Chicks Aren't All About Breasts

"Because healthy cooking is boring"

This was my response to my wife this evening when she commented on the fact that the "healthy point of view" chefs on The Next Food Network Star seem to be dismissed early.  She was a bit taken aback and replied with, "But your food is always good and it's healthy".

The fact is that my cooking may be healthy, but it's not because I go straight for the "healthy" options when I'm shopping and cooking.  My cooking is healthy for the simple fact that I cook most of our food from scratch... not from a box, not in the microwave, and not from a store.  I simply take raw ingredients and make a meal out of them.

I try to make food with the following simple principles in mind... a source of protein, fruits and/or vegetables, and some sort of whole grain.  Some nights and days, I haven't a clue about what I'm going to make for any of the meals, but somehow something gets done.

This evening, July 4, I decided to ride the grill train and grill some meat... when I grill, however, everything gets done on the grill.  If I was cooking "healthy", I would have only gotten the boneless, skinless chicken breast, you know, to cut down on the "fat" content.  When I was looking for the meat, I chose the whole bird, because, if you only focus on the breast, you'll miss out on all the other good stuff that you can get from a chicken.

This same principle applies to eggs vs. egg whites but that's another post for another time.

I wound up taking apart the chicken, which took some time, but was less difficult that I anticipated.  The basic idea about taking a raw chicken apart is to realize that a chicken essentially has 2 legs, 2 breasts, 2 thighs, and 2 wings- identify where these are and breaking down and cooking a chicken isn't all that hard.

Next was the marinade.  I stay as far away from the pre-packaged junk as much as I can.  A marinade is simple to make.  You basically need a fat, an acid, and whatever combinations of flavors you're looking to taste.  This evening, I used Olive oil as my fat, juice from 2 limes as my acid; then salt, pepper, powdered coriander, powdered onion, powdered garlic, and cilantro as my seasonings.  I mixed them until it tasted good and then spooned and brushed a portion onto the chicken reserving a portion for the grill later on (never use the juices that marinaded the raw meat beyond the marinading... unless you really want to get sick- you can always use a portion that didn't touch the meat later so long as the utensils used to spread the marinade have not touched the raw meat).

I grilled on low heat until the chicken was done... everyone liked it :-)

For my starch (potatoes are a rarity), I cubed some red-skinned potatoes and combined them with chopped onions, basil, chopped garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.  I put these onto the grill as well in a glass casserole dish (soak to clean and I also used a brillo pad to be certain), "yummy" was the response.

For my vegetable/fruit, I simply took some fresh green beans that I bought from a road-side stand and put them in a glass bowl with a tiny bit of water, salt and pepper... I also put these on the grill.

Finally, I cut up a cantaloupe, which I also bought at the roadside stand, for good measure.

The fact is, I think that Americans have lost the art of cooking using fresh ingredients.  There is no reason for this except that we have forgotten how.  Cooking with fresh ingredients is healthier and cheaper than canned or processed food, yet Americans seem to be all about easy, lazy food.

While on vacation, I noticed an article in a newspaper that stated that 38% of Americans are obese... 38%!  That means that in a group of 3 people, most likely, one will be obese.  This is a serious problem.  One which I believe would be solved simply by eating more plant- based foods and making our own food at home.

Notice- this marathon runner didn't say anything about exercise!

Exercise is only part of the equation, eating right is the biggest, and most important thing to conquer before any exercise practice will be of any good.

This is prime time to stock up on fruits and vegetables... shop at as many roadside stands as possible and eat what you buy liberally... it rots a lot quicker than the processed stuff.  As the growing season gets closer to the end, start rinsing and freezing what you can.  Eat various forms of protein, legumes, beans, meat, fish, etc.  Buy whole chickens and learn how to break them down- don't worry about the "fat" content of the dark meat, just enjoy!

Whole food is tasty and good for you, "healthy" food is boring... chicks aren't all about breasts, there's a lot more to the whole bird and a lot more nutrients and yumminess... enjoy yourself and have fun!  Get out there and get active!

Thanks for reading, and it's good to be back!