November 15, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC I am a beginner cook. Today I cooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a pan, and the amount of accomplishment I felt after doing so is normally reserved for people who invented something that contributes to society, like the HPV vaccine or cauliflower gnocchi. Most of my cooking happens on a sheet pan, or in the only pan that I own—the very same one I used to expertly (read: not set off my smoke detectors) pan-sear that chicken earlier. But my palette has begun to get bored of a diet that can be described as “baked anything,” and not even copious amounts of Everything but the Bagel seasoning has been able to help. I wanted to know how I could upgrade my kitchen with a few accoutrements that would improve my healthy cooking without, you know, making it too difficult. So I enlisted Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN, and Chef Luca Moriconi from Culina at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, to share the essential, must-have kitchen items every beginner cook needs for easy, healthy cooking. 1. Cutting board As someone who has tried cutting various vegetables, cheeses, and even meats on a porcelain plate, I agree with the power of the cutting board. “A chopping board is the first thing that you need in the kitchen,” Moriconi says. “Make sure that you have a solid base that does not move around when cutting items and you can also use
Category: Vegetarians
The Whole30 Diet: Can Vegans & Vegetarians Do It?
November 14, 2019 at 01:20PM You could, but there are conditions. Continue Reading… Author Ray Bass, NASM-CPT | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
The dietitian’s guide to the healthiest fast food options at 14 of America’s favorite chain restaurants
November 13, 2019 at 07:29PM by CWC You know how it goes: some weeks you’ve meal-prepped a week’s worth of meals. And some weeks, well, you feel accomplished for nuking yourself a TV dinner. When life gets busy and you find yourself staring into an empty fridge, being in-the-know about the healthiest fast food options available to your can save your week. Below, we rounded up 14 of the healthiest things to order from fast food chains like Chipotle, IHOP, Cheesecake Factory, and more. Dietitians give the healthiest fast food options at America’s favorite chain restaurants Photo: Getty Images/ Piet de Kersgeiter-Eye Em Olive garden Executive chef and registered dietitian Jessica Swift, RD previously told Well+Good that the name of the game at Olive Garden is taking half of the chain’s very generous pasta portion home with you. “I would also suggest taking advantage of the vegetable side dishes, like asparagus with minced onions, instead of just focusing on the pasta,” she said. Order: herb-grilled salmon, chicken Giardino, minestrone soup A dietitian’s go-to pasta variety: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F099FS6XCs] P.F. chang’s Everyone’s favorite Chinese chain has a ton of veggies on the menu, so healthy eating is really NBD. Registered dietitian Chelsey Amer, RD, does have a few favorites, however. Order: ginger chicken with broccoli, miso glazed salmon, stir-fry eggplant, Buddha’s feast [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAZGWNZ5G2A] Chipotle “Your starting point should be either a bowl or salad,” says Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, host of Well+Good’s You Versus Food. After that, just add brown rice, your choice of protein,
How a skin-care regimen rich in veggies will do your complexion right
November 13, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC “Eat your vegetables” is one of those mom-isms that nearly everyone heard at one point or another when they were growing up. “Slather that vegetable for skin benefits” was likely not as common a refrain at the dinner table, but it may as well have been. We all know that downing a regular dose of leafy greens and other veggies has all kinds of body benefits—including making our skin look radiant—but what you may not realize is that they also serve as effective ingredients in products, too. “One of the huge benefits of skin care products with ingredients found in the produce aisle is that the formulas are often natural and organic, which means no harsh chemicals that can cause skin reactions or irritation,” says board-certified dermatopathologist Gretchen Frieling, MD. “Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and what you put on it gets absorbed through your pores and into your body.” While slathering your face with salad ingredients isn’t a substitute for eating them, it certainly can help your glow game. If you want to know which vegetables to reach for, your best bet is to look for superfoods, like kale, spinach, and mushrooms. Why? They’re “the most nutrient-dense ingredients in the world and are praised for their exceptionally high level of antioxidants, vitamins, and other nutrients,” says Youth To The People co-founder Greg Gonzalez, whose brand formulates with these types of greens. Below, the best vegetables for skin worth adding your routine, and,
What it’s like to stay at the world’s first ever WELL-certified hotel
November 12, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC San Diego offers no shortage of vegan restaurants, boutique fitness options, and crystal shops, but if those offerings aren’t enough of an enticement to the city for wellness-minded travelers, perhaps this sustainable-hospitality win will sway opinions: As of July 2019, Encinitas—a beach town within San Diego—became the first-ever locale to boast a WELL-certified hotel. The Inn at Moonlight Beach is the five-suite wellness destination that achieved the highest certification honor possible—the WELL Platinum level. And though it’s certainly impressive that the property snagged this designation for satisfying the WELL Building Standard criteria—which, per the Inn’s website, “focuses on enhancing people’s health and wellness through the buildings where we live, work, and play”—I couldn’t tell you what exactly that means in practice. So I decided to experience the newest standard in sustainable hospitality for myself in order to find out. I pulled up to the property with a friend just before golden hour on a Thursday. The building is small and inviting, emanating literal and figurative warmth from the cozy outdoor firepit and patio where guests gather to watch the sunset. Rhys, the property’s general manager greeted us with a steaming cup of the Inn’s detoxifying tea, available at all times in the Inn’s communal living space. Mug in hand, we followed him along a tour through a series of unique spaces on-site, each designed to help guests work on their well-being in whatever way they see fit. For some, this means spending time
Here’s what your go-to snack should be, according to your zodiac sign
November 12, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC You might have already turned to your zodiac for insight into a stress relief technique that works best for your personality or the type of partner you’re most likely to be compatible with. But your horoscope and food go together like…well, like Castor and Pollux. (Geminis, you got that one, right?) Just knowing your sun sign can help you figure out what snacks will make you truly feel fed—as in on a deep, spiritual level. Everybody knows that reaching for a handful of nuts is healthier than a candy bar, but let’s be real here: If your snack choice doesn’t satisfy you emotionally as well as physically, you’re going to be rummaging through your pantry again before your next legit meal. That’s where the newly released Your Astrological Cookbook by Catherine Urban comes in. Each astrological sign has a dedicated chapter and over a dozen recipes spanning breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and drinks. Keep reading to get an (ahem) taste of her new cookbook, with tips from the book on the types of foods that work best for each sign when it comes to finding something to nosh on between meals. Scroll down to see what to keep in mind when whipping up a snack, based on your zodiac sign. Photo: Getty Images/Larissa Veronesi Aries As Urban points out in her book, Aries are adventurous in nature. A run-of-the-mill granola bar likely isn’t going to be all that enjoyable for you.
