Spring is finally here and while it may not feel like it yet, farmer’s markets will soon be flush with the colors of spring and summer. Fruits and vegetables are generally low in calories and high in a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, so are an essential component of a healthful diet.

It’s always good to have staples such as lemons, garlic, onions, celery and carrots in your kitchen for cooking. Fruits and veggies always make good snacks, so if you keep your kitchen stocked, it makes it easy to grab something healthy! Dried fruits such as prunes, cherries, raisins, apple rings, apricots and figs can make healthy snacks when eaten in moderation, but be sure to look for those with no added sugar.

Fresh fruits like berries and cherries are tastiest and most nutritious (not to mention cheapest!) when they’re in season, so buy them in bulk and freeze them for smoothies or desserts (freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet and store in freezer bags). 

So that all those fruits and veggies don’t go bad in your fridge, here’s a list of where to store different fruits and vegetables in your kitchen so that they stay fresh as long as possible:

• Ripen on the counter, then refrigerate:
  • apricots, avocados, apples, bananas (even though the skin browns, the fruit stays firm), grapefruit, guava, kiwi, lemons, limes, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums
• Store in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer, in an unsealed container:
  • asparagus (wrap ends in damp paper towel), beets, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard , cherries, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, figs, ginger, grapes, green beans, herbs (wrap stems in barely damp paper towel), kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms(best in a paper bag), okra (best in a paper bag), peas, peppers, radishes, raspberries, scallions, spinach, strawberries, summer squash, rutabagas, turnips, zucchini
• Store in cool, dark place:
  • garlic, jicama, onions, potatoes, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, winter squash, yucca

Adapted from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Eat Street Smart guide, available at http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cdp/greencarts-brochure-online.pdf.

To set the stage for healthier cooking and eating during National Nutrition Month (March), we are making recommendations on foods to add to your pantry, suggesting ingredients to have on hand that will help you effortlessly create healthy meals and snacks at your convenience. In previous posts we've discussed which grains and stocks you should be storing, and this week we’re taking a look at fats and oils.

Fats and Oils

Fat is a crucial ingredient for cooking. With a few simple tweaks you can stock your pantry with ingredients that are optimized for both health and taste. Swapping unhealthy, saturated fat for heart-healthy fats can help make a serious impact on your diet and health. Moreover, some are best for cooking and others are best for finishing dishes and vinaigrettes.

By checking the breakdown of fatty acids in fats and oils used in cooking, it is easy to control the intake of saturated fat from oils. It’s best to cook with fats that are lower in saturated fat and higher in heart-healthy fats. The USDA recommends that we keep our saturated fat intake to less than 10% of our total calorie intake. Cooking with butter, cream, some palm or coconut oils or -- even worse -- a trans-fatty acid (such as shortening, which should be avoided altogether) can easily put your saturated fat intake over the USDA’s recommendation. Instead, cook with healthy oils or fats, such as olive, organic canola, sesame, peanut, safflower oils or duck/poultry fat. 

Storage

Oils are susceptible to oxidation and therefore should be stored in a cool, dark place (not over the stove). Oils with higher smoke points are appropriate for cooking, while oils with lower smoke points are better used in dressings or for drizzling.

Cooking oils: olive, canola, peanut, sesame
Cooking fats: duck and chicken (keep refrigerated in a covered container for several weeks)
Drizzling oils: extra virgin olive, argan, nut oils, cold pressed, infused

Which oils do you keep on hand? Let us know your favorite fats to cook with in the comment section below!

Whole grains and minimally processed whole grain products are an essential component of a pantry stocked for health. Refined flours and white rice have been stripped of their fiber and other nutrients that make whole intact grains more balanced. While some vitamins and minerals are added back during processing (such as in ‘enriched flour’), whole, intact grains have more vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber than their refined counterparts. 

Whole grains include stone-ground oats, wheat berries, barley, farro, brown rice, quinoa, amaranth and bulgur, among others. I like to buy my grains in bulk and keep them in tightly-sealed jars in the pantry, ready for use in a grain salad, soup or pilaf (such as the SPE-certified South American Quinoa Salad). 

When purchasing flour, look for 100% whole wheat or whole white wheat (available from King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill). In addition, wheat germ and oat bran are good to have as nutritious additions to cereal, yogurt and muffins.  If you buy large amounts of whole grain flours or wheat germ, keep them in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer as the small amount of fat in them can go rancid over time in the pantry.

While intact grains are the least processed form of the grain and preferred, processed grain products such as breads, pastas, and crackers are generally healthier alternatives to their refined counterparts. When purchasing processed grain products, look for whole wheat pastas, 100% whole grain breads, 100% whole grain cereals with no added sugar and whole wheat bread crumbs.  Look for products that say ‘100%’ and read ingredient labels to see if the flours or grains used in the product are whole.

Popcorn is one of my favorite whole grain snacks. Try to avoid the bagged popcorn that’s covered with processed cheese and salt, or heavily-oiled or buttered microwave varieties. Instead, buy kernels and pop them yourself. You can use an air-popper or create your own microwave popcorn by adding kernels to a brown paper bag, folding it closed, and microwaving until the popping slows down. You can put any variety of seasonings on your popcorn. Here at SPE Certified, we like to add a small drizzle of olive oil and nutritional yeast to our popcorn for a healthy, savory treat!

Heavily processed foods have been making headlines recently. Just last week, The New York Times Magazine published a piece describing the highly scientific process in which food companies develop products to achieve a taste “bliss point” and engineer foods that pack a taste punch that leave someone wanting more. 

In general, heavily processed foods contain high amounts of refined grains, sugars, sodium and less healthy fats. With all the processing, many of the beneficial nutrients needed for a healthy diet are destroyed or removed, and may or may not have been added back as supplements. Finally, colors, flavors, and preservatives are added to maintain the product’s shelf-life.

As a dietitian, I want to encourage people to consume more minimally-processed foods. However, I understand it can be a challenge to forgo the perceived convenience of processed foods. A properly stocked kitchen and pantry is a good start to have healthy foods and ingredients readily available. As winter begins to wane, it’s the perfect time to take a look in the pantry and do a little pre-spring cleaning, removing the most heavily-processed items and stocking the kitchen for health. Over the next few weeks, we will be using this blog space to help you identify what ingredients and equipment are the staple of every well-stocked kitchen -- and what needs to go.

To get things started, check out this post about making your own stocks. Cooking with chicken, seafood, beef or vegetable stock is a great way to give foods a greater depth of flavor. Commercial stocks available in the grocery store can be high in sodium and are typically expensive, so it’s advisable to look for low-sodium varieties or make your own. Making fresh stock allows you to control the sodium and added ingredients, and it can be made in bulk before being frozen for up to 3 months.

What essential items do you keep in your kitchen/pantry? Let us know in the comments below!