Many Canadians are deficient in vitamin D and/or iron. Create a recipe, in standard recipe format, with 3 ingredients that are high in vitamin D or iron. The recipe can be sweet or savoury. Provide photos or a video of your process.

Beef Soup with Dried Mushrooms and Broccoli

Ingredients: 

260g beef ribs

220g beef stew chunks

70g baby carrots, halved

85g broccoli

15g dried mushrooms

35g green onions, sliced

1 garlic clove

3 bay leaves

water

soy sauce, to taste

cooking wine, to taste

Method: 

1. Prep all ingredients so they will be ready to add at the right time.
   1. Cut beef into small chunks, cut baby carrots in halves, soak dried mushrooms until they are swelled up. 
2. Blanch both kinds of beef in water to get rid of any impurities. 
3. In a heated pan coated with oil, pan fry the blanched beef along with the soaked dried mushrooms, garlic and green onions to give it color and extra flavor. 
4. After the beef have slightly browned, add in the carrots and bay leaves and cover the beef mixture with water and soy sauce, letting it simmer around 30 minutes. 
5. After 30 minutes, add in cooking wine and simmer again for another 15 minutes. This allows the beef to cook down and become tender.
6. After a total of 45 minutes of cooking, add in the broccoli. We add in the broccoli last because it is a vegetable. While adding vegetables to the start of our cooking, a nutrient loss will occur because the liquid is boiling, thus make the vegetables release out their nutrients. 
7. Serve and enjoy with noodles or rice, or as is. 

The main nutrient of this dish is to provide iron. The three ingredients in this dish that are high in iron are the beef, broccoli and the dried mushrooms. Carrots were also added to this dish because they were traditionally part of this beef soup, but carrots in this recipe also add an extra nutrient of Vitamin A.

Topic #4: Vitamins and Minerals 

What are some vitamins or minerals that we may not be getting enough of in our diets living in North America?

Due to stress, convenience and even health factors, people in North America may not be getting enough of certain required amounts of vitamins or minerals needed on a daily basis. These vitamins or minerals we may be missing in our diets are Vitamin A, C, D, E, Calcium, and Iron, to name a few.

What are some easy ways to incorporate these and other vitamins or minerals in your diet by way of foods and/or beverages? 

To incorporate these vitamins and minerals in our diet, we can slowly start to consume the right foods. For example, if we want to raise our iron levels, we can start to eat more red meats as a start and then eat organ meats like liver or kidney as they are high in iron. As for calcium, most of us consume them everyday already, like drinking a glass of milk or eating cheese and yogurt as a snack. However to help increase our calcium level, we can double the amount of what we normally have. Lastly, to get more intake of vitamin c, citrus fruits and their juices are a good source and good start to get them.

Is there vitamin or mineral loss when cooking vegetables? If so, what culinary techniques can be used when cooking to minimize this loss?

There is some vitamin or mineral loss when cooking vegetables, however it depends on the way it is being cooked, length of cooking and what type of vegetable it is.

The longer vegetables are cooked in water, there is a higher chance of vitamins (ex. vitamin C) and minerals loss. This is because the longer the vegetables are sitting and boiling in the water, they are more prone to draining out their nutrients caused by the water. To minimize this nutrient loss, the vegetables can be reduced to a shorter cooking time and the cooking water can be saved to make soups or stews. Vegetables can also be steamed which requires a shorter amount of cooking time, as well as on a lower heat. Another cooking technique which reduces nutrients loss is by stir frying them.

Choose your favorite vegetable and prepare it 3 ways (e.g. by roasting, sautéing, grilling, preserving). Share photos of each of these cooking techniques. What method of cooking did you like the best for this particular vegetable? Which vitamins or minerals are in the highest amounts in this vegetable?

My favorite vegetable is the potato and my favorite way to prepare it is by the baking method. The baking method was a fast process and took less than half an hour. All 3 ways to prepare the potato took less than an hour but the baking method was less tedious than boiling and pan frying.

1st preparation: Boiling and mashing (Mashed Potatoes)

For mashed potatoes (boiling method), I cut the potatoes into small cubes and dropped them into boiling water to boil for around 10 minutes or until they were soft and a fork could go in easily. After that all I had to do was add seasonings and mash.

