Study: Rural residents aren't eating fruits, veggies

by Joanna Lin for California WatchCalifornia grows more produce than any other state, yet few of its residents -- especially those in rural areas -- eat the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables, according to research released Wednesday by the Essentia Institute of Rural Health.

In fact, California is among 37 states whose rural residents eat less produce than their city-dwelling counterparts, in spite of living closer to where food is grown, researchers found. The primary reasons? Access and cost.

"You don't just pick an apple off a tree and put it in a basket, and it's automatically available for sale and consumption," said Nawal Lutfiyya, author of the report and a senior research scientist at the institute, based in Minnesota. Oftentimes, she said, "those fruits and vegetables are already targeted for larger venues."

Rural communities typically have fewer outlets selling fresh produce, Lutfiyya said. Those that do often are small markets or convenience stores, where prices tend to be higher than they would be at grocery stores and supermarkets.

"Because of the higher cost, people are less likely to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables when they are available," she said. "This is a health disparity in many ways."

People whose annual household income was less than $35,000 were less likely than people making more money to consume the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per day; nationwide, a higher proportion of rural residents -- 43.6 percent -- had annual household incomes less than $35,000, compared with urban residents (35.1 percent).

About 1 in 4 California adults living in urban areas ate the recommended amount of produce. But just 22.9 percent of adults in the state's rural communities met this benchmark. Nationwide, about 23 percent of urban adults and about 20 percent of rural adults ate their fill of fruits and vegetables.

More than 2.8 million Californians live in rural areas -- defined as metropolitan statistical areas with no city center or outside metropolitan statistical areas. Nearly 1 in 4 households in rural areas have annual incomes less than $35,000, according to census data.

Geography was not the only characteristic of people who consumed more fruits and vegetables, researchers found.

In general, researchers found that people who ate their recommended servings of fruits and vegetables were more likely to be: women, non-white, married or living with a partner, better educated, engaged in at least moderate physical activity, and living without children.

Among households with at least one child, 38.8 percent of rural residents and 42.7 percent of urban residents ate the recommended amount of produce -- a finding that came as a surprise, Lutfiyya said.

There could be multiple reasons that households with children consume fewer fruits and vegetables, she said, but money and convenience could play a role.

"If you have two working parents or if you're a single parent, either male or female, working, and you're trying to feed your kids at the end of the day & it's much easier to open processed, packaged food than it is to chop vegetables," she said. "Those are just facts of life."

The findings, based on an analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2009 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, show room for improvement among all populations, Lutfiyya said.

Eating produce "isn't just something that fills your belly," she said. "This is something that also can improve your health or is part of the preventive health regimen people should be thinking of."

Story courtesy of our media partners at California Watch (A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting)

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7 Golden Rules of Healthy ways of eating!

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Healthy ways of eating: Variety is the spice of life

There are five food groups; Grains, Vegetables, Milk, Fruits, Meat & Beans. If you include food from each of these five groups, not only will you get all the required proteins and vitamins, your plate will automatically contain a wide variety of foods and colors. This makes eating a healthy diet a pleasurable experience.

Food portion sizes: Include good Fats

There are fats and then there are good fats. Good fats are called non-saturated fats and include oil from vegetable sources. Fats are required because it dissolves and transports vitamins A, D, E and K throughout the body. Fat not only cushions and protects internal organs, fatty acids are good for your heart, metabolism your body?s immune system. Finally, over 70% of your brain is made up of fat.

Healthy ways of eating: Spicy does not mean salty

Without doubt salt is required for our body. However, your average intake of salt from all sources should not exceed quarter teaspoon. Excess of salt intake will lead to abnormal blood pressures and other related medical complications. Junk foods are prime sources of salt so severely limit your intake of junk food and reduce the amount of salt used in seasoning your healthy eating tips.

Weight loss programs: Sweets are good but once in a blue moon

Confectionery manufacturers combine sugars with saturated fats to create stick sweets, such as candy, bonbons and pralines, etc. These are not only harmful for our teeth but are also our body because sweets contain calories without the nutrients. But because we all love sweets, an occasional sweet won?t cause much damage. By occasional we mean once-a-month. Chocolate made from real coco is better than hard boiled or gummy sweets but only just. So limit your chocolates to no more than twice a month. If you feel the urge, you might find that dried fruits are a good substitute.

Healthy eating food: Select whole grain products

Anything made from whole grain has more fiber, minerals and vitamins all of which are good for your healthy eating guide. Whole grain is essentially unpolished grain. Polishing removes the outer layer of the grain and unfortunately with it goes the nutrients because in grains, the nutrients are located in the outer layers.

