A year or so ago, I came across a recipe for Japanese carrot salad dressing, the bright orange dressing atop salad in many a Japanese restaurant. I lost the recipe and have been winging it ever since. We did a taste-off between my dressing and the dressing from our local sushi place, and mine won!

It not only goes well on salads, but our friends love it as a steak sauce, too.

1/4 cup miso
1/4 cup plain rice vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil (any kind)
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp sugar
1″ piece ginger root
1 tsp sesame oil
2 medium carrots, cut into small pieces

Place all ingredients into blender except carrots. Cover and turn on blender. Add carrot pieces a few at a time. Blend until relatively smooth, adding extra water or oil if the dressing becomes too thick. Refrigerate.

Recipe analysis per 2 Tbsp: 50 calories, 4 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 170 mg sodium, 3 g carbohydrate, 1 g protein.

[ Photo credit: Jueno [ Ricey ] via Flickr ]

I admit that I’m watching the fight over nutrition information in restaurants with great amusement. Just as I’m watching the trans fat debates with great amusement.

How can I be so flip about these “public health measures” aimed at improving the health of Americans? Truth is, I’m not sure they’ll make any difference.

Over the past 20 years, Americans have enjoyed access to a growing amount of nutrition information on food labels and in magazines, newspapers, and recipes. In fact, I have been a source of some of that nutrition analysis. Yet Americans weigh more than ever. With all that information at their fingertips, shouldn’t Americans be able to select a weight-friendly diet? Will nutrition info on restaurant menus make a difference in what you order?

Now to my first question about keeping it simple– the food world is filled with really simple, easy-to-follow messages, like eating “5-A-Day” fruits and vegetables, getting “three daily cups of milk” (or yogurt), and “making half your grains whole.” Do they work? Well, we still don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, drink enough milk, or eat enough whole grain foods.

If detailed doesn’t work and simple doesn’t work, what will? We nutrition communication folks have our work cut out for us!

[ Photo credit: massdistraction via Flickr ]

You walk into Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts or even McDonald’s and buy a coffee drink without too much thought. Mark my words: our love of fancy beverages is going to translate into extra pounds down the road. Why? Because most drinks have lots of calories, sometimes close to one-third of the calories that a woman or child needs for the entire day. And researchers at Purdue University have shown that drinks don’t fill you up.

Drink 500 calories and your body doesn’t say, “hey buddy, don’t eat lunch because you’ve just guzzled down enough calories for a meal.” It doesn’t take a law to find out the nutrition analysis of your favorite drink, and maybe a lower calorie alternative. Many chains post nutrition information on their website. Frappuccino® Light anyone?