Healthy living is best served by healthy eating. We all know that, but it can be hard to sustain. What with fast-food restaurants and snack food companies joining into the din of plying us with great-tasting foods of questionable health benefit, the assault on our resolve to eat well gets worn down. We know we should eat that piece of fruit or that leafy vegetable, but taking edible shortcuts to eating pleasure more often that not wins the day. Jon, the owner of Garfield the comic cat once mused, "if only there was a measure of how good something tastes". Garfield responds, "There is, it's called the calorie".
My reluctant journey into healthy, responsible eating began with heart bypass surgery. Nothing like a little life-saving operation to get your attention. Instantly, the notion of being bulletproof fades away and you're left with the nagging question, What now? You question every culinary decision you ever made and seek some kind of magic road map to healthy eating. Only too soon do you realize that there are no shortcuts and you are left with having to change your eating habits and open yourself to the benefits of healthy foods that go beyond taste.
One of the main points that the cardiac doctors and nurses emphasized over and over was the restriction of fat in the diet. That was a tough one for me, as I had eaten red meat at least three or four times a week for most of my life. That's the way many families ate in the 20th century, and ours was no exception. That had to change if I wanted to go on enjoying healthy living.
So....I knew I needed to get more chicken and fish into my diet. I am not a great fish eater, but I love sushi and it's a way that I can get at least some fish into my eating regimen. It works for me, and I love the taste. (Oh yeah, and don't forget the seaweed wrap! Who'd-a-thunk!)
Now...in the chicken department things were much different. I had developed a love/hate relationship with eating chicken; probably the result of enduring too many "rubber chicken" events during my professional career. How to get chicken into my diet?....hmmm.
The answer came in a new product that hit the market a few years ago: the Nu Wave Cooker. Now, I know there are lots of similar products out there on the market, but this one got my attention because of the large amount of fat that cooks out of the chicken during the cooking process. I've had my cooker now for about two years and I love it. In 22 to 24 minutes (depending on the size of the pieces) I can cook up a bunch of chicken thighs. They are juicy, flavorful, and have most of the fat cooked out of them, yet they remain moist....even when warmed up a day or two later.
I continue to try new meats and recipes in my cooker, but chicken remains my favorite. I know I'm doing something healthy for my heart and that feels good.
If getting the fat out of your diet is a goal for you, I suggest you research the new cooking technologies that are out there. After all, all you have to lose is the fat!
If you have any cooking secrets, tips, or recipes you'd like to share, let me know. Your heart (and mine) will thank you.
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