I have a massive food crush on Mark Bittman.  I love his simplistic approach to food and his acerbic wit.  It was an episode of his show on PBS that inspired me to order the Florentine Steak during my visit to Montepulciano in Tuscany.  So the irony is not lost on me that his new book, Food Matters moved me to try Vegetarianism for a week.
As a yoga instructor, I have been surrounded by vegetarians. I love restaurants like Candle 79, Candle Café and Sacred Chow. I even dated a vegetarian briefly, but I never felt like I could give up meat.  Well, last week I went to a reading/cooking demo/book signing with Mark Bittman.  He outlined shocking figures about the source of calories our nation is consuming as a whole –12% from sweets/desserts, 8% from bread, rolls, crackers and 7% from soda alone.  He also spoke of the horrific environmental and health impacts of U.S. meat production.

In order to lower his consumption of animal products he became a ‘part-time vegan’ two years ago. As he uttered the words I gasped!  Mark Bittman, my food hero, was advocating a vegan diet of sorts?  How could this be?  I had been known to mock veganism as a socially acceptable version of anorexia…

Well, it turns out he only follows a vegan diet from dawn ‘til dusk and then eats whatever he wants at dinner, including meat, dairy, eggs etc.  He isn’t advocating a vegan diet per se, but rather shifting our current consumption to “eat fewer animal products and more plants.”  What works for him is to follow a vegan diet during the day and eat what he wants at night.  I was intrigued.  I took the book home with me and proceeded to devour it on a few extended subway rides.

While gradual changes to my diet and food choices have come from reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, this was my first foray into vegetarianism.  I decided to give it a try for a week.  (I contemplated veganism for about 2 seconds, but the siren call of eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt was too strong for me to resist.)  I already subscribed to two of the basic tenets of the Food Matters diet – heavy on vegetables, low on processed foods.  I just needed to get the ‘light on animal products’ part down.

It was an interesting experiment.  I maintained my workout schedule and felt sustained until the end of the week.  By Friday I was really craving protein though in theory I was getting enough from the beans, veggies and dairy I was consuming. One of the aspects of yoga I most appreciate is learning to listen to your body. I went out on Saturday and bought a big piece of fish to end my ‘meat fast.’ All in all – it was a valuable week.  I learned that a savory breakfast of whole grains is delightful – sorghum and black beans with cumin, cilantro and a splash of almond milk was my favorite.  I also discovered how ridiculously easy it is to make a homemade bean soup.

How will I take this into the future?  I am going to make higher- quality protein choices when I can. I will buy wild fish rather than farm-raised and cut out meat on other nights. Ranch Gordo beans will be an even bigger part of my diet.  Sorghum and quinoa will be appearing more often. Meat becomes a condiment – something to be savored and truly enjoyed when I do consume it but not the focus of my day-to-day meals. I am trying to be more conscious of the food choices I make. That may sound a little crazy since as I person with diabetes and celiac disease I am constantly aware of what I am eating, but I haven’t been truly conscientious of the broader environmental impact. For every person and family, the situation is different. .  My friends and family all have different ways of approaching it. It’s important to find the balance that works for you.  What works for me is different than what works for Mark Bittman, though I thank him for moving me to make changes, however small the impact.

Here is the bean soup I made with so little effort I can hardly believe it.  I made it twice this week, and the first time was accidental.

Gluten-Free Bean and Hominy Soup Recipe

Ingredients (approx):
3/4 cup dried beans
1/2 cup dried hominy
1/2 small red onion cut in wedges
salt and pepper to taste
optional – cumin, avocado, cilantro

Rinse and soak beans and hominy in water at room temperature 6-12 hours
In a medium saucepan, boil hominy and onion in water for 20-30 minutes.  Add beans and continue to boil over medium heat for 60-90 minutes, adding water as it starts to evaporate.  Test the beans and hominy for texture and add water whenever it begins to boil off (I had to add water 2-3 times, I didn’t want to add too much since I wanted a soup that wasn’t too watery at the end).  Add salt, pepper and cumin to taste.  Garnish with slices of avocado and chopped cilantro. 

