CHAPTER 3

WEAPONS IN THE WAR AGAINST TOXIC FOOD

BASIC COOKING TECHNIQUES

I grew up in Canarsie, Brooklyn, watching my mother cook. There was no fast food back then, and the only processed food was Swanson TV Dinners; the rest was all from scratch. Supper was all hands on deck when my father came home on the LL subway from working in Manhattan. My mother would always experiment on company—the more outlandish the menu, the better. The only time the family ate out was on Sunday evenings at the local Chinese restaurant. I still remember that place’s broiled scallops with water chestnuts wrapped in bacon. Extended family dinners such as Jewish holidays meant Grandma’s giblet soup, true nirvana. My greatest regret is that Grandma never wrote the recipe down. If she had, it would be in this cookbook! After Grandma passed away, nobody could make that soup as well as she had.

When I was in med school, I took a primary interest in cooking. A guy who cooked was a pleasant shock for a girl on the first date. Today, dinner still means all hands on deck: my wife, Julie; both daughters; and myself. They wait till I get home, even when I’m on call, no matter what the time. And there’s no TV during dinner. Jeopardy! gets DVR’d. It’s about the food, and being together.

Cindy grew up in the East Bay suburbs of San Francisco, where she still lives. Her grandparents owned a catering business in Emeryville, a town between Oakland and Berkeley. Cindy likes to say that she can’t remember a time when her family wasn’t congregated in the kitchen, laughing, teaching, dancing, and cooking, always cooking. Everything in her family happened in the kitchen.

Her grandmother and her aunts lived at the stove and around the family table. Cindy gravitated to them. They made the kitchen a safe haven, a place for nurturing. By age three, Cindy was helping to make Italian omelets, or “frittatas.” By seven, she’d moved on to gnocchi, those amazing Italian pillows of semolina and ricotta cheese or potatoes (See our recipe).

From these expansive, joyful women, her Nana and her aunts, Cindy learned a casual style of cooking: a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Thank God she had a mother who didn’t like to cook, but loved to eat. Cindy had a reason to cook, and an appreciative audience.

Her big, boisterous family followed certain themes—each dish had a base that didn’t waiver—but her relatives weren’t afraid to experiment. Everything was fresh and homemade. They all attempted to outdo each other, trying to serve up “the freshest” or “the best” in the most loving way. It was about the food, but also about the atmosphere. The way they lived communicated this message: “I give you my time, because you are worth it.” Cindy says, “We cooked and ate as a family, and we felt loved.”

We feel that, for many families, there’s just not enough love coming from home kitchens, nor from restaurants. It’s our hope that this book will give you the tools to enjoy cooking, eating, and experimenting in the same way that our families did. Food should foster family and community. It should be joyful. It should make you feel good. We want people to feel that food is worth their passion and their time. We want people to have more energy, to be happy and healthy. But remember—food is not love. Food is food. Love is love. Don’t mistake the two. And kids need both.

Feeding your family should not be a chore. It should not be difficult. Strangely, with the advent of the Food Network and endless food reality shows—Top Chef Masters, Barefoot Contessa, Chefography, Extreme Chef, Ace of Cakes, The Chew—you’d think that Americans would all be gourmet cooks. But I think that actually the endless food programming puts off many people. Cooking seems something that celebrities and experts do, not normal Americans.

Trust us, you don’t need to be able to do all those things you see on cooking shows or in food magazines. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. After all, people have been doing it for 1.8 million or 400,000 or 12,000 years, depending on which archaeologist you believe. In this chapter, we’ll give you the basics you need to get started. If you want to get fancy once you’ve mastered the basics, great. And if you don’t, no one will notice; they’ll only be too happy for a home-cooked meal.

COOKING IS HANDS-ON

We both think the best way to cook is to get in there and use your hands. Obviously, wash your hands before you handle food. Cindy drills that into her students endlessly. Don’t be afraid to toss salad ingredients with your hands before you add the dressing. Blending pastry or cookie ingredients with your hands works just as well as a pastry mixer or a food processor, sometimes it’s even better. Feel those kale and chard greens, or those peaches and plums to see if they’re fresh. Poke that chicken breast or pork cutlet to decide whether it’s done. Tap the top of a frittata or a quick bread to see if it bounces back.

