The Finance of Food

Cage free……Free Range…Cruelty Free….Wild caught….

All are indications of how various meat, poultry and seafood products are raised before bringing to market. I am of the believe that most people would default to running a farm or ranch where this is the default, but as the world has put more and more pressure on these meat producers to provide tons and tons more of meat at day, small efficiencies reap big reward.

Eventually those small efficiencies build upon each other and you end up with animals in cages their whole lives. I don’t blame the meat producer as they are only responding to the demand of the market. Well, it looks like the market might be changing.

The large public pushback on animal raising practices that might seem cruel to an observer now has economic bite. There is the carrot (cage free eggs can fetch a higher price) and the stick (those who don’t follow good practices are often at a loss to sell their product as major restaurants and grocers have stopped purchasing the meat).

Check out more about these economics of food in a Barron’s article that you can find here.

Loaded Spinach Salad

No meat here. Not sure if the eggs are from free range chickens or not.

This spinach salad has everything but the kitchen sink in it.

Making a quick dressing.

I like to prep it all first.

A colorful and delectable salad.

Loaded Spinach Salad

Prep Time: 30 M | Cook Time: 40 M

Ingredients:

1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/3 cup buttermilk or nonfat milk
1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar or white vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
8 large eggs
6 cups baby spinach
1 8-ounce can beets, rinsed and sliced
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted (see Tip)

Directions:

1. To prepare dressing: Whisk mayonnaise, buttermilk (or milk), yogurt, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium bowl until smooth. Add cheese and stir, mashing with a spoon until the cheese is incorporated.

2. To prepare salad: Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook at the lowest simmer for 10 minutes. Pour off the hot water and run cold water over the eggs until they are completely cooled. Peel the eggs; discard 6 of the yolks. Chop the remaining yolks and whites.

3. Toss spinach and 2 tablespoons of the dressing in a large bowl. Divide between 2 plates. Top with the chopped eggs, beets, carrots and pecans. Drizzle with 2 more tablespoons dressing. (Refrigerate the extra dressing for up to 1 week.)

Nutritional Info: Per serving: 270 calories; 12 g fat ( 3 g sat , 5 g mono ); 189 mg cholesterol; 20 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 23 g protein; 6 g fiber; 803 mg sodium; 1098 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (359% daily value), Folate (61% dv), Vitamin C (55% dv), Potassium (32% dv), Iron (31% dv), Calcium (20% dv)

Carbohydrate Servings: 1

Exchanges: 4 vegetable, 2 lean meat, 1 1/2 fat

Source: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/loaded_spinach_salad.html