I am THRILLED to announce that my #TED talk is up and ready to go! Many thanks to my family, friends and colleagues, especially Gina Messina-Dysert and Melissa Celko, for their unwavering inspiration and support!!
Category Archives: Real Food
Oats: From Instant to Steel-Cut, and Everything In Between
Oats are a hardy grain that grows well even in poor soil in which many other crops cannot thrive. Scottish settlers brought oats to North America early in the 17th century. Like many other manufactured products on the shelves at the supermarket, it’s not so easy to tell the difference between the various kinds. So here is a short lesson. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Stuffed Pumpkin & Braised Onions
My kitchen counter is once again covered with pumpkins and onions, so it must be getting close to November! Here are two unusual and extraordinary recipes to use up your pumpkins and onions. If you have time, try to make the onions the day before, because as good as they are, they taste even better the next day! And they are great recipes for holiday celebrations, too. Continue reading
Try Nourishing Yourself with Joy
Today we’re talking about diets. To diet is to restrict oneself, to deny oneself pleasure. Well that sounds kind of miserable. No wonder diets don’t work. Who would want to do something that makes you feel bad?
Dieting is a logical consequence of the assumption that overweight is due to overindulgence. But there is a fault — a big, fat one — within this assumption: If it were true that overindulgence were the cause of overweight, then denial would be an effective and viable option for losing weight. But it is not, of course, which is why you have probably noticed that diets virtually never work. Continue reading
What to Tell Your Doctor About The Way You Eat
You can probably guess that the obesity epidemic has changed the way medicine is practiced, but you may not know that this change has come about more quickly than doctors have been trained to address it. Ever wonder why doctors are clueless about how to address this problem? Because most of us are as stymied by the problem as the next person. If there was a quick fix, we’d all be better off. But there isn’t, and we’re all in the same boat. Continue reading
Enjoy Your Meal, Taste Your Food
I like to think that nourishing oneself is actually pretty basic, and I love Michael Pollan’s famous guidelines: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Instead of forbidding yourself an entire food group, or filling your grocery cart with the latest processed food-like sensation, how about just focusing on the basics? Meals were never meant to be about protein bars, diet sodas, fast food, or drive-thru windows. Meals are for taking a break, catching up, sharing food, experiences, stories. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just needs to be the point of the exercise. Not eating on the run, for example, but eating for purposes of eating. And I would add one more suggestion — enjoying every bite. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Judith’s Tabouli
Here is the best tabouli recipe you’ll ever eat. It comes from my friend Judith, who got it from her mom, who got it from her mom, who got it from her mom, which makes my friend Judith one very lucky daughter, granddaughter, cook. I’ve posted Judith’s recipes in these pages on occasion, and that makes you very lucky, too. Pick up what you need the next time you go shopping so you can make this whenever you’re ready! Continue reading
What Does Dr. Sukol Eat?
Folks make a lot of assumptions about what I eat. In recent weeks it’s been announced (in my presence, and not by me) that I eat vegan, as well as Paleo, that I follow Weight Watchers, and that I’m just lucky, whatever that is, so I can eat whatever I want. In a funny way, this last part is true; I do eat whatever I want. It’s just not what you might think I want. At the grocery store, you can watch my neighbors taking nonchalant peeks into my grocery cart. So I’m going to spare you the trouble and explain it myself, right here and now. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Slow And Steady Wins the Race (2 vegan, 1 turkey)
Now that the cold weather has moved in, I thought it would be nice to talk about slow oven cooking. As often happens when food cooks overnight in my oven, its extraordinary fragrance awakens me periodically throughout the night. You have to try it to believe it; the smell is amazing. It’s impossible to go wrong with slow oven cooking. The flavors caramelize and blend to become complex and satisfying. Although it is true that eating well takes more planning, it does not take more time. In the case of slow oven cooking, it actually takes less, and all these recipes can also be made in a crockpot set to low. Continue reading
Food with a Capital F
I am thinking about how to refer to real food, as opposed to the “not-food” that is driving the epidemic of chronic disease that doctors see in our offices day after day. You can approach this problem from any number of angles. Continue reading