Pasta With Spinach and Blue Cheese

I have been a big fan of Mark Bittman, aka The Minimalist, for a long time. This recipe dates back to 2003 and every time I make it I thank him. Everyone likes it and it seems like a treat because of the full-fat blue cheese. Here's my version with a link to his original on the New York Times site. Basically, I omit the butter, use half the amount of pasta and only use whole wheat pasta. Trader Joes has a really good assortment of very good blue cheeses - Roquefort, gorgonzola, and the one I used in this version, Blue Stilton from England made from no rBST cow's milk!

Preparation Time:30 minutes
Serves 4 as a light supper and 6-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound Trader Joe's Organic whole wheat spaghetti
• 2 6 oz. bags Trader Joe's Organic baby spinach
• 4 oz. Trader Joe's blue cheese, crumbled - Roquefort, gorgonzola, or other good blue
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Boil water in a pot large enough to hold pasta, add salt and pasta and cook according to package directions minus one minute.
2. Meanwhile, open bags of spinach and crumble cheese. Place a colander in the sink.
3. Add spinach to cooking pasta when timer goes off, stir and cook until bright green and wilted, about 30 seconds.
4. Drain pasta and spinach well in colander and return to pot. Immediately add cheese and stir to melt and combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
   

Sometime I Hate Being Right

Many years ago I decided that ground beef would never again touch my lips nor those of my kids. The only ground beef we eat is what I buy and grind myself. Today's news about the largest ground beef recall in US history is what I always feared. Now I look sane to all those who thought I was fringe. I wish I had been wrong.

First, I'd like to thank the Humane Society for bringing the reckless behavior of Westland/Hallmark Meat Company to light. Please take a minute to view their videos showing abuses at this and other slaughterhouses so you can understand how inhumane and dangerous they are. Warning, they are not for the faint of heart and you may never eat ground beef again.

Who suffers when meat unfit for human consumption enters the food supply? Not me and mine because of our house rules discussed above. And because I pack my son's lunch every day, he is not exposed to the cafeteria food that I would not eat myself. Guess what? After I read him the article in today's NYT, I asked him if he understood NOW, FINALLY why I don't let him eat school lunch. He gave me a resounding YES accompanied by a vigorous, affirmative shaking of the head. I 'll take that as a thank you and promise not to ask me for the umpteenth time when I'll let him eat school lunch.

Okay, who does suffer? Consumers who think ground beef is a nutritious, tasty and inexpensive source of protein, kids who eat school lunch, including those on free and reduced lunch, and anyone who eats in institutions which participate in federal nutrition programs (read the poor and elderly). That's a whole lot of people, including our precious children! I sit here now hoping that none of them gets mad cow disease from eating those downer cows. Every parent should be outraged and should be asking their food service directors what they are doing to ensure the safety of the foods to make up school lunch.

What's gone wrong? Not enough inspectors? Lax enforcement of Federal regulations within companies that process meat? Companies putting profits before the health of consumers? All of the above and much more.

How can this be fixed? I have a few ideas. Send me yours.

1. Get the government to recognize publicly that their system for ensuring the safety of our food supply is broken.
2. Arrange a panel of experts, without ties to meat packing companies, to come up with a better system, including one that gives the USDA the right to recall products it oversees.
   
3. Get the National School Lunch Program to raise the bar on quality and understand why whole foods are the way to go and why the commodities program is problematic.
   
4. End factory farming. Support sustainable agriculture and local food systems.

I'm disgusted and hope you are too. If you want to know whether or not the recalled beef made it to your kid's cafeteria, good luck. The USDA isn't telling because of their arcane rules. Give them a ring and a piece of your mind: 202-720-4623.

The Fracas Over Menu Labeling

I'm just appalled at the behavior of Dr. David B. Allison, the incoming president of the Obesity Society, a leading organization of obesity doctors and scientists. In a NYT article about New York City's new rules requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts alongside menu items, he was quoted as saying that they could backfire and cause obese customers to actually eat more. What? Why would a doctor and figurehead for such a prominent organization make such a claim? Isn't he supposed to be part of the solution, not part of the problem? Um, money. Unfortunately, he is also a consultant to the New York Restaurant Association and was paid by them to write a 33-page affidavit detailing studies showing how, under certain circumstances, diners with information about the high calorie content of their food might actually eat more. The New York Restaurant Association is suing NYC to block the new rules.

Who supports calorie labeling on menus? The Obesity Society. What? Yes, the very organization that will soon have Dr. Allison as its president stated that "more information on the caloric content of restaurant servings, not less, is in the interest of consumers." I wonder if the board is rethinking his new position? Other supporters include the usual cast of characters that weigh in on topics like this: Public Citizen, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association.

And what about the rest of the population that is simply calorie conscious? Don't we represent an important component if not the great preponderance of diners? Given the choice between a 700 calorie dinner menu item and a 1,300 calorie item, we can intelligently make a choice that suits our needs. We can also ask if something can be substituted or left out of the higher calorie item to lower the calorie count. I think the FDA calls that being an "informed consumer". We used that argument when we asked the head of food service to add calorie counts to the school lunch menu. No dice. I might have to move back to New York. On second thought, I'll just keep making my kid's lunch.

Shame on anyone who tries to inhibit the free flow of information necessary for consumers to make informed decisions about the food they eat!