Healthy dressing recipes: Go green and fruity

Fruit and vegetables are loaded with healthy carbohydrates and not only supply more than half of our energy requirement it also supplies half of our fiber, minerals, and vitamins requirement.

Here?s the secret of why we keep stressing on fruits and vegetables: Fruits and healthy vegetarian recipes have a high water and fiber content which means they provide more nutrients per calorie than any other food you can think of.

Weight management program: Vary your protein source

In most American homes, our proteins come mainly from eggs, beef, pork and cheese. We need to introduce other protein sources into our healthy eating worksheets. Other good sources of protein include fish, milk, chicken, Soy, Tofu, Legumes, whole grains and yes, fruits.

Check out more for Healthy eating facts and Portion control plates

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Fewer Canadians eating fruit and veg: StatsCan

Updated: Tue Jun. 21 2011 09:46:55

CTV.ca News Staff

Statistics Canada says Canadians are eating fewer fruits and vegetables for the first time in a decade, according to its latest analysis of the country's state of health.

In its latest Canadian Community Health Survey, Statistics Canada reports that just 43 per cent of Canadians aged 12 and older ate fruit or vegetables more than five times a day in 2010. That's down from 46 per cent the year before.

Broken down by gender, the survey found that half of all women reached for fruit and vegetables five or more times daily compared with just 36 per cent of men.

The data is based on an ongoing survey of 65,000 Canadians on a gamut of more than 30 health indicators.

Other highlights from the latest edition of the annual snapshot include:

Six in 10 Canadians reported their own state of health as very good or excellent. Canadians nevertheless reported a slight increase in their daily stress levels, with 24 per cent describing most days are either extremely or quite stressful. That was up two percentage points from 2008. The number of Canadians whose height and weight categorizes them as obese under Health Canada guidelines was virtually unchanged from the year before, at approximately 4.5 million or 18 per cent of the overall population. For the first time, Statistics Canada found the same number of women as men reporting they had been diagnosed with hypertension. Overall, nearly 1 in 6 Canadians said they had high blood pressure. One-in-eight of the 15 per cent of Canadians who said they had no regular medical doctor, reported easy access to alternative medical care such as a walk-in clinic. Among the 21 per cent, or 6 million Canadians who said they were either daily or occasional smokers, more men (24 per cent) lit up in 2010 than in the year before. The number of women smokers fell two percentage points, however, to 17 per cent in 2010.

In its bulletin announcing the results online Tuesday, Statistics Canada suggested the trend among women may continue, and indeed spread to men in the coming years as well.

"Since people typically begin smoking during their teenage years, the percentage who had not started smoking by age 20 is an indicator of future smoking rates," StatsCan wrote, noting that 57 per cent of women between the ages of 20 and 24 said they had never smoked.

That's up from 41 per cent in 2003.

And the same holds for young men too, 45 per cent of whom reported no prior experience with tobacco.

That also represents "a considerable increase" from the 37 per cent of young men who said the same in 2003.

Although the survey captures data from Canadians in every province and territory, Residents of Indian reserves, health care institutions, some remote areas and full-time members of the Canadian Forces are not included.

Comments are now closed for this story

Two things have happened.
First, we paved over farmland to build houses and big box stores and now we have to import all our food. When we put local farmers out of business and decide to rely on foreign food supplies, we doom ourselves to live with the vagaries of the open market and now people simply cannot afford to eat sensibly. I point to the Pickering Airport boondoggle as a prime example; paving over 7200 hectares of prime farmland to build an airport we don't need. The second thing that happened is that we allowed family run companies like Loblaws and Sobeys to put a stranglehold on the supply of food into this country. Both of these privately owned companies make record profits every quarter and collect a kings ransom off of charging a nickel plus HST for a grocery bag. Where are the protests over this? Why isn't the federal Conservative party investigating the monopoly on food in this country? All it will take is a war or natural disaster in one of the countries we buy our food from and we're screwed. Any nation that cannot grow it's own food is doomed. We're doomed. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Just like our telecommunications sector, the resource sector, the electricity market, etc., the government has allowed one or two companies to establish virtual monopolies and put the shaft to Canadians by gouging them to death.

scott nova scotia
I live in an area where I see many people on welfare when I walk to work. Some how they cannot afford to feed the children fruit and veggies but they sure can afford their cigarettes and booze. I do not make much money at all but my family always has fruit and vegetables. It is all about priorities.

