Recently, I read three interesting books by Dan Buettner about “The Blue Zones.” Dan, a National Geographic Fellow, and his team set out to find places in the world where people lived the longest and healthiest lives to see what they could learn from them. They circled those areas on a map in blue, thus “The Blue Zones.” The team identified five places in the world where there were high concentrations of 100-year-olds (centenarians) and where the people aged without the usual disorders such as heart disease, obesity, cancer, or diabetes. A team of medical researchers, dietitians, anthropologists, demographers, and epidemiologists have worked together over the years to identify lifestyle practices and environmental factors that led these people to long and healthy lives. The five Blue Zone areas Dan’s team has studied are:
- Ikaria, Greece
- Okinawa, Japan
- Sardinia, Italy
- Loma Linda, California
- Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Although each blue zone was different, there were some commonalities identified:
- The people moved naturally, about every 20 minutes.
- The streets were built for humans and not for cars.
- Their houses were not filled with labor-saving devices.
- They grew gardens with the associated intake of fresh vegetables and the exercise that goes with gardening.
- People talked face-to-face.
- People looked out for one another.
- People had a sense of purpose, a responsibility for their community, family, and the next generation.
- 90 – 100% of their diet consisted of whole plant-based foods. Beans are one of the foods most associated with reaching 100.
With all they have learned in The Blue Zones, Dan and his team are now helping communities across the U.S. become their own Blue Zones by launching community makeover projects. They work with schools to foster healthy school lunches. They developed “walking buses,” where children walk to school with adult supervision instead of riding the bus. They work with grocery stores to increase healthy produce and decrease the sales of empty-calorie foods. They consult with restaurants to offer more vegetables on the menu. And work with community leaders to design a physical layout that easily allows people to walk and move about the area.
The exciting thing about what Dan Buettner and his team have learned is that good health is a combination of factors. They know now that changing one’s environment and lifestyle practices makes a huge difference. More movement, such as walking and gardening, getting together with friends and family, sharing meals, participating in a community, having a purpose to our lives, and mainly eating plants, leads to good health and longevity.
For details of Dan’s work, I refer you to his books:
- The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest
- Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zone Way
- The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the Worlds Healthiest People
- The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons From the World’s Happiest People
- The Blue Zones Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100
And, his site: bluezones.com
The recipes for this blog are vegetable dishes that might be found in the Blue Zones:
HAPPY COOKING AND HAPPY EATING!!!
Easy Ratatouille
Ingredients
- 1 Eggplant washed, not peeled, cut in chunks
- 2 Medium Zucchini
- 1 Large Onion cut in half and sliced or chopped
- 1 Bell pepper chopped
- 1 Clove Garlic finely minced
- 1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes
- Dried basil oregano, or mixed Mediterranean herbs
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400F.
- Line a rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
- Wash eggplant and zucchini, do not peel. Chop vegetables including bell pepper into 3/4 to 1 inch pieces.
- Cut onion in half and make thin slices of each half, or chop the onion, whichever you prefer.
- Mince the garlic.
- Place all chopped vegetables on the baking sheet, season with salt, pepper, and sprinkle on herbs to coat the vegetables lightly. Spray with olive oil spray and mix the vegetables together.
- Place the baking sheet in the middle of the hot oven, turning the vegetables about every 10 minutes with a spatula until they are lightly browned.
- Add the can of tomatoes with the juice, mix together, and cook until about 1/2 of the juice has been absorbed. Now it is ready to serve.!
Notes
Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 2 large carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 large zucchini diced in medium chunks
- 1 cup medium-diced potato
- 2 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
- 2 cups frozen spinach
- 2 15-ounce cans fire-roasted chopped tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 can of your favorite beans rinsed and drained, or a mixture of your favorite beans
- 4 1/4 cups vegetable stock or vegetable bouillon
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons dried or 2 Tablespoons fresh minced parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano &/or basil or an Italian herb mix
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup dry macaroni - preferably whole wheat - Acini di Pepe or small elbow macaroni
Instructions
- In a large casserole pan or soup kettle, saute onion, celery, and carrots in 1/2 cup vegetable stock with 1 teaspoonful of olive oil, until carrot is just starting to become tender.
- Add garlic and cook 1 - 2 minutes, do not let it burn.
- Add zucchini, beans cabbage, tomatoes, tomato paste, potato, spinach, remaining 4 cups of stock/bouillon, and the herbs and bay leaf.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover.
- Simmer for 1 hour, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook the pasta separately and add some to each bowl before serving, that way the soup doesn’t get too thick and the pasta doesn’t become overcooked and soggy.
- If you have left-over vegetables in the refrigerator that need to be used up, they can be added to the soup.
Notes
Tabbouleh
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bulgar
- 3 cups finely chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup finely chopped mint
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 2 cups chopped cherry tomatoes
- 1 medium cucumber peeled and chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Instructions
- Soak the bulgur in 2 cups of boiling water for 1 hour, then drain.
- In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix all the vegetables, Bulgar, seasonings, and lemon juice and zest.
- Cover and chill for 1 hour.
- Before serving, you can add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, but this is optional. It is still good without the oil.