Thank you, Madeline and Griffin, for tasting endless recipes, being my toughest critics, and rolling with schedule changes when I had an inspiration and needed to get in the kitchen. And, more important, thank you for giving me this crazy, wonderful, on-the-go, hectic, fun life. It’s your laughter, homework frustrations, sibling spats, messy rooms, scraped knees, soccer practices, hugs, and nightly snuggles that continuously remind me that it doesn’t matter how healthy or “good” a recipe looks on paper. What really matters is that food tastes good, nourishes the body, and is simple enough so that we all end up at the table together.
Mom and Dad, the words “thank you” really don’t feel adequate enough for all that you have done over the past year and a half. Without you, this cookbook wouldn’t exist right now. I am grateful for your spending time with the kids while I worked, tasting recipes, editing copy, providing regular counseling, and feeding us when I was too tired to cook. Thank you also for exposing me to the culinary and restaurant world early in my life at home and in travel. It’s these experiences that spurred my interest in cooking and developed an appreciation for good food—or at least that is what I tell myself when I now drag Madeline and Griffin to “fancy” restaurants!
Thank you Ann Pittman and Hunter Lewis for calling me in a pinch and opening my eyes to the concept of chronic inflammation, an area in food and nutrition that I hadn’t considered exploring until then. I had no idea the caliber of the research and writing that I was stepping into for that November 2016 Cooking Light issue, but it was a challenge that I needed and one that has since opened doors and given me new career direction, as well as inspiration and energy in the kitchen. I am beyond grateful that I was the dietitian you chose to call.
To my editor, Rachel West, thank you for your guidance, support, encouragement, patience and candid feedback throughout this whole process. Having a friend, as well as trusted colleague and fellow dietitian, serve as editor meant more than you know. To my friend, Allison Lowery, thank you for always being my biggest cheerleader and best sounding board for work, kids, and life. To Robin Plotkin, thank you for challenging me to step outside my comfort zone. It was your coaching last summer that made me pitch cookbook ideas to Rachel. And to my amazing assistant, Amber Salmon, thank you for holding things together for me while I cooked, wrote, and edited!
To say it took a village would be an understatement, and I am so grateful for my village!