FoundationalIssue
I think people need to stop with the whole "I can't afford fruits and veggies", maybe take a look at the foundational issue and find a job that works. Find a second income, or find something that can make you some residual income. Open your eyes there are lots of opportunities out there. Your ability to feed your family and yourself lays within your own hands. Stop blaming others and take responsibility for your actions. You buying that huge 60" plasma screen T.V. isn't making your family healthier. Sell the XBox, cut down on spending, get outside be active! Stop the blame game, enough is enough.

Samantha
I think the excuse that F&V are "too expensive" doesnt have much merit - most of the F&V I buy from both the grocery store and the market are by far cheaper than the other items I buy when I do groceries. It really comes down to what you buy and when, and what your motivations are. Unfortunately, fruit doesnt taste as good as something pumped full of artificial flavours and sodium, so people arent likely to choose it if theyre given a choice. I really do believe that if more people invested themselves in growing their own (even in limited space, you can grow some things!) and supporting their local growers, we would be a lot healthier.

Go to your local market, get to know your local farmers, it will benefit your body AND mind!

KK Calgary
6 months ago my husband & I made a lifestyle change...before we have a major illness. In this time we have found that we actually spend LESS on groceries than before. We are buying fruits vegatebles, meat ect but we are not buying pre-package suppers, junk food, cheeses. juices and pop. We have learned to make time to make our own soups, stews, pies ect and freeze then for the nights we are on the go. With a little organization you can make your meals ahead of time and they are healthier as you are not adding obscene amounts of sugar or salt. You know what goes into your food when you make it yourself. When grocery shopping stick to your list and do not impulse buy. It is hard and yes we do buy an occassional treat, just not all the time.

Doug ^^^ BC
Whoa!! Good one "PhDMED"It's sad,but true that in a free country,many people make bad choices.Buying unprocessed fod means you have to prepare it.Then,when you think about how cheaply you can eat some processed garbage,to man people make the wrong choice. Apparently a lot of people prefer to skimp on the things they NEED,so they can spend more on the things that they WANT.Then they come up with a litany of excuses for why they haven't made better choices. And yes,I'm often guilty of making the wrong choice too.But I do give myself decent marks for being able to "fess up" when someone calls me out.It's MY choice.It's MY decision.And ONLY I am responsible for how that works out.I have no reason to blame farmers,super markets,my neighbours,or my government.Maybe personal responsibility is a price we pay for what we all call "freedom".

Jason
Yeah, maybe if 3 days of fruit and vegetables didn't cost me the same amount as a month supply of regular grocieries, I might be more inclined to eat it.There may be some other fundamental problems with this statistic if Health Canada bothered doing an investigation as to WHY.When I'm visiting in the states or B.C., I eat a SIGNIFICANTLY larger amount of fruits and vegetables because the pricing is almost half, or even more than half price in some cases.

Andre
Health Canada pontifications are getting on my nerves. The snobs at Health Canada need to get their arse in a grocery store and see prices for veg/fruit are ridiculously high and organic is going the way of gold pricing. Please soapbox clowns stop yapping and do something about lowering prices if you expect us to swallow your constant B.S.!

Margot
The poverty population cannot afford to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at today's current prices for each member to have 5 different types of fruit and veg. They are lucky if they can afford two for each person, one fruit and one veg. As a senior on government limited pensions I cannot afford more that three fresh fruits for a week, i apple, 1 pear, 1 banana, the rest is frozen veg and forget salads. I have always been overweight even when I was fed all frest fruit and veg as a child, frozen was unknown as was a freezer and tinned was unacceptable. Fresh or go without. That also meant to imported foods from other countries. So, no chance of poison from pesticides and fertilizers. That slam-dunks the fresh food helps the obese. It is genetics. Age and health prevent me from growing my own veg in the garden. This winter I will try growing my own veg in pots in the house.

Kim from Ottawa
If you're worried about pesticides, considered participating in a farm share program. I have bought into an organic one for the past 3 years and not only is the produce amazing but it ensures that I am getting the recommended daily veggies. It is also relatively inexpensive and you are supporting your local farmers.

SuperSizeMe
A KFC Double Death sandwhich or a Little Mac, as long as they have more than a daily recommended sodium and fat intake I'm happy. Poutine is good too, oh my god I love Poutine.

