Le Blog!
Food and eating solutions without food rules, eating restrictions, eat-like-me-look-like-me diets nor “eat this, not that” food fears.
Instead, I share the best information on balanced, practical ways to eat well and maximize your health through food enjoyment, mindful tasting and cooking food you love. There are also recipes, culinary nutrition tips, and posts on how food culture impacts how and what we eat.
Pineapple Ginger Salsa Recipe
It screams “don’t touch me!” Maui pineapple from my Dole Plantation Tour
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Salsa! Dance it or Eat it—Both Burn Calories
Dance it or eat it, but either way salsa boosts your mood, makes you hot and burns extra calories. Chile peppers in salsa contain chemicals that trigger heat sensations and cause your body to expend more energy--a metabolic effect called diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT). Embrace...
Corn, Tomato and Spinach Olive-Oil Galette
Olive-oil galette--Is it a tart? A pizza with a folded edge? A pie you eat for dinner?
It’s delicious no matter what you call it and, depending on your fillings, this olive-oil galette works for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
This...
Lentil Mushroom Walnut Pate: Savory Bean-Meat Swaps
Liver is a cheap ingredient that many cultures embrace and adore but can be an acquired taste due to its strong odors, unique and sometimes metallic flavors and texture challenges. My first whiff of liver was thanks to my childhood friend Mary whose father regularly...
Quick Pickled Leeks with Lime
Leeks are versatile, but most often, are cooked until soft or used as an aromatic veggie in stocks. This recipe for pickled leeks lets them maintain a fresh texture and flavor. In less than 10 minutes, hands-on, you have a versatile, delicious garnish and ingredient...
Meaty Walnut Mushroom Ragout: Flex Your Meatless Options
Walnut Mushroom Ragout (Ragoût, for zee French appetite)
This walnut mushroom ragout (pronounced like the Italian Ragù) is a veggie and meat-eater favorite that delivers a ground-meat texture and umami-meaty flavor from toasted walnuts. Walnuts are high in umami...
Chickpea Corn Cakes: Crave-worthy Carbs
If you enjoy crunchy, sweet summer corn and savory, nutty chickpea flavors and a fast, easy recipe, continue. However, I feel compelled to defend corn just in case with this comment:
Carby chickpea corn cakes cause carb-avoiders cringe-worthy concerns, or conversely, conscious cravings. Now...
Quinoa Boulettes vs Ikea Swedish Meatballs
Mom would make Swedish meatballs for parties yet we weren't Swedish, didn't know anyone who was and Ikea was a two-day plane trip. Several decades later, braving my first trip to the hip-mega-everything store in search of kitchen doodads, I got overwhelmed and lost,...
Happy Cooking: Jacques Pepin American Masters
Jacques Pepin American Masters Culinary Icon
Julia Child, Albert Einstein, George Lucas, Bob Dylan and now, Jacques Pepin, headline a PBS American Masters series. Pepin’s edition portrays his evolution from 13-year old apprentice to respected, influential chef turned popular Read More
From Bubbly, Burpy Beast to Sourdough Bread
In our household, National Sourdough Bread Day is a reminder to be generous.
My mom’s habit of giving a loaf of sourdough bread to new neighbors or someone needing comfort became our family tradition.
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No Cell Phone Zones and Digital Dining Etiquette for Healthier Habits
Gaps in my childhood memories are like holes in Swiss cheese, yet recollections of meals evoke a solid sense of belonging and comfort.
Feeling gushy about meals is easy when you nourish yourself, nurture friends and family and take a...