Long Life Cookbook: Delectable Recipes for Two

Introduction: Cooking and Eating the Long Life Way It's amazing what you can learn about people while walking up and down the aisles of a supermarket. One's taste, style of eating, and values are on public display to the well-trained eye. I have a terrible habit of looking into other people's shopping carts while marketing or at the checkout counter. When I see some of the so-called convenient frozen, premixed, precooked, processed fast foods loaded with fats and additives, I have to restrain myself from pulling those products out of carts. How I would love to take these people by the hand and offer a minicourse while walking through the supermarket. I would guide them up and down the aisles, introducing wholesome products and helping them to restructure old, unhealthy eating habits and discover enjoyable, healthy new ones. My first lecture would be on reading labels. The majority of packages on supermarket shelves today provide nutritional information, and all have ingredients listed. A quick glance at those food labels reveals extraordinary amounts of fat, salt, and preservatives. The course would include brief visits to the dairy, meat, poultry, and seafood sections, where I would offer suggestions for making the best selections. The produce area would be scrutinized at length as we took in nature's bountiful array of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs. We would continue along the aisle offering an array of imported pastas made from semolina flour, and then move into the aisle filled with assorted flours and such grains as rice, bulgur, and barley. Our last stop would be the condiment aisle, overflowing with dried herbs, spices, oils, and vinegars. As the grand tour ended, we would return all the convenient frozen, premixed, precooked, processed fast foods loaded with fats and additives to the shelves and start shopping again . . . sensibly. As I would guide those people through the supermarket, allow me to guide you through these pages. Let me share with you a practical, nutritional approach to food selection and preparationa style I call "long life cooking." In my quest for an appealing, healthful way of cooking, I've tried to be creative in my use of ingredients. Pure olive, extra virgin olive, corn, and canola oils as well as unsalted butter are used in very limited quantities. In seasoning, salt has been reduced or replaced by such ingredients as fresh lemon juice, a dash of wine, herbs, and spices. Cream has been replaced with lighter enrichments of part-skim ricotta cheese and low-fat yogurt. Foods are sweetened naturally, not with artificial sweeteners, but with small amounts of sugar and/or sweet vegetables and fruits. Long life cooking does not mean sacrificing the excitement and appeal of the foods you love. These recipes are both healthy and delicious. I believe that food is at its best when we guard its natural flavors. Each dish should have its own identityone that is not camouflaged by heavy sauces and thickeners. Although most of the recipes in this book utilize foods that can be purchased in small quantities to serve two, many adapt themselves to cooking for one simply by halving the given amounts. Recipes can easily be increased if entertaining, and some (for example, soups, yeast breads, quick breads, and muffins) already have larger yields; all of these freeze well. The recipes have been designed in a simple step-by-step style for efficiency and ease. Ingredients are listed in the order in which they are to be used. The nutritional analysis is listed at the end of each recipe. All the recipes have been kitchen- and taste-tested to make sure that even an inexperienced cook can successfully complete them with the utmost confidence. With today's lifestyles, no one wants to spend hours in the kitchen preparing meals. The Long Life Cookbook offers a widCasale, Anne is the author of 'Long Life Cookbook: Delectable Recipes for Two' with ISBN 9780345333773 and ISBN 0345333772.