Photo: Deposit Photos
As September Is Healthy Aging® Month comes to a close, we have one more challenge for you:
Taste something you’ve never tried before.
This year’s theme, “Curiosity Has No Age Limit,” has been about finding simple ways to keep exploring, learning and experiencing new things.
And curiosity doesn’t have to involve taking a class, booking a trip or starting a major new project.
Sometimes it can begin with something as simple as what’s on your plate.
Think about the last time you tasted something for the very first time. Maybe it was a fruit you couldn’t identify at the farmers market, a spice you’d never heard of or a dish ordered on vacation because you’d never seen anything quite like it.
Making an effort to try new foods may be one of the easiest — and tastiest — ways to exercise a little curiosity.
Break Out of the Food Routine
Think about your last trip to the supermarket. Did you automatically reach for the same apples, vegetables, bread, cheese and dinner ingredients you usually buy?
There’s nothing wrong with having favorites. But every supermarket, farmers market and restaurant menu offers opportunities to venture beyond them.
The National Institute on Aging recommends enjoying a variety of foods from the different food groups as part of healthy eating as we grow older.
It also suggests looking for a new vegetable, fruit or seafood you haven’t tried before — or one you haven’t eaten in a while.
That sounds like a fitting final Healthy Aging® Month challenge.
Photo: Deposit Photos
Start With Just One Thing
You don’t have to completely change the way you eat.
The next time you shop, choose one thing you’ve never tasted before.
It might be:
- A fruit such as dragon fruit, papaya, persimmon or fresh figs
- A vegetable such as fennel, jicama, kohlrabi or Romanesco
- A grain such as farro or bulgur
- A legume such as edamame or a variety of lentil you’ve never cooked
- A spice or seasoning such as za’atar, sumac, harissa or garam masala
- A fresh herb you normally pass by
- A cheese you’ve never tasted
- A fish or seafood you’ve never prepared
Not sure what to do with it? Ask someone.
Of course, you can just “Google it” or ask CHATGPT, but why not talk to the farmer at the farmers market? Ask the produce manager. Visit an international grocery store and ask how an unfamiliar ingredient is traditionally prepared. Look for a recipe from a country whose food you’ve never cooked.
Suddenly, dinner becomes a small learning experience.
Put More Variety on Your Plate
There’s a nutritional reason to experiment, too.
Different foods provide different combinations of nutrients. The National Institute on Aging points to the wide variety of colors, flavors and textures available among vegetables and recommends a variety of nutrient-dense protein sources, including seafood, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds and soy foods.
The American Heart Association similarly recommends an overall eating pattern that includes a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy sources of protein, particularly plant sources such as beans, peas, lentils and nuts, along with fish and seafood.
So instead of thinking only about foods you should give up, consider all the foods you haven’t discovered yet.
That’s a much more interesting way to look at healthy eating.
Let Your Taste Buds Travel
Food can also be a passport.
You may already love Italian, Mexican or Chinese food. Why not venture farther?
Try Ethiopian injera, Spanish gazpacho, Japanese miso, Indian dal, Lebanese za’atar, Korean kimchi or a West African dish you’ve never encountered.
Healthy Aging® has explored this idea before in Travel the World Through Your Kitchen: Start With Foods From Across Africa.
One of the recipes featured in that article provides an easy place to begin with a recipe from Food From Across Africa by Duval Timothy, Jacob Fodio Todd, and Folayemi Brown.
Fresh Turmeric Red Lentils from Travel the World Through Your Kitchen: Start With Foods From Across Africa. Used with permission fromof Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Try This: Fresh Turmeric Red Lentils
Have you ever cooked with fresh turmeric root?
You may know turmeric as the bright yellow ground spice in the spice cabinet. Fresh turmeric looks more like a small piece of ginger and brings another dimension to the ingredient.
The authors recipe for Fresh Turmeric Red Lentils recipe combines fresh turmeric with red lentils, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and spices.
Fresh Turmeric Red Lentils
Makes about 8 servings
It’s important to use fresh turmeric root in this recipe. It has a wonderful aroma, with hints of citrus that are lost in the powdered form. You may want to have ready some disposable gloves and an apron, because it can stain very easily. The taste of this dish improves with standing time and into the next day.
1 pound medium sweet potatoes
Scant 2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ ounce fresh turmeric
Generous 2 cups vegetable stock
5 ounces fresh plum tomatoes
3 ½ ounces red lentils (preferable whole, unsplit, skin-on)
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Peel the sweet potatoes, halve them lengthwise, and cut crosswise at 1-inch intervals. You should now have rough half-moon discs. Put them into a large bowl.
Melt the coconut oil if it’s solid, then smother it over the sweet potatoes.
Add the salt and dried spices and rub well with your hands so they are evenly distributed. Put them on a baking sheet, place in the oven in the top third, and set a timer for 15 minutes, turning the sweet potatoes after about 7 minutes.
In the meantime prepare the lentils. Peel the fresh turmeric with a teaspoon. We find that much like ginger it’s easier to get into the crevices and minimize wastage this way. Pound with a pestle and mortar until it becomes a fine, juicy paste.
Add the stock, tomatoes, and fresh turmeric to a deep pot. Place over medium heat. Rinse the lentils in a fine-mesh sieve and add to the pan. Gently bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat, covered, for 8 minutes. Do not leave for longer than this without checking, because lentils can overcook quickly.
Check the sweet potatoes. You want them so that you can put a fork through each piece with ease. They should taste spicy, salty, and sweet from the caramelization. Check your lentils. They are ready when they are translucent, without sunburnt orange spots of the original color at the core. The stock will reduce significantly as the lentils absorb water. Remove from the heat.
When the sweet potatoes are done, add them to the lentils and fold them into the mix.
Serve warm, and reheat over very low temperature so the lentils don’t overcook.
From Food From Across Africa by Duval Timothy, Jacob Fodio Todd, and Folayemi Brown. Copyright 2016, Duval Timothy, Jacob Fodio Todd, and Folayemi Brown. Excerpted by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Keep the Curiosity Going
September may be ending, but curiosity certainly doesn’t have to.
Choose one food you’ve never tasted before.
Learn where it comes from. Find out how people traditionally prepare it. Try a recipe you’ve never made. Visit a market you’ve never explored.
You don’t even have to like what you try.
The point is to keep discovering.
And if you find something you love?
You’ve just added something new to your life.
Curiosity has no age limit — in September or any other month of the year!
