Calcium!

I hope everyone enjoyed the fantastic weekend we had! I took a few walks around my house and made a trip to the local farmer’s market. I’m really excited about the upcoming produce season! I also took a run around Green Lake- it’s such a beautiful spot when the sun is shining. This past week was a full one. I helped out at 5 classes and all were quite different. We had some fantastic fish tacos with an adobo chili and yogurt sauce- it almost burned my mouth off but was well worth it. We also made egg burritos, veggie stir fry and black bean and corn quesadillas, all quite yummy. I’m pretty lucky to have so many talented cooks and participants making delicious snacks for me.

One thing that we have to be careful of is making sure that no one gets sick or has an allergic reaction to the foods that we prepare in the class. This could mean a class without strawberries or nuts. An intolerance of particular concern is lactose intolerance. We try to make meals that do not contain dairy products when someone cannot consume them, or, we will put the dairy product on the side. But many people wonder how in the world they are going to get calcium if they cannot eat dairy products. No fear, there are options! One option would be to use dairy substitutes such as soy milk for milk because calcium is added to the soy milk so that it has the same amount of calcium as milk. But there are plenty of other options for getting the calcium needed for building and maintaining bones. Many plant products are actually quite good sources as are some animal products (like canned salmon, yum!).

Here are some non dairy sources:

Collard greens, 1 cup (357 mg)

Spinach, 1 cup (291 mg)

Soy beans, 1 cup (261mg)

Canned salmon with bones, 3 oz. (181 mg)

Calcium-set tofu, 3 oz (163 mg)

Oranges, 1 cup (72 mg)

Almonds, 1 oz (70 mg)

Fortified cereals (varies)

You can find more information and other sources at these two websites:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/calcium-sources/index.html

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR17/wtrank/sr17w301.pdf

Adults should get between 1000-1300 mg of Calcium a day, based on their sex and age. It’s important to incorporate calcium rich foods into your diet to maintain bone health, see below for a Cooking Matters Recipe that is a good (non-dairy) source of Calcium!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Janna

Pasta with Lima Beans and Collard Greens

By Chef Carole Wagner Greenwood in Washington, DC

Serves 12, 1 cup per serving

INGREDIENTS

1 13 oz. package whole wheat pasta
1 medium carrot
2 cloves garlic
2 medium onions
2 pounds (1 bunch) collard greens
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup water
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 15.5 oz. cans lima beans

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.

2. While pasta is cooking, peel, rinse and dice carrot and onions. Peel and mince garlic.

3. Rinse collard greens – more than once if necessary to remove all grit, remove tough stems and chop coarsely.

4. Heat canola oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat and sauté garlic, carrot, onion and greens until onions are soft.

5. Add water, spices and cook until greens are tender.

6. Drain and rinse beans in colander. Add beans to the greens. If needed, add a little more water to make a sauce.

7. Toss greens and beans with cooked pasta and cook for 5 more minutes or until pasta is heated through.

Contains 150 mg Calcium per serving.