You’ve got to jump into cooking. It’s about your body. So don’t forget to use your body when you’re feeding yourself. Feel. Poke. Test. Stir. Toss. Roll. Knead. Crumble. Rub.

DIFFERENT EVERY TIME

When you plan a meal, try to have all the elements of Cindy’s Plate, as described in Chapter 2: one-half fruits or vegetables, one-quarter protein, one-quarter dairy and/or whole grains. Within this structure, there are infinite variations. That’s what the recipes in this book are all about.

Here’s how to think of a menu: Let’s say you’re planning a meal for a lot of kids. For the salad, you could do mixed greens, carrots, and tomatoes (see salad ideas). Kids all like ranch dressing, so you can whip up a quick batch of our no-sugar dressing. For the main course, you could do Stuffed Bell Peppers with polenta. Let’s say you’re out of the cornmeal used in that recipe, then you could forget about a grain on the side and just add frozen corn or corn cut off fresh cobs to the ricotta stuffing. Maybe you have some kale or some spinach in your crisper that needs to be used. You can layer that between the tomato sauce and the peppers. For dessert, you can slice some good apples and toss them in lemon juice.

We’ve made this menu many times for young kids, high school kids, at-risk kids, all kinds of kids. They all chow down with gusto.

MAKING FIVE RECIPES FROM ONE

You’ll also see that throughout this book we’ve included variations following each recipe.

Cindy likes to say that with one base recipe, you can travel around the world by just changing the herbs and seasonings. For instance, chicken may have descended from a Southeast Asian jungle fowl, but now every cuisine uses this bird. Tomatoes may come from South America, but they’re used everywhere now, in East Asia, India, Europe, Australia. Everybody has onions.

So let’s say you have a recipe that features Chicken Braised with Onions and Tomatoes. You can make this simple and plain, and it will be delicious. Or, you can bring in cultural influences, styling this basic recipe in many different ways:

South America: Add oregano, cumin, chili powder, potatoes, and carrots. ¡Ahi Esto! Chicken Colorado.

Italian: Add oregano, garlic, zucchini, and bell peppers. Ecco! Now it’s Chicken Cacciatore.

India: Add curry powder, cumin, cayenne, potato, peas, and perhaps cauliflower or chickpeas. Sprinkle with chopped, fresh cilantro. Dekha! Feast on Chicken Curry.

China: Add a little brown sugar. Fry chicken with bell peppers and pineapple, onion, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. Qiáo! Now it’s Chicken Stir Fry.

France: Add a splash of white wine, a couple tablespoons of cream, garlic, and tarragon. Voilà! Chicken Fricassee.

Each time, you’re basically starting off with chicken, tomatoes, and onions. But you’ve got many different versions. Variety is the spice of life, and spice is the variety of food.

Or take the basic aromatic mix that the French call “mirepoix,” chopped or diced onions, celery, and carrots. We use it as the base for many recipes in this book. In China, they add ginger to this mixture. In India, they leave out the celery and add curry powder; in South America, it’s chili powder and cayenne. In Greece, they add dill; and in Scandinavia, they add dill and sour cream. From the same base comes many different dishes.

Don’t be afraid to play around with these variations. It’s what makes cooking fun!

CAN YOU MAKE OTHER RECIPES HEALTHIER?

Face it—Southern fried chicken, cream biscuits, and sautéed collard greens with bacon are fantastic, but hardly staples of a healthy diet. Occasionally is fine, about once a week. Don’t feel you always have to change what’s good. That is real food too. Enjoy it.

In general, we don’t recommend radically changing recipes from other cookbooks. Rather, change the food you’re eating and choose recipes that reflect that change. However, there are a few things you can do to add fiber and cut sugar from conventional recipes.

