Fit Fare

Some vitamins just don’t garner the respect they deserve. Apparently most adults between the ages of 18 and 44 are at risk of running a vitamin K deficiency. Why should we be concerned? Apparently, vitamin K aids in proper bone maintenance and wards off osteoporosis. The recommended daily allowance of Vitamin K is between 65 and 80 micrograms. Found mostly in leafy green vegetables, vitamin K is also relatively high in pine nuts and cashews as compared to other nuts. Eating too many pre-prepared foods and not enough fresh vegetables could deplete your body’s vitamin K reserves because one of the most frequently used food preservatives, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), appears to block absorption and increase excretion of vitamin K.

What more palatable way to eat your leafy greens than in a homemade pesto? The possibilities for making pesto are nearly endless. In the recipe that follows, I used a standard basil pesto. You can see that fresh basil comes out pretty high for vitamin K content*, so you end up satisfying nearly your entire daily requirement with just 2 tablespoons of pesto on your sandwich.

This is the kind of sandwich that tends to drip with oil, but it doesn’t have to. There are creative ways to reduce the fat content of this sandwich. For one I don’t add cheese to my pesto and I really don’t miss it in this sandwich. Secondly, rather than oil and broil your bread, you could instead toast it. Lastly you can reduce the amount of cheese you add and use a low fat mozzarella.

Roasted Bell Pepper & Pesto Sandwich

Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh basil, packed
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup olive oil, or less
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients in food processor until well blended. Try to add only as much olive oil as necessary to ease blending.

Roasted Bell Peppers

Slice bell peppers in half, place cut edge down on cookie sheet. Roast at 350 degrees F for 45 mintues, or until softened and beginning to brown.

Sandwich Assembly (measurements are per sandwich)

2 slices bread
olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 of a roasted bell pepper
2 Tbsp basil pesto
1 to 2 Tbsp mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 tomato, sliced thinly

Brush both sides of each slice of bread lightly with oil. Broil until golden on top, flip them over and then add cheese to the top of one slice (per sandwich). Broil until cheese melts. If bell peppers were pre-roasted and therefore cool, add them on top of the cheese, so they will warm in the oven. Otherwise add them after removing the bread from the oven.

Spread pesto on the slice not covered with cheese. Place tomatoes on top of bell pepper.

*Vitamin K Calculation:
Given (look under “extended nutritional details” on the link):
2 Tablespoons fresh basil has 22 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin K
1 cup pine nuts has 73.3 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin K
1 cup olive oil has 130 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin K

16 Tablespoons (TBSP) = 1 cup

For basil: 22 mcg/2 TBSP * 16 TBSP/1 cup * 2 cups = 352 mcg
For pine nuts: 73.3 mcg/1 cup * 1/4 cup = 18 mcg
For olive oil: 130 mcg/1 cup * 1/3 cup = 43 mcg

For pesto: 352 mcg + 18 mcg + 43 mcg = 413 mcg of vitamin K
Pesto yield: about 3/4 cup = about 12 TBSP
For pesto: 413 mcg/12 TBSP = 34 mcg of vitamin K/TBSP pesto

For 2 TBSP pesto you should get roughly 68 mcg of vitamin K!