Introduction
Being hired straight out of Judy Rodgerss Zuni Café kitchen to
launch a seaside Italian bistro in a $790 million tropical paradise
hotel in Hawaii, touted as the worlds most luxurious, didnt seem
like a bad career move. Turns out, trading swank San Francisco life
for island living nearly cost me my livelihood. Finding upon my
arrival that Id been replaced by a chef flown in from Italy
definitely wasnt the Aloha greeting Id been fantasizing. Tropical
dreams were dashed by a tsunami-sized uncertainty.
Before I could phone Judy and plead for my job back, the
resort owners whisked me off to a meeting and announced my new
culinary appointment. You will be the spa cuisine chef is all I
heard before I nearly lost consciousness. I spat the words right
back, What is spa cuisine chef?
What is spa food and who eats it anyway?, I demanded. Do I
look like I eat low-fat foods?
Did I mention I was 205 pounds and a size 22 at the time? A
fat chef behind the stove of the resorts premier spa restaurant
wasnt good for the overall image of the place. Not only did I have
to invent a menu, I had to cook and look the part. No more food
fests . . . no more late-night refrigerator raids . . . no more ice
cream? Returning to the city-by-the-bay so soon was not an option. My
mother didnt raise a quitter, or so she had pummeled into my psyche.
Conceiving a future of fat-free foods had me trembling for Twinkies.
I couldnt imagine an entire restaurant dedicated to a cuisine
that didnt exist. My best research efforts unearthed only three
books on the subject, all out of print. No wonder, since they were
filled with photographs of pea shoots and carrot sticks three ways.
You know, the kind of pictures that leave you salivating for
something else. Fearing my career path had crumbled for good, I rang
up Judy.
She told me, Look on it as a challenge and rely on basics.
Grill and broil food, write your menus around vegetables, fruits,
grains, and legumes. Choose leaner cuts of red meat, chicken, and
fish. Get in your car and forage for island farmers. Use the freshest
produce you can get your hands on and the food will speak for itself.
Get advice from a doctor or nutritionist.
I knew she was right, but how much weight could spa guests
lose in a week? And who goes on a vacation to lose weight? Most
people planning island getaways start dieting so that they can fit
into their resort wear the minute the travel itinerary is set. The
trek back to pre-seat-assignment size begins when the stewardess sets
that little bag of honey-roasted nuts before you. Your seven-day
license to eat freely reigns supreme and doesnt expire until the
plane touches down back in your hometown, right? Were supposed to
come home fat from holidays, arent we?
Spa-goers came to the resort to be pampered, rubbed, wrapped,
and healed. Clientele forking out 450 dollars a night certainly
werent used to hearing the word noas in no Dom Perignon, no filet
mignon, no lobster thermidor, and no crème brûlée. I had to find a
way to send these people home happier, not heavier. And I had to slim
down fast. Controlling my cravings, tempering my taste buds, and
losing weight was simply a matter of preserving my paycheck.
I set out to create a cuisine I could be proud of and that
guests could embrace. Having yo-yo dieted myself to distraction, I
was determined to send guests back to the mainland with realistic
tools to help them succeed at a life of healthy living. I found a
nutritionist willing to help: Dr. Elaine Willis. I begged the good
doctor to reinvent conventional wisdom by never mentioning the d
word to our guests. Forward-thinking Dr. Willis indulged my instincts
and deleted dieting from the official spa itinerary. I persisted in
my pursuit to keep things simple by insisting that no one be required
to weigh and measure their food or read a single book on health and
nutrition.
Dr. Willis and I worked together until we came up with a
formula that yielded outrageously delicious, nutritionally sound
cuisine. The restaurant was an instant hit. Word of the sumptuous
cuisine spread quickly. Spa guests, movie stars, recording artists,
sports superstars, and supermodels flocked to the cafés tables. The
restaurant received dozens of culinary kudos and accolades from some
of the nations most respected food critics. A little culinary
trickery and a lot of innovation proved once and for all that food
with less fat and no unnecessary calories can please even the most
discriminating palates.
If youre thinking that a spa vacation at a multimillion-dollar
resort is the only way you can lose weight, think again, because the
only thing youre likely to lose is a few grand. You can take
advantage of all the secrets and amenities guests took home because
everything you need to know is in this book. Its fair to say that
this is one vacation that really can last a lifetime, and since
your journey doesnt begin with a plane ride, you wont need your
Visa or American Express card.
Okay, so there is no lei greeting, no limo driver, and no
private butler in sight. Powerful personal trainers and private
chefs catering to your every culinary whim are not part of the
package. Room service, maid service, and in-room massage dont come
with this book either. Theres no one to draw your bath at night and
turndown service is definitely do-it-yourself.
The good news? Your journey to vitality doesnt involve debt,
starvation, or exercise boot camp. It will, however, result in long-
term success. Guilt be gone! Losing weight and getting fit is within
everyones reach. The program originally designed for the rich and
famous has been simplified and refined for the very distinguished
rest of us.
