Tasty Recipes from Recipe Wizards

On Sunday, we celebrate fathers. There are dads like Sir Paul McCartney, former Beatle and avid PETA spokesman. Other vegetarian fathers of note include Jonathan Safran Foer, author of “Eating Animals,” and Chris Martin, frontman for Coldplay and one of PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarians.

For the most part, though, vegetarian dads are thin on the ground. I’ve been on a meatless message for decades, and my own father is still not big into veggies. In fact, he’ll pick the produce out of dishes like a veg-phobic 6-year-old.

This led me to Dr. Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a vegan for 25 years. He often advises and assures parents who worry when their kids give up meat. Rarely does he counsel veggie girls like me looking to get more produce in their papas.

In both cases, though, his message is the same. Barnard cites the American Dietetic Association, which last year stated: “Vegetarian diets are often associated with a number of health advantages,” including lower cholesterol, blood pressure and body mass and reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Scads of other studies indicate that forgoing meat just one day a week can improve your health. This is compelling as far as I’m concerned. However, it may not be enough to make your father swap a burger for broccoli (believe me, I’ve tried).

Here, too, Barnard’s recommendation is the same as it is for parents trying to coax carrots into their kids: “Don’t fight over vegetables your child doesn’t like. Just serve the ones that do go over well.”

Even veg-phobic dads won’t mind slogging a celery stick through a bowl of garlicky hummus. They can do so without losing their patriarchal dignity and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing they’re getting fiber and protein from the chickpeas, minerals including copper, calcium and iron from the tahini (sesame seed paste), plus goodness from the hummus delivery system – fresh vegetables.

Fathers – they’re so cute at this age.

FATHER’S DAY HUMMUS

Serve with pita wedges or crusty whole-grain bread, celery, carrot sticks, radishes, strips of fresh red or green pepper, lightly steamed broccoli florets – any vegetables your father will eat.

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 2 cups cooked chickpeas

1/2 cup cooking liquid or vegetable broth

1 garlic clove

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/8 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Chopped fresh cilantro

Olive oil (optional)

Pour chickpeas, cooking liquid, garlic, lemon juice and tahini into a food processor or blender. Cover and whiz for a minute or so, until mixture turns pale and beautifully creamy. Add seasonings and process briefly to mix. Garnish with cilantro and a drizzle of olive oil. Makes 2 cups, serving 6 to 8.

Per \-cup serving: 117 calories (33 percent from fat), 4 g fat (0.5 g saturated, 2 g monounsaturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 303 mg sodium.

(Ellen Kanner writes about vegetarian concerns. She blogs at www.edgyveggie1.blogspot.com.)

When you reach for that afternoon snack, don’t just count calories – consider caloric density.

Scientifically speaking, caloric density is the number of calories contained in 1 gram of food. But what does that mean for your diet?

“There are two components that play into caloric density: water content and fiber content,” said Jeannie Gazzaniga-Moloo, registered dietitian and American Dietetic Association spokeswoman. “Generally foods that are high in water and fiber are going to be lower in calorie density: fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes.”

Foods that are high in water and fiber also keep you feeling full.

“If you have an apple and you compare that to 2 ounces of potato chips – which are a very high calorie-density food – because of the water and fiber in the apple, you’ll feel just as full as if you ate 2 ounces of chips. But the chips have about five times the number of calories.”

Several diets, including the Pritikin Principle and the Okinawa Diet, are based on caloric density. The Okinawa Diet sets up a food pyramid with “heavyweight” foods at the top, to be eaten sparingly, and “featherweight” foods at the bottom, to be eaten freely. Heavyweights include full-fat cheeses, high-fat meats, such as bacon, and processed foods, such as corn chips and doughnuts. (Processing often strips out fiber and water.) Featherweights include fruits, vegetables, fat-free yogurt, water-based soups and tofu.

But high caloric density isn’t always a bad thing, said Gazzaniga-Moloo.

“Nuts and seeds and avocados, which have a very high calorie density, can still be included as part of a healthful diet because they contain fiber and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are hard to get in low calorie dense foods,” she said.

So if you’re looking to pack in maximum nutrients with minimum calories and stave off hunger pangs, aim for a diet filled with low calorie dense foods, sprinkled with some healthful high calorie dense choices.

“In a nutshell,” said Gazzaniga-Moloo, “it’s another measure that can help us identify healthful foods that should form the basis of our diets.”

Now that the eggnog has settled into your thighs and your belly is bulging with stuffing, the time is ripe for the annual pledge to eat more healthfully in the coming year – but this time, you’re sticking with it.

Sarah Krieger, a personal chef and dietitian in Tampa, Fla., and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, offered five easy resolutions for healthful eating in 2010.

