By Vesanto Melina, MS, Registered Dietitian As a dietitian, I learned which foods rated highest in folate or vitamin C, and what made beans, peas and lentils the protein, iron, and B vitamin superstars they are. Earlier, my mother had enjoyed sharing time in the kitchen and food preparation skills. My birthdays featured participatory cookie-making […]
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Celebrate with Compassion By Vesanto Melina, MS, RD Across North America and Europe, people are choosing plant-based meals and the trend is accelerating, especially among young people. So you are likely to have at least one vegetarian or vegan at your holiday dinner table. They may be making this choice because they have learned from
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10/11/2017 Share NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina Do you ever eat mindlessly? It would be very surprising if even one reader replied, “No, never.” So if we are occasionally going to eat mindlessly, we may as well eat food that offers a big boost to our health. Chopping veggies on a regular basis, storing them in ziplock
09/06/2017 Share NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina When we get a spontaneous invite to a picnic, one easy choice is to stop by a supermarket or natural foods store and pick up one or more varieties of hummus or guacamole along with an assortment of raw veggies or crackers. If we have a little more preparation time
07/05/2016 FacebookTwitterGoogle+Share NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina & Dave Shishkoff • Last month, I had the pleasure of being a presenter at the Dairy-Free Living course – complete with tastings – at Vancouver’s Central Library. One thing is now clear: there is an abundance of delicious, healthful dairy alternatives. Vancouver is home to several independent non-dairy milk and nut-based
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By Vesanto Melina, MS, Registered Dietitian Recipes are from the new Cooking Vegan by Vesanto Melina and chef Joseph Forest (in Canada as an E-book titles Cooking Vegetarian by chef Joseph Forest and Vesanto Melina, publisher Harper Collins, and soon to be released in paperback; same content–great recipes, menus, nutritional analysis, chef tips). These books make an excellent gift for those
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NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina, MS, RD Vegetable Kabobs Makes 6 kabobs Use six 10-inch metal or wooden (bamboo) skewers. To ensure that wooden skewers don’t burn, pre-soak them in water for an hour before you thread them and keep chunks of food tight to avoid spaces where the flame or heat could reach through and burn
Veggie Kabobs: Vegetable Kabobs Read More »
NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina, MS, RD Summer days often include gatherings with friends and family by the *barbecue, but if you are not a big fan of hot dogs and burgers, grilled veggies add colour, variety and nutrition. Combine any of the following: carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, corn, peppers, okra, eggplant, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, beets,
Veggie Kabobs: Tofu Marinade Read More »
NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis, RDs Summer is a great time for picnics and outdoor meals. For many, it’s a time when dads get out their aprons and barbecue forks and flip burgers and slabs of meat on the grill. Yet according to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), most North Americans
Summer Fare: Multi-Coloured Bean and Vegetable Salad Read More »
NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina What can be better than a sweet treat with health benefits? As it happens, our favourite February food, chocolate, has a few glowing characteristics. It comes from the Theobroma cacao tree, from a bean that grows on that tropical tree. (Theobroma means “food for the Gods.”) Chocolate originated in Mexico and Central
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