Now that buckwheat’s been officially anointed one of the six superfoods for 2006 by Dr. Andrew Weil, I’d like to add that buckwheat is practically the healthiest grain you could possibly eat. Except that it isn’t really a grain at all, as Lime’s own goddess of good health, Marisa, pointed out a few weeks back; it’s really a relative of rhubarb, and therefore, a kind of fruit.

Ever since Marisa posted Dr. Weil's six superfoods for 2006 a couple of weeks ago, Matt and I have been making an effort to eat more berries, buckwheat, black cod, sweet potatoes, turmeric, and walnuts.

We got into a kind of culinary competition to see who could come up with the best dish incorporating these ingredients. The pinnacle of my efforts was a croquette that combined smoked sable (aka black cod), mashed sweet potatoes, kasha (buckwheat groats), and toasted walnuts, topped with a blueberry BBQ sauce.

Last year, the big thing in fruit beverages was pomegranate juice. Ads for Pom popped up everywhere, touting the benefits of the antioxidant-rich juice. There was even a dark chocolate-coated Pom flavored ice cream bar, a tasty but slightly schizophrenic blend of antioxidants and trans fats.

Pom's been riding high, but açai (“ah-sigh-ee”,) a berry that grows wild in the Brazilian rainforest, packs such a nutritional punch it could knock Pom off its perch. The Açai Supercharger smoothie is a hot seller at Jamba Juice bars, and açai juices from Sambazon and Bossa Nova are available in stores.