If you don't know what to have for dinner tonight ...

This dish is a great example of how you can prepare several foods at one time by layering foods that take about the equal amount and steaming them all together. You come out with a great tasting meal in only takes a matter of minutes! The variety of foods also increases the number of nutrients you will derive from this meal. Enjoy!

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of halibut filet, or steaks, about 5-6oz each
• 1 medium onion cut in half and sliced medium thick
• 5 cups chopped bok choy, (1/2-inch slices), (remove tips of leaves and discard) (remove tips of leaves and discard)
• 2 cups thick sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms, 1/2-inch thick), stems removed
• Dressing
• 1/3 cup minced scallion
• 3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• ½ TBS finely minced fresh ginger
• 3 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice onion, chop bok choy and press garlic and let them sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out their health-promoting properties.
2. Mix together dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
3. Add 2-inches of water to the bottom of a steamer and bring to a boil.
4. Layer the onion, bok choy, mushrooms and halibut, in this order, in the steamer basket, cover, and steam for about 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle a little salt and white pepper over halibut before steaming.
5. Serve on a platter with halibut nestled on top of vegetables and drizzle sauce over all of it.
   Serves 4
   Serving Suggestion:
   Serve with
   • Seaweed Rice

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In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 15 minute Steamed Halibut with Bok Choy

Daily Food Tip

Is eating too much flaxseed bad for me and if so, how much is "too much"?

Yes, too much flaxseed could be potentially harmful. In fact, excess consumption of most any food could be harmful. Yet, for the general population, the amount of flaxseed that is "too much" flaxseed is probably more than most people consume.

Whether a food is potentially harmful to your health depends on (1) how well matched the food is to your body's biochemistry (you might have an allergic reaction to it, or a food intolerance, or other type of adverse reaction); (2) whether it provides you with an excessive amount of any substance that might be toxic to your body because of your current health status; (3) whether it can directly or indirectly trigger a deficiency in other nutrients (for example, due to the presence of binding agents or enzyme inhibitors naturally occurring in the food); and (4) the degree of vitality in your digestive system when you consume the food.

In terms of food allergy, I would place flaxseeds on the unlikely side of the allergy spectrum. Except for bronchial-type allergies reported from flax industry workers who have inhaled flax dust in their job setting, I haven't seen reports of flaxseed allergy in published medical research. Flaxseed appears to be fairly well matched to a variety of body chemistries.

With respect to binding agents or other substances that might interfere with nutrient metabolism, I know that in the late 1960's, a substance called linatine was identified in flaxseeds and suspected of interfering with vitamin B6 metabolism in several animal studies. However, since that time, studies on the consumption of flaxseeds have been conducted in which the blood levels of B6 were measured in human subjects, and up to 45 grams of ground flaxseeds per day over the course of five weeks did not appear to lower blood levels of vitamin B6. Even though these blood measurements are not the optimal test of B6 metabolism, this finding-coupled with the lack of any other B6 problems in several hundred studies on flaxseeds over the past 30 years-leads me to believe that flaxseeds are safe in relationship to vitamin B6 metabolism.

The greatest attention with respect to flaxseed safety, however, has been the issue of cyanogenic glycosides-especially linamarin, linustatin, and neolinustatin-naturally occurring in flaxseeds. (It's interesting to note, however, that in one study involving the incorporation of flaxseeds into muffins, none of these three cyanogenic glycosides could be found when the final baked products were analyzed, even though flaxseeds had been added to the muffins at a concentration of 150 grams of flaxseeds per kilogram of muffin mix.) Although "cyanogenic" refers to substances that release cyanide when they are broken down, it would be wrong to assume that cyanide groups (groups containing a carbon and a nitrogen atom linked together) are automatically toxic to the body or unwanted in our metabolism. These chemical groups are necessary at many points in our body's chemical processes, and, like many substances, are only problematic when deficient or excessive.

Part of the concern over cyanogenic glycosides in health research has been their ability to release cyanates that can then be combined with sulfur molecules to form thiocyanates. Excessive amounts of thiocyanates can sometimes be problematic for our thyroid function and, for this reason, are considered "goitrogenic." In the studies I've seen on flaxseed consumption, urinary levels of thiocyanates in subjects given flaxseeds either seem unchanged by the addition of flaxseeds to their diet, or when changed, are increased. Presumably, when the urinary levels of thiocyanates increase, it means that the body is successfully eliminating the excess cyanates and that no health risk is present. Since flaxseeds don't directly contain goitrogens, I don't see evidence of health risks in this regard.

As with any new food added to your Healthiest Way of Eating, incorporation of flaxseeds too quickly can cause mild digestive problems for some people. Although in research studies, 50 grams-approximately five tablespoons-has been a common experimental daily dose of flaxseeds used, most people find that flaxseeds take some getting used to and this amount would be much too much for them to start with. In fact, it seems that many people start out with a teaspoon daily and work their way up to one to two tablespoons. In a balanced diet that already provides omega-3 fatty acids from other whole foods, one tablespoon (eight grams) of milled flaxseed daily will often provide enough alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) to meet that part of a person's omega-3 dietary needs. One final note: the very small size of these seeds puts a premium on careful chewing. You cannot get all of those unique flaxseed benefits I described unless you can crush the seeds enough while chewing to allow for other steps in digestion.