Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

The Carrie Connection - with Candace Carrie

This has got to be the very best of times in the produce section of the grocery store or the outdoor market.

There is such variety in fruits and vegetables. This week I saw artichokes, star fruit, mustard greens, all types of pears and who knows how many types of squash!

Research shows that there are many illnesses that are related to diet  heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, some types of cancers and obesity. One of the best diets to help with these problems is one that is rich in a variety of plant based foods.

To include an increased number of fruits and vegetables in your diet use the bounty of the season to help. Once or twice a week try something new. It could be an exotic fruit, unusual vegetable, grain or legume. The process is fun! Try a different cooking technique, such as stir-fry.

The proportions are perfect for a plant based meal, and the ingredients are probably already in your kitchen. This is the perfect technique when you have a very little amount of meat.

Purchase a vegetarian cookbook to get a sense of the enormous variety of foods and flavors that are available in the fall produce department.

Want to try an artichoke? To steam a perfect artichoke clip the ends of the leaves with sturdy scissors. Rub each clipped end with a cut lemon to prevent darkening. Place each artichoke stem up, in a mug  set the mug in a pot with about an inch of water in the bottom. Cover the pot and steam for one hour. To eat pull off each leaf, dip in a little butter and pull through clenched teeth.

Don't forget those pears. Though there are over 3,000 known pear varieties in the world, only a few are grown for commercial production. Most of what we see in the grocery store are varieties such as Bartletts, Anjou, Bosc, Comice, Seckets and Forelles. Each has a little different look and taste and cooks up a little differently. All are loaded with dietary fiber, potassium and have only 100 calories.

To know if a pear is ripe apply gentle thumb pressure near the base of the stem. If it yields slightly it's ripe. If you find that your pears aren't ripe place them in a paper bag and let them stand at room temperature. Refrigerate them if you will not use them the same day.

Bartlett Pear Muffins

Small nuggets of ripe pear are a surprise in either bite-sized or regular muffins. The recipe calls for:

2 cups all purpose flour

=-cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

=-teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

<-cup melted butter, cooled, then add the zest of one lemon

1 cup diced, Northwest Bartlett pear (about 2 medium pears)

=-cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat together milk, beaten egg, butter and lemon zest. Mix pears and nuts into flour mixture. Gently stir milk mixture into dry ingredients. Batter should be lumpy, not smooth. Do not over mix.

Spray muffin pans with non-stick spray. Fill muffin cups -full. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes, until tops are browned. Remove from pan immediately and serve warm.

Tip: Bake in mini muffin pans and bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes.