A Food Pyramid

If you were to draw your personal food pyramid, what would the bottom layer, the one with the foods you eat the most of, have on it? My five-layer pyramid would be constructed like this:

Layer One, on the bottom: Vegetables low on the glycemic index. The most colorful ones in the produce section of the store because we believe their color tells us which have the most nutrition. Broccoli, carrots, leafy green and red lettuces, tomatoes, spinach, collards, kale, zucchini, cucumbers. I’d include green tea and all my favorite herbs and spices—marjoram, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes.

Layer Two: Protein foods—beans of all colors, wild salmon, tuna, lean pork, chicken, lean ranch-fed beef, eggs, cheese, milk, occasionally tofu, miso for soup.

Layer Three: Whole grains—brown rice, barley bread (see my Irish soda bread recipe that ran in my Loop column of March 15, 2012). We don’t use wheat products because I and most of my descendants are sensitive to gluten. Barley has a little gluten but not enough to bother us. Anyone with celiac could opt for whole-grain rice bread.

Layer Four: Fruits—apples, citrus fruits, avocados, pears, watermelon and cantaloupes in season.

Layer Five: Starchy vegetables—yams, parsnips, sweet potatoes, pink potatoes, red wine (Its sulfites give some people a headache; if that’s you or you prefer to avoid alcohol, join me in a small glass of pomegranate juice.)

Eggs fit well into the menu for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Here’s a vegetarian dish for any of those meals. My mother called it Danish omelet. She learned it from her Danish stepmother, born Kraga Jansen, though she preferred to be called by the English version of her name, Clara.

Kraga Jansen Stanbrough’s

DANISH OMELET
2 small servings or 1 large
2 or 3 eggs
1 to 1 ½ cups milk
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla, optional

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet, iron preferred. Melt butter or heat 1 Tablespoon of olive or canola oil. Pour in the egg mixture. At once turn the heat to low. Cover loosely. Let cook gently until the eggs set the mixture. It should look like a stove-top custard. Serve at once.

Warm muffins or toast with butter and jam go well with this.