Happy Tasty Tuesday!!!

Today, the Morselist presents Jackie Mills, R.D. and cookbook author:

www.deliciousdiabetescooking.com

What led you to become a Registered Dietitian?

For as long as I can remember, even as a very young child, I was always interested in food and cooking. I loved to cook with my mom and I was lucky to have a mom who did cook and took the time to teach me what she knew.

How long have you been practicing?

I became a Registered Dietitian in 1982.

Do you have a specialty?

My specialty is recipe development, nutrition analysis, recipe editing, and writing. I’ve written three cookbooks, the latest being 1,000 Diabetes Recipes, which was published by Wiley this fall.

Who are your clients?

My clients are magazines such as Cooking Light, cookbook publishers such as Weight Watchers and Andrews McMeel, and health advocacy organizations such as the American Heart Association.

What are the top 3 things you teach/educate your clients?

Since my “clients” are mostly consumers of my recipes, I strive to make each dish 1) packed with flavor, 2) easy to prepare, and 3) nutritious. It’s much easier to make flavorful meals that taste great and are good for you than most people think. In fact, my guiding principle in what I do is “making good nutrition delicious.”

How do you live your life/lifestyle?

Living in New York City, I don’t have a car, so I walk miles and miles every week. I am, I would guess, about 90% vegetarian. I belong to a Community Supported Agriculture program where I get a weekly delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables about 9 months of the year. There’s also a Sunday farmers’ market 2 blocks from my apartment where I shop every week. When I do eat meat or fish, when at all possible, I buy it from local producers or fishermen at the farmers’ market.

Do you believe our genes are our fate or more that we are what eat and how we choose to live?

I absolutely believe that diet has a direct effect on health, and a recent study conducted by researchers in Canada found evidence of it. In the study, people with “bad” genes who ate a “bad” diet had a 30% increased risk for a heart attack. However, people with the “bad” genes who ate a fruit and vegetable-rich diet, had no increase in heart disease risk.

My philosophy is that even if you don’t believe you can do anything about bad genes, that’s no reason to eat bad food. A diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, and lean meats tastes so much better than processed food or fast food. All it takes is a little time in the kitchen.

What kinds of treats do you recommend to your sweet toothed clients?

Fruit! I am big promoter of eating fruit throughout the day as snacks and for as dessert as well. Fruits give you the sweetness that you crave, yet it’s loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that your body needs. Most fruits also have some fiber, which means they digest more slowly than a sugary treat and leave you feeling fuller longer.

Diabetes is rampant on both sides of my family and I’ve created a 1g sugar NO sodium

baked treat/morsel in honor of my Dad, which I eat almost every night.

I do my best to follow a low sugar(mainly fruits)/no added sugar diet.

Do you believe most people, diabetic or not, should maintain this type of diet?

Yes, I do. The obesity problem that our nation has would be greatly reduced if people just cut out the sugar. The thing most people don’t realize is that that means cutting out almost all processed foods as well, since you won’t find too many boxed foods or frozen meals that don’t have sugar in them. I am not completely anti-sugar. I think it’s ok to have an occasional sweet treat, but “occasional” is not every day. And sugar-sweetened drinks: never.

Why do think so many restaurants and food companies add so much sugar to their dishes, 

including savory dishes?

Because the food has no flavor in and of itself, so they have to add something that you perceive as “good” so you’ll keep buying the product. You can’t take a factory-farmed chicken, cut it into pieces, coat it with preservatives and chemicals, cook it along with thousands of other pieces of chicken, put it in a plastic container, freeze it, ship it a thousand miles, then microwave it at home and have it taste good. There’s nothing “good” in there. A popular brand of frozen chicken and pasta entrée has almost 40—yes, 40—ingredients, most of which you would not recognize as food.

Secondly, I believe that many people don’t know what fresh food tastes like. They’ve eaten processed boxed and frozen food for so long that they expect food to be over-salted, over-sweetened, over-processed food that resembles nothing close to real food. Your taste buds become acclimated to all the sugar and salt, and that’s what you crave, so you keep buying the processed food and the companies keep making it. There is a solution, though, and it’s one that almost everyone has right at hand. It’s called a kitchen.

In fact, here is a recipe for you, Morselites to make in YOUR kitchen, from Jackie’s own cookbook:

From 1,000 Diabetes Recipes by Jackie Mills, R.D. (Wiley, 2011)

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470407441.html

Moroccan Bean Stew

Makes 4 servings

Navy beans are commonly used to make baked beans, but you can use them in any soup, stew, or chili that calls for cannellini beans. Navy beans are smaller than cannellini beans—they’re about the size of a large pea. In this recipe, they lend their creamy texture to a vibrantly spiced bean and vegetable stew.

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes

2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added navy beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 teaspoons honey

Chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and tilt the pan to coat the bottom evenly. Add the celery, carrot, and onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, paprika, ginger, turmeric, pepper, salt, and cinnamon and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the broth, tomatoes, beans, and tomato paste and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the vegetables are tender and the stew is thickened, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and honey.

3. Ladle the stew evenly into 4 bowls, sprinkle with the cilantro, and serve at once. The stew can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

Each serving: 47 g carb, 265 cal, 4 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 0 mg chol, 15 g fib, 13 g pro, 225 mg sod

Jackie Mills, M.S., R.D., is a nutrition expert and cookbook author. She has written cookbooks with the American Medical Association and the American Diabetes Association and her latest book is 1,000 Diabetes Recipes (October 2011, Wiley). Jackie has served as a food editor at Redbook magazine and at Southern Living magazine. She develops delicious, healthful, easy-to-make recipes that satisfy the most discriminating clients and consumers. She lives in Jackson Heights, New York.