SHOP LIKE YOU MEAN IT

As I travel around the country, I hear a lot of people tell me that it’s difficult to find some of the healthy ingredients similar to the ones we call for in this book. If you shop the way you’ve always shopped, that very well may be true. Food deserts—areas without a decent grocery or produce store—remain a very real problem, especially in poorer towns and neighborhoods.

But remember, grocery stores want to sell products to you. It doesn’t matter that much to them if it’s food that will make you sick (like sugary breakfast cereal or frozen dinners) or food that will make you healthy. Give them the opportunity to change. Ask for what you want. Change your neighborhood. Remember, if you don’t buy it, they won’t sell it. And if you do buy it, they will sell it!

Get together with a couple of friends. Get your office or school involved. Get some people together and go to the store manager and ask for what you want. I’m betting the manager would be more than happy to stock the ingredients you desire. You don’t have to wait for a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s to come to town. Help your local stores to stock healthier choices by letting them know that’s what you and your neighbors want.

Here are some other tips to help you eat healthy without breaking your budget:

You can always ask the butcher to custom cut things for you. This is as true in a chain supermarket as it is in a “boutique” butcher shop in some trendy town. Butchers will cut up a whole chicken into pieces, butterfly a leg of lamb, cut up a turkey, or cut a roast into stew pieces. It’s free. You just have to know to ask. Butchers will also give advice on how to cook various cuts of meat. If they won’t custom cut, and if they don’t know enough to give you advice, find another butcher, or talk to the store manager.

GUESS WHAT? REAL FOOD IS CHEAPER

Cindy planned the following summer meal for a family of four:

1½ pounds of greens at about 75 cents a pound: $1.25

½ pound each carrots and cucumbers, at 50 cents a pound: $1

1 pound of chicken at $2 a pound

(Or ask the butcher to cut up a whole chicken, which is usually cheaper by the pound; that’s enough for two meals plus soup into the bargain.)

1 pound at 75 cents a pound: 75 cents

1 pound at 69 cents a pound: 69 cents

1 pound at 99 cents a pound: 99 cents.

So How Does This Add Up?

Salad $2.25

Chicken 2.00

Sweet potato 0.75

Squash 0.69

Stone fruit 0.99

Yummy dinner for four: $6.68

You can’t go to McDonald’s with a family for that low price, and you won’t have leftovers after burgers and fries. Why do you think there’s a “food industry” anyway? They make big money. Remember that for every dollar you spend on processed food, 19 cents is for the food and 81 cents is for the marketing. Real food is looking better and better . . .

HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY “FAST FOOD”

We love to cook. Like most Americans, we don’t always have the time. There are a few simple things you can do that will help you throw together a great meal in fifteen to thirty minutes on a busy weeknight.

BASIC COOKING RULES

Cindy posts these rules in her cooking classes, but I find they’re a good reminder to home cooks as well.

WHAT YOU NEED: EQUIPMENT

The cooking shows and magazines would love for you to buy every gadget and lovely platter in the Williams-Sonoma or the Dean & DeLuca catalogs. You don’t need to do that. Here’s what you need to make all the recipes in this book:

Extras (Not absolutely necessary, but nice to have):

Don’t worry about buying fancy pots and pans. Buy pots and pans that are heavy enough to be sturdy and to keep food from burning. You don’t need “top of the line” kitchenware to cook the food in this book. Cast-iron skillets and sturdy stainless steel pots will do just fine. Cuisinart makes affordable stainless steel cookware. You can also find decent cookware at the big box stores. Just make sure the pots and pans are not too thin: Over-thin cookware means burned dinners. Pots should feel substantial in your hands, not feather-light.

WHAT YOU NEED: KNIFE BASICS

When Cindy looks to hire kitchen staff at her restaurant, one of the first things she looks for is “knife skills.” Face it—there are no knife skills if the knife is not sharp. Many people don’t want to cook because they are afraid of their knives. And dull knives are something to be afraid of. Buy knives that feel good in your hand and keep them sharp with a honing steel, also called a sharpening steel. (You may want to buy an electric knife sharpener, but those are expensive.)

