Food, Recipe, and Activity of the Week - June 3, 2007
This week's features include:
Food - Radish
Recipe - Radish soup
Activity - Frisbee
History
The radish has a long history going back thousands of years to the ancient Egyptian and Chinese times. The Greeks and the Romans were also known to utilize the benefits of the radish, and the Romans spread its use to many other European countries. The radish was later introduced to America in the 1500s.
The radish was used for its medicinal value where it was believed to stimulate appetite, prevent indigestion and constipation, and treat melancholy. During the middle age, it was also consumed to “treat” rheumatism and insanity.
Radish Facts
There are various varieties of radishes and the most common can be categorized into spring, summer, and winter types. The spring types are grown from early spring to late summer, the summer types from the late summer to fall, and the winter types from midsummer until before the ground freezes in the fall. The winter types, which include China Rose, Chinese White, Round Black Spanish, and Tama Hybrid, are larger in size, maintained at high quality longer, have stronger flavor, may be black, white, or green, and take longer time to mature (52-70 days) than the spring types. The spring types, including Burpee White, Champion, Cherry Belle, French Breakfast and others, take 22-28 days to mature and are often small and have a red, pink, purple, white, or red and white color. They can be globe-shaped or elongated, and have a fiery hot or mild flavor.
The spring type radish could be stored refrigerated in a plastic bag for 5-7 days. Remove the green tops and store separately. If the greens come from a spring type radish they can be consumed within 2-3 days. The winter types could be stored for several months.
Nutrition Information for 1/2 cup slices: Calories: 8, Carbohydrates: 2 g, Protein: 0 g, Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 9 mg, Fiber: 0 g
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 5 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground dried ginger
- 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
- 1 1/2 cups radishes, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups spinach leaves, shredded
- 1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
Directions:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring stock to boil. Stir in vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and ginger. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink and curl (about 3-4 minutes). Turn off heat, stir in radishes, spinach, and green onions. Cover and let stand 2-3 minutes before serving.
Nutritional Information (per serving - 1/4 recipe): 190 calories, 4g total fat (1g saturated fat), 12g carbohydrate, 29g protein, 1g dietary fiber, 410mg sodium, 230g cholesterol
Recipe courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more recipes and other information about fruits and vegetables visit: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/5aday/index.htm
Frisbee is great exercise – especially if you're not good at it! What do we mean by this? Well, if you and your partner haven't thrown a frisbee in a while, you'll probably spend most of your time running after it! But not to worry…this makes frisbee throwing a great cardiovascular work-out. All of the running and stretching you'll have to do just to catch the frisbee benefits the heart, lungs, and muscles in many different ways. Not to mention it burns calories too. A 150 lb person can burn up to 150 calories in one half hour of frisbee throwing.
To make the frisbee game more interesting, you could add some fun rules. For example, you could make your partner do ten jumping jacks every time he or she misses the frisbee. Or if you have dog, you could teach them how to play fetch. Frisbee is a great way to get outdoors and enjoy the weather right in your own backyard!
Note: always consult with a physician before starting a new exercise program.