Books for cooks
"Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen"
By Kathleen Daelemans (Houghton Mifflin, 2002, hardcover, $27)
"What is spa food and who eats it anyway?" she demanded. "Do I look like I eat low-fat foods?" Daelemans weighed 205 pounds and was a size 22.
Not raised to be a quitter, she accepted the role of head chef at Cafe Kula, slimmed down to a size 8, and hasn't looked back. She now hosts a show on the Food Network where every week she visits a different family and helps them "cook thin."
Her new cookbook is chatty and sassy, yet full of sensible advice for eating a healthy diet and losing weight in the process.
Daeleman's ground rules are simple: Every dish has to satisfy. Pleasure must rule. No one should have to weigh or measure food. The "d" word is not allowed.
There's not a single picture in the cookbook. Still, the 200 terrific recipes, helpful shortcut hints, "guyometer" ratings and "queen's coming for dinner" jazz-it-up suggestions will hold your interest from the first page to the last.
Not everyone gets excited about eating napa cabbage, warns Daelemans. So don't tell them ahead of time. Just serve this fantastic salad with a piece of salmon or chicken breast, and dinner is a done deal.
Prepare dressing in a small nonreactive bowl by whisking together sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add ginger and pepper flakes.Napa Cabbage Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce
>> Dressing:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup light soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
>> Salad:
8 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, grated
1 cup toasted peanuts, roughly chopped
In a large salad bowl, toss together cabbage, cilantro, scallions and carrot. Toss in peanuts. Add dressing and toss until evenly distributed. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve immediately. Serves 6.
Approximate nutritional information per serving: 220 calories, 14 g total fat, 2 g sat fat, no cholesterol, 710 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 9 g protein.
|
Barbara Burke is a Hawaii-Pacific University instructor who teaches and writes about food and nutrition. Contact her at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or e-mail her at: features@starbulletin.com
