Grass-Fed Gourmet
Love meat but worry about the hormones in most brands today? Discover the rich flavor and health benefits of grass-fed beef, particularly mouthwatering in this savory Crock-Pot meal.
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During a presentation at the Tucson Festival of Books a few years ago, Chef Jeannette and I spoke about the joys and benefits of grass-fed meat, but were surprised to hear how many people in the audience didn’t even know what that was. Moreover, those who did know told us it was next to impossible to find.
But that was then and this is now. Grass-fed meat is reaching a tipping point of public awareness. Why does grass-fed matter so much? Simple. Everything you ever heard about meat being bad for you came from studies where people ate processed meat (such as bologna, salami, hot dogs, and other deli specialties) and factory-farmed meat (loaded with antibiotics, steroids, and hormones).
Grass-fed meat comes from animals raised on their normal diet of pasture; has a completely different fat makeup, contains no added hormones, steroids, or antibiotics, and tastes 100 percent better. Both Chef Jeannette and I always recommend grass-fed, with its higher concentration of omega-3 fats, its CLA content (conjugated linolenic acid-a fat that has anticancer activity), and its lack of all the stuff that makes conventional meat unhealthy. -Dr. Jonny
View Recipe:
Slow Cooked Cherry Beef with Winter Squash
Notes… From Chef Jeannette
This dish is lovely served over fluffy, fragrant, whole-grain rice, such as brown basmati or jasmine rice. To cook 1 cup of perfect brown rice on the stovetop (for a yield of just under 3 cups, cooked, or about 6 servings), rinse rice well and transfer to a good-sized saucepan. Cover with 2½ cups of water or low-sodium vegetable broth. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a quick boil over high heat. As soon as it’s boiling, reduce heat to the lowest possible simmer and cook for 40-50 minutes until nearly all the liquid has been absorbed.Remove pan from heat and let it rest, covered, for at least 5 minutes
to firm up the grains before fluffing, seasoning, and serving.
Fun Fact! A 2008 study compared two groups of rats, one of which had their diet supplemented with whole tart cherry powder. The rats that received the tart cherry supplement didn’t gain as much weight, didn’t build up as much body fat, and showed much lower levels of inflammation, which has been linked to just about every major degenerative disease on the planet.