Building Your “Tasting Muscles”–and Putting Them to Good Use

The ill consequences of our couch potato culture aren’t limited to flabby abs and saggy triceps. All the homogenized foods that comprise the bulk of our diet have gradually eroded our “tasting muscles,” too, making it harder to enjoy and be satisfied with foods we feel good about eating.

Bad Boy Bacon VS. The Cheese Danish

What a way to stir up controversy, angst and anxiety:  At a health fair last week, we demonstrated Spinach Sauteed with Pears and Bacon.  Yes, you read that right.  We made a dish featuring none other than bad boy bacon.  Not turkey bacon, not a vegetarian imitation, not a special lean variety, just good old … Read more

A Boredom-Busting Meal for Mid-Winter

Easy, Fun, a Little Fancy + Vegetarian and Gluten Free So you’re bored–with restaurant food (see previous post) as well as your weekly rotation of 5 standard meals.  If you can saute and deglaze, two simple Cooking Basics we learn about in Whole Kitchen classes, you can break out of that rut in a heartbeat.  … Read more

Superfood Parsley Pesto: Go-To Sauce for Winter Cooking

Yesterday’s post talked about parsley’s superfood status and why that should come as no surprise since all real foods are good for us.  Start getting more of parsley’s goodness into your diet with this quick and versatile pesto that tastes great on everything from spaghetti squash and salmon to white fish, chicken and pasta.  Because … Read more

Holiday Dinners: The Salad Strategy

If you care about weight maintenance, holiday dinners are where your resolve gets tested.   Assuming there are any healthful options at all, it’s most likely a gloppy coleslaw, tray of cold raw vegetables with ranch dressing, or whatever other tasteless nod to nutrition a deli can concoct. Theoretically, you could be virtuous and subsist on … Read more

Processed Foods: The Good, the Bad and When to Break the Rules

If there’s a reliable dietary culprit, “processed food” would be it. In fact, “processed foods” has become practically synonymous with bad-for-you food. However, most of the foods we eat are “processed,” subjected to some kind of “process” from simple cooking, grinding and fermenting to complex hydrogenating, modifying and refining. So in a practical sense, how do we implement the experts’ advice to eliminate processed foods? Instead of an either/or definition, I use the far more helpful “Tree to Test Tube Continuum” to sort out good from bad and when it’s OK to break the rules.

Autumn Eating: Wilted Salad Recipe with Cool Weather Mizuna

A perfect salad to accommodate autumn’s in-between weather and use up the last of summer’s goodies with some of the cooler weather crops now coming in. Find out about mizuna, stir-frying monster cucumbers and how to wilt a salad.

Satisfy Your Primordial Harvest Instinct

I’ve discovered a long-dormant instinct that derives immense satisfaction from even the smallest autumn harvest activity. Why not indulge your harvest instinct? It’s cheap and can even save money. Find lots of ideas for tapping into this kind of completely illogical joy.