Shine NOW! Magazine June Issue 2016 June 2016 Issue 1 Volume 1

2. Cooking Techniques Matter When I began my career as a professional chef, I overcooked my foods using a ton of fat, pork and butter. The question was posed to me by a chef as to why had I killed my meat again and sent my vegetables to back to the dirt (death). My point? Cooking techniques matter in how food fuels our bodies. I grew up in a household with southern cooking and although quite delicious, the foods are usually fried, over-cooked, or have a substantial amount of fat. Nothing kills your metabolism quicker than the luscious delights of buttermilk fried chicken, three cheese mac and cheese and string beans with a ham hock. Let’s look at snap green beans for example. You may assume eating green beans is healthy right? It will not beneﬁt us if we add a ham hock (meat high in fat and sodium) and boil all of the nutrition out of them. Try using fresh French-style green beans. They have a sweet mild ﬂavor and are very tender and versatile. Use a technique such as blanching, which entails boiling the beans in hot water for approximately 3 minutes, draining the water with a slotted spoon and then transferring them to an ice bath (ﬁll a large bowl with 2 cups of cold water and ice) for a few minutes to stop the cooking process. This not only retains color but the vitamins that your body needs. You can ﬁnish the beans by tossing them in a sauté pan for a minute or two with minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and a little lemon juice. Toasted almonds can be added for a crunchy texture, a boost of nutrition and nutty ﬂavor. and natural as possible. You can also cook with diﬀerent ﬂavor proﬁles to fulﬁll your sweet tooth. In the case of mashed sweet potatoes add cinnamon, raw-honey and roasted poblano peppers instead of the metabolic killer of reﬁned sugar, corn syrup and marshmallows. 4. Try something new! You can try a new restaurant, or just buy a bag of lentils. I teach my daughter the 1 to 1 rule. Try it once, then once more just in case it was cooked improperly. If you still do not like it, then do try it again. Instead, try something else new. Families tend be creatures of habit and it may be hard to introduce new things. However, singles and couples without children seem to be more willing to venture out and try diﬀerent things in world of food. An array of great foods are out there to discover. Also consider sampling dishes from other cultures, such as Indian, African and Caribbean, which have bold ﬂavors yet the

Shine NOW! Magazine June Issue 2016 June 2016 Issue 1 Volume 1 | Page 9