Im living proof that modest lifestyle changes can result in
weight loss, a greater fitness level, and a little freedom from
stress. Dont get me wrong: you wont wake up looking like a
Hollywood movie star on day two, but you will achieve results. In my
wildest dreams, I never imagined Id become a spa cuisine chef, let
alone a weight-loss success story, 75 pounds and counting. If I can
do this, you can too!
Top ten cooking survival tips
1. Lose the complicated entrée mind-set. Keep dinner simple,
especially if youre time starved. Quick oven-broiled fish with
microwave veggies is dinner.
2. Whos on the sauté station tonight? Build your culinary team.
Enlist help, divide up the chores, make lists, delegate tasks, and
follow through. Every able body should participate regularly in some
aspect of meal planning, shopping, cooking, or cleanup.
3. Build menus around naturally healthful ingredients. Three ounces
of steak can be consumed in four bites and two minutes. A heaping
bowl of Sesame Ginger Shrimp and Spicy Black Bean Salad will take
many more bites than four and a lot longer, too. Dont underestimate
the psychological and emotional reasons we eat. Theyre just as
important as our nutritional needs.
4. Cheat any way you can, but dont compromise your waistline. Any
shortcut you can pull off is worth it. If something from a can, bag,
or box will mean the difference between your eating in or ordering
out, by all means go for it. Read product labels carefully though,
and make the healthiest choices you can.
5. Fill up on the good stuff. Increase good calories wherever you
can. Can you get an extra serving of veggies by tossing a handful of
corn into the salad? How about peas and mushrooms in the mac n
cheese? Roast asparagus in the same pan with the potatoes, and youve
got two veggie sides instead of one.
6. Use of high-impact flavor ingredients is highly encouraged.
Resuscitate, invigorate, acidulateuse sea salt, kosher salt, ginger,
citrus, vinegar, garlic, capers, anchovies, olives, fresh spices (no,
they do not have the shelf life of books), and freshly cut herbs.
Grow your own. Theyre pretty and cheery. If the plants die, remember
seeds are cheap, and dirt is free.
7. Pare down prep. Ten minutes in the kitchen after dinner tonight
is easier to pull off than ten minutes before dinner tomorrow when
youre tired and starving. Peel the potatoes tonight. Cook off the
noodles. Whip up the dressing. Wash the veggies. Marinate the
chicken. Were not talking the whole meal here. Just a task or two.
8. Plan to morph meals. Plan tomorrows supper today by making a
double batch. A salad can become an entrée if you add a piece of
chicken or fish. Grill extra veggies tonight and top your pizza with
them tomorrow. When youre cooking black beans from scratch, they can
morph from soup to chili and from salad to salsa. Challenge yourself.
See how many meals you can make from a single recipe.
9. Supersizemake your own TV dinners. Attack an overscheduled week
head on. On nights youre not so rushed, make a double batch of
something you know freezes well. Store the second half in microwave-
proof containers, clearly marked, with the full title of the dish and
the date. A sumptuous title will inspire you to actually take the
frozen dinner out of the freezer and eat it on one of those nights
youre tempted to pick up the phone and call for the next-pants-size-
up, er, carryout.
10. Choose the right tools. Use the right tool for the task and
youll slash culinary frustration. Dull knives, the wrong spoon, a
melted spatula, a fork with a broken handle, or a pot thats too
small creates kitchen stress. Who needs it? Keep your tools in good
working condition and handy.
So cook already. Plan to cook and you will. Plan not to and
you wont eat. Or worse, youll eat poorly.
Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins
Weakness #457: crumb cakes. You know the ones. Those little four-packs
loaded with crumb topping. I used to love to go to the half-off
bakeshop and load up on crumb cakes. It was one of my worst pre-weight-
loss habits because I couldnt stop myself from eating way more than a
portion, whatever that was. These muffins helped me kick my coffeecake
addiction. Im not suggesting for a minute that you replace a more
nutritious breakfast with Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins. Not at all.
These are special occasion calories you need to plan for.
12 servings.
For the topping
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into tiny cubes
For the muffins
13/4 cups flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper baking cups;
set aside.
Prepare the topping: In a small mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar,
flour, and cinnamon; cut in butter with a fork. Set aside.
Prepare the muffins: In a medium mixing bowl, mix together flour,
granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small mixing bowl,
combine egg, apple cider, diced apple, vanilla extract, and oil; add
all at once to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. (Batter should
be lumpy.)
Spoon about 1 tablespoon batter into each prepared muffin cup; sprinkle
with 1 teaspoon topping. Fill evenly with remaining batter. Sprinkle
tops of muffins with remaining topping. Bake about 20 minutes, or until
golden brown. Remove from pan; cool slightly on racks.
Copyright © 2002 by Kathleen Daelemans