If you’re going to cook, you must know how to handle a knife. Whole books have been written on knife technique. You don’t have to know how to debone and butterfly a chicken, but you should be able to handle a chef’s knife. Here are just a few basic tips:

WHAT YOU NEED: IN YOUR PANTRY

It’s always easier to cook when you have a critical mass of ingredients in your kitchen. These are the things that we think are good to have on hand most of the time. These recommendations are good for a family of four. Buy more if your family is larger, or less if your family is smaller.

BEANS AND GRAINS

If you’re buying in bulk at a big box store, you’ll have to buy at least four or five pounds of many of these items. Don’t buy more than that. Always have at least one pound of each variety stored in airtight containers. Plastic works fine, but you can also reuse large jars for dry-goods storage. Label and date!

Use these staples—that’s the whole point of changing your eating style, right? Because the whole grains contain fats in their hulls, bran, and germ, they will go bad after about six months. Old beans take longer to cook and don’t taste as good.

NUTS, SEEDS, AND DRIED FRUIT

Buy nuts and seeds raw, store in the freezer. As you need them, toast in a 350°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes; check them at 8 minutes. Nuts burn very fast, so use a timer! You can also toast nuts and seeds in a heavy skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. (Toast a little extra each time, toss in salads or grain pilaf, or have a few as a healthy snack.)

CANNED OR JARRED GOODS

SEASONINGS

Herbs and spices are the keys to dynamite cooking and big compliments. You’ll see that in many of this book’s recipes, we used dried herbs and fresh herbs interchangeably. We’ve done this because we know that not everyone is inclined to keep a lot of fresh herbs in their refrigerator. If that means you, then just use dry herbs. The dishes will still be delicious. If you don’t mind the extra expense, and space in your crisper, use fresh herbs, which will impart a clearer, more intense taste profile than their dried counterparts. Just remember that fresh herbs don’t stand up to long cooking, and that you generally need three times the amount of fresh herbs. Add fresh herbs just before you finish cooking, or sprinkle them over finished dishes.

Keep dried herbs in small glass containers in a dark cupboard. Don’t keep them for more than a year. Buy them at a health food store, or another market that sells them in bins. They are much, much cheaper in bulk. It often makes sense to designate a particular month to replace all your spices. If that’s too much trouble, or too expensive, date the jars as you buy them.

After nine months, when dried herbs get close to the end of their peak flavor, combine them into herb blends to use them up quickly:

DRY STORAGE

If you have enough space, keep these in a dark, dry cabinet. Don’t buy huge bags of potatoes or onions unless you can use them up in a couple of weeks. Otherwise, they’ll spoil. It’s usually adequate to have four or so on hand.

BAKING

CONDIMENTS AND VINEGARS

Everyone has their favorites, but these are the basics you should always have around:

OILS

Many oils have a “best before” date stamped on the label. If your brand doesn’t, figure that nut oils or flavored oils will last about a year. Vegetable oils—olive, safflower, canola, peanut, and so on—last one to two years in the pantry. All oils will last a bit longer if you keep them in the refrigerator. I use most of these oils interchangeably. You can also substitute butter for oils in many cases—it just depends on the flavor you’re after.

REFRIGERATOR STAPLES

In general, we eat fruits and veggies with the peels intact. Cindy swears by kiwi with the fuzzy skin—and her students eat it—but you don’t have to go that far. Peel hard squashes, garlic, shallots, onions, citrus, bananas, melons, pineapple, and yes, kiwi. But your family probably won’t even notice if you leave the fiber-rich peels on many other things: eggplant, potatoes, carrots, soft squashes, apples, peaches, pears, and plums.

FREEZER STAPLES

GLOSSARY OF COOKING TERMS

As we’ve relied more and more upon processed foods, many of us have forgotten the terminology of the kitchen. Some of us never learned it in the first place. You will no doubt know some of the terms below, but if you don’t quite remember other terms in this book’s recipes, please refer to this list.

AL DENTE. Italian expression used to describe pastas, vegetables, or grains that have been cooked until they offer a slight resistance to the bite.

