Food

Video by Jonathan Parrish

You may not know that our “set” for The Food Factor is a real kitchen in the home of one of our team members. Her husband loves to hunt and share food, so while we are working on the show we often get to sample a variety of venison dishes.

We found this flavorful recipe for Spicy Venison Burgers in a venison recipe booklet from Cornell University Cooperative Extension and thought it would be perfect for The Food Factor!

Kale is a healthy leafy green vegetable that you’ll find year-round in the grocery store but grows abundantly in winter. While it’s great chopped up in soups and stews, it can also be delicious as the base of a tasty salad.

I've discovered two tricks that help make kale better as a salad green. Let’s be honest: kale can be tough to chew and bitter in taste. The first trick is to remove the kale leaves from the stems and massage them. The stems are typically stringy and crunchy, so that helps with the chewiness. Massaging the kale leaves gives them a softer, more silky texture and also reduces the bitter flavor.

The holiday season is finally over and life is slowing down a bit.  Everyone has made their New Year’s resolutions to be the best versions of themselves for 2020. 

To wrap up 2019, we wanted to share with you our most popular posts this year.

It's always fun to see what resonates with our food-loving friends. We strive to share recipes we think are healthy, fun, and realistic -- no 25-ingredient recipes here! 

Photo by Jonathan Parrish.

Sweet potatoes are healthy, delicious, and grown right here in Mississippi. What’s not to love? Well, I don’t love all the fat that most people add to them, whether making casseroles, baking pies, or deep-frying sweet potato fries.

These muffins are a healthy breakfast food you can enjoy at home or on the go. The recipe pairs the rich flavor of sweet potatoes with a bright splash of citrus. The golden color hides the grated carrot, and whole wheat flour boosts your fiber intake even more. With a mere 120 calories per serving and 50 percent of your vitamin A for the day, you’ll start the day off right! You could add chopped pecans for a little extra protein, or dried cranberries for extra flavor, but know they’ll both add more calories. (In my opinion, it’s worth it!)