2^nd Preparation: Baking (Baked Fries)

For the baking method, I cut the potato into cubes and mixed in a bit of oil and seasonings and let it bake for around 15-20 minutes or until they were cooked through. I didn’t really have to keep an eye on them until the timer went off.

3^rd Preparation: Pan Fry (Hash Browns)

Lastly, the pan fry method was a bit more work compared to the boiling and baking method. I shredded the potatoes with a cheese grater and let the shredded pieces soak in water for about 15 minutes to let all the starch out. This lets the potato become crispier. After soaking, I drained the water and pat dry with a paper towel. Then, I seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder for flavor and added an egg so the mixture will hold together. I then dropped around a tablespoon of the mixture onto a heated lightly oiled pan and let fry on both sides until cooked and crispy.

Although potatoes are a vegetable they can also be considered a carbohydrate because of the starches they have in them. They are high in vitamin B6 and C and are a good source of potassium. There are many other ways of eating a potato however the three I have listed are the ones I eat often.

State one topic in nutrition that interests you and one that you would like to learn more about.

One topic in nutrition that interests me are diseases. I am interested in learning about diseases because I feel in today’s society, diseases and health issues are a rising concern now and there should be a way to prevent them. Diseases can come from poor health, lack of nutrition, and even genetics play a role. Previous family members may have a certain health issue and can be passed down to generations. Moreover, I am curious as to how each major common disease can affect a person’s daily life and what obstacles and challenges they face. Another reason for choosing diseases is because I once was sick, and now am more conscious about my own health.

Do you feel, currently and in the future, nutrition will play a more important role in the culinary industry? Explain why or why not?

Yes, I feel nutrition will play a big and important role in the culinary industry now and in the future because I think in today’s society, many people are being more cautious as to what they put in their body. Although eating at home may be more healthier as you know the process of cooking it and what is being put in, however it is time consuming, therefore people tend to opt for fast food or food deliveries. These are all made without knowing what and how it is being cooked. After people realize what is being put in their meals they slowly back away from eating outside and may start to cook for themselves. Because of this, new restaurants are opening and offering a healthier take on food for people who have no time to cook. Usually these restaurants are opened by people who are also health conscious about what they consume and they want to provide the same experience to customers, at the same time encourage customers to eat healthier.

Choose a credible nutrition website and a website that may not be credible and compare 2 ways how you can determine the credibility of the website. 

Credible: Canada’s Food Guide

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-food-guides.html

Canada’s Food Guide is a food and nutrition website provided and written by the Government of Canada. They provide nutritional information about what and how much food each person or child should be consuming on a daily basis in order to stay healthier and lowering the risk of health diseases. This site is considered a credible nutritional website because first of all, it is provided by the Government of Canada which we know is reliable and trustworthy as the government would not provide false information to residents. As well, this site is listed as secure, as shown beside the URL address. The Government of Canada logo is also very clear and big as it is pictured on the top left and bottom right corner of each site page. The site also lists and links to other reliable sources such as Health Canada, which is another food and nutritional website provided by the government.

Non-credible: Livestrong

https://www.livestrong.com/

Livestrong.com is a website made by a group of people who are passionate about their health and lifestyle. The group is made up of athletes, foodies, and gamers. Each person has a specific role in the company such as photographer, editor or manager. The information that they provide to readers may not be accurate as they do not source where they get the information from, as well each article is written by different people so the viewpoints will be different in articles that may seem to have a similar topic. Browsing through the website, on almost every page there will be an ad either for a new car or weight loss transformations. Sometimes there will be subscription pop ups for newsletters. Comparing to the credible website, Canada’s Food Guide is free of ads and pop ups. On Livestrong, you are also able to share the page or article onto any social media, however, on Canada’s Food Guide there is no option for sharing as the government takes things more seriously.

References

Canada, Health. “Canada’s Food Guides.” Canada.ca, 1 Sept. 2016,

http://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-food-guides.html

“Simple Healthy Living.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, http://www.livestrong.com