Fit Fare

I confess … I was never really a fan of cheese, so from that perspective, the dairy-free diet has been fairly easy for me. However, I do adore pizza. Not willing to give up my first love, I began making my own pizza crust from scratch many years ago (since many store-bought crusts […]

Once a week, my husband and I pay a visit to our favorite sushi restaurant and order the sashimi platter. It comes with a generous assortment of thickly sliced fish that literally melts in my mouth with a rich buttery flavor. I justify the indulgence by knowing that I am getting loads of […]

For our honeymoon a few years back, my husband and I went to Chile for a month. We traveled up and down the narrow country, and everywhere we went, workers were sipping a pungent tea known as Yerba Mate. While there is a traditional tea ceremony for mate, it has become an everyday beverage for […]

By Madeline Miller and Cate O’Malley
Scott Uehlein, the corporate chef at the exclusive Canyon Ranch Spa, has joined forces with the Florida Department of Citrus to promote low-fat/low-cal cooking using healthy ethnic recipes and incorporating more citrus in the kitchen, all still allowing for high flavor impact.
Chef Uehlein believes that by eating healthy, you don’t have to forgo flavor.  “To enhance the […]

Good things come in small packages.  In Japan, mothers treat the practice of packing a daily lunch as an opportunity to present edible gifts in small packages to their children.   These lunches are known as “Bento or Bento Boxes.”
In the United States, many of us think of Bento Boxes as a divided lacquer dinner tray […]

 

When I was a teenager, my family took a trip to Australia.  As the family cook, my father decided to acquaint himself with Australian cuisine before we left.  Since lamb is more popular in Australia than in the United States, he cooked that a few times, but the most exotic new addition to our cupboards […]

Soba noodles are a traditional Japanese staple made from buckwheat. Soba is a comfort food to the Japanese, which they hold very dear. On a recent episode of the show No Reservations on the Travel Channel, the host Anthony Bourdain asked a group of Japanese people, “If it was your last day on […]

Buckwheat is a healthy alternative to white flour noodles, although most brands are made from a combination of buckwheat and wheat flours, so check your labels. Any combination of vegetables may be used here, but the earthy taste of shitake mushrooms compliments the fresh peas and the nori quite nicely. Any of the Japanese ingredients […]

Wasabi. Did you just get a flash of a bad memory where someone tricked you into trying it and ignited your sinuses, ensuring that you wouldn’t willingly try it again? Did you just think “wa-what?” Or do your ears perk up, as mine do, at the mention of anything new/unusual and hot? […]

This week, our search for alternative flours leads us south of the US border to Mexico. Without getting into the current legal nonsense surrounding immigration to the US, let me say this: thank goodness so many brave, hopeful and hard-working people have crossed our borders bringing with them their unique cultures, traditions and (bless them) […]