EAT Your Calcium!
The recipes for this installment were prompted by an experience I had at the doctor’s office. I was there for my yearly check-up when my doctor unexpectedly told me to stop taking calcium supplements. I was floored. “But, but, but, you know I have osteoporosis,” I sputtered. “I’m not telling you to forgo calcium, but I am telling you to eat it instead,” he answered matter of factly. Excess calcium from supplements can cause kidney stones and calcification of the arteries (plaque build-up that can lead to heart disease). “Take all the money you’ve been spending on supplements and put it towards a good piece of fish like salmon, or even canned salmon will do, especially with the skin and bones.” I liked where this conversation was going!
An easy way to ramp up a meal’s calcium count is by eating foods that contain bones. As members of the oily fish family, canned salmon, anchovies and sardines, pantry staples in my home, are a great source of protein, calcium and vitamin D, making them bone-building stars. They’re an easy reach for easy lunches but they can be show stoppers in party menus and elegant meals as well.
Sardine and Quinoa Salad
Serves 4
I have to admit that eating canned sardines with skin and bones in tact is a challenge for me. Their briny flavor is a little too strong for my taste buds, but this flavor-packed, nutrient-rich salad comes to my rescue in more ways than one. The addition of quinoa and white beans successfully lessens that briny edge plus their added protein works in tandem with the sardines’ calcium to help lower the chance of bone fracture at the hip! Thyme continues to mellow the salad’s flavor with its lovely floral notes while providing three bone building nutrients: ZINC, which has been shown to slow down osteoclast activity; COPPER which supports calcium in building up bone in the lumbar region and MANGANESE, important in the formation of bone cartilage and collagen (we’ll get into more depth about the importance of collagen in a future post), making this recipe an all around win-win.
3/4 cup quinoa
4 garlic cloves
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 pint mixed color cherry tomatoes
Salt—use sparingly
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 large Spanish onion, diced small
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced small
1-2 stalks celery, diced small
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 15-oz can cannellini beans rinsed and drained
Parsley
1-2 lemons
1 cup of outer leaves from 8-10 large brussel sprouts
1 to 2 cans whole sardines packed in olive oil (I like Wild Planet)
Garnish- Crushed red pepper, thyme sprigs, lemon wedges
For the quinoa:
Bring 1-1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add the quinoa, bring back to a boil, turn down heat and simmer, covered till grain has puffed and al dente. Drain any excess water. Set aside to let cool.
For the tomatoes:
In a small skillet, sauté garlic cloves in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat. Let them start to lightly brown. Add the whole cherry tomatoes and roll around in the oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Let them sit without moving, until one side starts to brown. Shake the pan, lower the heat to medium low and cover, cooking for 10-15 minutes till they start to soften. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and let cool.
For the Beans:
In a small sauce pan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery. Saute until translucent. Add a little salt, pepper and thyme sprigs. Add the white beans and toss. Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 lemon. Set aside to let cool.
For the Brussels Sprouts:
Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add the Brussels sprout leaves. Blanch till bright green. Remove from pot and plunge into cold water. Drain and dry.
Assemble the Salad:
Place a small pile of quinoa on each of 4 plates. Add a spoonful of white bean mixture with some liquids. Add a spoonful of roast tomatoes and drizzle some of the oil over all. Add sardines, and handful of Brussels sprout leaves. Squeeze more lemon over all.
Salmon Cakes in Lettuce Cups with Tzatziki Yogurt Sauce
Serves 2 to 3
I usually grow disinterested in salmon cake recipes once I read the amount of bread/bread crumbs that are called for. I asked food stylist and recipe developer, Leslie Orlandini if a healthier, protein and calcium rich substitution could be made. She gladly obliged by exchanging half the amount of bread with creamy cannellini beans and coating the cakes in sesame seeds, (Did you know that 1/4 cup of sesame seeds contains 351 milligrams of calcium?!) creating a great combination nutrients to promote bone health. These salmon cakes are softer than their bread-laden counterparts, so Leslie suggests serving them in crisp lettuce cups.
