Food: The Final Four: Sonoma Style

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The Final Four: Sonoma Style
Sunday, April 30, 2006

The remaining four foods that make up the Sonoma diet are delicious foods. In the first article, we covered six of the foods: almonds, blueberries, strawberries, broccoli, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Each of these foods is versatile, though I do admit to some concern about whether or not we can eat enough of them to do the diet properly. The next four foods are whole grains, olive oil, grapes, and spinach. I will share with you my thoughts on these foods.

Whole grains are probably a bigger transition than I had imagined. They are one of the transitions that we have already begun to make although we are not completely there. Instead of white bread, we now buy wheat bread. If we get pitas or tortillas or any other bread-based food, we pick up the whole wheat variety. Where it will get a little more difficult will be in the cereals and the flour. We will need to begin to buy whole wheat flour. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how much of it is available in our grocery store. We live in a small town where there are only standard chain grocery stores, and they are not even that big. Even our Wal-Mart Super Center does not carry a lot of variety. That means that we will have to stock up when we head out to the organic grocery stores, which we visit only occasionally.

The next of the foods is olive oil. We use mostly olive oil or a no-calorie cooking spray now. I actually did not realize that you can get a good portion of your healthy fats from olive oil. I had never really thought about it until I was planning out meals for my toddler. We switched to olive oil a while back. My husband has juvenile diabetes, and we knew that it was better for him. We still have canola oil, but we have had the same bottle in our cabinet for about a year. We rarely use it. I suppose that we will make the complete switch now if we are going to go to the Sonoma diet system. For even the most ardent users of vegetable oil or lard, this transition should not be difficult. You are basically talking about cooking your food in something different; there is little taste difference to notice.

I enjoy grapes, but I see the same limitations for them as with the other fruits. I enjoy having a handful of grapes here and there, but I cannot imagine that we will have anything else to do with them. I do not know how they would be with salads or other dishes, which are the only ways I can think of to use them. One of the reasons I am so excited about the move to the Sonoma diet is that I will be able to find out unique ways of using these foods.

The final food in the Sonoma top 10 is spinach. This vegetable, like broccoli, has a reputation for not being very tasty. Unlike with its counterpart, however, I am not so sure that I disagree. In reality, the verdict is out on spinach for me. I know that I do not like it plain. I do not want to have just plain old spinach. I will eat it in salads, and I enjoy having it then. I also enjoy having it in some dishes. We had spinach lasagna at a potluck once, and it was very tasty. I have never even made regular lasagna, however, so I am not sure how one goes about making spinach lasagna. Maybe I will learn.

I have now convinced myself that I have to get to the library and check out the Sonoma diet book. It is on a hold shelf waiting for me. All I have to do is pick it up, and I have decided that I want to get it. I have never been this excited about meal planning, but I think this could be the start of something really yummy. The Sonoma diet is based on the diets in wine country, where people are known for their decadent tastes in food. I am hoping that the diet turns out as well.

By Julia Mercer

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