The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating

A NY Times article listing The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating. The nice thing about it is that it's a nice brief list of nutritious foods that you can see about slowly integrating into your diet without a major overhaul of your cooking routine. A sprinkle of this, a tossing of that. It's all good!

Beets
We actually really like beets in salads, but after seeing what they did to MetaToddler's diapers, we wrote them off. To be fair, we were eating red beets, and there are lighter colors to choose from. So perhaps we'll give it another try with golden beets.

Cabbage
Salad, obviously. That said, napa cabbage works well in stir fries. I wonder if all cabbage would work, too.

Swiss Chard
Neither of us really like swiss chard. Something about the texture just doesn't please us, so um...ya. Maybe we'll try it again, but I might just as easily forget about it, too.

Cinnamon
This is a tricky one in the MetaHome. MetaDaddy doesn't like cinnamon in his coffee, and he feels it's overused in desserts, especially those containing apples. So when I bake, I omit cinnamon and go straight for the nutmeg, which we both love. Then he says "well, I don't hate cinnamon. You can use it in some things." Ah, but which! The saga rages on.

Pomegranate Juice
Honestly, I don't like pomegranate juice. It's unpleasantly sweet, even when diluted. I'd prefer to just eat a pomegranate. I did make a syrup a while back, and it was nice mixed in plain yogurt. It would probably work on pancakes, too, but well...ick!

Dried Plums
As is. Yum!!

Pumpkin Seeds
I mix roasted pumpkin seeds with a few other wonderfully tasty nuts and unsweetened dried fruit for a trail mix that I know I'll like. What usually makes the cut? Almonds, walnuts, black currants, cranberries, raw sunflower seeds, and of course, pumpkin seeds.

Sardines
After reading the health benefits of sardines, I'm seriously thinking about giving them another try. But it's really hard. I've slowly comes around to enjoying fish, and sardines...well, that's a tough one. Super salty, fishy, packed in oil. I can hardly watch MetaDaddy eat sardines on toast without gagging. Obviously, he'll have to introduce MetaToddler to that culinary treat. I'll work on coming around, but no promises.

Turmeric
I always have turmeric in my pantry, but I seldom use it. I don't remember the last time I even opened the tin! I'm going to work at sprinkling it around a bit more.

Blueberries
We're lucky enough to get fresh blueberries at the farmers' market right now. Nothing beats fresh, tasty blueberries just bursting with flavor. Most are so bland and watery, that it's easy to think you don't like blueberries at all. Just go find a good one and see what you're missing.

I tend to use frozen blueberries in muffins (when I'm feeling energetic), but it does throw the water content a bit off if you're not careful. The tip that's worked for me is keep them frozen until you mix them in, lightly coat with flour, and gently mix into the batter. This tends to prevent bleeding in the batter, too.

Canned Pumpkin
Hmmm...I don't know about this one. I'll think about it, but I'd prefer to have roasted squash. I chop it up and to toss it in when baking a chicken or something, and it makes for great leftovers.