Allow me to remedy said situation as we move forward.
This installment of Eat Your Plate focuses on a very obviously healthy food.
The Apple.
What can I say
about the apple that hasn't already been expressed in so many different
forms of expression? Very little. But I'll try to throw my 2¢ in
anyway.
If you're
anything like me, you like to eat. In fact simply calling it "eating"
hardly does the act of digestion justice. Food is an experience. So who wouldn't
want to experience and experience and experience until their belt was
too tight?...
Okay, maybe that doesn't apply to everyone. But I know
I'm not alone when I've walked waddled away from a
meal or munch fest feeling like I needed to be juiced like Violet
Beauregarde way more often than I'd like to admit.
The apple helps
to curb that. Since it's really dense, it takes time and effort to
chew, thus making the system slow down and realize that it's getting
full. Unlike the Twinky, you can't cram an entire apple comfortably into
your mouth... and repeat. Also, with around 20% of your daily value of
fiber, your tummy will be happy, happy.
Take it
in and let it out. The apple has been shown to really help lung
function. It fights off cancer cells, asthma and other diseases. It even
showed to have a healthy affect on the lungs and breathing development
of children of women who ate apples while they were pregnant.
Apples
<3 you back. Because they fight off bad cholesterol, apples are big
friends with the cardiovascular system.
The apple is in your corner. Besides lung
cancer, apples help to fight off oral, esophageal, colon, breast,
ovarian, prostate and other cancers.
Food for thought: apples are good for your
brain. They can help you stay sharp, fight Alzheimer's and improve your
general memory. Remember that.
An
apple a day may not keep the doctor entirely away, but it sure can make
your visits a lot more pleasant for the both of you.
Other
than being good for you, the apple is just plain yummy. If you disagree,
there's a good chance that you either haven't found your brand OR you
haven't had it prepared in one of the many glorious ways to enjoy an
apple.
Here's a
list of apples and their diverse qualities.
Chances are,
you'll recognize the Red Delicious apples from the complimentary fruit
basket provided by the front desk of the lobby from your last hotel
visit. If these are the only apples you've ever tried, there's no
surprise that you weren't impressed.
A good gateway apple is the green Granny
Smith. It's guaranteed to provide a firm crunch and juicy tartness. But
for my money, I hold out for the Honey Crisp Apple. It's not available
year round, but it's totally worth waiting for, especially if you like
to cook with apples.
What you won't find on the list is my second favorite,
the Jazz apple, which can be found in most grocers (at least in Tejas)
year round. It's pretty comparable to the Honey Crisp, since it comes
from a cross pollination of it.
As far
as I'm concerned, the best way to enjoy an apple is chilled and sliced,
but you can never go wrong with one of two go-withs.
The next time
you're at the grocery store, ask the produce department for fruit
chili. It's a sprinkle-on condiment that adds a real kick to
really any fruit, but it goes really well with apples and pears.
If you're in
the mood for more of a dessert flavor, I have never enjoyed the
enhancement of a snack more than when I tried an apple dipped in Biscoff
spread. Developed from the ginger cookies, this stuff spreads
and stores just like peanut butter, but is so much more. Like the chili
powder, it goes well on plenty of other fruits (and breads, and pretzels
and in baking and...) but Biscoff is easily one of the apple's best
friend.
Yes,
even the complimentary hotel lobby apple.
This post is dedicated to Sara
Proffitt, who is very good about her apple-a-day.
-k
Awesome! Reminds me, I need to find my Biscoff. I lost it, I may have left it at work. Also I need to buy more apples. I am fresh out.
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