• Taste [rating:5]
  
• Health [rating:4]
  
• Environment [rating:3]
  
• Processed [rating:4]
  
• Portability [rating:2]
  
• [rating:overall]
  

Taste [rating:5] I find this has just the amount of spiciness for a morning meal — not too much to jolt you, but enough to feel fancy.

Health [rating:4] Low cal, but somewhat high in sodium.

Environment [rating:3] Comes canned. Can is recyclable but not biodegradable, obviously.

Processed [rating:4] This is a processed food and is built for convenience. By that, I mean that you could make the same food with whole, fresh ingredients if you had the time. There are no listed preservatives or artificial sweeteners in this product and I think you can trust that, since the sauce is now manufactured in Los Angeles and therefore subject to FDA and labeling regulations.

Portability [rating:2] While in the can, it is very portable. However, it is a sauce and could easily spill. Depends on how you use it.

[rating:overall]

Normally, I wouldn’t profile a processed or canned food, but a craving for El Pato this morning really hit the spot and I was impressed with how healthy it was.

I was first exposed to this “tomato sauce”¹ on my mission when one of our Mexican mamas used it in a quick-and-dirty version of chilaquiles.

One ounce (1/8 of a can) of El Pato yields:

• 5 calories
• 0g fat
• 0 protein
• less than 1g sugar

I like spicy things, though, and so I mixed half a can (4 oz) with my two scrambled eggs this morning and tossed in 1/2 cup of black beans to make more of a chilaquile feel. Naw, it didn’t taste like chilaquiles… but it hit the spot for only 321 calories and 11 grams fat. It also had 10 grams of fiber and 23 grams of protein. 5.5 points. Nice.

Best of all? I can usually find El Pato in my supermarket for around $0.89 a can.

1. More of a salsa, in my opinion, since the ingredients include tomato puree, water, chiles, onions, garlic, salt and spices. [↩]

• Taste [rating:5]
  
• Health [rating:5]
  
• Environment [rating:4.5]
  
• Processed [rating:5]
  
• Portability [rating:4]
  
• [rating:overall]
  

Taste [rating:5] Very mild and not too bean-y, although the texture may be hard to get right for some people.

Health [rating:5] So good for you, high in fiber and protein and low in fat and calories. It’s also packed with B-vitamins.

Environment [rating:4.5] You can buy beans pre-cooked in cans, but you don’t have to. In my case, I had 1-lb bags of dried beans and cooked them myself. Soaking them overnight required less cooking time and therefore less energy used. If I had bought them in bulk and carried them in a cloth bag, I would have given it 5 stars.

Processed [rating:5] These are fresh and contain no preservatives or artificial sweetners.

Portability [rating:4] Dried beans are super portable. Cooked beans are pretty easy in tupperwares, and are unlikely to spill or make messages.

[rating:overall]

One pound of dried baby lima beans, soaked overnight, cooked up nicely in my crock pot on Monday night. In fact, the one pound of dried beans expanded to perfectly fill the medium-sized crock, and provided me with a week’s worth of protein-y, fiber-y goodness.

The baby limas have a mild taste and, I find, provide more benefit to texture and mouth feel than anything else. I did toss them with some vinegar and sliced grape tomatoes for a cold lunch salad/side dish. That was yummy.

But I’ve been using them mostly as an extender and a filler. For instance, I tossed in about 1/2 cup when I made a tuna salad for sandwiches. I used it to extend my Amy’s Organic Chili at lunch today. I also tossed them as an alternative to garbanzo beans or croutons into a leafy green salad topped with diced chicken. It made the salad taste and feel like there was a lot more chicken than there really was. That’s always a bonus, in my book.

One cup of baby limas has:

• only 229 calories
• only 1 gram of fat
• a colon-busting 14 grams of fiber!
• and 15 grams of protein

Nice.¹

On top of that, it provides a ton of amino acids, important B-vitamin stuff like folates and thiamin, and minerals. Oh, baby limas. TODAY I LOVE YOU.