The scientifically-proven reaction you need to bring out natural sweetness of vegetables
November 11, 2019 at 10:00PM by CWC When vegetables are prepared correctly, they can make your tastebuds sing. Using a scientific approach to cooking can help you succeed more often than you fail. And, when it comes to how to make vegetables taste good, one trick in particular stands above the rest. Valerie Duffy, PhD, a professor at the University of Connecticut who specializes in the study of food taste, tells CNN that the trick to serving delectable vegetables lies in bringing out their natural sweetness. To accomplish that, just set your oven to “roast” and wait for your tray of winter produce to turn crispy and caramelized. You can thank the “Maillard Reaction” for making carmelized vegetable taste so good. The chemical reaction occurs between amino acids and the sugars in a given food that completely transforms both aroma and flavor. When someone compliments you on your roasted vegetable platter, make sure to send out a silent thank you to Louis-Camille Maillard, who first described the reaction in 1912. Of course, there are other ways to add pizzaz to your cauliflower, parsnips, and asparagus. Spanish smoked paprika can give them a smoky, meat-like flavor. Everything but the bagel seasoning adds that extra-satisfying crunch. Or, if you totally forget to season your veggies (oops), try drizzling a special sauce on top to make your nutrient-rich side dish stand out from the crowd. The 12 vegetables you need to buy organic—and 15 you don’t: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHSaA0-Chg] This “liquid gold” sauce also pairs
As plant-based eating continues to take off, Mexican cuisine returns to its vegan roots
November 11, 2019 at 07:46PM by CWC As we know it in the U.S., Mexican food typically involves lots of meat and cheese—enchiladas stuffed with beef, chicken tinga tacos, nachos topped with sour cream and cheese. Delicious? Absolutely. But not necessarily the first type of cuisine many would think of when considering a plant-based diet. But according to vegan food activist and Food Empowerment Project founder Lauren Ornelas, Mexican food was traditionally entirely plant-based. “It’s really important to realize the effects colonization had on our diets,” she says. “Our indigenous ancestors didn’t drink milk or consume dairy, and they weren’t necessarily vegan, but they didn’t eat as much animal products as is in our diets now.” She says that that the fundamental components of Mexican food have always been vegetables (with a major emphasis on corn and tomatoes), legumes, and fruit. Now that plant-based eating has exploded across the board, Mexican cuisine seems poised to return to its roots. All it takes is a lap around the grocery store to see that there are more vegan options available than ever before—Mexican food included. The demand has led to products such as Beyond Meat’s “beef” taco crumbles, Siete Foods cashew-based queso, and Upton’s Naturals’ chili lime jackfruit. There are also more vegan Mexican restaurants than before, too: Eateries such as Mi Vegana Madre in Arizona, El Papagayo in California, and Charly’s Vegan Tacos in Texas, are just a few examples of how the Mexican food space is changing outside of the
Don’t Like How Veggies Taste? New Study Finds Your Genes May Be To Blame
November 11, 2019 at 05:33PM We’re not just talking about an average distaste for leafy greens. Continue Reading… Author Jamie Schneider | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
7 recipes that prove your air fryer should part of *all* holiday cooking, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s
November 10, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC The air fryer has been used to perform many miracles in the kitchen: turning onion rings into a legit healthy snack, kale into a crunchy sandwich companion, and even making tofu the perfect amount of crispy. But all of that is amateur hour compared to the marathon that is holiday cooking. Holiday cooking is in its own league. There are some foods people look forward to eating only this time of year and they expect it to be prepared right. Then there’s the problem of not having enough time—between big end-of-year projects at work, holiday parties, present shopping, and family commitments, who has time to prep and plan any kind of meal, let alone holiday cooking? But rest assured, these are challenges the air fryer is up for. Don’t believe me? Check out these holiday dishes that won’t create a whole sink full of dishes or take all night to perfect, all thanks to your favorite cooking appliance. (Cover your ears, Instant Pot.) Scroll down for seven air fryer side dishes perfect for all your winter holiday needs Photo: Strength and Sunshine 1. Air fryer Chanukkah latkes Similar to how it works to make classic French fries healthier (less oil, no deep fryer), the air fryer health-ifies latkes the same way. This recipe from Strength and Sunshine is vegan and gluten-free, so eaters of all diet types will be able to enjoy. Photo: Glue and Glitter 2. Air fryer green bean casserole Most