Cooking Without......

I feel so fortunate, for so many reasons.  But today I feel especially fortunate because it was one of those days when I get to cook therapeutically for a client.  I have a couple clients that I cook for who just don't like cooking.  I have a couple clients who want to feed their families healthy meals and just don't have the time to do it themselves.  But I also have a couple clients who need "healing" meals.  One is a single mom going through chemotherapy for breast cancer.  The other had a heart attack and has had to drastically change his diet.

I cooked for the latter, and his family, today.

I love cooking.  I love cooking for other people.  But I get a special kind of joy when I cook for someone who needs and wants "therapeutic" meals.  When I went through the Natural Chef program at Bauman College, I never intended to cook for people suffering from heart disease, cancer or any other chronic disease, even though that's what the program is designed to teach you to do.  That was just a beautiful bonus of my learning there; and now that's what I love doing the most. 

Here's the thing.....for my client today, I cannot use any oil, any sweetener, any salt, or any animal protein.  When I told my students at Bauman College this, the first (obvious) question was, "how do you make food taste good?!"  I mean, these are the things that we chefs rely on to make food taste delicious.  But it can be done.  You can cook" without" and still make great-tasting food.  This particular family requests certain dishes again and again.....and three out of four of the family members don't need to be on this kind of diet, and are probably used to eating food "with."

So what do I use?  Well, I saute veggies in stock instead of oil.  I use lemon juice and zest at the end of cooking to bring up the flavors, like salt does.  When some sweetening is needed, I use dates.  I also add lots of herbs and spices, ginger, garlic, onions, etc.  It can be done, people.  Just give it a try one night....

I made roasted spaghetti squash with a homemade mushroom marinara, vegetable green curry and brown jasmine rice, carrot-ginger soup (with roasted cashews to "cream" it up), and roasted beets with fennel, orange segments, mint and walnuts.  Easy Peasy.  Did I mention...no oil, no salt, no sweeteners, all vegan.  and yes, family approved!  In fact, the eldest son came in as I had just packaged it all up and put it away.  I said, "All your faves are in the fridge."  He went immediately to it and scooped up a bowl of spaghetti squash and sauce....didn't even heat it up.  Then he moved onto the beets and said, "I don't know what you do to these beets, but they're the best thing I've ever eaten."

And I walked out to my car one happy girl.....so thankful, so lucky, so fulfilled.

Try to cook "without" tonight...trust yourself; you can do it.  Here's a start....

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

·         Preheat oven to 375°.

·         Cut squash on half and remove seeds.
·         Place on baking sheet and bake rind side up for 30-40 minutes.
·         Remove from oven when softened and when cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrape out the flesh.

 

Marinara Sauce

3+ tablespoons vegetable stock

1 cup diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, including juice
1 8 oz can tomato paste
1 medjool date, cut in half, pit removed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon pepper
Lemon juice to taste

• Heat stock in a saucepan over medium high heat. 
• Add onion and sauté 5 minutes. 
• Add garlic and sauté2- 3 more minutes, until lightly browned. Add more stock if necessary. 
• Add remaining ingredients (except lemon), bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes. 
• Remove date halves.
• Add lemon juice to taste.

Happy Cooking!