BAKE. To cook with dry heat in an oven, usually at medium or low heat. Usually 350°F or lower.

BARBECUE. Generally refers to grilling done outdoors over an open charcoal, gas, or wood fire. More specifically, barbecue refers to long, slow direct-heat cooking that includes liberal basting with a barbecue sauce or spice rub.

BASTE. To moisten foods during cooking with pan drippings or a sauce to add flavor and prevent drying.

BATTER. A mixture containing flour and liquid, thin enough to pour.

BEAT. To mix rapidly in order to make a mixture smooth and light by incorporating as much air as possible.

BLANCH. To immerse in lightly salted, rapidly boiling water and allow to cook just briefly. This is usually followed by “refreshing,” immediately plunging ingredients into ice water to stop the cooking process.

BLEND. To thoroughly mix two or more ingredients.

BOIL. To heat a liquid until bubbles break continually on the surface.

BROIL. To cook under strong, direct heat in an oven or a salamander (a restaurant-grade broiler).

CARMELIZE. To heat sugar or ingredients with natural sugars (like onions or fruit) until they turn golden brown and have a caramel taste.

CHOPE. To cut into pieces with a sharp knife or another chopping device.

CLARIFY. To separate and remove solids from a liquid, such as broth or melted butter, thus making it clear.

CREAM. To soften a fat, especially butter, by beating it at room temperature. Butter and sugar are often creamed together to make a soft paste that is used as a base for baked goods.

CURE. To preserve foodstuffs, especially meats, by drying and salting and/or smoking.

DEGLAZE. To dissolve the thin glaze of juices and brown bits on the surface of a pan in which food has been fried, sautéed, or roasted. To do this, add liquid and stir and scrape over high heat, thereby creating a liquid that can be used as a sauce.

DEGREASE. To skim fat from the surface of stews, soups, or stock. This may also be done by cooling in the refrigerator so that the fat hardens and can be easily peeled from the surface.

DICE. To cut food into cubes of uniform size and shape.

DISSOLVE. To become incorporated into a liquid, forming a solution.

DREDGE. To coat a food item in flour or bread crumbs before cooking it.

DRIZZLE. To drip a thin line of frosting, oil, or sauce back and forth over the top of the thing that you are baking or cooking.

DUST. Generally means to put a very light coating of some kind of powdered material on top of something, like dusting a banana bread with cinnamon or dusting a greased pan with flour.

FILLET. A boneless cut of meat or fish.

FLAKE. To break into small pieces.

FOLD. To incorporate a delicate substance, such as whipped cream or beaten egg whites, into another substance without releasing air bubbles. You cut down through the mixture with a spoon, whisk, or fork; go across the bottom of the bowl, up and over, close to surface. The process is repeated, while slowly rotating the bowl, until the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

FRY. To cook in hot fat.

1. To cook in a shallow layer of hot fat is called shallow-fat frying.

2. To cook in a deep layer of hot fat is called deep-fat frying.

GARNISH. To add elements, such as chopped herbs, lemon slices, or flowers, to make plated food look good.

GRATE. To rub on a grater to shred food in various sizes or bits.

GRATIN. From the French word for crust, gratin describes any dish that is baked in a shallow dish with a topping of seasoned bread crumbs and cheese.

GRILL. An open rack or grate with a heat source underneath. Depending on the type of grill, the heat source can be an open flame (either gas or charcoal) or electric.

GRIND. To crush, pulverize, or reduce to powder.

JULIENNE. To cut vegetables, fruits, or cheeses into thin strips.

KNEAD. To work and press dough to develop the gluten strands in the flour. This can be done with the palms of your hands or with a machine such as a standing mixer with a dough hook.

MARINATE. To flavor and moisturize pieces of meat, poultry, seafood, or vegetables by soaking them in or brushing them with a liquid mixture of oil, vinegar, and seasonings. Dry marinades (rubs), mixtures composed of herbs or spices, can be rubbed onto meat, poultry, or seafood.

MINCE. To cut or chop food into very small pieces.