While it sounds like a lot of time, I was busy doing other things as it cooked down – the ‘hands on’ time is very low and requires very little chopping or preparation (I have an irrational hatred of chopping for weeknight meals).  The level of satisfaction and extremely flavorful results were shocking even to me.  After my first ‘accidental’ soup early in the week, I was craving it for dinner later in the week.  This will definitely be a new staple in my ‘meat-lite’ diet.

The latest episode of Top Chef made healthy cooking look like a chore. One of the contestants even said “I never use grains in my cooking. I don’t know what I am going to do.” As someone who regularly experiments with whole grain recipes featuring quinoa, amaranth, millet and recently teff, it was a little difficult for me to understand why this was such a substantial challenge. Luckily, the producers brought sexy back to the episode with Sam from season 2 serving as the guest judge. (He has type 1 diabetes, which for some reason made him the de facto expert on healthy cuisine. )

Healthy cooking does not have to be as much of a struggle as the contestants might lead you to believe. A focus on fresh produce, whole grains and lean proteins makes it easy and quite delicious. Try this healthy fish recipe I recently made in a cooking class using whole fish rather than the fillet. It makes for a great presentation at a dinner party, though for a weeknight meal I will stick with fish steaks and fillets.

Red Snapper with Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients

Fish
1 medium whole fish, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, cleaned and scaled (or one individual fish such as branzino for each person)
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt/sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Fresh thyme or favorite herbs to tast
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1/4 cup dry Italian white wine

Chimichurri Sauce
1 1/4 cup packed flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper lfakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 garlic cloves
1 to 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit

In a large baking dish, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and spread around dish. Place fish in dish and coat with remaining tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper. Insert garlic, rosemary, thyme, other herbs, and lemon to cavity of fish. Pour white wine over and inside cavity of fish.

Bake until fish is opaque and skin is browned, about 10 minutes per inch of thickness of the fish.

While fish is baking, make sauce. Combine parsley, cilantro, vinegar, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and 2 garlic cloves in a food processor. Pulse on high seed until garlic is minced, about 4 to 5 seconds. Transfer herb-garlic mixture into a small bowl. Stir in oil and mix until thoroughly combined. Set sauce aside.

To serve fish, lift the top of the fillet off the fish with a cake server or knife and place on a serving plate. Grab the head, tail, and backbone; remove and discard. Discard the herbs and lemon. Transfer remaining fillet onto serving plate and drizzle sparingly with chimichurri sauce.

If making individual fish for each person, follow the same steps, and instead of removing bones, serve each person the whole fish on a plate.

And as long as we are talking about fit lifestyles, I promised my friend Doug I would let the world know about the talent regularly appearing at the 91st Street New York Sports Club. Any ladies (or gentlemen) looking to enjoy a fine view of some very good-looking men can make their way over to this hidden gem of a gym. Do you have any tips for making healthy living a little bit more enjoyable?

So while my tour of Denver for Labor Day turned into a gluten-free culinary adventure, my true purpose in visiting Colorado was to spend time with my two dear friends, Farrah and Brooke. My first night in the city, we left behind the husbands and kids (it was like every night for me…) and had a girls’ night dinner at LoLa restaurant downtown.

The three of us shared the fresh-made guacamole made table-side.

The server initially warned me away from the corn chips, as there was a chance that they were fried in the same oil as their flautas. Upon further investigation however, he was able to determine that they were from a new distributor and were indeed gluten-free.

Those are our server’s initials etched in chili-powder at the top of the plate. As three friends who are all big fans of Top Chef, we noted the elegance of the table-side presentation. (Speaking of Top Chef – Did you catch it last night? The ever-charming Brian was eliminated. Now it’s down to Hung, Casey and Dale. While I have a soft place in my heart for Casey and would love to hang out with her – I think Hung has been vilified by the editing process and deserves to win. )

In addition to their 100+ tequilas, LoLa is famous for their roasted corn soup so Brooke, Farrah and I each got our own. Mine came without the fried avocado which was full of gluten (and completely delicious according to the gluten-gluttons). The soup lived up to its reputation – absolutely amazing – even without the avocado. Our patient and helpful server also made sure that my soup was in a different shaped bowl to prevent any confusion regarding its gluten-free status.