1. Make it a habit to buy fruits and vegetables every time you go to the grocery store. Variety is important: If you typically eat apples and green salads, work in some citrus, bananas and grapes. Fresh is best, but canned and frozen also work as long as they don’t contain added salt and sugar.

2. Cook at home more often. When you eat out, typically the portions are larger and you can’t control the ingredients. Keep your simplest and most frequently used cookbooks near your grocery shopping list for easy access.

3. Lower your salt intake. Everyone should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, and people with heart disease and other risk factors should get less than 1,500 milligrams. Check nutrition labels. Some foods, such as breakfast cereals, are surprisingly sodium-heavy.

4. Eat something with protein and fiber within an hour of waking up in the morning to help jump-start your metabolism. Try a hard-cooked egg and a glass of milk, grab an apple or granola bar on your way out the door. Krieger’s favorite: a banana with peanut butter.

5. Experiment with natural flavor boosters so that you don’t depend so much on packaged foods. Grow fresh herbs on your window sill and add them to tomato sauce. Try lemon, lime and orange zest in soups, salads and marinades.

We highly recommend the Tufts Health Letter as gripping bedtime reading. It recently turned its attention to aspartame. Take our quiz on the popular sugar substitute.

1. The American Dietetic Association recently performed an “evidence analysis” and determined that aspartame does not “make you more hungry,” lead to weight gain or result in “ill effects to health.” Where did the ADA get much of its funding for the research?

a) The Center for Science in the Public Interest

b) C&H Sugar Co.

c) Ajinomoto Sweeteners, a leading aspartame manufacturer

2. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, results in 2007 from a long-term animal study by an Italian cancer institute showed that rats given the sweetener had increases in which conditions?

a) Leukemia

b) Breast cancer

c) Both

3. As a table sweetener, aspartame is found in which two brands?

a) NutraSweet and Equal

b) Sweet’N Low and Sweet Twin

c) Splenda and Truvia

4. True or false: Aspartame is 180 to 220 times sweeter than sugar.

5. In what year did the Food and Drug Administration approve aspartame for use?

a) 1968

b) 1976

c) 1981

6. The American Dental Association supports research showing the following about aspartame:

a) It does not contribute to tooth decay

b) It does not promote the buildup of plaque

c) Both

ANSWERS: 1: c; 2: c; 3: a; 4: True; 5: c; 6: c

Sources: www.fda.gov; www.tuftshealthletter.com; www.cspinet.org; www.aboutaspartame.com

The American Dietetic Association, which is always looking for alternatives to artery-clogging food choices, recently examined veggie burgers on the grill for summer.

Take this quiz based on research by registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner.

1. Which vegetables usually turn up as ingredients in most veggie burgers with 10 grams or less of protein?

a) mushrooms, onions, celery

b) carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes

c) spinach, broccoli, zucchini

d) all of the above

e) none of the above

2. Which whole grain does not turn up in most veggie burgers?

a) brown rice

b) barley

c) bulgur wheat

d) rolled oats

3. Veggie burgers with more than 10 grams of protein contain little in the way of actual vegetables or whole grains. What do they contain?

a) soy protein

b) wheat gluten

c) both

4. True or false: Veggie hot dogs contain more protein than franks made from meat.

5. How much more sodium does a veggie burger contain than unseasoned beef or turkey burgers?

a) twice

b) three times

c) five times

d) 15 times

ANSWERS: 1: d; 2: b; 3: c; 4: true; 5: c

Source: American Dietetic Association

Since time immemorial, adults have been telling kids, “Spit out that gum.” Turns out, the adults should be chewing gum as a way to reduce calories. Take our gum quiz.

1. How many calories are in a serving (one stick) of sugar-free gum?

a) 0-4 calories

b) 5-10 calories

c) 10-15 calories

2. According to a study published in the journal Appetite in 2007, chewing gum three hours before an afternoon snack saw what results:

a) a consumption of 36 fewer calories in the afternoon snack than among non-gum chewers

b) a 42 percent greater need to consume fluids instead of solid food during the afternoon snack

c) a 28 percent increase in repetitive temporomandibular joint discomfort

3. True or false: The benefits for the group involved in the 2007 study were seen only in a subgroup chewing sugar-free gum.

4. True or false: According to the American Dietetic Association, chewing gum may help improve alertness and concentration, and help relieve daily stresses like driving in traffic or waiting in line.

5. The ADA says psychiatrists and psychologists suggest that two main reasons people chew gum are to:

a) placate anger and frustration

b) deal with mother issues and abandonment feelings

c) relieve tension and boredom

ANSWERS: 1: b; 2: a; 3: false (both regular and sugar-free chewers consumed fewer calories); 4: true; 5: c.

Source: American Dietetic Association (www.eatright.org)