This week Jen Saffron from Sprezzatura and your truly (the Saffron and Sass dynamic duo) had a chance to visit the Gardens of Millvale for our Facebook live. I am always in awe of farmers and think all of us need to be in the know about how foods grow. Flowers, herbs, tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, peaches, watermelons and more- what comes from the ground can up your nutrition score.
This is root camp, baby! Hands on, hands on- appreciating the yield from the field and do better mentality of creating opportunities in the Millvale community by giving away over 300 pounds of produce to those in need. #feedtheneedtohelpotherssucceed with #HaveaPlant
We talked about why we shouldn’t demonize foods. There is lots of nutrition misinformation and one of the myths that really ticks me off is that you should avoid nightshade family vegetables such as eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers. These foods DO NOT cause inflammation and should not be avoided unless you have an allergy to them they bother you or you don’t like them. The fact is that they can actually help to decrease inflammation so include rather than exclude them.
That beautiful plate of eggplant is pan sauteed with olive oil, flavored with mint, a little feta and balsamic. Eggplant is so versatile and can be roasted for a dip such as baba ghanouj, cooked with tomatoes, peppers and onions for a caponata, grilled and stacked with sliced tomatoes, pesto and fresh mozzarella for a s’more that soars!
