Take fresh approach to eating

This column was originally printed in the News & Record on June 13, 2007.

Though cooking is one of my passions, cooking and I had a falling out once the local produce grew skimpy this winter. My pans lay fallow in their cabinet and my knives grew bored and dull. I would quickly use the greens or sweet potatoes I bought at my weekly farmers’ market visit, then aimlessly roam the aisles of the grocery store only to return home with coffee and dog treats.

But in the last few weeks, my kitchen has been shocked back to life by the onset of the North Carolina growing season. Last week, we ate roasted heirloom beets with only a touch of lemon juice and olive oil; local, free-range chicken tagine; Russian kale and Swiss chard sautéed with golden garlic and caramelized onions. It’s a win, win, win of lost weight, gained energy and the satisfaction of contributing to the local economy by supporting farmers who practice sustainable agriculture while producing delicious food.

For most people, eating this way sounds nice but as doable as spending a full day at a spa each week – it just doesn’t fit into life as usual. Dietary changes are tough: they mean rethinking how and where we shop, confronting the places where our emotions are linked to our kitchens and convincing those we share meals with that there really are better ways. Sometimes it means saying goodbye to our favorite dishes, like the casserole with cream of mushroom soup and Rice-a-Roni that Rob and I used to devour greedily. But the overall benefits to our physical health, and the health of our economy and environment, make transitioning to a whole and, preferably, local diet worth every ounce of energy.

I encourage you to think about dietary change as a gradual process defined by a mantra from The Real Food Revival by Sherri Brooks Vinton and Anna Clark Espuelas: better choices, more of the time. Start small by visiting a farmers’ market and buying treats like artisanal cheese or homemade pastries. The next time you go, buy vegetables you’re familiar with. The third time, buy unfamiliar vegetables, comforted by the knowledge that you are buying from the farmers, people who are happy to share a variety of ways to prepare everything they sell.

Then become your own personal chef – the trick is a little organization and one free afternoon two or three times a month. Make lists for everything, including: enough recipes to feed you until the next time you can cook, arranged from complex to simple so you end your day on an easy note; groceries you didn’t get at your market visit; and, most importantly, a prep list of ingredients so that you can chop once for multiple meals (and, wonderfully, minimize the onion-induced sniffles).

Once your kitchen counter is covered with freshly-prepared meals, divide everything into the number of portions your household eats in a night. Put your meals in the refrigerator until cool, then freeze. Each night, move a meal or two from the freezer to the fridge to thaw overnight; all you’ll have to do come dinner time is heat your pre-prepared food in the oven or microwave.

A parting word of advice: healthful eating doesn’t have to be complex. A dinner of roasted asparagus, slices of pear, a piece of whole wheat bread and a small hunk of cheese represents several food groups, takes 15 minutes to prepare, and tastes like an afternoon at a European sidewalk café.