To mix a softened ingredient, like butter, alone or with another ingredient, like sugar, till completely blended and soft.

White whole wheat flour has been grown in Europe for decades and only recently has organic white whole wheat flour become available here in the U.S. I use it for all my baking except bread where I continue to use whole wheat bread flour. Two national brands of white whole wheat are King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill.

Is a peanut butter-like paste, made from sesame seeds. Tahini is sold either raw, sprouted, or toasted. Raw has a much milder flavor than toasted and it’s what is usually used in most recipes like baba ganoush and hummus and is used in the cuisines of many Middle Eastern countries in both sweet and savory dishes. Tahini is also an ingredient in some Asian cuisines.

Sprouted tahini is the most nutritious, and the most expensive. It can cost up to twice as much as other options.

I like roasted tahini for sandwiches.

Sesame seeds are a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and manganese. And one ounce has 5 grams of protein.

Because of its mild flavor, tahini makes a good base for dips and sauces.

I use it to enhance the nutritional profile of cookies.

My soaking bowls

When I first started teaching myself to cook beans and grains, I dutifully presoaked beans as recipes recommended. At the time, I thought the function of presoaking was to make the beans cook faster. I never noticed much cooking time difference between presoaked beans and non-soaked beans when I forgot to soak them, so I gradually stopped the practice altogether. That is until I learned there is another reason for soaking.

Soaking dried beans, grains, nuts, and seeds deactivates phytates naturally present in plants. Phytates make growing plants insect resistant. Phytates also inhibit absorption of several important nutrients including phosphorous, calcium, iron, and some vitamins. People who consume a mainly whole grain vegan or vegetarian diet can suffer ill effects. These range from tooth decay to inadequate bone production.

This is especially important for growing children. Consider breakfast, which is often grain based. For convenience, cereal has become what we feed kids, along with maybe a piece of toast or a granola bar.

Luckily, most people eat their cereal with milk. Whole milk counteracts phytates in cereals. However, the modern practice of eating lower fat milk products doesn’t produce the same beneficial results that full fat milk or yoghurt does in reducing the effects of phytates. Citrus fruits also help neutralize phytates.

An easy way to neutralize the negative effects of phytates is to presoak beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. So this was the reason I originally soaked foods. In addition to neutralizing phytates, soaking also releases important, otherwise unavailable, phytonutrients and vitamins.

• To soak:

Put 1 to 2 cups of the dry food(s) you are going to cook into separate bowls large enough to handle the swelling—especially the beans which can swell to twice their dried size. Pour in enough water to keep everything underwater during the whole soaking time. Add a tablespoon or two of vinegar or lemon juice. Cover with a lid and let sit on your counter overnight or longer—at least 7 hours. Tip: if you get past 24 hours, be sure to change the water. If longer than that, put the bowl in the refrigerator or the food will sour.

When you are ready to cook your beans, drain the soaking water and put your soaked food in a pot with fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil. Once the beans have come to a boil remove the foam, containing impurities, into a bowl and discard. From this point follow whatever recipe you are using.

Some studies claim that phytates may help prevent colon cancer. I’d rather eat a healthful diet, including the nutrients in whole foods, to increase my resistance to cancer. The idea that phytates may help prevent cancer is controversial with no definitive answer.

I sometimes skip the soaking step when cooking grains based on how I’m going to use the food—some grains, like rice, have few phytates. I regularly soak beans because soaking also improves the texture of most cooked beans, and because it helps with digestion.

Usually what we see in stores and are most familiar with are salad greens that are eaten raw. Most of us think of these greens as lettuce. I grew up on iceberg lettuce, there was no other choice for salads at that time where I lived. Iceberg got a bad rep for not being nutritious enough, being mostly water and lacking a nutritional bang, however, its high water content makes for a nice crunch in salads. The first time I found red leaf lettuce in a store in my hometown when I was visiting there, my family wondered why I was serving them ‘rotten’ lettuce!

Today you can buy salad mixes in bulk or bags of various greens many of which most people have never seen unless they grow their own. While bagged salad greens are a bit more expensive than buying heads they are more convenient and there is no waste so it’s a good trade-off. The bagged kinds are probably safe to eat without washing but the greens that come from a bulk bin I always rinse several times, then spin dry, since they are exposed to peoples’ hands. Buying in bulk is the most economical because you can buy only what your family will eat in a given time.

Other types of greens are hearty and tolerate cold better. Most of them need to be cooked. I think of them as winter greens. All greens are wonderfully nutritious. It’s good to include them in your meals several days a week. There are so many kinds it’s easy to find some you like. These greens include kale, Collard greens, Swiss chard, beet greens, turnip greens, radish greens, mustard greens, and others you may find. Each has its own unique flavor. To me, some are quite bitter so I mix several kinds together.

These greens can be pre-prepped when you bring them home from the store so they are ready to cook. If you buy greens with their edible root (turnip, beet, radish) cut the green leaves off about an inch above the root. Rinse the roots well and store in the refrigerator, not in a plastic bag, to be eaten later out of hand or in salads.

Prep the green leaves by washing well in several changes of water depending on how much dirt or mud is attached. Mud will be present if the greens were harvested following a heavy rain. At this time, tear (or cut if you must but it takes more time) the leaves (put the hard stems into your compost) into bite-sized pieces and place in a container, I use a 64-ounce yoghurt container, retaining all the moisture that adheres to these leaves from their rinsing, then replace the lid. Cook and eat these prepared greens within a few days.

When prepping greens I keep the longer cooking ones in a different container from those that cook more quickly and add them to the pot after the longer cooking greens have cooked about 5 or 10 minutes so they all get done at the same time. As a general rule you can tell by the texture of the raw leaf which ones take longer. With experience you will know that kale and Collard greens take the longest, spinach and turnip take the shortest amount of time to cook.