Tracy from Winnipeg
There appears to be some items that either weren't reported on or weren't included in the original study - the reasons WHY people are eating fewer fruits and veggies. Cost is a big one - unless something is in season locally, it can be prohibitively expensive to purchase fruit. The other reason that I don't see included is the horrible choices. Once summer rolls around, and we have the option to buy locally grown produce, there's a nice choice. But buying tomatoes, lettuce oranges, etc in the dead of winter? Thanks to being picked when they're not ripe, and spending a lot of time in the back of a truck and in the dark, a lot of available produce in the winter tastes like cardboard. Why would you pay the exorbitant prices the stores are charging, to eat something that doesn't really have flavor?

Original Canadien
To cut costs, I've cut back on veggies in my diet and somehow lost 26 lbs(I do not eat any fruit, don't like the taste as I'd rather eat raw meat and have been doing dso for over 40 years - never sick) but I still make sure I have frozen veggies in my meals at all times - frozen being better than canned and so called "fresh" since vitamins are locked in within hours as opposed to sitting in transport and on shelves for days.BTW celery uses up more calories to digest than you take in so it is good for you beyond just the fiber.

tsousav
As a strong supporter of F&V consumption I believe that the best way to change this is from the bottom up. We need to teach the benefits of healthy eating with school aged children and to do that we need to support from provicial and federal health ministers. There are sites like freggietales.ca that helps educate kids on what the benefits are to eating F&V and there are also school programs like freggie fridays that has now started to roll out as a program but is being done on a school by school basis as the government really hasn't latched on to the opportunity. The pros of consuming F&V far outweigh the cons. F&V is clourful and tastes great. You might hate broccoli but love apples. There is nothing wrong with that. The produce industry works very hard to get the product toothe store shelves with the quality that you have come to expect. Use this report as a call to education for ourselves and our future generations.

The Village Idiot
Pretend all you want that fruits/vegetables are delicious but unless you put something on them they taste blah! You can only eat so much of this crap before it gets stale in the diet and you are pining for a cheese burger. I mean seriously you go on one of these veggie diets and it's fine for a week until you start turning a shade of deathly pale, feeling weak and getting grouchy because you want some meat! Unless you slather the broccoli in a fabulous cheese sauce that stuff is pretty hard to swallow without gagging. All this fruit and veggie talk is making me hungry...yeah...for a big bag of greasy movie popcorn slathered in coconut oil. I'm going to enjoy it and I don't feel the least bit guilty! You only live once and the Grim Reaper is comin' for all of us anyway. You can't beat death!

Ella-Max
So if Canadians are healthier because they eat healthier foods then our taxes going towards supporting our "health care system" should go down? I can only assume that health board of directors and all their staff could be down-sized since being healthy means we have less need for that bureaucracy and high salaries that come with it via our tax dollars. And the amount of studies being paid for by the government via our tax dollars should also decrease if we are healthier because of eating habits too. And wait times in hospital emergency rooms should be a thing of the past since we will all be healthier. Maybe with all the money we save Quebec will be able to score more than the "60%" in federal equalization transfer payments that they've been getting annually for years to pay for $7 daycare and Free IVF treatments costing between $10,000.00 - $30,000.00 per case. After all with all the money healthier eating will save the nation there will definitely be a boondoggle somewhere and we all know that "that" usually means French Disney Land gets the icing on the cake!

Jarrett, Ottawa
Lorne, if there are more pesticides and herbicides on your fruit and vegetables there are also going to be contaminants in everything else. Do you think they dont use pesticides on the wheat used to make the pizza dough of that frozen pizza, growth hormones in your beef and pork, heavy metals in your fish? Trickle down effect, you have to eat though. Just because the media tells you there are contaminants on your fresh fruit and vegetables you must be pretty naive to think it is not is the rest of the food. Might as well eat the fresh stuff.

MCW
In an "ideal" world designed by limousine liberals we could all be aware and afford arugula salad with bean sprouts night after night but the grocery stores aren't making "healthy" cheap. Go to Loblaws and check out the $9.99 watermelons.

Jennifer
How the hell can Canadians afford fruits and vegetables when the prices are so high? Go to a grocery store and look! People's salaries/wages are at 1980 levels while CEOs keep getting richer and outsourcing jobs to "Made in China" - forcing Canadians into lower salary/have-a$s jobs/no benefits/no nothing and many struggling and using the easy-squeezy credit card (backed by communist China) with high interests leading to bankruptcy. And "we" are supposed to eat better and by "organic" (even more expensive) because healthy Canadians are less a burden on the "wonderful" (sarcasm intended) health care system we're so heavily taxed to pay for. Yes some of Canada's armchair elites sure are good at telling us what to do because with their Harvard University degree they have 6/7 figure salary jobs and can well afford to spout off at the mouth about what we mere mortal Canadians should be doing. Get out in the real world you champagne socialists and see how the real Canadians making beer wages live and struggle. It's not pretty!

