Going without. That’s what January is about for many Americans as they seek out more healthful diets in the new year. No carbs, no fat, no fun. But what we should and shouldn’t eat gets murky, with shifts in healthful eating advice eschewing a specific food group one year and embracing it the next.
Eggs are bad. Eggs are good. Paleo, Atkins or vegan? No wonder we’re confused.
Michael Pollan, best-selling author and professor at UC Berkeley, makes the what-to-eat subject easy and much more pleasurable. In his recent PBS TV documentary “In Defense of Food,” he revealed how common sense and old-fashioned wisdom can help us rediscover the joy of eating. His vision embraces pleasure-filled food while at the same time reducing our risk of falling victim to diet-related diseases.
The simplicity of his food manifesto is appealing, summed up in three quick phrases. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Not complicated, right? Eat food – real food, nothing your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. Eat in moderation. And make the most of what you eat, avoiding the pitfalls of the Western diet, which includes lots of ultra-processed foods; they are cheap, convenient and have been processed to taste really good. The effects of those “food-like substances” on health are not so tasty, including alarming increases in obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
To avoid ultra-processed foods, he says to primarily shop the perimeter of the grocery store where the fresh produce, meat, dairy and seafood departments are located. Subtly, he infers that cooking at home on a frequent basis is important. Home cooks don’t add hard-to-pronounce additives to their dishes. They have control over what goes in and what stays out.
And break the rules once in a while, he advises. It’s obvious in his writing as well as his words in the documentary that Pollan embraces good food. Bon Appetit magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Adam Rapoport dubs the concept “healthy-ish” on the cover of the January issue. That means indulging when the situation arises, but eating smart most of the time.
Some cookbook authors and restaurants label a cuisine that is rich in whole, unprocessed foods (as part of a primarily plant-based diet) as “clean.” The editors at Martha Stewart Living offer a wide variety of delicious recipes in their book “Clean Slate” (Clarkson Potter, $26), as does Dr. Andrew Weil in “True Food” (Little, Brown, $29.99).
It’s a what-to-eat lifestyle that sounds doable for the long haul. Suffering through extreme eating fads is off the table. Instead enjoy luscious unprocessed foods, with the occasional rule-breaker indulgence.
The “In Defense of Food” documentary is available at pbs.org (DVD $19.99, Blu-ray $24.99)
These tostadas make a tasty last-minute meal. Put out the garnishes and let diners add their favorite toppings, piling them high with cheese and nutritious veggies. If you like, add cooked chicken to the bean mixture.
Black bean tostadas with radishes, cherry tomatoes and avocado
Yield: 4 (2-per person) servings, or 8 (1-per person) servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small white onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans
Optional: 1 cup bite-sized pieces cooked chicken breast
8 tostada shells
Garnishes: 1 sliced avocado, 3 thinly sliced radishes, 11/2 cups shredded cabbage, 1 cup shredded Jack cheese or queso fresco, lime wedges, salsa
Procedure:
1. In a skillet, warm oil on medium heat. Add garlic, onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 8 minutes. Stir in cumin and chili powder. Add beans to pan with their juices. Stir and mash until beans are a chunky mixture, only partially pureed. If desired, add chicken. Heat through, stirring occasionally.
2. Assemble: Top each tostada shell with about 1/2 cup bean mixture. Top with garnishes and serve.
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Fried zucchini is delicious, but it’s not the most healthful choice. This lighter alternative rivals the crunchiness and taste of the original. I guess I’m a hurry-up cook because rather than dipping each slice into the bread-cheese mixture, I put the mixture in a bowl (rather than the suggested shallow dish) and toss the lightly oiled slices to coat them.
Crispy parmesan-zucchini chips
Yield: 4 servings
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs; see cook’s notes
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 medium zucchini, washed, dried, trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
Organic olive oil cooking spray or 1 tablespoon olive oil
Cook’s notes: Make fresh breadcrumbs. Place 2 pieces of whole wheat bread (each torn into 4 pieces) in a food processor; pulse on/off until ground. Leftover breadcrumbs can be refrigerated airtight.
Procedure:
1. Adjust two oven racks, one to middle position and the other beneath it, about 1/3 from bottom. Preheat to 450 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a shallow dish, combine cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley (see cook’s notes). Season with salt and pepper (remember the cheese is salty).
3. Spray zucchini slices on both sides with cooking spray or toss with oil. Dip slices into seasoned breadcrumbs, making sure each slice has some coating on both sides. Place slices in single layer on prepared sheets.
4. Bake until nicely browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Flip the rounds and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. (I found that the slices on the top rack didn’t get as crisp as the ones on the bottom, so after I took the bottom sheet pan out, I put the top sheet pan on the bottom rack for a minute or two to crisp up those rounds.) Taste and add salt if needed. Serve hot.
Source: adapted from “The Pollan Family Table” by Corky, Lori, Dana and Tracy Pollan (Scribner, $30)
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Limp greens and soggy veggies are often the fate of a made-ahead salad destined for the workplace lunchbox. In Giada De Laurentiis’ newest cookbook, “Happy Cooking,” she provides a shaker jar strategy, layering the ingredients atop a hummus-spiked dressing. Start with a wide-mouth, quart-size jar.
Giada’s Shaker Salad
Yield: 1 serving
1 tablespoon store-bought or homemade hummus
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
11/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup canned black-eyed peas, rinsed, drained; or any kind of bean cooked from scratch, drained and cooled
1/3 cup red seedless grapes, halved
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 cup chopped radicchio or shredded green cabbage
1 cup loosely packed chopped romaine lettuce or cabbage
1 tablespoon slivered almonds
Procedure:
1. In small bowl, whisk hummus, lemon juice, oil and salt. Pour dressing into bottom of a wide-mouth quart-size jar or sealable container. On top of dressing, layer peas, grapes, celery, feta, radicchio or cabbage, romaine and almonds. Seal and refrigerate up to 6 hours.
2. When ready to eat, shake the jar to mix salad ingredients and dressing.
Source: adapted from “Happy Cooking” by Giada De Laurentiis (Pam Krauss Books, $35.00)
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Ground nuts make a crisp and tasty coating for chicken. In this recipe, the whole toasted almonds are ground into a course paste in the food processor along with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The formula can be doubled to make four servings. To save time roasting the nuts, Trader Joe’s sells toasted whole almonds.
Almond-crusted chicken breast with spinach
Yield: 2 servings
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted; see cook’s notes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 4 to 5 ounces each
3 ounces baby spinach
Garnish: lemon wedges
Cook’s notes: I use skin-on (unblanched) almonds. To toast almonds, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on rimmed baking sheet. Roast 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool.
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. With the motor running, drop garlic into food processor; whirl until minced. Stop motor and add almonds, oil, salt and pepper; pulse on and off until mixture is coarsely ground. It will be a coarse paste. Rub paste over chicken.
2. Roast chicken in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet until thoroughly cooked, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board; cut into 3/4-inch crosswise slices. Serve over baby spinach with lemon wedges.
Source: Adapted from “Clean Slate” from the editors of Martha Stewart Living (Clarkson Potter, $26)
Contact the writer: cthomas@ocregister.com or on Twitter: @cathythomascook