1. One cup also has only 4 Weight Watcher points — unless you do what I do and don’t cap the protein benefit at 4 grams. Then it reduces down to 2 points, dude. [↩]

• Taste [rating:5]
  
• Health [rating:5]
  
• Environment [rating:5]
  
• Processed [rating:5]
  
• Portability [rating:5]
  
• [rating:overall]
  

Taste [rating:5] YUM. I usually like my “sweet” tastes to be paired with another dose of something — salty, mellow, warm, tangy… In this case, the balance of sweet and tart is usually just right.

Health [rating:5] Low cal, high fiber, plus nutrients. Awesome.

Environment [rating:5] Of course, if you can get organic and locally-grown ones, it’s best. But these need no packaging and they biodegrade.

Processed [rating:5] We’re talking about fresh cherries here, people.

Portability [rating:5] Super easy to pack in a lunch.

[rating:overall]

Is there any more perfect “diet food” than cherries? I don’t know where they’re coming from at this time of year (and the budding environmentalist in me will just have to wear a ball gag for the duration of that question…) but damn. Portable, hand-held, and delicious. They’re sweet and they have a satisfyingly-smooth pit in the middle of each one that’s just waiting to be sucked and toyed with and poked at with your tongue. Cherries will satisfy all of your oral-fixation needs, friend.

PLUS, they have tons of nutritional benefits.

One cup of cherries (a strange thing to measure with all of that negative space — maybe 10 or 15?) has:

• 77 calories
• 2.5 grams of fiber
• 40% of RDA for Vitamin A (1988 IU)
• 26% of RDA for Vitamin C (15.5 mg)
• and even a little bit of protein

But for me the best part is that it keeps your mouth and your hands occupied so well for so long.

• Taste [rating:5]
  
• Health [rating:4]
  
• Environment [rating:3]
  
• Processed [rating:5]
  
• Portability [rating:5]
  
• [rating:overall]
  

Taste [rating:5] I tend to like them roasted but raw taste good, too.

Health [rating:4] Tons of healthy fats, but high calorie. Use restraint if you must.

Environment [rating:3] Unless you buy almonds in shell, you will have to buy these packaged. Buying bulk will raise this score, but I had mine in a little can that I don’t think is recyclable.

Processed [rating:5] Sure, you buy them out of their shell, but these are a good, whole food with lots of fiber and no preservatives or artificial sweeteners.

Portability [rating:5] These pack well, and don’t make a mess if they spill in your lunch bag.

[rating:overall]

Click here to complete a survey that will reward you with a free almond tin.¹ The tin is sort of cute, sure², but it also purports to hold exactly one ounce of almonds. Free portion control gadget! Nice! I’m envisioning this thing to arrive looking a hell of a lot like an altoid tin, but I’ll report back when it gets here.

Are the reported health benefits of almonds just the product of a clever marketing ploy? Almonds are high in fat, which eliminates them from healthy eating plans, right?

Almonds are rich in Vitamin E and healthy (monounsaturated) fats. One ounce (about 22-25 almonds) is 163 calories and only 4 Weight Watcher points. South Beach recommends nuts as a healthy snack, but restricts the recommendation to about 3/4 oz (which is only 15 pieces) of almonds as opposed to 30 pistachios (which may feel more satisfying, if you’re all about the quantity). On the flip side, almonds contain many more nutrients (including as much calcium as 1/4 cup of milk) than pistachios, so take your pick.

Also, almond growers have hired great PR guys and I am a sucker for good advertising and ersatz research.

Eating almonds may help maintain or even lose weight. A 2003 study in the International Journal of Obesity found that adding a daily ration of almonds to a low-calorie diet enhanced weight loss, as well as significantly improved risk factors associated with heart disease, when compared to a low-fat, low-calorie diet. Researchers cited almonds’ heart-healthy monounsaturated fat as being very satiating, helping satisfy the appetite and prevent patients from overeating.

1/8/07: Edited to add that a magazine which came to my house tonight cited an “Iowa Nurse’s study” which apparently showed that 1 oz of nuts per day apparently reduced the risk of heart disease by up to 60%. I wish people would cite their research so I could do follow-up, but it does seem like good nut news all around.

1. While supplies last, so hurry. [↩]
2. And totally matches my current website colors! [↩]