Follower Sunday: “Thank You Readership!” Guest-Chef, Speaker, Spokesperson and Outstanding Nutrition Educator of 2011–Christine Palumbo—Pays it Forward Inspired to Help With Healthy Heart Recipe For Cerebral Palsy With“From A Dietitian’s Perspective” Blog and Cookbook

By Anthony Sepe

Each Sunday, I thank my readership for their loyalty and dedication to my blog, by providing a healthy recipe.  For those that know, this is a healthy repeat, but for those that are unaware and are new to the blog, this is my way of “giving back.”  It is also a way to “Pay it Forward.”  Each Sunday, not only will you have a healthy recipe, but you will have an expert in the field of dietetics, food and nutrition, provide the healthy recipe to you.  It is my pleasure to introduce to you this week, my friend and my colleague, Christine Palumbo, MBA, RD and her recipe:  “Mediterranean Couscous Salad.”

Christine Palumbo, MBA, RD

 

About Christine M. Palumbo, MBA, RD

Christine Palumbo is a registered dietitian in Naperville, Illinois. Her monthly Good Sense Eating columns run in Chicago Parent, Brooklyn Family, Long Island Family, Queens Family and Bronx Family. She is also a contributing editor for the Environmental Nutrition newsletter. Between 2001 and 2008, her popular Food News column appeared in Allure magazine.

Christine has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC News NewsOne, Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends, CNN Financial Network’s The Flipside, The Daily Beast and LiveWellHD Network, as well as many local TV and radio stations. In 1982, she debated the famous Dr. Robert Atkins on Chicago area television.

Publications such as Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Prevention, Health, O The Oprah Winfrey Magazine, Redbook, Women’s Health, Woman's Day, Shape, Organic Style, WebMD, Fitness, American Health, Oxygen, Natural Health, Woman's World, Investor’s Business Daily, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Tribune, Cincinnati Enquirer, and the Journal of the American Dietetic Association have featured her nutritional expertise, as well as ParentDish.com and Examiner.com.

In addition to her work with the media, Christine is a sought-after speaker on a variety of health-related topics. In her private practice, she provides practical advice on weight management, family nutrition, heart disease prevention, and general lifestyle improvement. For over 15 years, she has been an adjunct faculty member of Benedictine University.

Christine also analyzes recipes for nutrient values, develops nutrition education materials, exhibits at professional meetings, and works on special projects for an interesting client mix of public relations firms and food companies. She began her career counseling cardiovascular and diabetic patients at the University of Chicago Medical Center and at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis.

Christine served on the American Dietetic Association Board of Directors as a Director-at-Large from 2006-2009, and participated in their House of Delegates and on numerous committees. Christine was one of seven entrepreneurial dietitians whose careers were featured in the American Dietetic Association Guide to Private Practice.

Awards include Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year (1982) and Outstanding Dietitian of the Year (2002) by the Illinois Dietetic Association, Outstanding Nutrition Entrepreneur (2007) by the American Dietetic Association’s Nutrition Entrepreneurs practice group and Outstanding Dietetic Educator by the West Suburban Dietetic Association for 2011.

A graduate of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Christine also holds a masters degree in business administration (marketing) from DePaul University. She is the mother of three.

 

©Photo: Christine Palumbo, MBA, RD.

 

© Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Recipe developed and reprinted for use with permission by Christine Palumbo, MBA, RD.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup dry whole wheat couscous
2. 1 cup water
3. 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
4. 1 Tbsp. Champagne (or rice) vinegar
5. 3 Tbsp. olive oil
6. ½ tsp. salt
7. ¼ cup pine nuts
8. 2 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
9. 1 cup finely chopped plum tomatoes (about 1½)
10. ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
11. 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint (or 1 tsp. dried mint)
12. 1 tsp. minced lemon zest

 

PREPARATION:

1. Before squeezing the lemon juice, grate the zest off the fresh lemon.

2. Dump the couscous into a medium-sized bowl. Combine the water, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

3. Pour over the couscous and stir. Cover and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

4. While it’s sitting, prepare the nuts, scallion, tomatoes, parsley and mint and put it in a large enough serving bowl.

5. Once the couscous is ready and all liquid is absorbed, gently fluff it with a fork.

6. Transfer the couscous to the serving bowl and toss with remaining ingredients. Chill or serve at room temperature.

Makes 6 three quarter cup-sized portions.

 

 

 

 

VISIT CHRISTINE:

___________________________
Christine M. Palumbo, MBA, RD
Speaker and Spokesperson
Dietitian in Private Practice
Columnist, Chicago Parent
Contributing editor, Environmental Nutrition
Adjunct Faculty, Benedictine University

 

Thank you for reading,

Anthony