Monthly Archives: January 2010

Med Diet Could Lower Stomach Cancer Risk, Study Suggests

Eating a Mediterranean-style diet could help you lower your risk of stomach cancer by a third, a study from Europe suggests. “The results add to the evidence for the role of the Mediterranean diet in reducing cancer risk and add … Continue reading

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Olive Oil Set to Become Key California Crop-Study

Mover over Italy and Spain. Make way for California. California’s olive oil industry has been on a tear the past decade, producing extra virgin olive oil rivaling the EVOO made in Italy, Spain, France, and elsewhere. And it appears our … Continue reading

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Grapefruit Vinaigrette for Salad, Chicken, Seafood

Food writer Jessica Strand creates vinaigrettes that tend to be versatile. They’re great with salad and can serve as marinades or sauces for poultry, seafood and other fare. I wrote recently about her cookbook, Salad Dressings (Chronicle Books, 2008). I’d … Continue reading

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Chef Allen Susser’s Snapper w/ Orange & Mango Salsa

I’m back from Napa Valley and an amazing conference about healthy dining at the Culinary Institute of America. Chefs demonstrated dishes like farro and mushroom burgers. Avocado cake with figs was served as dessert at a meal. A citrus cucumber … Continue reading

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Olive Oil Could Help Women’s Bone Mass, Study Suggests

Italian film legend Sophia Loren attributes her natural beauty to “spaghetti and the odd bath in virgin olive oil.” I haven’t tried it myself. But Sophia seems to be on to something about the health benefits of olive oil. Greek … Continue reading

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Delicata Squash w/ Arugula, Persimmon, Cranberries & Feta

I’ve been attending a conference this week in Napa Valley at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in northern California. The topic: healthy dining. Here’s a dish that fits that bill. The recipe features delicata squash, pictured below. (My … Continue reading

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Health Study Suggests Olive Oil Could Help Fight Alzheimer’s

Newly published research adds to evidence suggesting that olive oil could play a role in fighting Alzheimer’s disease. A Spanish study suggests that a diet made up of foods rich in polyphenols such as olive oil, fruits, vegetables, and nuts … Continue reading

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Focaccia with Pumpkin Seeds and Thyme

In this country, we have bakeries. In Italy, they have focaccerias. I’m a focaccia fan. The flatbread hails from the Mediterranean coast. Its roots, I learned, date to antiquity. “In ancient Rome panis focacius denoted a flatbread cooked in the … Continue reading

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Do Those Blue Tasting Cups Really Hide an Olive Oil’s Color?

A friend thought my pair of  olive oil tasting cups would make perfect candleholders. She might just have a point. We recently saw a “Tweet” about the cobalt blue vessels: “Research shows that the blue EVOO tasting glasses don’t even … Continue reading

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Debunking Misinformation about Olive Oil & Cooking

We’re tuned into cyberspace – including Twitter and the blogosphere – so we see a lot of what people are saying about olive oil. Not surprisingly, we occasionally run across stuff that’s just plain wrong. Fortunately, there are plenty of … Continue reading

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