URU
Thats because food is sooo expensive and the Gov't isn't doing much to help the poor.

Doug ^^^ BC
Personally,I eat a lot more fruit and vegetables during the local growing season,and a lot less the rest of the year. I don't find these products overly expensive when I compare them to processed food in the same category. BUT,and maybe I'm to particular,but I find the quality of a lot of these imported fruits and vegetables to be less than desiberable.I canot speak for every region of Canada,but my taste buds tell me that local produce,no matter what it is I am eating,actually tastes good.Fruit from the Okanogan Valley is a prime example.I find the apples imported from the southern hemisphere have no taste,when compared to an apple grown in the valley.The same thing applies when I buy strawberries.The season here is short,but local strawberries taste like strawberries.I buy those big,red things from California,and it seems like I'm eating styrafoam. So,as another posterf askes,"why would we be inclined to eat some of this stuff".The residue from pesticides is an issue for some.The taste is an issue for some(or,at least me),and shelf life is an issue too.By the time you get a lot of imported produce home,it's not all that fresh any more. And finally.People do need to know that our parents and grandparents thrived of preserved fruit and produce for a long,long time.They had the same short growing seasons as we did,and they had no infrastructure to get imported food to local markets.

Sandusky
This is completely unacceptable people! The results of this survey should have been that 100% of Canadians consume five or more servings of fruits per day, not 43%. There is no excuse for this. Fruits and vegatables are cheaper than most other items at the grocery store, and the only natural source of the vitamins and nutrients that we need to keep our bodies healthy. If you don't maintain your health as Priority #1, then you will be incapable fo even formulating a Priority #2 or #3. Our health care costs are going through the roof and a simple way to control these costs is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I'm concerned that my tax dollars are being used to support unhealthy lifestyles nationally.

Canucks Fan
Anne, celery is a great fibre and good for the body. Too bad about the pesticides. I guess there has to be a fine balance. Wash well, and even after the fruit is cut, wash wash wash.Fruits and veggies are only part of the obese issue. Having a good sleep, exercise, turning off the TV might help too. Just a thought.

SAM
It's pricey....but, I'm buying more organic. I admit that when I focus on eating much more fruit and veggies that I feel better. However, I too am concerned about all the pest/fungicides in our produce. Cancer doesn't appeal to me any more than diabetes or heart disease. It's been reported that some of the newer East Indian fruit growers in BC's Okanagan don't follow package directions when treating their fruits with sprays. This is frightening.

PhDMED
The problem is that so many people are cheap with food, opting out for less expensive foods (canned, frozen, junk food,etc). Yet they dont see how eating badly may cost you your life in the long run.

Anne
Fruits and veggies 5 servings a day. Nice in theory, expensive in practice? I make sure the kids have the fruit, I'll do without if the fruitbowl is looking lean. Veggies is easier for dinner, since canned ones are not expensive. Carrots in the kids lunch. Celery too, but not sure how much nutrition there is in celery. Fewer taxes and more money in my take home pay would help with more fruits and fresh veggies.

Lorne
A study was just released a few weeks ago that outlined the amount of pesticides being used on fruit and vegetables.I would suspect that people will continue to eat less and less fruit and vegetables. The majority of Canadians are either in very good or excellent health. Why eat something that will only harm your health?Health Canada has still not issued their own report on the question of pesticides and what they do to your health.Why take a chance on killing yourself or ruining your health?

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Eating vegetables, fruits increases natural glutathione, says DOH expert‏

MANILA, Philippines (PNA) – Eating vegetables and fruits like asparagus, broccoli, spinach, tomato, watermelon and avocado increases the body's natural glutathione, an anti-oxidant and immune booster, according to a Department of Health (DOH) expert.

Willie Ong, a cardiologist and DOH consultant, says eating these foods is cheaper and is a more natural way to increase natural glutathione in the body.

According to Ong, eating at least two cups of fruits and vegetables daily reduces the risk of getting cancer from about three to 10 percent.

Ong urges the public not to be easily swayed in anti-ageing promos or the so-called fountain of youth, and to instead choose safer ways such as eating healthy foods.

