Last week I had my family for dinner, including my absolutely engaging, never-can-do-wrong 10-year old grandson Brandon (who loves broccoli). I have a rule at my table: there are no screens of any kind. Nobody pulls their phone out, for any reason (which is much harder for my husband than anybody else!). Dinner is family time. 

There are some people who, for various reasons, assume monumental importance in our lives. Fredi Kronenberg was one of those for me. Like everyone who knew her and her work, I was a HUGE admirer.  A consummate researcher, she was a champion of integrative medicine and the food as medicine movement, especially for women’s health issues and those dealing with cancer. She was also my very dear friend.

Is this not one of life’s great mysteries?

True confessions: I’ve written 4 cookbooks with a 5th on the way (about which, more soon) and I have a personal library of 560 cookbooks. YOU’D THINK I’d know what to cook for dinner, like for the next 2, maybe 3 years?

As many of you know, art is a big factor in my life. Whether composing a gloriously vibrant plate of food or a painting in my studio, the process seems the same to me: a playground for curiosity, an openness to inspiration, and a love and respect for the materials I’m working with.

How many times have you attempted to make a recipe and gotten to the end only to find it’s not quite what you’d hoped it would be? And then not known how to fix it? It’s frustrating! It’s like, wait a minute! I did everything I was supposed to do, now what!
 

My friend Andrew Faulkner, a painter, digital artist, and printmaker, works down the road from me, but I met him on an island in the middle of the Pacific at a painting retreat! While on retreat, he expressed a desire to eat in a healthier manner. Not surprisingly. People often share such aspirations with me, perhaps even make them up on the spot when they hear what I do. But Andrew seemed in earnest. 
 

I'm delighted to share this delicious post from our archives — one of my all-time favorites, as you will imagine since I am a self-proclaimed spud slut! There! I said it. No truer words. And I may be a bit counter-culture by championing potatoes, but hear me out, and learn that yes! Potatoes can be a marvelous, and especially delectable, part of a healthy diet.

Did you know that potatoes are a dream food?

They are soul-satisfying, comforting, scintillatingly delicious, and full of extraordinarily healthful properties. So why do people dis them? What’s not to like? 

It’s no secret that I am an avid cookbook collector, and that I am deeply beholden to the exceptional cooks that have gone before me. Back in the day before food television was busy creating celebrity chefs, there were a group of amazing women cookbook authors, scholarly ambassadors, who brought food from afar to our shores. Julia Child introduced us to French cuisine, Alice Waters brought us fresh, farm-to-table cooking, and Paula Wolfert shared Mediterranean cuisine.

When I say “carbohydrates,” do you picture bread, bagels, pasta and pastries? Well, yes. But that’s not the WHOLE picture. See the gorgeous plant foods above? These have carbohydrates in them, too, what are called COMPLEX carbohydrates. I want to be clear as a bell that the effects of simple vs. complex carbohydrates on the body are totally different.

It’s official — it’s spring! Some of my favorite foods will be arriving in the markets soon. In fact, I just had my first asparagus!!! I’m SUCH an asparagus stalker (pun intended). Every late winter I’m in constant contact with a favorite farmer about the expected date of arrival of the elegant long ladies of spring, and I just can’t WAIT! I bring it home and roast it. It’s like candy for me! And yet it’s an unbeatable spring tonic for the liver and gallbladder. Talk about win/win.

Do you struggle with cooking for one? This was BY FAR the number 1 topic request resulting from my recent reader’s survey. Strategies. Practicalities. How to overcome fatigue and inertia to cook just for yourself, when it’s all too easy to stop for take out on the way home. Are  you looking for a way to get in a solo healthy cooking groove?

I’m hearing this refrain a lot among friends lately: I’m soooo tired! Is it life? Politics? Work or family stress? Are we doing too much, trying to absorb too much information, sitting too much, and moving too little? Whatever IT is, I have some terrific food news for you that you can employ to improve that feeling of fatigue.
 

How often have you heard that mellifluous recommendation: eat dark leafy greens.

You know greens are an immensely powerful culinary Rx, right? And arguably the greatest longevity foods out there, exploding with disease-fighting phytochemicals? And that one of the single BEST things you can do to improve your health is to eat plenty of them? But… do you know how to cook them?

I asked, and you answered! When the 2nd edition of The Cancer Fighting Kitchen launched into the world just a little over a week ago, I asked readers who loved the 1st edition to share why, along with their photographs. if they wished. It’s been delightful to hear from some of you!

Does nutrition information sometimes seem overwhelming?

Especially if you are seeking to improve a complex health condition, you may feel like you need to acquire a PhD in order to find your way! Your doctor doesn’t have all the answers, NOBODY seems to have all the answers, so you may feel like it’s on all on you.

Allow me to assist.

The second edition of my award-winning cookbook The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen is coming out next week on Valentine’s Day!!! Jeez Louise, how many cookbook authors get a chance to do a 2nd edition in this day and age? 

Feeling a little… stressed these days? The good news is that to a large degree we have the means at hand to soothe stress. You probably know about stress reduction through exercise and mind-body work such as yoga and/or meditation — but did you know that food can help? 

To keep your health on track, there is no better step to take than upping your veggie intake.

If you’re a busy person looking for healthy cooking solutions, I’ve got something marvelous to share: our new ebook, The Slow Cooker & The Instant Pot: Recipes, Tips & Tricks to Get More Time with Less Pressure.

Reaching for something warm and potent to stave off sniffles? Herbs and spices are your allies, flavor is your friend, and I have some wonderful options for you to experiment with!