MIREPOIX. A French term for a combination of chopped carrots, celery, and onions used to add flavor and aroma to stocks, sauces, and soups. Also referred to as “aromatics.”

MISE EN PLACE. A French phrase that means “putting in place,” as in a setup. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients that a cook will require during his or her shift. This also works well in a home kitchen. Collect and prepare all the things you need for a recipe before starting to cook.

MIX. To combine ingredients, usually by stirring.

PAN-BROIL. To cook (steak, for example) over direct heat in an uncovered, usually ungreased, skillet.

PANFRY. A form of frying characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying); typically using just enough oil to keep what is being cooked from sticking to the pan.

PARBOIL. To cook food partially in advance so that its cooking time will be reduced when added to a recipe.

PEEL OR PARE. To remove the outermost skin of a fruit or vegetable. Whenever possible, don’t do it! The fiber in most peels tastes good and is good for you.

PICKLE. To preserve meats, vegetables, or fruits in a mixture of salted water, vinegar, and spices.

PINCH. As much of an ingredient as you can pinch between your thumb and forefinger, about ⅛ teaspoon. Usually used with salt or sugar.

PLANKED. Cooked on a thick hardwood plank.

PLUMP. To soak dried fruits in liquid until they swell and soften.

POACH. To cook very gently in hot liquid kept just below the boiling point.

PUREE. To mash foods by hand, rub through a sieve or food mill, or whirl in a blender or food processor until very smooth.

REDUCE. To thicken and intensify the flavor of a liquid mixture by rapidly cooking the liquid uncovered and allowing the liquid to evaporate until the desired volume remains.

REFRESH. To run cold water over food that has been parboiled, to stop the cooking process quickly.

RENDER. To melt hard fat, such as lard.

ROAST. To cook by dry heat in an oven, usually at a high temperature, above 350°F.

SAUTÉ. To cook and/or brown food in a small amount of hot fat.

SCALD. To bring to a temperature just below the boiling point.

SCALLOPED. Baked, usually in a casserole, with sauce or another liquid such as milk or broth.

SCORE. To cut narrow grooves partway through the outer surface of food.

SEAR. To cook, usually meat, over very high heat, browning the surface. This locks in the juices.

SHRED. To cut or tear in small, long, narrow pieces.

SIFT. To put dry ingredients through a sieve or sifter.

SIMMER. To cook slowly in liquid over low heat at a temperature of about 180°F. The surface of the liquid should be barely moving, broken from time to time by slowly rising bubbles.

SKIM. To remove impurities, whether scum or fat, from the surface of a liquid during cooking, for a clear, cleaner-tasting result.

STEAM. To cook over boiling water in a steamer or double boiler.

STEEP. To extract color, flavor, or other qualities from a substance by leaving it in water just below the boiling point.

STERILIZE. To destroy microorganisms with heat.

STEW. To simmer slowly in a small amount of liquid for a long time.

STIR. To mix ingredients with a circular motion until well blended or of uniform consistency.

TOSS. To combine ingredients with a lifting motion.

TRUSS. To secure poultry with string or skewers, so that it holds its shape while cooking.

WHIP. To beat rapidly to incorporate air, as in heavy cream or egg whites.

If you work through the recipes in this book, you’ll discover how they reflect a style of shopping, cooking, and eating. It’s our hope that the science behind these recipes will inspire you to care for your body by learning to cook. If you already know how to cook, we hope they’ll help you to make your cooking style more healthy.

The recipes in this book form a “scaffolding,” as they say in the education world. In other words, these dishes form a scaffold or foundation upon which you can build as your cooking skill increases. Cindy teaches her students to cook in this way: basics, then basic recipes, then variations.

A note on cooking times: The first time you make one of these recipes, give yourself twice as much time as we estimate. With practice, you’ll become a speedier cook. Cindy can make these recipes in half the time noted. Over time, you will too.

The recipes in this book illustrate techniques and approaches. We hope they’ll inspire you to cook for your family, to experiment once you’ve learned the base recipes, and to become an advocate for a less toxic food environment.