Icky Nasty Vile Foods!

Icky Nasty Vile Beets! Photo: SXC

No matter how much we try to eat healthy, some foods are just plain icky. You know, the ones that instantly make your gag reflex jump into action and your nose wrinkle.  

Those ones.

I'm a pretty adventuresome eater, in my opinion. If it looks edible (and it's vegetarian) I'll probably have a taste.

I remember once being handed a wedge of a juicy green fruit that sort of looked like an unripe tomato but with an apple texture--and continued to eat more. I still don't know what it was, but a trusted friend offered it to me, so I went for it. Plus, it tasted good.

But some foods, I just can't seem to make palatable. My top five icky foods are:

1. Anise seeds (the flavoring for black licorice)
2. Turnips
3. Unseasoned beets
4. Cilantro
5. Wasabi

What foods top your Icky Nasty Vile Foods list?

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

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What the Heck is in Horseradish Sauce?

Raw horseradish. Pretty ugly, isn't it? Photo Credit: SXC

As a kid, I loved filling little paper cups with dipping sauces for my french fries at fast food restaurants.

Ketchup. Barbecue. Mustard. Mayonnaise. Horseradish. I really enjoyed them all--and even mixed a few of them together.

My favorite by far was horseradish sauce. Maybe I liked it because it was nicknamed "horsey" sauce and I have a thing for big, lovable equines. I'm not sure.

But, it wasn't until maybe a few years ago that I wondered what horseradish sauce is actually made of.

First of all, horseradish isn't a radish or made of (gasp!) horse. It's a root from the Brassicaceae family of perennials. Cousins of the horseradish include the equally spicy wasabi and flavorful mustard.

To make horseradish sauce, the raw root is washed, peeled and chopped into small pieces. It's then placed in a food processor with vinegar, water and a pinch of salt and blended until a sauce forms.

Do you like horseradish sauce? How do you eat it? I admit, I still like to use it as a french fry dip!

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

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