Health for life

After three years of farmers market shopping, I still don’t have a great handle on when fresh vegetables start showing up. Ive got a history with this seasonal amnesia, too: when I was little, I would be surprised every year when it was cold at Halloween. I got that one to stick, just in time to outgrow trick-or-treating, but then I spent years expecting trees to have leaves by mid-March.

And now, for the last few weeks, Ive gone to the farmers market with no idea whether Id find bountiful produce, or just more of last years apples.

For several spring weeks, its still been those dang apples (okay, and asparagus), but this past weekend I was finally met by a variety of veggies at the market. Following the rules of Barbara Kingsolvers Animal Vegetable Miracle, its mostly leafy greens – baby spinach, broccoli rabe, incredibly abundant bunches of stinging nettles. (I may be desperate for inexpensive fresh veggies, but Im not ready for greens that can hurt me.) Maybe prettiest of all: a few big bins of light green, lovely baby bok choy.

They had the same oval leaves as grown-up bok choy, but rather than merging at a thick white bulby stem, they were gently joined at their bases, and just an inch or two tall.

So, a plan started to form in my mind.

The boyfriend and I had talked about maybe ordering in soup that night, and what is one of the most basic rules of eating cheaply, healthily, and kindly-to-the-environment? Make it yourself! I remembered a recipe with vinegar-spiked stock and lots of mushrooms and ginger, with room for the addition of just about any vegetable. Enter baby bok choy.

To ine it, I hit the internet and read through several additional hot and sour soup iterations. Some called for exotic dried mushrooms from a Chinese market; some called for supermarket mushrooms. Ultimately, I went with a one that saved me the hour-long trip to Chinatown. I also replaced sriracha with hot pepper flakes. After a few more tweaks, we had soup! And ohmygoodness, was it good!

I think the magic was this: inspired by Ask the Internet: Best Cooking Fat?, I sautéed the mushrooms and ginger in coconut oil on low heat. The soup doesn’t taste like coconut, but there’s a richness in flavor that belies how very low-calorie this is. It’s also kind of astonishingly filling.

If youre not a vegetarian, add some pre-cooked meat after sautéing the mushrooms, and cook that for a few minutes before adding the stock. Make it hotter or not, more or less sour, however you like your soup. (And might I recommend enjoying your leftovers with a poached egg? Kind of amazing.)

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If you like this recipe, you might also enjoy:

• Egg Drop Soup
• Miso Soup
• Vegetable Lo Mein

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Hot and Sour Soup with Baby Bok Choy
Adapted from Serious Eats and All Recipes.
Serves 6


1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 10-ounce package crimini or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
A few shakes of hot pepper flakes (or more or less to taste)
6 cups broth (I used Better Than Bouillon)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
1 package tofu, pressed, cut into cubes (I would recommend against extra-firm)
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
4 cups baby bok choy (or other greens)
6 scallions, chopped

1) Put a soup pot (4qt or more) over medium heat. Melt coconut oil. Add mushrooms, ginger, garlic, and hot pepper flakes. Sauté until the mushrooms are soft and have given up their liquid.

2) Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and black pepper. Set aside.

3) Once mushrooms are cooked, add broth and water. Add soy sauce and vinegar mixture. Taste, and add more pepper flakes, vinegar, or soy sauce, to your taste.

4) Bring soup to boil. Whisk the eggs together in a measuring cup. While stirring the soup, pour in the eggs in a slow stream.

5) Reduce heat to a simmer. Add bamboo shoots, tofu, and bok choy. Simmer for five minutes.

6) Serve topped with scallions. Try not to burn your mouth.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
133 calories, 7.8g fat, 2.2g fiber, 11.3g protein, $1.69

Calculations
1 T coconut oil: 117 calories, 13.6g fat, 0g fiber 0g protein, $0.40
1 10oz package crimini (or baby bella) mushrooms: 42 calories, 0g fat, 1.9g fiber, 6g protein $2.99
2 T minced ginger: 3 calories, negligible fat, fiber, protein, $0.16
2 cloves garlic: 9 calories, negligible fat, fiber, .5g protein $0.04
a few shakes of hot pepper flakes: negliglible calories, fat, fiber, protein $0.02
6 c broth (I used Better Than Bouillon): 30 calories, negligible fat, fiber, protein, $1.11
2 c water: nothing!
2 T soy sauce: 22 calories, negligible fat, fiber, 3.8g protein $0.21
2 T rice vinegar: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $0.16
1 t sugar: 16 calories, negligible fat, fiber, protein $0.02
1 t black pepper: negliglible calories, fat, fiber, protein $0.01
2 eggs: 155 calories, 10.6g fat, 0g fiber, 12.6g protein $0.66
1 package tofu: 365 calories, 22g fat, 5.8g fiber, 39.8g protein $1.79
1 can bamboo shoots: 25 calories, .5g fat, 1.8g fiber, 2.3g protein $1.19
4 c baby bok choy: 27 calories, 0g fat, 2.5g fiber, 2.5g protein $1.25
6 scallions: 11 calories, 0g fat, 1g fiber, .5g protein $0.11
TOTALS: 797 calories, 46.7g fat, 13g fiber, 68g protein, $10.12
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 133 calories, 7.8g fat, 2.2g fiber, 11.3g protein, $1.69

Anyone who eats over 40 grams a day of sausage products or other kinds of processed meat is asking for trouble: the risk of mortality increases by 18 percent for every 50 grams of processed meat per day. This is the result of a study conducted with around 450,000 participants by the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich in collaboration with research colleagues from all over Europe.

“We estimate that three percent of all premature deaths can be attributed to the high consumption of processed meat,” summarizes Sabine Rohrmann from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich. Teaming up with research colleagues from ten countries, she has been studying the link between the consumption of processed meat and the risk of mortality as part of a Europe-wide study with around 450,000 participants.

People who eat a lot of processed meat such as sausage products, salami or ham run a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer. The problem is that carcinogenic substances such as nitrosamines form through salting, pickling or smoking, and these might be the cause of the increase in cancer mortality. However, processed meats are also rich in cholesterol and saturated fats, which are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Other lifestyle and dietary factors influence the link between the consumption of processed meat and the risk of illness or mortality: for instance, vegetarians often live more healthily than non-vegetarians, do more sport and are less likely to smoke. This also goes for the present study: The participants who eat the most processed meat also eat fewer fruit and vegetables, consume more alcohol and smoke more. But even taking these factors into account in the evaluation of the data, the core result of the study still proves to be true: People who eat over 40 grams of processed meat per day have an increased risk of mortality compared to those who eat fewer than 20 grams a day.