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
½ medium onion, peeled and diced small
1 large stalk celery, diced small
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced small
Salt and pepper
1 – 2 slices whole grain bread
15-oz can cannellini beans, drained
1 6-oz can wild salmon, drained
1 healthy tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons fresh snipped dill
For coating:
1/3 cup sesame seeds- regular, or black and white
To serve:
Gem, butter or romaine lettuce leaves left whole, washed and dried
Radicchio leaves (treviso or regular) left whole, washed and dried
Tzatziki Yogurt sauce (recipe follows)
Heat olive oil in a medium non-stick saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, a pinch salt and pepper. Saute till translucent. Scrape into a med/ large mixing bowl and set aside. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel. Set aside for later use.
In a food processor, add the bread slices. Pulse to a nice crumb. Add to the bowl of vegetables. Puree the drained beans and add to the bowl as well, along with the drained salmon, mustard and dill. Stir together, gently, till distributed nicely without breaking up the salmon too much. There should be nice chunks here and there.
Place seeds into a shallow plate. Using 2 spoons, divide salmon mixture into 6 portions, placing into seeds. Gently roll to coat, forming small oval disks.
Heat the non stick sauté pan again over medium heat and add some olive oil. Place the salmon cakes in the pan and let cook undisturbed till lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. Flip with a spatula, and cook on the other side till golden brown.
While they cook, pair a lettuce and a radicchio leaf together to form a sturdy cup for each salmon cake. Arrange lettuce cups on a plate. Remove cakes from pan, drain on paper towels, then place in the lettuce cups. Serve with the tzatziki yogurt sauce.
Tzatziki Yogurt Sauce
Serves 4
Add an extra bone blast by swapping cucumbers for zucchini. They’re higher in protein, potassium and iron.
1 medium zucchini
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of lemon, to taste
2 cups plain greek yogurt, (We like Fage 5%)
Salt, pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Grate zucchini on the large wholes of a box grater, then place in a bowl with the garlic, lemon juice and yogurt. Stir together. Season with a pinch of salt, fresh grated black pepper and olive oil. Set aside for flavor to develop while you make the salmon cakes.
Anchovy Dip With Fresh Veggies
Serves 6
Anchovies? Seems that people either love them or hate them. Some think they have too assertive a flavor, but I love the the way anchovies bring out the best in a recipe, adding a welcome complexity that can really wake up a dish. Chop and melt them into garlic tinged olive oil, and I guarantee you will have found your favorite secret ingredient for sauces and dips. We paired the calcium in anchovies with vitamins C and K in celeriac and vitamin C in fennel bulbs (which also boasts a percentage of calcium) for extra bone support. We suggest steaming, not boiling these vegetables to keep as much of their valuable vitamin C as possible in tact. Cooking at high temperatures or for long periods of time depletes vitamin C’s nutritional power.
1 cup peeled, sliced celeriac
1 cup washed, cored and sliced fennel bulb
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, to taste
1 small jar anchovies (2 to 3 oz.), drained and chopped
Fresh dill for garnish
Steam celeriac and fennel till soft, about 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.
Sauté garlic in olive oil over low-medium heat until fragrant. Add crushed red pepper to taste. Add anchovies and and continue to cook until they have melted into the oil. Puree fennel/ celeriac in a food processor (or blender). With machine running, add the anchovy oil from the pan, emulsifying to a smooth dip consistency. Garnish with fresh dill. Serve with fresh vegetable crudite of your choice, blanched or raw. We like the snap of radishes, cauliflower, broccolini, romanesco broccoli and carrots. If you’re adding bread, choose from those made with whole grain flour rather than white flour.
Credits: As a visual creative consultant and photo stylist for food and still life photography and the creator of Osteo-Blast, I get to work with amazingly talented people: Food Stylist and Recipe Developer Leslie Orlandini, Photographer Stephen Murello, Ceramicists, Felt-Fat at http://www.fair-design.com/designers/#/felt-fat/ for the lovely plate and bowl featured in the Sardine Salad photo, Logo and Graphic Designer Zoë Miolla.