In a press conference Friday, Suzette Lazo, Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-DOH director, also warned the public against the use of intravenous (IV) glutathione as it poses danger to one's health.

Lazo said the glutathione IV is only used as a treatment for cancer patients and not for skin whitening.

She said the side effects of glutathione IV may range from simple skin rashes to potentially fatal Steven Johnsons Syndrome, thyroid malfunction, kidney failure, and severe abdominal pain.

Unsafe use of needles (recycling, sharing) can result in the transmission of hepatitis B and even HIV, she also said.

The intake of glutathione pills, on the other hand, Lazo said, serves as vitamin supplements and there is no study to prove that it can be a skin whitener.

The two health experts issued the statements as the intravenous glutathione has become popular in whitening the skin.

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Fresh vegetables in the market signal the arrival of good eating

The warm weather means the roadside markets are starting to brim with fresh, local vegetables. (Press-Register file photo)

By BETSY OSBORNE

Special to the Press-Register

Too often, vegetables are the after-thought of our meals. We plan the meat and the starch, then at the last minute we throw some lettuce and tomatoes together and add a splash of bottled dressing.

It’s an easily formed habit, honed to perfection by long practice.

Let’s take another look at what’s available to us and how we can provide greater variety to our meals.

We have out-of-season vegetables available all year. Squash, one vegetable my esteemed husband favors, made regular appearances at my table this past winter. I devised a roasting method we enjoy year ‘round.

I also like stir-fried vegetables. This method of cooking is surprisingly quick, and the vegetables keep a nice, crunchy texture.

Several years ago, I read about a way to prepare potatoes that is a little time consuming but well worth the effort. I call them Slinky Potatoes.

I think eggplant is one of the loveliest vegetables we have. Its color is one degree from being black, and its sheen is like patent leather. The texture is spongy when cooked in a stew, crisp when rolled in meal and fried, and savory when roasted with peppers and zucchini.

Roasted Squash

4 servings

4 medium sized yellow squash

1 red or yellow onion

Vegetable oil spray

? cup olive oil

? cup balsamic vinegar

? teaspoon pepper

Coarse salt

Salt and pepper

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and coat it with the oil spray. With a sharp knife, cut the squash the long way into thin slices. Peel the onion and cut into quarters.

Arrange the squash and onion on the cookie sheet. Combine the olive oil. Balsamic vinegar, and pepper. Spoon this over the vegetables.

Roast at 450 degrees for 25 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with coarse salt and serve hot or at room temperature.

Asparagus and Green Bean Stir Fry

4 servings

1 bunch fresh asparagus

? pound fresh green beans

1 red onion

1 cup chicken broth, homemade or canned

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons soy sauce

? teaspoon ground ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt

Snap off the ends of the asparagus. Cut the spears into 2-inch lengths. Snap the ends off the beans and cut the beans in half the long way. Peel and slice the onion.

Combine the broth, cornstarch, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Set aside.

Add the oil to a large skillet and heat over high. Add the asparagus, beans, and onion. Cook and stir until the onion is softened.

Stir the sauce to make sure the cornstarch is blended in. Pour over the vegetables and continue cooking until thickened.

Add salt to taste. Serve immediately while vegetables are still crunchy.

Slinky Potatoes

4 servings

4 medium Russet potatoes, peeled

Bacon Bits

2 green onions, finely chopped

? stick of butter, melted

Salt

Place two wooden spoons on a cutting board parallel to each other and about 3 inches apart. Place a potato between the spoons and slice the potato down to the spoons. (The spoons stop the knife so you don’t cut all the way through the potatoes.) Repeat with the rest of the potatoes.

Place the potatoes in an oven-proof pan. Fan out the slices and poke the bacon bits and onion between the slices. Pour the melted butter over the potatoes. Roast at 450 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the tops of the potatoes are nicely browned.

Eggplant and Red Pepper Roast

4 servings

1 eggplant, cut into ?-inch slices

Salt

1 red bell pepper, cut into ?-inch strips

2 small zucchini, cut into ?-inch rounds

1 red onion, sliced

Fresh basil sprigs

? cup olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

? teaspoon salt

Place eggplant slices on a double layer of paper towels. Sprinkle generously with salt. Wait 30 minutes. Blot the eggplant, pressing firmly to remove as much moisture as possible.

Combine the olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Set aside.

Prepare the rest of the vegetables and toss with the eggplant in half of the sauce. Spread on two cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with oil.

Roast at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Pour with remaining sauce to serve. Garnish with basil sprigs.

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