Barbara Institute for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight. Or buy the kind dressed up with mustard or pesto.
2. Beets Turn offs: Earthy flavor, slippery texture, can turn urine a startling pink color (a phenomenon called "beeturia"). Dissed by President Barack Obama and excluded from the White House garden. Turn ons: An excellent liver tonic and blood purifier. Beets have both betaine and folate which work to reduce homocystein, a naturally occurring amino acid that can be harmful to blood vessels, said nutrition expert Jonny Bowden in his book, the "150 healthiest Foods on Earth." High in potassium, which is also important for heart health. Contains the most sugar of any vegetable, yet is low in calories. How to eat them: Baked, broiled, steamed or shredded raw and added to salads. Borscht is a traditional Russian beet soup. The leaves have even more nutritional value than the roots.
3. Licorice Turn offs: Strong tart taste and smell. Turn ons: Licorice root -- the herb, not the candy -- is known for having a soothing effect on mucus membranes in the throat, lungs and bronchial tubes. It can also be used to treat everything from athlete's foot to ulcers, according to James Duke, the former chief of the Medicinal Plant Resources Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. How to eat it: Buy it as a standardized herb and add it as a sweetener to aromatic teas, suggested Duke, the author of "The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods." But long-term use has side effects; don't use it regularly for longer than six weeks and don't take it if you're pregnant or under medical care.
4. Wheatgrass Turn offs: Wretched taste and smell. Considered a pet food. Grass clippings take a while to get used to. Turn ons: So easy to grow you can raise your own in a small space at your office desk. Loaded with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll. "A blade of wheatgrass is far more nutrient-dense, calorie for calorie, than the grain of wheat from which it sprouts, writes David Sandoval in "The Green Foods Bible." How to eat it: Must be juiced; drink no more than 4 ounces a day try to mask the nasty taste by mixing with apple juice.
5. Tomatoes Turn offs: Contain a slimy, jelly-like substance around the seeds; thin skin, grainy pulp and seeds. Sweetness and acidity can vary, depending on the variety and how early they were picked. (The longer a tomato has to mature on the vine, the higher the sugar content can be). Turn ons: Lycopene-rich (red) tomatoes can help reduce your risk for heart disease and certain cancers, including pancreatic and prostate, said LaPuma. Cooked tomatoes -- including canned tomatoes and paste, juice, tomato soup and ketchup -- contain up to eight times more available lycopene than raw tomatoes. Excellent source of vitamins A, C and K, and a good source of potassium, fiber and other phytonutrients. How to eat them: Eating tomatoes with fat helps the body absorb their lycopene. The whole tomato has the greatest health benefits, so get the tomato paste products with peels, said LaPuma. Organic ketchup contains three times more lycopene than non-organic ketchup, said LaPuma. Use ketchup with burgers to help offset the carcinogenic compounds created when meat is charred.
6. Grasshoppers Turn offs: Crunchy; buggy taste and texture. Turn ons: High in protein, calcium and iron. Crickets (75.8 milligrams) have almost twice the calcium as grasshoppers, according to the Iowa State Entomology Department. Way to eat them: Melt baker's chocolate in double boiler. Fill molds halfway with chocolate, add grasshoppers, fill rest of the way.
7. Broccoli Turn offs: Sulfureous smell. Famously disliked by President George H.W. Bush. Turn ons: An abundance of antioxidants make broccoli one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Aside from its anti-cancer properties such as sulforaphane, broccoli is a nutritional powerhouse that contains vitamins A, C and K, as well as folate and fiber. Has antibacterial properties that kill Helicobacter pylori, bacteria that cause ulcers and play a role in stomach cancer. How to eat it: Use it in dips, casseroles, soups, lasagna, stir fry and salads, suggested chef Dana Jacobi, author of 10 best-selling cookbooks. Or try it on a crudite platter, on pizza, tossed with pasta, pureed as a side dish, added to frittatas and quiche. "Chop up leftover cooked broccoli and add it to chili, sloppy joes, soups and other dishes when you reheat them," she wrote in "The 12 Best Foods."
8. Brussels sprouts Turn offs: Resemble tiny cabbages. Parents or grandparents cooked them into oblivion. Sulfur content gives them an unappetizing odor. Turn ons: Has a higher concentration of glucosinolates than any other plants in the prestigious, cancer-fighting cruciferous vegetable family. An excellent source of vitamins C and K and a very good source of folate, vitamin A, fiber, potassium, and vitamin B6 and B1, said LaPuma. How to eat them: Trim the sprouts, then toss with olive oil, salt and crushed garlic, roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes until tender. Use as little water as possible when boiling or steaming so the glucosinolates don't leak out.
9. Cabbage Turn offs: Bad childhood memories. When overcooked, produces the smell of rotten eggs. Too much cabbage may make you gassy. Turn ons: One cup of shredded, boiled cabbage has just 33 calories but has 4 filling grams of fiber. Loaded with phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. May reduce your risk of cancer and has a protective effect on the brain. Fermented cabbage (sauerkraut and kimchi) is a non-dairy source of probiotics, or bacteria that have a health benefit. The lactic acid in sauerkraut may help you absorb iron. How to eat it: Can be steamed, fried, boiled, braised or baked. Use it cooked or raw in dishes from corned beef and cabbage, soups and stews to cold dishes such as coleslaw, said registered dietitian Dave Grotto, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. Cut fresh cabbage and sprinkle with lemon. Seek out Germans: Hinrichs discovered dozens of new ways to prepare it after moving to a town with a strong German heritage.
Copyright © 2009, The Morning Call
References:
The Morning Call. 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. <http://www.mcall.com/health/all-uglyfood-121409,0,3785967.story>.
