Well, that’s not quite what Sophia Loren sang in the 1958 movie Houseboat, but it’s close, and it’s what I was humming last night, as I whipped-up one of my favorite pasta sauces.

Pesto is a simple sauce that, when made traditionally (with basil), is light, flavorful and aromatic. Admittedly, I am not from Genoa, so I’m not a purist, and I make my sauce with both basil and parsley. Both ways are delicious, so experiment, and see what you like.

Serve the sauce over fettuccine or tonnarelli, and try to avoid cuts like angel hair. The sauce will pool under the delicate pasta rather than coating each strand.

Here’s my recipe for Pesto. It will yield four servings.

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup basil, packed
1 cup Italian parsley, packed
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup parmigiano cheese, grated
1/3 cup pecorino cheese, grated
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

DIRECTIONS

• Place the garlic, basil, parsley, salt, oil, cheese and nuts in a food processor or blender fitted with a metal blade
• Blend to a puree and be sure not to over-grind. It’s important that pesto has a coarse texture. If the texture is still too rough, just add a touch more olive oil to blend
• Transfer to a sauce pot
• Simmer sauce on a low flame until hot, stirring occasionally.
• Serve immediately over pasta

I was having breakfast with a friend, when she asked me why there have been so many recent outbreaks of foodborne illness from bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella. It was a good question, and one she’s not alone in asking.

There are two, main reasons why we’ve seen a spike in foodborne disease:

• People are eating more fruit and vegetables year round, leading to an increase in imports from countries with lesser safety standards than the U.S.
• The growing organic movement, where people are consuming more and more minimally-processed foods

What’s curious is, today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has fewer than one-tenth the inspectors used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to check for traces of bacteria in meat and poultry plants, and that’s ironic, since more than 85 percent of food poisoning is linked to fruit, vegetable and seafood products vs. meat and poultry. This begs a bigger question currently being debated on Capitol Hill, and that’s whether or not the FDA is being run effectively and if more than one food safety authority is needed.

Until that question is answered, there are things you can do to minimize risk of foodborne illnesses and keep you and your family safe:

• Don’t be the source of foodborne illness. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 30 seconds before preparing any food
• Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water, and remove and discard the outer leaves of leafy vegetables like cabbage and lettuce
• Scrub firm produce including melons and cucumbers. Cutting an unwashed melon can spread surface bacteria through the fruit
• Cook meat, poultry and eggs thoroughly. Cooking a food at 160 degrees will kill E. coli
• Don’t cross-contaminate one food with another. Wash hands, utensils and cutting boards after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry
• Refrigerate leftovers promptly

The above is just a primer, so if you have additional questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

As you know, I occasionally feature guest bloggers who are experts in their field and who can augment the Voice of Reason with credible, informative entries. This week, I’m happy to hand over the pen to my friend and colleague Dr. Suzanne R. Steinbaum, Director, Women and Heart Disease Heart and Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City…

Heart Disease is the number one killer in the United States. Amazingly, 80% of heart attacks are associated with at least one risk factor that has been identified as modifiable. The risk factors that lead to heart disease are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, family history and age. Many think that if heart disease does not run in their family, then they are not at risk. With the statistic that 80% of the time, there is something you actually can do to prevent a heart attack, clearly it is worth making the effort, even if no one in your family has any heart problems.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even diabetes are 3 conditions that can lead to heart disease, and that can be reversed or controlled with lifestyle choices. It is frightening to think that 40-60% of the time, the first sign of heart disease is sudden death. I would say, with these odds, prevention is the most compelling option. At the root of the problem is the way that we live. Studies from other cultures, such as the China Study, revealed that there is a lower incidence of heart disease until the culture becomes westernized.

With diet and exercise, it has been shown there is a reduction in blood pressure, cholesterol and even a reduction in the risk of developing diabetes, which almost guarantees heart disease. At the foundation of prevention is, simply, empowerment.

Consciously doing the right things — eating well, exercising and living an active and healthy life — makes a difference. Getting older doesn’t equate with a diminishing quality of life. I contend aging is a process that allows us to flourish. The inevitable is not getting sick. The potential is growing old healthy. And it really is within our control and within our power to make a difference.

As a nutrition professional and fitness enthusiast, I practice what I preach, and I’m always on a quest for the latest exercise trends that will keep me excited about going to the gym and motivated to stay in shape.

I’ve tightened my abs with masala bhangra; I’ve strengthened my upper back and body with intensive Forrest yoga classes, and I’ve maintained cardio fitness by spinning and kick-boxing; however, while exercise fads come and go, the one constant I rely on for accurate, reliable fitness information is Christopher Warden, certified personal trainer.

For years, Christopher was my personal trainer and, until a few months ago, his counsel was available to only his clientele. Now, Christopher has a blog that gives everyone access to what I believe is some of the most credible, clear and useable fitness information on the Net.

I encourage everyone who wants to lose weight, get in shape, separate exercise myth from fact or just stay motivated, to add Christopher’s site to their favorites list. His personal anecdotes and inspirational prose will make you want to go for that run after work, take an aerobics class or just reach out and start dialog with someone who truly has the credentials to be called a fitness expert.

Since I dine out frequently, I’m always attracted to new or different ingredients, and last night was no exception.

I enjoyed an extraordinary meal in Chicago at Avenue M, where I lapped-up tender, hand-rolled garganelli with wild mushrooms and speck in a decadent cream sauce. It was the speck that sold me; I had never tried it, and it didn’t disappoint.

Speck, I learned, is a salt-and-cold-smoke cured ham that tastes like a remarkable combination of the sharper, smoked meats of Europe and the mouth-watering, salt-cured, air dried prosciutti of northern Italy. Talk about flavor - Wow.

While it might be difficult to find speck in certain geographies across the U.S., this ingredient is worth looking for. I’d suggest exploring gourmet food retailers or specialty butchers.Once you’ve found speck, experiment in the kitchen, adding it to quiche, eggs, pasta, soup (i.e., split pea, navy bean), pasta sauces and vegetables.If all else fails, you could substitute speck with either pancetta or slab bacon, preferably a hickory-cured variety containing just a bit of sugar.

In the meanwhile, I’d love to hear from any of you who have great recipes/uses for prosciutti or pancetta.

I had to laugh after reading a 55-page research report issued last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The study, called Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children in the United States, prompted headlines across the country ranging from Kids Gorge on Junk Food Ads, to Kids Besieged by Food Ads. Quoted in these stories were the usual suspects of food police and activists and, frankly, all the coverage was a yawn.

While the Kaiser Family Foundation study examined the overwhelming amount of TV children watched per day and the number of food ads they saw daily, and newspaper reports screamed about marketing’s detrimental effects on childhood obesity, no one addressed a critically serious problem underlying the epidemic: effective ways to motivate kids to become active vs. leading a sedentary lifestyle.

Clearly, it’s easy for consumer advocates and policy makers to point fingers and lay blame as opposed to asking their constituents to take responsibility for their own health. That takes effort. And it surely doesn’t win votes. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) told a forum held to discuss the Foundation study that the food industry must voluntarily shift marketing campaigns away from unhealthy foods for kids or face the prospect of government imposed limits on advertising.

Can we be realistic for a moment? Will candy ads touting a fitness message really solve the problem? In theory, that sounds lovely, but kids get information from innumerable sources and, as long as we ignore the basics of behavior modification, these block-and-tackle attempts to solve the obesity crisis will never be effective.