Grilled Thai Chicken

t's all about outdoor grilling during the summer months for my family and I. Grilled Thai Chicken is a favorite. Use your favorite brand of Thai paste and be aware that they vary greatly especially in heat factor. Do you have a summer favorite?

4 boneless chicken thighs 

3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste 

1 large lime, juice only 

1/2 cup coconut cream 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

Sea salt and black pepper

Combine all the wet ingredients. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Marinade chicken in room temperature for up to 30 minutes.

Preheat outdoor grill to medium high

Arrange chicken in a single layer and brush with extra marinade. Grill for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Serve immediately with fresh herbs and extra olive oil over the top.

Beef Investigation Uncovers Fecal Contamination

www.huffingtonpost.com - December 17th, 2012

This is the origin myth of the food safety system in the United States: The beef industry was a mess, led to awful practices by the profit motives of a few major processing companies, until investigative journalist Upton Sinclair exposed many of the atrocities of the packing plants in his 1906 novel "The Jungle," which spurred the establishment of federal meat inspections, improving safety forever. Today, beef and other meat sold in the U.S. is safer than ever.  

This is the true state of affairs, according to a yearlong investigation of the beef industry concluded by the Kansas City Star this week: just four companies process more than 87 percent of the beef packed in the U.S., and take advantage of novel, money-saving techniques that significantly increase the risk of contamination by foodborne pathogens, leading to hundreds of preventable illnesses every year.

The investigation spans dozens of articles, tens of thousands of words and graphic illustrations galore, and is worth browsing around in depth on the Kansas City Star website.

Here are a few of the paper's staggering findings:

The investigators found ample evidence of serious problems with fecal contamination in beef at major plants, despite industry claims that beef was safer than ever. Fecal contamination is obviously the most disgusting kind of contamination on earth -- but it also vastly increases the risk that beef will spread E. coli bacteria, which lives in the intestines of cows.

Read More

Are Organic Foods Worth the Cost? Whole Foods CEO

www.yahoo.com - September 18th, 2012

Consumers are buying more organic food than ever before, spending the extra dollars to eat healthy. According to The Organic Trade Association, sales of organic food totaled $29.3 billion in 2011. But a recent report from Stanford University found that organic food may not be worth the extra cost.

The Stanford scientists studied 40 years worth of research comparing organic and conventional foods and found that organic fruits and vegetables on average were not more nutritious.

The researchers did find, however, that organic foods reduced consumers' exposure to pesticides and antibiotics. Organic foods are grown without pesticides and organic poultry and beef are not fed antibiotics.

Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods (which sells lots of organic food), disagrees with the Stanford study, and not just because of his job. He tells The Daily Ticker, "I've been an organic gardener all my life…and I can see..the vitality of the food from my own experience of raising vegetables."

Read More