I ordered the smoked pork and shrimp asada with a side of garbanzo ancho chili. It was one of the most flavorful and enjoyable meals I have had in a while. While it seemed like a gluten-free miracle to eat at Deby’s and Melting Pot, the spicy yet lighter fare offered at LoLa is more my style.

We tried to go to Cloud 9, a local soft-serve place, for dessert. When they couldn’t confirm their ingredients, we opted for my favorite McDonald’s sundae instead.

For my next trip to Denver, I will need to add extra time to ensure I get back to LoLa and all of the gluten-free restaurants I missed on this trip. Thanks again to Brooke and Farrah for making my Labor Day one to remember.

LoLa Address: 1575 Boulder Street Denver, CO Phone: 720-570-8686

I love eating food, cooking food, photographing food and writing about food. I also have a love of TV that developed at a very young age, despite all my dear mother did to try to limit my exposure to something she considered “noise.” My love for food on TV developed later, as an adult, once I really started cooking.

I remember my early days watching Food Network and learning how to chop an onion. It was a revelation. I went to The Flying Biscuit in Atlanta after seeing the now ubiquitous Rachael Ray eat there on “$40 a day.”

Now I can’t seem to get enough food programs. From Top Chef on Bravo to The Best Recipes in The World on PBS, my DVR is constantly overflowing with all types of cooking shows. Food Network is one of the few networks I will just leave on rather than watching pre-recorded shows. (Of course there are still shows on FN I record to ensure I don’t miss an episode – Easy Entertaining, Everyday Italian – I have a total girl-crush on Giada, Healthy Appetite, Barefoot Contessa- Ina Garten is my personal food hero, Iron Chef, and Good Eats to name a few)

When my friends and I were discussing the reality food trifecta – Top Chef vs The Next Food Network Star vs Hell’s Kitchen. I was a vocal advocate for Top Chef and argued against Hell’s Kitchen. Yes some of the challenges in Top Chef are a little unrealistic – “make a meal from food you buy in a vending machine” but I think it does the best job of making good tv while highlighting the beauty of cooking and food. It is the show that actually makes me want to try the recipes I see them prepare. I still enjoyed The Next Food Network Star even if it didn’t inspire me to cook. Hell’s Kitchen, however, I found completely grating and Gordon Ramsay seemed like an over-hyped bully.

During my trip to Denver, my hosts Brooke and David made me sit and watch a show with Gordon Ramsay on BBC America called “Kitchen Nightmares.” I begrudgingly gave it a chance because they were letting me stay in their beautiful home, but I really didn’t have high hopes. Well much to my surprise, the show was fantastic. Gordon was a superior chef and business man who brought a fresh perspective to failing restaurants. The stories were not sugar-coated or overly-dramatic and Chef Ramsay seemed to truly care about the people he was helping and the food they were serving. Yes, he still revealed harsh truths and used foul language but it all seemed to come from a good place. Sometimes the restaurants turned around, sometimes they failed – it seemed like a real look into their kitchens rather than over-produced “reality tv.”

Last night, Kitchen Nightmares premiered on Fox with an American version. I was excited to give Gordon Ramsay another slot on my DVR record list. Unfortunately, the Gordon Ramsay on this show is hardly recognizable from the BBC America version I had grown to love. Back was the bully I met on Hell’s Kitchen. Reality TV producers swoop in with contrived antagonism (putting the owner in the kitchen as a chef), extreme kitchen makeovers, and staged dramatic interviews. I may give the second episode a chance but I’m not terribly optimistic.

Of course I’m not the first food blogger to talk about Food TV – The Amateur Gourmet, expresses his love for Mark Bittmann in a post that takes the words right out of my mouth. Allergic Girl makes mention of both Top Chef and two other programs on her blog. Where else is Food TV making a splash in the blogosphere? What do you think of Chef Ramsay?