February is Heart Health month. Many foods promote over health and reduce your risk of heart Disease. One of the power foods for your cardiovascular system is Olive Oil. It’s a great source of Vitamin E and other polyphenols. To get the optimal benefit from Olive oil, it needs to be Extra Virgin or first press oil. Also, look for cold extraction on the label. If the olives are heated for the oil extraction, it loses its’ antioxidant properties. February Special: Order $25.00 or more and receive a free 500ml Dintel Cornicabra Extra Virgin Olive oil! Great for cooking and as a condiment! You will love it!

 

Travel Tip #1: If renting a car while on vacation, you might encounter some interesting traffic issues and even with the best GPS system, you can get lost. I don’t know how many times we drove around the old section of Sevilla trying to find our hotel. Finally, we stopped and asked a taxi to take us there while we followed it. The taxi drivers were more than happy to do this for us and even verified the location with other taxi drivers.

 

Travel Tip #2: A lot of the touristic cities throughout Europe have bicycle renting where they have different docking stations throughout their cities usually in front of popular places. It’s very affordable, a great way to see the sites and burn off some of those extra calories from the fabulous cuisine.

Recipe: Judías Verdes con Jamón (Green beans with Jamón Serrano)

Any type of green vegetable can be substituted for the green beans. The Jamón can be substituted with Chorizo for a more robust flavor.

Serves 4

1 pound fresh green beans (Note: Typically these are made with broad green beans or flat green beans)
2-3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2-3 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
2 oz of Jamón Serrano or Jamon Iberico cut into ½ inch pieces
1 Medium onion chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam green beans to crisp tender then immediately plunge into cold water. Drain and set aside.

Over medium heat, put 2/3 of the oil in a large sauté pan. Add Garlic and onions. Sauté until onions are transparent. Add the Jamón and stir. Then add the green beans, stir to coat evenly and cook to your liking. For softer green beans, cover for about 3 minutes. When ready to serve, drizzle the rest of the Olive Oil over the beans. Salt and pepper to taste.