26 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOD
WEDNESDAY,JUNE18,2003
Strawberries make summertime sweeter
What can be more scrumptious at the end of spring than strawberries? Sweet and tart, strawberries accentuate the taste of all kinds of foods. Whether it's sweetening up a spinach salad or matching the berry with the perfect champagne, strawberries are definitely sexy.
One restaurant in Lawrence that takes advantage of the strawberry is Pachamama's, 2161 Quail Creek Drive. Their latest menu offering included a tempting dish called Applewood Smoked Bennett Ranch Chicken Breast, with fingerling potatoes and the addition of fresh strawberries, ricotta cheese and pistachios. Although this dish will leave you short of $17, it's quite worth it.
Sweet and tart strawberries accentuate the taste of all kinds of foods.
Another supporter of the strawberry is a Kansas City favorite, The Cheesecake Factory. What could compliment cheesecake
more than strawberries? The restaurant's fresh strawberry cheesecake is composed quite beautifully. The delicious combination of sweet strawberries, creamy filling and a crunchy graham cracker crust can make any person swoon.
If cheesecake isn't a passion, though the restaurant also offers a classic, strawberry shortcake. Tastes of a classic shortcake topped with vanilla ice cream, fresh whipping cream and strawberries can surely brighten anyone's day.
With the many of restaurants in the Kansas City and Lawrence area offering strawberry-enhanced dishes, it can be just as easy at home to create your own favorite meal with the addition of strawberries.
These berries won't be around much longer, so hurry to the grocery store to taste the sweet, succulent flavors of the seasonal fruit.
Some quick strawberry ideas are adding them to a favorite yogurt or cereal, making a strawberry smoothie and topping waffles of pancakes off with this delectable berry.
EAT THIS
Grilled Chicken & Strawberry Spinach Salad
This dish is perfect for any hot evening. Just serve with a tall glass of lemonade and you're golden!
Christina DiGiacomo cdigiacomo@kansan.com
Nutrition Facts
Serves 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories 343
Calories from Fat 36%
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 23%
Saturated Fat 11g 13%
Cholesterol 13mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 50g 56%
Dietary Fiber 11g 45%
Protein 9g 18%
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 147%
Calcium 56% Iron 50%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values my be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast seasoned generously with salt and pepper
1/2 of a bag of cleaned spinach leaves, torn
15 strawberries, cleaned and sliced
1 15-ounce can of mandarin oranges
4 scallions, chopped
1/8 of a cup each of Blue Cheese dressing and The seed island dressing
1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. As grill is heating, toss all of the above ingredients except chicken and dressing into a large bowl.
2. Once grill is ready, grill chicken for 7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Allow chicken to sit for a few minutes. Toss dressings with salad. Cut the chicken breast along the grain 1/4-inch thick. Place on top of the salad and serve.
2 Servings
DiGiacomo is an Apple Valley, Minn., senior in communication studies. She studied at Dante Alighieri cooking school in Florence, Italy.
House panel votes down funding for meat labels
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A House panel voted yesterday to deny the Agriculture Department money to force meatpackers and retailers to mark their products with labels that described where the meat originated.
The requirement to tell shoppers on product labels where the animal that produced the meat was born, raised and slaughtered was part of the $190 billion farm bill that President Bush signed into law last year. Food processors, retailers and some farmers have complained ever since that it would cost them millions of dollars to carry out.
On a unanimous voice vote, the House Agriculture subcommittee on research approved language in the bill for USDA operations that specifies none of the agency's money can be used to implement the labeling requirement on meat.
U. S. Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas), the subcommittee chairman, said lawmakers needed time to determine costs before processors have to provide the labels.
"Before any decision is made, the producers, processors, retailers and meat industry must have the opportunity to consider the ramifications," Bonilla said.
The Agriculture Department estimates it would cost $1.9 billion to keep careful records on where animals were born, raised and slaughtered.
"How much study do they need?" asked Arthur Jaeger, assistant director for the Consumer Federation of America. Implementation was put off until fall of 2004, specifically to allow thorough review and consideration of how to implement it.
"They've had plenty of time to do it. Why on earth would you need more?"
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) said yesterday that the labels could have helped U.S. and Canadian officials to quickly search for cattle linked to a cow infected with mad cow disease in Canada.
"With the case of mad cow disease in Canada threatening to kick the legs from under consumer confidence in beef, this is irresponsible," said Johnson, who pushed to add the labeling program to last year's farm bill. "The subcommittee should think about whether they are representing Canadian ranchers or American consumers."
Canada discovered an animal last month was sick with mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and for days searched for other animals in its herd to ensure that none was sick with the brain-wasting disease.
The case revealed that the United States, which trades meat and cattle extensively with Canada, has no system in place that would allow investigators to trace meat quickly from the slaughterhouse to the farm.
Canadian scientists have said they believed no other animals were infected.
Biotech food bypasses FDA
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—Genetically engineered foods from crops reviewed and approved by two government agencies shouldn't reveal more information to the Food and Drug Administration, an FDA official told Congress yesterday.
FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford said the agency was inclined to reject a proposal made by the former Clinton administration that required biotechnology companies to notify the FDA before putting products on the market.
Biotech crops are already regulated by the Agriculture Department and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
"The current system is working," Crawford told the House Agriculture Committee's subcommittee on research. "Since there is no public health reason to impose mandatory requirements, FDA is not making this rule a priority."
Crawford said he knew of no instance where a company had not voluntarily shared field tests and other information on its biotech products with the FDA. But Greg Jaffe, biotechnology director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said that without a required regulation, companies could withhold data.