Grant Achatz is perhaps the most celebrated chef in Chicago and across the Midwest these days. His restaurant Alinea and Next are consistently on the culinary frontier. But before he achieved all this fame, he was cooking, and getting lots of attention, at a restaurant in suburban Evanston called Trio.
Squid is a test for any restaurant to cook. Quince passed with flying colors.
Trio is long gone but in the space it once occupied now sits Quince, also an upscale eating establishment of some renown. I decided to take my wife there for her birthday dinner recently and we were very happy with the results. While not as gastro-wild as Achatz can be, the food was wonderful. Continue reading “Quince in Evanston — a worthy successor to a venerable predecessor”→
Diet soda is the topic of much disparagement among the food police these days. I tend to think it’s all overblown, but diet soda consumption has been dropping because of the negative marks its getting. And so big soda companies are trying to figure out a way to revive sales of what they see as their healthier offering.
Diet Pepsi is removing aspartame and using two other sweeteners instead. Will the change help alleviate consumer concerns? Doubtful.
Pepsi is responding to concerns by taking the sweetener aspartame out of diet soda sold in stores. You can still get the aspartame variety online apparently. But the bulk of Diet Pepsi starting in August will contain the sweetener sucralose and a second, acesulfame potassium, known as ace K (K is the symbol for potassium) is the soda trade.
Menu nutrition labeling for restaurants and in-store foodservice operations is being delayed another year by the Food and Drug Administration. The new date to comply with a law requiring such labeling that was passed in 2010 is now Dec. 1, 2016.
Restaurant meals like this will go another year without nutrition labeling, a loss for the American people.
The FDA basically caved to food industry pressure. Restaurant and supermarket lobbyists have been saying it would be too difficult to meet the deadline this year and the FDA bought it, even though major chains already have such information posted on their websites.
My daughter, a masterful graphic designer and artist, has a great knack for finding me seemingly wacky gifts that I really use and enjoy. The latest she sent me for my birthday this year is called a Penneli and it is designed to peel garlic without all the usual messiness, and without getting that garlic smell on your hands that’s impossible to wash off.The Pennelli does a great job peeling garlic.
Yogurt on toast would have never been something I thought of trying, but this recent piece about it in Bon Appetit got my attention, especially this picture of toast with yogurt and sliced figs on it.
Toast, yogurt and figs? With figs, how could it be bad?
The author uses full-fat yogurt, I would recommend no fat. It may not fill you up as she said her version does, but you don’t need the added fat. I also always use a low-sugar, fat-free yogurt to cut sugar intake as well. And I would only use whole wheat bread, preferably low- or no-salt whole wheat bread. I’ve found a no-salt variety at Trader Joe’s, although I’m worried because last time I stopped by a TJ’s it wasn’t in the bread section. I’m hoping that was a one-time out-of-stock and not the end of that store brand product. Continue reading “Yogurt toast? Give it a try”→
Recipe Rehab apparently is in its third season but I only just discovered this show that’s on CBS. It started as a YouTube series in 2012. The show takes an unhealthy recipe that a family says it loves and turns it over to two chefs who come up with healthier versions.
Chef Richard’s re-imagined chicken and waffles. Not exactly gut-busting.
A nutritionist rates the redone recipes for fat, carbs and, I’m very happy to say, salt content. In two shows I watched, Chef Vikki failed to get top scores from the unseen nutritionist because of high salt content in her redone dishes. Shame on her for still including so much salt.
One of the shows I saw took chicken and waffles, which I used to love but haven’t had since my angioplasty in 2012, and redid it. The new alternatives really weren’t chicken and waffles, but they were game tries to come up with something to satisfy the family involved.
The last episode I saw took something called Tater Tot Casserole and re-imagined it. I was stunned anyone would eat the original recipe, given it included two different creamed soups and evaporated milk along with tater tots, four cups of cheese and dark meat turkey, the fattest turkey of all. It looked like a white gooey mess.
Chef Vikki again disappointed by including some tater tots in her redone recipe. Please, those alone likely put her over the salt threshold.
This show basically does what I’ve done on my recipe page, take favorites and find ways to get the salt, fat and sugar out. So I recommend it. Check its website for more tips too. Recipes from the show are up there, but I don’t see a way to binge watch the show there. Will try to do that elsewhere. John
Grilled chicken recipes are everywhere online, but here’s one that’s salt-free, and low-fat that actually taste great. I enjoyed writing about it last year as one of my healthy recipe choices. So I’m revisiting it for this July 4th grilling season.
Chicken rosemary skewers are wonderfully flavorful and easy to make.
This has been grilling week on the blog, with posts about a guide to grilling fish and another about a grilled salad. Here’s another fun idea for your 4th of July grilling weekend, rosemary salmon skewers with cherry tomatoes.
This recipe comes from the website of former Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels. I sometimes quibble with what she calls healthy eating, but this recipe looks good, once you omit the salt, that is. It’s not needed and will only add to your salt overload, I’d leave it out.
Grilling salmon has become a go-to summer dish for me. I’ve done other fish on my outdoor grill, and hope to try grilling clams this summer, but salmon is king of the grill for me. That said though, I’m always open to new grilling ideas.
Grilling salmon is a luscious experience .with aluminum foil. Then rub in marinades for each.
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 